Spring Days

March 31, 2012


Spring is here!  The flowers are in full bloom, cherry-blossoms pedals are floating through the air, the magnolias are about to burst, and there are plenty of puddles to jump in!  We've had the patio furniture out and enjoyed some time, just Tyler and I, sipping beer at Cafe Nap-Time.

We've been enjoying a three-day weekend as a family and next weekend is four days off together for Easter.  No big plans here, just a lot of spring cleaning and we've been cooking up a storm!  I made Finlay some crackers today with two little cookie cutters in the shapes of an owl and a star.  We did our annual "food audit" for the family and made some plans for some new foods we'd like to try and more foods we like to eat more often.

Finlay is walking around the house like he's been doing it for more than a couple of weeks.  He motors from room to room.  Walks with toys or books or his "boppy" (bottle).  I am still quite shocked when I hear him coming and fully expect a crawling baby to peak around the corner but, instead, I see a walking, smiling toddler.  I was calling him a bobbler for a while, as he was not really a baby or a toddler.  He is talking too.  He says a version of "Hello" and "oh-oh," he waves goodbye, and signs "more," "song," "Wheels on the Bus," "milk," "eat" and some other things.

Here are a few pics from the last few days...  And a video...

Kisses with the Mama behind the glass on the door.  Funny game!

Takes a break from the fun to smile for the camera.

Tyler caught this game on video:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJsRyVcRnTM&feature=youtu.be

At the end of the video, it looks like Fin hurt himself.  But, as soon as the camera was off, Fin was smiling and playing again.  He was fine!

Finlay modelling his new rain boots!  He loves to wear these when he is walking outside!  There are dinosaur boots with eyes, teeth, and a cute little tail at the back.  He picked them out himself!

Antique Car

Duck park once again with Auntie Carr

Fineus Cheekeus.

Riding the swings with his friend Julie.

I thought this was spectacular. Fin prefers the ducks.

what a babe.

poor lil fella broke his leg at the park.  he'll grow into it.

Auntie Car was out to visit again a couple of weeks ago for her uni break and now she is writing this blog -and will stop referring to herself in the third person.
Finlay and I had a ton of fun skipping daycare together. We met lyndze and tyler for lunch a couple of times throughout the week which was really nice for everyone.
We danced and sang and went for lots of walks through the park - that kid is fearless on the slide!
Finlay was so close to walking, we knew it would happen soon. He is also getting really good at letting us all know what he wants and is not shy to make his desires/demands known. The time flew by with lots of laughs and smile shared.

Look! No hands!

Tyler? is that you? are you grumpy?

He liked to brush my teeth for me.

but he liked seeing himself brushing my teeth in the camera even more

"who is that baby in the camera? he looks like he's having the best time!"

I would try and ignore Fin's early morning requests for stair time so as not to disturb the neighbours.  I would try and call him to the living room to play...meanwhile he would go to the closet and get the keys and try to get out and climb the stairs! Advanced baby.

"i wish i was a little bit taller, i wish i was a baller, i wish i had an auntie who would do what i say and let me play"

Cruised down to the beach and played with every dog in sight!

he was not happy when it was time to go home for lunch

Stairs!

Morning ritual, 5:42am nearly every morning.  Luckily i could go back to sleep until lyndze and ty headed off to work

Finlay loves my mobile phone. "RING RING, is Finlay there?"
Now when we Skype he puts a wooden coaster to his ear, it's super cute!

See ya next time buddy!

He Walks!

March 12, 2012


The other day, Tyler and I were talking as Finlay played with puzzles and blocks between us.  It went something like this:

Lyndze: "You know what I can't wait for?"
Tyler: "What?"
Lyndze: "I used to say I can wait for it, but now I'm too excited! I can't wait for Finlay to walk!"
Tyler: "Yeah?"
Lyndze: "Yeah.  I've been having lots of dreams and in them he walks and it is so amazing!"
Tyler:  "You know what I can't wait for?  For Finlay to start saying 'no!'  It's going to be super cute."
Lyndze:  "Ah, you might regret saying that..."

Well, Finlay understands more than we know.  The next day, he started to shake his head 'no' and/or wave his hand in a dismissive 'no' sign.  It is pretty cute.  He is using it a lot to communicate.

And today, while Tyler was playing a new game with Fin where they each hold one end of a spatula and walk around the house, Finlay just let go and started to walk.  And, I just happened to press record on the camera at the exact same time.  What luck?!?

And for the rest of the evening, Finlay walked around the apartment in calculated bursts of a metre or two. He even walked to the book shelf, squatted carefully, pulled "The Grouchy Ladybug" off of the shelf, stood up, and walked the book to Tyler who was about a metre and a half away!

This is so exciting!  Finlay looks so excited about it!  It's as if he heard us saying we were ready for the next steps (walking and no's) and he just decided to deliver.

Enjoy the short video of my dreams coming true!

Video of Finlay's First-ish Steps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M_wYtkZd4U&feature=youtu.be

Peanut-butter Everywhere!

March 08, 2012

Well Wednesday evening Finlay was not feeling too well.  We had some upset tummy issues in the middle of the night that led us to decide to keep him home from daycare on Thursday. This meant that Dad also got a day home from work to play with Finlay. What a deal!  Apparently it was a short lived bug because by 10:00am the next day he was back to his usual happy smiley self.  He was certainly a little more picky than usual with his food so we resorted to a safe bet of peanut butter on rice cake and half an apple.

