growth chart

sorry for my absence. it's summer, we're busy. i haven't been pulling out my camera for the randoms fun things we've been doing (and i was sick for over a week!). but i'm back with a fun craft i made after thinking about how big finn is now. my parents always charted our height on a door, but we're in a condo and can't take any doors with us when we move. so i looked for a growth chart and found the cute ones to be around $50...yeah, no. i made one myself, instead. and i'll show you how :)

 

here's the infished product. a canvas height chart to measure your child as they grow. you should be able to click the pictures for larger images.

supplies:

a 6ftx9ft canvas drop cloth ($10.98 at lowe's)
brown acrylic paint
sponge brush
letters & numbers stencil set
3/8" wooden dowel
brown sharpie
also: sewing machine/thread, hot glue, twine/ribbon/string

cut a rectangle from drop cloth measuring 9" wide by 60" long. this allows for a chart that includes 20" - 72", which leaves space for marking newborn length up to adulthood. you won't use the entire cloth, obviously. but you'll have spare canvas for another one or a different project!

fold the sides and bottom edge once about 3/8", then again to enclose the raw edge, iron and pin. sew two lines of long stitching along the pinned edges for a clean yet industrial look. fold the raw top over about an inch and sew 7/8" from top to create a sleeve for the dowel.

starting an inch from the bottom, use a ruler to measure inches, marking at each one. begin with 20" and end with 72", making larger marks for 2-6 feet.

using a straight stencil piece (i used the center of a "cent" symbol from my set), paint on tick marks at each inch. make a longer mark at each foot. stencil corresponding numbers (2-6) at foot marks, as well as the child's name at the top. (as a note, i tried the brown sharpie for thicker markings, but it bleeds. they make paint sharpies that could work. you can see in the sample picture with the "1" stencil.)

once dry, insert dowel and hot glue a strand of string/twine/ribbon to hang. growth chart finished! use the sharpie to make small ticks and date to remember how little your little once was. fyi: this chart is not waterproof or safe for washing or ironing on the paint.

4th of july

we celebrated the 4th of july in minnesota. mr. h3b wasn't with us, but finn's aunt joined us for a small town celebration. it was hot, a little buggy, and full of fried food and fireworks. which is pretty much what the holiday is all about (aside from our independence, of course).

auntie snapped this shot of finn and i (and a few others that day) and i just love it. i'm so rarely in pictures with my boy and i want him to have these memories and know that i was actually there, too.

see, i was there! note poor finley's giant cheek bite. the mosquitoes were so bad and we were both bitten to no end. but that didn't keep us from enjoying the festivities. here he's distracted by a live band.

when it got darker, we lit some sparklers and waited for the big show. this was finley's very first sparkler and he did surprisingly well. he was in awe of the light and it was all fun and games until he used his other hand to grab the sparks. (he's totally fine.)

this was my favorite shot of the night. just before he reached for it, he gave this perfect little ooooh face. and who doesn't do that for sparklers?

auntie and i played with them some more with finn safely contained in the the stroller and then it was time for the real fireworks. to my surprise, finn loved them. he wasn't scared of the booms and he just sat in our in awe. he didn't squirm or cry during the entire show. such a good, patriotic boy!

playing at grandmas

we're visiting grandma right now and finn is taking advantage of warm summer nights in a big open yard near the woods. he doesn't seem to notice mosquitoes (i wish i didn't either!) and could run around for hours out there.

he's been a pretty good boy recently, but we're dealing with some major sleep issues and a change of schedule. he's dropped the afternoon nap and prefers to go down for about 2-3 hours in the middle of the day. but i'm stuck trying to figure out what time of day is best to do that. 11 is too early for him, it seems. so lunch first, then nap? then snack later? i'm not used to a sleeping baby in the afternoon - those have historically been his prime play hours.

he's been signing "more" all of the time now (mainly for snack foods and objects he can't have) and responds to many commands like sit down, let's go outside (walks to the door), and bring me this or that. he says mama and dada clear as day but still won't do it directly towards us. he uses "nananana" for milk and food consistently. today he heard a dog bark far away and said "doh doh". he points at everything. he recognizes airplane sounds and looks to the sky for them. he's so very smart and i think he's starting to move towards a huge growth in communication.

he doesn't sit still, ever. he's running, rolling around, climbing up and down furniture and up stairs. he's smart enough to slide belly down off of docks (over water!), off the bed, down the slide. i caught the above picture only because i perched him atop some rocks and he couldn't turn to shimmy off.

i'm struggling to keep up with him, but i'm working to find ways to manage his adventurous side. i take him to splash decks, parks, and play areas. i find suitable alternatives to dangerous items. running with sticks in your mouth? um, no. how about this ball? if there's something he can hurt himself with, that item is exponentially better than anything i could offer, unless of course said offer was more dangerous. ah, 16 month old little boys. love them :)

happy father's day!

happy second father's day to the best dad around. finley is so lucky to have such a good daddy. from the minute we found out we were having a baby, to the day we found out it was a boy, to the seconds after his birth - mr. h3b has been amazing.

he is hands on. every.day. he doesn't seem to need breaks or time to himself. and finley loves his daddy time like nothing else. trips to the park, the beach, wrestling and chasing, and nightly baths. those are cherished moments for all of us.

i am so thankful that finn has a loving father. a good role model, companion, and teacher. i, of course, knew this would be true well before any baby came along, but to watch it play out in real life? that's something special.

so finley decided to don his very best summer clothes and his daddy's bowtie (i learned to tie one!) and we snapped these shots just for dad.

 

(this one's clicky! don't you just love that vintage bw?)

nice doggy

in an effort to post more frequently, here are some pictures of finn and miles, our younger dachshund.

we have been lucky that finn loves dogs and that, for the most part, the dogs love finn. he's learning to be gentle and we're just trying to instill some bit of understanding that they are living things and deserve to be treated nicely. some days they play together (chasing balls) a bit and share food (finn throwing scraps from his highchair), but they generally keep their distance.

he's recently taken to petting them. it starts out nice and he softly pats their backs. but then he gets curious. he'll pull their fur a little. poke their toenails. and for poor miles (who tolerates this more than our other dog), finn will inspect his nose and try to grab his eyes. i'm doing my best to keep both parties protected and i just hope finley can continue his love for animals in a kind way. and we'll keep the eyeball poking to his baby dolls.

playing in pjs

finn and i played outside in our pjs this morning. he's obsessed with keys (only real ones) and just learned how to push the car alarm button to cause the car horn to honk. our poor neighbors...

he spent a good 15 minutes running around and honking the horn. and then he found our front door, spent some time stretching, and tried to figure out how to use the keys to open it.

such a funny boy. i'm thankful for summer because he's generally happy if he's outside. i imagine we'll spend mornings, afternoons, and evenings out there.

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.