Parents of the Year

I know this award exists in some fashion or another somewhere in this country. I am not sure what the voting process is like or how to get nominated, but if anyone we know catches wind of exactly how to do that...I am sure that we will be put up on that mighty pedestal and given our due soon enough.

No one could overlook us given all that we do for our child. We sacrifice. We comfort. We love. We provide.

We are SO good at being parents that we provide Finnley with HAND MADE toys like Mr. PillamaHead. Who goes the extra distance like that? Just look at that quality craftsmanship! I dare you to find thems peoples that provide better than us. Go ahead and try!

So, what exactly is Mr. PillamaHead you ask? Well, it is the toy and device of distraction lovingly crafted from the dog's once llama-headed friend whose mouth has been stuffed with an old pill bottle that has been carefully filled with old inedible pistachios.

And, why exactly was Mr. PillamaHead brought into this world? Well, because Finnley is HORRIBLE during diaper changes. She needs something to keep her entertained, or she will roll and "run" without a diaper or pants on. And, she won't come back. And, she will laugh the whole way. And, the tubes of Butt Paste just weren't registering anymore on Finnley's entertainment and successful distraction spectrum.

And, she LOVED that once-was-a-dog-toy. And, she LOVED that pill bottle with those noise-making-happily-shaking pills inside. Together...it is perfection. Right?

And, because I am a GOOD MOTHER....I disposed of the highly dangerous narcotics that once resided in that pill bottle. I am just that good! Pat me on the back if you see me and feel the pressing urge to do so. And, go ahead and sign us up for that parents of the year award thingy while you are at it. We deserve it! Seriously.

Yogurt Tuesday

I guess the only proper way to follow Milk Monday is with Yogurt Tuesday. Finnley and Batman couldn't agree more!

Monday Milk

Finnley makes drinking milk look like the cutest thing that ever happened on a Monday.

Moments

Our days are filled with them. Boring ones. Exciting ones. Silly ones. Sad ones. Big ones. Little ones. Wasted ones. Scary ones. Emotional ones. Useless ones. High ones. Low ones. Hysterical ones. Mundane ones.

Moments, moments, moments.

And, I try to embrace them all as the mom of a baby who seems to grow in each and every one of those fleeting and temporary instances. I keep all sorts of them tucked safely inside my pocket so that I might savor each tasty one throughout the days and weeks to come. Finnley is good at creating so many seemingly meaningful snippets in time that my little pockets are well beyond full.

Yesterday after my exercise class when the two of us were just hanging out in the grass chatting with another mom and baby...Finnley decided to play a hugging game with me. A HUGGING GAME! My non-clingy, non-needy, independent little charmer of a lady wanted to HUG ME! Over and over again. That little granule of loveliness was most delicious for me. Sweet sticky indulgent goodness. I still taste it today. Dessert for weeks, if you will.

I see her miniscule synapses firing on a regular basis now, and all sorts of realizations are starting to come together for my sweet little one. These "ah-hah" moments linger with me, too. I can now ask Finnley if she is ready for "nappy time" or for "night night time", and she will respond by making a noise and heading for the stairs. Then she will proceed to take HERSELF up the entire set of stairs and then head directly to her room. All by the mini-person of a self that she is. Because she GETS IT. And, she is ready to sleep. And, you need to go to your room to do that, of course. Amazing!

To think that this is only the start of my baby's second year. Only. the. START! I am not sure my heart and head are capable of handling and processing the immeasurable amount of "moments" that we are yet to share or that I am yet to witness. I am so proud and honored to be a spectator to the undoubtedly intriguing life of Finn.

Being a mom is pretty cool. Being HER mom is especially cool.

Odd Man Out

Not that that is any different than the norm for me. And, not that I really care. It just is what it is.

I follow a lot of blogs. I love parenting blogs, especially, because now that I am a parent...it is good to see how other people deal with life and go about raising their children. There is a lot of humor in parenthood. There are a lot of mistakes to be made. There are a lot of differences, and yet a lot of commonalities. Parents like to make constant comparisons, and they like to pick and choose those things that provide bragging material regarding their own wee one. I get most of it. I enjoy most of it. I relate. I do.

