toddlers are hard

blogging was so much easier when finn was a baby. there were more nap times and less running around. and now that summer's around the corner, we've been taking advatage of good weather by spending it without a care in the world - beach time, park time, friends, picnics, nightly concerts.

i'm not complaining. real life has been fun. crazy and wild and a learning experience for all. i just find it hard to collect and edit pictures, post thoughtful, or even any, entries, and keep up with other blogs. but this blog isn't my job ;)

and so i have this day at the park to share. a rare occasion where i brought my camera to capture an afternoon playing. i do bring my camera to lots of places, but if we're just headed out to play, i usually leave it behind so i can focus on playing face-to-face rather than lens-to-face.

finley is full on walking. he pretty much walks everywhere and i rarely see him crawl anymore. i'm so glad i caught some of his last days crawling on video. i knew they were coming to a close and here he is, proving me right. he can climb onto the couch. he can see out the windows standing on the floor. he loves to crawl up the slide and go down on his belly. he's a bundle of energy and needs almost constant stimulation.

he's still mr. serious. he does laugh and play and have fun, but he is often pensive and stares at everyone and everything. he throws tantrums often and fights to get his way. he can be found doing something naughty 9 times out of 10. he knows "no" and disregards it with twinkle in his eye. he's trouble, but still sweet and loving. open mouth kisses, soft hugs, and hair petting...he does know how to be nice.

he's a little boy now. searching the world, finding his place. testing the waters and the boundaries. i'm just trying to keep up.

chalk, anyone?

finn tried out sidewalk chalk the other day. it did not go as i'd hoped.



sure, he looks all adorable here. studying the cement, holding the chalk, ready to write. but instead...



yeah. eating it. huge bites. i tried to show him the fun in scribbling, but he much preferred the taste. except he didn't, because he would make an awful face and drag his fingers across his tongue to remove the chalky bits. and i'd take the chalk away, tell him not to eat it, and demonstrate again how to create color on the ground. as you can see by the different colored chalks above, he wasn't interested in my techniques. he did the same with crayons and food finger paints and i'm not sure if it's a boy thing (i've seen girls his age play with these things less as food) or just a finn thing, but he's just not into art.



but i am, so we'll keep trying.

bath time

i don't do baths in our house. mr. h3b has given finn his nightly bath since we started his night time routine around 2 months. it's a great time for them to play and bond and something they share that i really don't. i usually work on photos during that time and catch up from the craziness of the day.



but sometimes mr.h3b has to work or is out of town and i take over bath time duties. and of course, i get my camera all up in his face. typical.



that's him realizing that all of his bath toys are on the floor. i don't recall mr. h3b mentioning that finley prefers to remove all toys from the bathwater, so i'm thinking this was a special form of naughtiness reserved just for me.



i get over it, though, when see that little face. this is how he looks to me when i think of him (besides head tipped back, nose scruched, giggling). have quizzical, half judgy. just missing the trademark raised eyebrow :)

some other updates

since i keep this as a record of finn's life (in addition to a baby book and calendar) and i think i missed a 14 month post, i'm going to update his kid life :)



he's 21 pounds (broke that 20 lb mark finally!). he's a feisty character - he does things he knows he shouldn't and throws a full on tantrum when he doesn't get his way. he's independent but still very whiny and clingy at times. and by at times, i mean most of the time ;) he babbles but hasn't formed any real words yet. he says a variation of "more" at the table and "ai" for hi and randomly chatters mama and dada along with other nonsense. he understands words, though, including smoothie, eat, and food (he will walk to the kitchen). he does "so big", blow a kiss, and claps on command. his newest thing is to pick up the cell phone, put it to his ear, and say "ai". super cute and one of his few mimic-type displays.



he's just now started to take an interest in cartoons and will watch for a few minutes before finding more interesting things to do. the TV was on for these pictures and i got minimal eye contact...which is really the case for most pictures these days (minus the TV). ah, the photographer's child.

long time no see!

oops! somehow i haven't blogged in a while. it might be because my child has grown leaps and bounds and i cannot keep up. for starters...he's walking! walking, like non-babies do.



he started walking just after easter. one day he was scared and the next he was wandering around like he'd always known what to do. he uses his arms for balance which makes everything he does on two feet look even cuter. it took him a few days to understand the magnitude of his new skill, but now he walks and crawls about evenly. and now that he knows we're excited about it, he claps for himself all of the time. about walking and just about everything else. crawls quickly? claps. laughs with his head tipped back? claps. drinks milk? claps. it's hilarious. also hilarious? how fancy and dancy he looks in the above final shot - flashdance!

click on that one to see the fall ;) he gets going really fast and if his socks don't have grips he wipes out. it's scary but par for the course, i guess.

these are the only pictures i have of him walking, too. i haven't brought my camera outside and there just isn't room or time to set up a walking shot before he reaches me.

and not to finish all sappy, but him walking is just another thing that solidifies his toddler hood. his leg muscles are changing already. he chases me and gets chased, on two feet. he wants to get down, to see and wander. my baby is turning into a boy.

riding a bike

 

it's true. my big boy rode his bike outside for the first time. i'm not surprised - i mean he hopped on that trike within minutes of opening it on his first birthday and never had a problem getting around. but the helmet? the little shoes? the scooting across cement with ease? i had a cuteness overload right there in our yard.

he was thrilled! he laughed and ran like he'd been waiting to do this his whole life. he can't steer yet, so there were many grass run-ins, but he was overjoyed to just be outside on the trike. i took these after the sun went down and no one was out but us and it was one of those moments (you know...i've mentioned them before) where i paused and banked the feeling. this is my boy riding his bike outside for the first time.

toddler photos

i feel like i have no time to post as finn gets more and more toddler-like every day. i take lots of pictures, so prepare for a huge number of photo boards (you can click!).

 

he is such a character. if you put him in his crib when it's not sleep time, he rolls around and squeals. he loves to cuddle with stuffed toys, baby dolls, and teddy bears. and while he gives lots of smiles, he is still a serious, pensive boy. (he only gets a pacifier when he's in his crib.)

 

he has snacks now. he finally figured out how to put his hand into the snack trap cup and now he sits on the floor and shares with the dogs. he loves books and i often find him sitting with one in his lap, paging through as if he knows what he's doing. since he can reach the windows (and so many other things, like oven knobs!), he spends lots of time looking outside and chatting at the birds and people walking by. he knows what to do with his toys - use the stick to drum, he (un)stacks his blocks, and he drives his trains. there's almost no baby left!

and he is wild and a little naughty. he knows when he's doing something he's not supposed to (playing with dog food/water, going into the bathroom, eating tennis ball fuzz, etc.) he tries to crawl away (or quicker toward) and squeals as i scoop him up and away from the desired object. while it looks like he poses for pictures, he doesn't. i have so many of him staring at his feet avoiding eye contact with my camera. he shakes his head no when i tell him to look at me..or when i tell him not to do something. and then he laughs.

i guess he's your typical (tiny) toddler. not walking, not talking, but being adorable and surprising us with something new every day.