The "Finnster, et al."

On Monday afternoon Gigi picked Sam up from school and took him back to Tullahoma to have a sleepover with Cooper, Hank, and Quinn. The next day, Lane, Levi and Easton came over to play.  I picked Finn up at school at the normal time.  Finn had apparently seen Gigi pick Sam up from school early was was none too happy.  He expressed great frustration to his teacher over the injustice of it all (or so I was told by Finn's teacher). I tried to make it up to Finn by planning a fun family night.  I let him play video games while I cooked dinner. Then after dinner Finn and I played the longest game of Checkers I have ever played. Finn has gotten really good at Checker since the last time we played.  He plans ahead and thinks about every move.  I broke a sweat, figuratively speaking, trying to beat Finn. Next Finn, Michael and I played a couple games of "Candyland" while Will rolled around in the floor next to us.  The whole family dynamic chan...

It seems like Will has just learned to do a whole lot of things all at once.  Roll over, hold his own bottle, sit up, babble. pull up (a little), so it stands to reason that all that energy he expends should help him sleep better at night.  Well  . . . fingers crossed . . . I think it has.  For the past several nights Will has slept from 8:00 p.m. to approximately 4:45 a.m  I give him a bottle at 4:45 and then put him back to bed until 7:00.  And the babbling I mentioned - he says "da-da-da" and "ba-ba-ba."  Michael is not convinced that he is saying daddy, but instead just repeating sounds that are typically easy for babies to make.  I am 100% convinced that "ba-ba-ba" means ma-ma. Now that Will is completely weaned, he isn't very interested in letting me rock him to sleep.  He fusses, and wiggles and pulls away until I lay him down.  He would much rather lay in the floor and drink his bottle than have me give it to him. ...

Last week, Finn hopped in the van after school and asked me why he didn't go Levi's birthday party. He informed me that everybody else in his class went except for him.  I told Finn that he didn't go because I didn't know about it. (This is true statement - Finn did not come home with an invitation.) Finn asked why I didn't see the invitation.  I told him that one of two things happened 1) he lost the invitation or 2) he wasn't invited.  Finn did not readily accept either option.  He was sure he didn't lose the invitation - in fact, he said he never saw an invitation.  I told him that it may be that he just wasn't invited.  I explained that its okay that he wasn't invited and there will be other parties that he may not be invited to either.  I explained it in the "that's life kid" sort of way.  He still was not ready to admit that he wasn't invited, so I asked him if anyone else from his class didn't go.  He said, "oh yes...

One of Will's favorite places to sit is in my closet.  He likes to pull on the belt to my rain coat.  Every morning he happily plays in my closet while I get ready in my bathroom. Will is perfectly happy to feed himself now. Will playing.  This is Will sleeping in my bed while I was attempting to do my quiet time.  On this particular night Will woke up at 3:00, 4:00, 4:45 and 5:00.  I finally gave up at 5:00 and held while trying to read my bible. Finn found him in my bed and joined him.  Asleep in his crib. 

Saturday was our last Upward game, and I couldn't be more pleased.  The game got more and more painful as the season progressed.  Sam, as an individual, seemed to get unexplainably worse, while Finn's team remained steadily terrible. As for my two "ballers"  Sam was more interested in dancing with the cheerleaders during half time, while Finn literally chewed on the collar of his shirt during the entire game - including while dribbling down the court!! Sam's team.  Sam wore him medal the rest of the day.  Finn's team.  His smile is so precious. 

Well, we have made it to the high chair "era."  An "era" marked by fine dining at quasi fast food joints where the family eats in relative tranquility.

This week was "Cat In the Hat" week at school.  Wednesday was "Wacky Wednesday" so the boys dressed up in their most mismatched clothes.  Sam is actually in one of Michael's tank tops.  We belted it to make him look more "fashionable."  When he saw himself in the tank top, he looked at me and said, "am I wearing a dress?"  Before I could answer, he said, "I kind of look like Jesus."

Will is 8 months old.  He is doing so much.  He can sit unassisted really well, he can stand for a short period of time, he can roll over, he sleeps on his stomach now, he can hold his own bottle, and he plays with everything in sight.  But the thing that has changed the most about Will is his dependence on me.  Before, in order for him to be content, he had to be sitting in my lap.  Now, he prefers to sit in the floor next to me and play.  Will was a really clingy infant, so I have been secretly looking forward to this day since he was just a few months old.  However, now that its here, I can't help but feel a little lonely.  He has been my shadow for 8 months. This morning, as I was attempting to feed him and rock him, he started wiggling and arching his back and trying to get up.  I put him in the floor and he calmed right down.  He grabbed for the nearest toy in sight and looked up at me and smiled.  At that moment, the Lord, ...