Lately, the blogs that I read, though, have been discussing how sad these particular parents feel about the transition from infancy to toddlerhood. I read all about how their babies are not babies anymore. How the next thing you know their child won't be romping about in diapers and giggling at nonsense and needing their parents for EVERYTHING, but rather will be out on their own and earning their college degrees. How their babies' worlds just won't revolve simply around them anymore.

As I said, I get it. I do. From their perspectives.

But me? I do not frown upon this transition at all. NOT. AT. ALL. I celebrate it. Openly. Loudly. Proudly. Daily. Hourly. Every single second. All of it!

I am actually thrilled that Finnley is now knocking on the door to toddlerdom. The look of wonder in her eyes grows bigger as her understanding of her world around her does. She is toddling. Walking. Babbling. Making gestures that we actually comprehend. She is a mini person now. Not a blob. Not a thing to just lug around in a carrier and plop next to you as you eat in a restaurant. We have an interactive little explorer, and I do not miss a bit what she "was" before.

Every parenting circumstance is varied. Our experience with infancy was varied by the fact that Finnley suffered from severe reflux. She was uncomfortable a lot. She vomited multiple times daily. Full size bath towels were our burp cloths. Going out was a scary thing that took grand amounts of thought and preparation. Perhaps THIS has something to do with me not missing the newborn days or the months of infancy. In addition, Finnley has never been a cuddly clingy baby. She has never preferred being rocked to sleep in her mother's arms to being put in her crib to self-soothe. So, where some parents might just now be adjusting to a baby who needs them less...I have been well-adjusted to that scenario the whole time. Don't get me wrong...Finnley needs me. She needs her daddy. But, she isn't needy. She has always been an independent little daredevil princess.

The doctor says this type of personality is a sign of intelligence. I will take her word for it. It helps me feel better in the moments where my daughter rejects my comforting hold and my soothing rubs. And, I take more joy in watching what a little firecracker she is as she engages in independent play.

I do not wish away these days. I have not wished away any of them (well, maybe some of the puking days). But, I LOOK FORWARD to each new phase with Finnley. I do not look back with regret that I won't have my "baby" anymore. I don't long for what yesterday held. Instead, I have such hope for each future phase. I cannot wait until Finnley can better communicate with us. Until Finnley can know what we are saying. Until Finnley can run and not just toddle. Until...ahhhh...until SOOO MUCH!

Maybe every parent has an "age" that they will love the most and will want to freeze that particular point in time and not move forward? I don't think I have experienced that age just yet, so I just wait for each new day and see what it brings. I love watching every moment that Finnley grows into the future her. She is brilliant and funny and beautiful and mobile and a big ball of mischief. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings...and the next day...and the next week, and month, and year, and years after that.

I think my favorite "age" is the age that Finnley is today and each current "today" hereafter.

Finnley on Walkabout

New skills. So exciting!

Birthday Wishes

8:39am. August 1st, 2010.
One full year since our little miracle entered our lives. One full year since we celebrated an event that we truly felt might not ever be ours.

It is almost hard to believe she is here. That she has been with us already for 365 days. Especially since she had lived in our hearts and thoughts for so long before that. We are blessed for sure.

With celebrations of birthdays come the crafting of birthday wishes. Finnley isn't quite old enough to understand what it is to make a wish. Or what it is to yet hope for anything. So, this year, I will do the wishing for her...because everyone deserves some wishes and hopes and dreams.

My birthday wishes for Finnley:

to never go a day without realizing that she is loved

to never feel she is not good enough

to never know what it is to be hated

to fall in love

to gently break hearts if she has to do the breaking

to quickly recover if her heart is the one that is broken

to give with all that she has and is

to not be afraid to receive as well

to be affectionate

to know she is beautiful in every possible way

to not be afraid to laugh at herself

to appreciate the simple things

to work to figure out the complicated things

to get up when she falls

to learn from her mistakes and to proceed with grace

to take chances despite the risk of failure

to never feel she must compromise her beliefs to achieve something

to be whatever she aspires to be in life, regardless of how many times that may change

to find comfort in her parents' home always

to outlive her parents by years upon years upon years

to never stop knowing how much she was wanted

to never stop believing she is a miracle in her parents' eyes

to just be happy

Happy 1st Birthday, Finnley Piper Ritter.
My Peanut. My Love. My Silly Heart. My Princess. My Sweet Baby Girl.
May all of mommy's wishes for you on this day come true, and may all of your future wishes for yourself be delivered to you in time as well.

