santa knows me

christmas is really magical to me and i've been so excited to introduce all of the wonder to finley in traditions and memories. we have three christmas trees, we do elf on the shelf, we have chocolate advent calendars, and we talk about santa and wait for his big night on christmas eve. through it all, i try to remind finley of the magic that is giving and that as fun as it is to get presents, it is wonderful to give gifts and show others kindness during the season (and obviously, year round).



to me, santa is such a wonderful concept. i love everything about santa and it seems finley is at the age where he does, too. we took him to see santa at our Y and he could hardly contain himself. instead of being shy or nervous he walked right up and let santa place him right on his lap. he smiled and looked right at santa, answering that he was a good boy (or girl, since santa had a hard time with this...). and he expertly delivered his gift list as he has been for days: "teddy bears, planes, trains, trucks, cars". he didn't want to leave and his sparkling eyes were fixated on that jolly old man.

tonight in preparation of riding chicago's "holiday express", the santa train, i played him a video we created online. you can input your child's name and some details and santa delivers a tailored message to your little one. we did this last year and finn enjoyed it then, but he was amazed this year. he saw his picture on santa's "finley" book (that's me!) and he was so excited to get a peak into the toy workshop.

he asked me to watch it again, so we did. a minute or so into it, again with his twinkling eyes watching santa with wonder, he softly said, "santa knows me". and it took everything in me not to scoop that precious boy up and hug him, teary eyed and happy over the magic of the season. "santa knows me."

we waited for over 20 minutes to ride the holiday express and when it finally arrived, finn was ecstatic. the train is decorated with lights and garland and santa's elves hand out candy canes upon entering. when we eventually hopped off to switch trains, we got to see santa as he was whisked off via train (he rides outside on a flat car). as we waited (and waited) for the next train, we were treated to a round trip view of santa's train. at our stop, finn was able to walk right up to santa, where he waved and said hello. santa looked right at him and chatted. finn was so proud when santa said, " i like your hat!" (a new red one) and when he said "i'll see you soon", i know finn believed it.

oh, hello!

it's true! my absence has been caused by the first trimester of my 2nd baby. today i am 14 weeks 2 days and finally not feeling quite as sick or tired (mostly). i can't wait to get back to blogging about my big boy who is almost 3 (THREE?!) and the new little baby that i'm just getting to know.

toddlers are funny

i'm popping in quick to make sure i write down somewhere that my child is funny. sometimes it's intentional and he'll look my way with his sparkly eyes and i know he knows he's funny. and sometimes he just responds to conversation in the funniest of ways and i sort of wish he knew what he was saying so he could enjoy how funny it was, too.

one night i was discussing shemar moore (criminal minds) with my mother-in-law and husband because he was on ellen. after i said "he's so hot!", finn said "no, mommy. no hot!" i laughed and asked him who was hot and without missing a beat he said "daddy hot."

he's taken to calling his [hot] daddy "uncle nate" (which is his name to our nephews, of course). so uncle nate calls finley "grandma" and he falls into giggles.

he says "ka boo boo" for peek a boo and "butnun" for button.














he watches the 1994 "little rascals" movie and does the fingers under chin wiggle. "look mama!" he exclaims, wiggling his fingers and then using his hands to wiggle his ears and stand his hair up like alfalfa.

yesterday i was folding clothes in his room while he played at the front of the house. i hear "beep beep beep" over and over and when i went out to look he was walking backwards very slowly. when he finally bumped into me i asked him what he was doing. "i'm a truck." of course!

this morning we were headed out and i asked him to head to the car, quick like a bunny. i turned around to find him in a bear crawl, hopping across the yard.

he says "awesome!" and "ooooh yeaaahh" almost everyday about totally normal things.

he was playing on our bed the other night and hid himself under the covers. he knows "hide 'n seek" and he kept proclaiming, "finn hidin'" because i'm sure he thinks it's hidin' seek. toddler slang.

and as you've likely noticed, he makes funny faces and expression all day long. his favorite thing to do is blink rapidly. "look mommy!" he yells and when i do, he flashes his baby blues open and shut as many times as he can before he widens them as far as they will go and then laughs like it's the funniest things he's ever done. and though i've seen it hundreds of times, it's still funny ;)

feeding ducks

continuing to catch up with our summer...

