Updates!

We have once again been negligent in keeping Finn's blog up to date. We seem to get busy with one thing or another and by the time Finn is in bed we are either too tired to do another thing or busy getting ready for the next day.




Since our last post...Finn has graduated to a big-big boy bed and has loved every second of it. The new truck and tractor bedding was a big hit and no tears were shed over moving the crib into the "baby room".



Finn's great aunt and uncle (and great dog) came for a visit which we all enjoyed. I think Finn wore out Uncle Frank, whom I am told had back pain after the visit...likely from wrestling a 35lb toddler. Finn kept Aunt Barb and Uncle Frank busy, needing their constant attention and making sure they got to play with all of his trucks and tractors.



We once again headed south to visit Uncle Ed, Aunt Jess and cousins Kaiser and Quentin. Luckily, Milwaukee now has a nonstop flight to New Orleans, making the trip a bit easier for all involved. Unfortunately, Finn carried "the plague" in the form of cough, runny nose and fever to Louisiana and nicely shared with our relatives...sorry about that! Finn especially loved playing with and wrestling with his cousins and also took a liking to his Aunt Jess, spending quite a bit of time in her lap playing. He also loved a trip to the John Deere plant with Uncle Ed to see the cool sugar cane harvesters. I think with Finn's interest in tractors, he and Uncle Ed will continue to be good buddies!




We enjoyed the Super Bowl at our friends, the Ogren's, where Finn got to play with some of his buddies...James, Aidan, Sofia, Chapin and Charlie. What a crazy time that was! It is fun to see them all getting bigger and starting to interact more.



Finn and Chris have enjoyed some time outside in the snow, making their annual igloo. Finn comes inside with red cheeks and a smile on his face, telling me how he threw snow at Daddy and how Daddy got snow on him too.




We continue to try to prepare Finn for our expected new addition this April. He will occasionally sing "rock a bye baby" to my tummy, but mostly ignores my growing belly. We ask him if it will be a baby boy or a baby girl and he looks at us like we are crazy and says..."it's a baby!". He also at one point randomly asked me if the baby has eyes, which I responded, I hope so! When asked recently what we should name the baby he responded, Leroy the dinosaur...seems reasonable, we will take that in to consideration!

Finn continues to make cute comments...recently when asked by Chris to hold his hand in the hallway, Finn responded, "Daddy, this is not the parking lot!"

Finn missed most of last week at daycare due to a nasty daycare virus. We seem to be well on our way to recovery and he also got to stay home two of the days with one of his favorite babysitters, Miss Conni.

Big Boy Bed

The door to Finn's room just open as Laura and I were sitting in the living room and this reminded me that I needed to do this Blog and had me asking why did we do this :)

Of course we knew we needed to transition Finn as we will be having a new arrival who is going to need the crib. But the change in his sleeping habits has been a challenge.

Instead of crying to let us know he was up in the morning he now calmly comes out of the room with no other sound than the click of the door knob.
Also, at night he will after thinking we have put him to bed come out of the room as like a game.
Well the sooner we get over the novelty of the big boy bed the better.

Time for the snow

We really haven't had a lot of snow yet this year and while no one except perhaps a kid should complain about this it has cut into what Finn and his dad can do outside.

Maybe four or five inches (and I think I'm being generous) of snow is in the yard. Blades of grass can be seen in some areas and as the wind really doesn't blow much here there are no drifts. We also haven't had to push any snow and so there isn't even a snow pile at the top of the driveway. [I'm writing this on Januray 1st and the plus 45 degrees days has removed all traces of snow around the city except where snow plows have pushed up piles.]

The day we were out was about 32 degrees but the snow was difficult to pack and we made a small snowman, some snow angels and took a sled ride through the trees but no igloo and to say we made a snowman isn't saying much in the proper sense of making snowmen.

Being an adult I'm reluctant to wish for more snow but as it is fun to be out with Finn in the snow and to recall his excitement with last year's igloo I gotta hope we get a pile of snow at some point that doesn't interfer too much with adult work going.

Christmas 2010

Finn's third Christmas proved to be his most efficient. I think he has taken the painfully slow process of last year's tiny strip by strip method and combined it with all that he has learned this year to become a yellow-belt present opener. He still lacks the reckless tearing of paper and packages that black-belt pros have but then again that level of prowess often leaves a bigger mess and damaged gift packaging. So we are happy with the progress.

Thanks to the thoughtfulness of everyone who loves Finn we spread the gift opening into three phases so as to not end up opening one gift, tossing it aside and asking, "Next!"
Christmas eve we opened a few gifts and the put reindeer food outside in a shallow bowl Finn made in the snow. As we all know this glitter and oatmeal combination is touted as delicious "candy" by the reindeer community.
We then put a couple cookies out for Santa but Finn was really not liking the fact that Santa Claus would be creeping around our house after we all went to bed.
We also did a Christmas morning gfit opening and an afternoon opening too. With Finn jumping from toy to toy and the parents trying to keep on top of the wrapping paper and boxes.

Christmas work bench

Finn the talker

Finn continues to keep us very busy and put smiles on our faces every day. He amazes us with all the words he is saying and what he picks up on. We have needed to start to spell out words in front of him for those things we aren't really wanting him to hear.
Recently he has been saying "REALLY?" in such a way that you think he thinks you have just told him the most amazing thing ever.
When Finn wants to be carried I had been jokingly saying to him, "what, are you legs broken?". This seems to have back fired on me as he now beats me to the punch line coming up to me saying, "Mama, my legs broken, uppy please".
He also has been telling us that he "lubs" (loves) us...which is very adorable.
We enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal with our friends Mary Beth and Bob. Finn was the only child at their house and got lots of attention. He has been wearing his turkey hat, made at daycare basically non stop (except for sleeping) since he came home from daycare the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It is in pretty sad shape currently as it is made out of construction paper. I think we will need to retire it soon!

Aunt Katie's and Uncle Jason's wedding trip

Finn with Mommy and Daddy

Finn showing his disco moves!

Uncle Jarad, Aunt Joy, Cousins Jett, Jackson, Jaylyn and Juli

Grandpa Ken, Grandma Terri and Auntie Ann