Monday, May 21, 2012

he's a character



finally, it's almost summer weather! it's my most favorite time and i'm sure since i'm more fun when i'm warm and drinking refreshing beverages (iced tea! lemonade! sangria!), it will be a treasured time for finley, too. it's much easier to pop out the the beach at a moment's notice (and for us especially so as we literally live on the water - great in the summer, not so great in the winter) and there are so many summer things to occupy this young boy we have on our hands.


so this weekend we ventured out on a near 90 degree day to visit the botanic gardens. it's a place for finn to run free and see lots of nature all at once. and i know he's older now because we didn't even bring the stroller. i rarely bring it anywhere anymore, honestly.

and he's so funny. i wanted to get him one of these trendy hats because he enjoys hats and has been requesting to wear his winter beanies. surprisingly he has taken to this one and unless it's windy, he keeps it on. obviously, he's a character and it's often the subject of one of his silly games. and the shades? yeah. i could not stop laughing.


he is suddenly happier (2 year molars have finally broken the gums) and when a two year old is happy, i think most people are happy. this smile here? his favorite thing to do (in public) is walk up to elderly people and flash that grin while holding up his hand for a high five. often the generational gap is too much and rather than high five, the person questions me about his gender or tells me about their child/grandchild with curly hair. before i can respond, finley is bounding away and i'm left saying a hasty good bye to an older stranger before we even get to chatting.

and here at the gardens was no exception. we walked past an older couple and finley grinned at them and ran ahead. i overheard the man ask his wife, "now, was that a boy or a girl?". well, i cut his hair and people still can't tell. maybe it's because he's just so precious? ;)


we spent time looking at geese and fish and smelling flowers and just enjoying our time with this boy who now uses words to respond and even promote conversation. this boy who wears his baby mraz hat and his fear and loathing sunglasses and his cute attitude. i bet he's going to bring it this summer ;)

i'm hoping my next post will be about our experience with early intervention. i'm not sure anyone is still reading (anyone?) that doesn't speak to me in real life and already knows, but just in case and for my own personal record, i'd like to jot down finley's road to speaking with help from therapy.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

mommy. momma. mommyyy.



i love my boy. i really do. and i'm soon going to make a post about how early intervention has helped him talk more. but right now, on day two of my husband being out of town, i've become acutely aware of his vast language development and his willingness to use words to get my attention and it's driving me a tiny bit insane. despite a larger vocabulary, his single most favorite thing to say right now is mommy. see also: momma.



scene: anywhere, any time. (like, the car. the kitchen. outside.)
finley: mommy! mommeee! momma? mommy.
me: yes? what's up?
f: momma....mommy.
m: yep? what do you need?
f: :points at something, possibly nothing: mommaaaa. mommy?
m: what is it finley? your shoe? the dog? that car?
f: ehh. :walks away:

multiply that conversation by 10 per hour and welcome to my day! i swear i thought the mommy stage, like the "why" stage, was more dramatic in storytelling than it was realistic. i was wrong. he's napping right now and i can hear his repetitive mommy-ing running through my head still. it would be sweet, but it feels a little less special the 578th time.



these images, which have really nothing to do with this post, were taken during a special afternoon bath. this weekend finn was so busy and missed multiple evening baths due to his party-filled schedule so i made sure he was clean by fitting in a blue water and bubbled filled bath. and i promise he filled the conversation with plenty of "mommy" requests.