A Day at the Beach - Take Two

Today, we loaded up the Gilbride, Heffron, and Fadel (Erin's friends) kids for another day in Vermilion.  We spent the morning on the beach and the kids had a blast!  Finn seemed so much happier playing in the sand and water this time around.  I think being able to sit up without any help allowed him a little more freedom to explore!  He loved it - kicking his legs around in the sand, picking up handfuls and rubbing it on his legs, and watching the little waves splash onto his feet.  

He also loves watching the other kids.  He thinks Jack and Mallie are particularly funny (especially Jack pretending to eat his toes).  He is very interested in Annie too - and I think the feeling is mutual!  The girl cannot keep her hands off of Finn.  It's hilarious.  Whenever we put them down on the floor, she makes a beeline for him and immediately starts touching his hair and face.  Today, they were sitting on the blanket together and Annie just gently nudged Finn so he kind of fell over on his back.  Then, she just started touching his face and messing with his hair.  Finn didn't even make a peep!  He was just as interested in her and totally didn't mind it at all (there's a picture of this below)!  Also...whatever toy Finn is playing with at the moment is the sole object of Annie's desire.  There is no distracting her from it either - she knows what she wants!  I just love seeing them play together because it's so good for Finn to have this kind of contact with other kids.  He learns so much from all of them, I think especially from Annie because she's right at his level and doing all the things he wants to do!  I can't wait to see what Finn's relationships with all of his cousins will be like as they get older.  They're all so different and I know they're all going to bring so much to one another's lives.

A Trip to the Garden

We had a fun day on Monday...Drew's birthday!  He took the day off and we went down to the Roosevelt Greenhouse and Gardens.  It was so beautiful - and, best of all, free!  Finn had a great time looking at all of the flowers and fountains.  So did we!  In fact, we had so much fun that I couldn't even choose which pictures to post, so I posted all of them!

Bottoms Up

Finn now likes to sleep on his tummy. I put him down on his back and he just flips right over. Sometimes he ends up like this with his little bottom just sticking up in the air!

This kid LOVES watermelon!  He can't get enough!

Finn in his new fancy bike trailer.  I see lots of bike rides with dad in our future!

He loves when dad gets home from work because that means it's hammock time!  The best time of day!

A Midsummer Night's Cough

There's nothing quite like the flu in the middle of July.  All three of us were pretty miserable for about a week there.  Poor Finn got the worst of it with an ear infection and a bad cough.  I felt so bad for him, but he seems to have bounced back in full force!  He's been much happier this week and obviously feeling a lot better!  Here are some recent pictures.  Finn and I went to cheer Drew and Uncle Max on at their triathalon in Ravenna.  

Finn is in awe of his Uncle Max, the triathlete.  He loves him!

Finn had his lunch by the lake while the guys ran.

Relaxing before dinner in his new "big boy" chair.

Finn's New Tricks

I haven't uploaded all of our new pictures yet, but I wanted to write about a few new things Finn has been doing lately so I don't forget. He's been doing a "mad face" along with a huffing/puffing/snorting noise and I'm not quite sure what he's so mad about. He usually does it while he's eating and sometimes he'll imitate me if I do it. Here's what it looks like:

This makes me laugh every time. He has also been really interested in coughing since Drew and I have had colds for the last couple of weeks. He thinks it's really funny to imitate the coughing noise. Finn is sitting up totally unassisted now and is starting to lunge forward to reach his toys, usually ending up on his tummy (sometimes on his head). He's rolling around a lot too and has started rolling over to sleep on his tummy on most nights. Despite the many hours spent tutoring him on "mamamama", his favorite sound continues to be "dadadadada". We'll keep working on it. He is somewhat interested in drinking water from a sippy cup, but mainly just plays with it. He LOVES when Drew gives him drinks of water from a real cup though (thinks he's pretty cool). Finn is also starting to communicate better about what he wants, mainly via blood curdling screaming and crying. This has proven to be an effective strategy at times, as we tend to get a little scared of him (see above picture). Most of the time, though, he is a really happy little guy. He laughs and smiles a lot and loves when we're all at home together. Whenever Drew, Finn, and I are in the same room, he gets the happiest look on his face and just looks back and forth between me and Drew like he can't believe how great life is. So cute. He's loving all kinds of foods too, especially peas, sweet potatoes, bananas, and apples. More pictures to come!

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July this year, celebrating with the Ferry Family at a little picnic. Finn had a great time getting passed around to all of his cousins. Loved all the attention! There are also a few pictures of the adorable little scene I caught while doing laundry the other day. I walked by the office and there was Finn, watching Drew play the guitar - totally mesmerized. So cute!

Finn and his buddy Tommy.

Hannah, Lauren, Tommy, Finn, and Annie relaxing on the lawn.

Finn and his main squeeze, Hannah. 

 

A Walk in the Woods

Here are some pictures from our latest summer adventure. Had a blast looking for frogs, fish, and turtles!