finn has been lucky to see both sides of our family every few weeks this summer. we live 6+ hours away from all of the grandparents, so we've cherished the frequency of our visits these past few months. finn adores his grandmas and they come and stay with us for long weekends and even full weeks. he can't get enough of their love (who can resist a grandma?!) and i can't get enough of the sleeping in ;)


after our visit to minnesota in early july, my mom came to visit us. she took finley to feed the ducks and it was so funny to watch how aggressive those ducks are when it comes to food. they were sweet and ate right out of our hands.

finn wasn't quite sure and only wanted to throw in the bread, but eventually he fed them by hand. he was so excited!



here's proof in video form:

4th of july

we celebrated the 4th up north, without electricity after the storm. it didn't keep us from doing a few fireworks and some sparklers.

finn was actually a bit more scared this year than last year. (speaking of last year, did you click that link? who is that baby?!) maybe he's more aware of the potential danger involved when sparks fly around near his hands. but he still tried them out and watched our little fireworks show with excitement

 

 

happy (belated) 4th of july!

summer catch up: storms and fun

in july we went to minnesota to spend some time up north at the cabin. instead of a relaxing time, we were hit with a huge storm, 90mph winds, and hundreds of trees down blocking our way out from the cabin and cutting the electricity.we spent the time being exceptionally hot, taking baths in the lake, eating meals from the grill or fire, and cleaning up after the storm. thank goodness for a generator a few days in - we had a fridge and a few necessities plugged it occasionally.

finn didn't have much clean up duty, so he spent the time being two. getting sweaty and dirty, playing with toys, and just generally enjoying freedom in the summer. he was perpetually dirty and covered in large bug bites. it was as classic as it gets.

one of his favorite people, uncle nicky, read him books and gave him pony rides. i'm not sure uncle nicky knows, but finn says "nicky love me" at night before bed and asks to see him often. i love this picture because it looks just like it was: a hot summer day, too many feet and bodies in front of a single fan, and a toddler in a diaper being read his favorite story.

finn's current favorite food is yogurt. it's also his favorite outfit and color. if you ask him what you should wear in the morning, he'll tell you yogurt. i haven't braved the world in my yogurt suit yet, but i'll let you know if i do.

we had to collect water to use the toilet and do the dishes (boiled in an electric kettle). finn was most helpful at the task!

laundry on the line, buckets in hand, dogs in tow. a real break from life and while there was lots of work, we were able to connect with each other and make the best of a crazy situation. i'm not sure finley will remember this summer, but he still talks about the rain and wind making the trees fall down. i'm hoping memories like these are frequent (not so much the stranded without electricity, but the bonding and time up north).

summer catch up: father's day outing

oh june. i'm sorry i all but glossed over you (and july and most of august). i have yet to catch up on personal photos from the summer months but am doing my best to keep afloat. i want to keep track of our time here on the blog so here's a father's day wrap up post. (don't mind the random editing. personal photos are just for me!)

we took finley miniature golfing for the first time. taking a two year old mini golfing is a ridiculous idea, of course. he was pretty into it, though, and we had a good time.

he got to pick his own ball color and had a golf club just his size. his swing left a bit to be desired, but it was adorable to watch him aim, swing, miss, and try again.

the golf course was made for children and had slides, tubes and other kid-friendly features on each hole, so when he wasn't golfing he had other things to do. and he enjoyed hitting all of our golf balls into the hole. we'll have to teach him a bit of course etiquette.

these two are best friends. they butt heads a bit (but what two year old doesn't) but their relationship is so great. finn loves when his daddy comes home every day after work and can't wait to get outside and play football, soccer ball, or baseball. i'm not sure we'll be adding golf anytime soon (unless finn's grandpa has a say...) but he seemed to love to swing the club around.

we finished the day at one of our favorite south indian restaurants and ate way more than we should have. finn doesn't like much indian food, but we keep feeding it to him (like everything else) so that hopefully he'll like it eventually.