 Fin was just up from a nap and it was a sunny day in the kitchen so we decided to have a shirtless/pantless  snack to save on some laundry.  Finlay loves any opportunity to run around naked!

 Here is a great picture of why I love Finlay's hair!  It just curls up in the cutest way.  Lyndze did give his bangs a little trim later that day because they were sitting in his eyes all the time. Fin seemed happier with the trim.

 I love Finlay's eyes.  There is something much older about them. I think he has some wisdom hidden back there.  We had a couple of babysitters over and when we returned and asked how everything went they stated that all went well.  And then one of them said "except sometimes he looks at you with those eyes and I feel like he knows something that I don't. Or that he is questioning my ability to be a babysitter."  I thought that was pretty amusing.

 Fin always gives such cute expressions when eating.

 Cute expressions like this one!

And this one.

After this meal there was peanut-butter everywhere - on his front and back, in his arm-pit, and even on his baby toe!

Leap Finlay Leap!

February 29, 2012

Over the last couple of weeks, we have had a very special visitor!  Auntie Carr (aka "Antique Car") came for a visit!  We'll be writing a blog post with more detail about her visit soon, but for now...

Just some pictures of our last couple of weeks...

He looked so cute in his overalls.

We went to the Art Museum.  Finlay loved the interactive art; it was rice on a screen with a light underneath.  You could move the rice to make shapes with the light.  He was not too interested in the Emily Carr exhibit.  I loved it.

Video installation.  Finlay went right for it.  I didn't get it, but he totally did.

Carleigh and Finlay watching the video installation.

Finlay's favourite piece was (drum-role please) the stairs!  There was a glass railing and he was pushing his face against it and kissing it.  I tried to score a picture with his little face all smushed but this was the result. 

Finlay has discovered pillows.  Anytime we have him on a bed, for a diaper change or clothes, and crawls right for the pillows and reclines like this.  He-laaaaar-ee-ous!

So Finlay loves stairs.  But more than stairs, he loves crawling to the laundry room on the first floor of our building and opening and closing the dryers.  Most of the time, when we go with him, we don't have our keys to get in to the room.  He cries and points at the door-knob.  We show him that we can't get in.  He doesn't believe us and thinks we're just being jerks.  So, one night, Tyler went and got his keys and came back to where Finlay was screaming at the knob and we got him to watch Ty use his keys to open the door.  The next day, Fin was begging Carleigh to go to the stairs/laundry room and she was trying to get him to let it go.  Instead, he went into the hall closet, found our keys, and went to the front door and proceeded to hit the knob with them!  My toddler is a genius.  

Keys!

"So, what is this for?"

"Makes a good back-scratcher."

"I used the expensive back-scratcher!"

Finlay will not eat his co-co-yo (coconut yogurt) in the morning anymore.  He also refuses to eat it in the highchair.  But what he loves is sitting on the kitchen floor in the afternoon and eating so much co-co-yo that we have to stop him from finishing the whole container!

Yum!

Carleigh and I painted a special art project for Finlay's bedroom.  I'll get some pics once it is up!

Holding Auntie Carr's hand makes a car ride tolerable.

Finlay loves his Scout puppy (thanks Aunt Kally)!  Finlay loves his blankie.  Finlay loves taking all of the toys out of his basket and sitting in the basket.

All good things make a very happy baby!

Standing Ovation!

February 19, 2012

Finlay is getting ready to walk.  He actually took two unassisted steps on Friday night.  He saw me enjoying some fresh, homemade focaccia bread and he just let go of a shelf he was using to steady himself and made two short steps, confidently unaware, to my knee as I sat on the coffee table with my appetizer.  No one saw it but me.  It was amazing.

Friday was "Finlay & Daddy" day and Tyler got a great video of Finlay standing, unassisted, and clapping to music.  He is doing this more and more, seemingly with more confidence and intention, and sometimes he acts as though he is practicing his standing.  Here is the link to Finlay giving his first standing ovation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6YwMBjA2IE&feature=youtu.be

Another part of getting ready to walk, it seems to me, is just getting more and more physically adventurous.  Finlay throws himself to the ground, explores a new way of crawling, and climbs over and into more and more places.  He climbed into an empty cubby in his room yesterday and we played a little game of "Knock, knock.  Where's Finlay?"  It was pretty cute!

Just look at that face!  Pure glee!

We were in the middle of getting him dressed, so he is only wearing one legging.

A video of his game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UIwN6UcS6I&feature=youtu.be

14 Months on the 14th of the Month

February 14, 2012

Finlay is 14 months old today, which is the 14th of the month.  This morning, Tyler pointed out that the next time that happens he will be turning 14 years old on the 14th of December, 2024.  Yikes!

Because it is mid-week, and we are very busy/tired, this is just a short update with some pictures.

Finlay is a little interested, or obcessed, with playing on the stairs.  He crawls to the door, points at the knob, or just sits with his back against the door moaning until we relent. 

"STAIRS!"

I just love his standing - he looks like a little man in his jeans.  Cute.

Cookie time!  Here is Fin enjoying a no-bake baby cookie with daddy.  He loves these cookies even though I made them nut-free for his little friend.  So tasty!

Hey Fin, you got a little something on your face.

"Where?"

"Did I get it?"

Yay for 14 months on the 14th!