Another one for the bag o' tricks!

HOW BIG IS BABY FINNLEY????


BABY FINNLEY IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO BIG!!!!


(note: gotta love the chip attached to the tip of her nose, too. ha! such style!)

Leaving, on a Jet Plane...

Ok, well...not actually on jet plane. More like in a Subaru Outback. But, leaving nonetheless. The family, dog included, are all piling into the car tomorrow morning and heading out of town. We will first stop in the Columbus area to celebrate birthday tidings with the in laws. After that, we load back up and head out to Chicago. We will be there for a good number of days, and we will ring in the beginning of Finnley's second year on Sunday, August 1st...surrounded by family and friends.

Wish us luck on the road trip. Nothing screams awesome more than traveling cross-country with an almost toddler and a dog while the country experiences record heat and humidity. Ahhhh!

During our "absence", please enjoy these photos of Finnley taken today...one short week before she officially turns ONE!

Our baby. Our miracle. Our peanut. Our love.

Finnley as the Rah-Rah Girl

Finnley loves to dance. Dance like the sweet little white girl that she is. She particularly loves to dance to a few special and specific Lady Gaga lyrics (with a minor adjustment made to the ending). So, like any good mommy...I sing them. All. Day. Long. And, like the funny baby that she is, Finnley proudly shows her move every time.

A future in dancing for her? Maybe. A future in singing for me? Probably not.

Untied and Updating

Raising a child is not easy. Day to day life is sweet but challenging. Now, add in surgery to an oft used and quite necessary body part...and that day to day stuff is down right impossible. Thanks to the help of my mom and dad (aka Grandma and Grandpa), and to my wonderful husband...we have all managed to survive. Mostly unscathed. I think.

I am now finally to the point where I can type using both hands, and I guess that means that I should be putting an update out there. So, here I am. All untied and updating all of you.

Go, Me!!

We are very quickly sliding toward Finnley's first birthday, so it is only right for me to give a window into who that little munchkin is these days and what she is up to in general. So, here goes...all about Ms. Finn:

she now weighs approximately 18.6 pounds. still a string bean. still a peanut. still working on being a supermodel.

can stick out her tongue in imitation of others doing the same

totally off of the bottle since 10 months of age

totally off of formula and onto organic whole milk since just before 11 months of age

bypassed the sippy cup and went straight to straw cups (might have had something to do with her being able to suck but not being able to tip a cup) (or...as I like to think...might just be due to her genius status)

stands all the time. cruises like a pro. pushes anything with or without wheels around the room. not walking on her own...but you see that the ability is sooo there. soon enough!

can clap on command or by imitation

has started to really love her books and make connections through them

thanks to Baby Elmo's "So Big" book...Finnley is now able to do "so big". and, she does it all. the. TIME!

is in love with Baby Elmo due to aforementioned book

loves to play the game "Where's Finnley? Oh, there's Finnley" (our version of peek-a-boo) . she now uses objects to cover her own face, including (but not limited to) bowls, a red scarf, and her hands. her favorite? her hands. she will play this game 100 times during meals. seriously. 100.

she could enter a crawling competition and win. she is just that fast. it is a thing to behold, I assure you. head down and zooming across the room. luckily she picks up her head to see from time to time.

very good at giving (albeit open-mouthed) kisses to pretty much all inanimate objects. will kiss mommy and daddy on request from time to time, but is more likely to "slap" our faces instead. and then smile. silly-heart!

can say a million or two things, not with knowledge of saying an actual word...but she says "stuff", you know. This stuff includes: da-da, ma-ma, ba, ba-bwah, at, sssss, it, sssss, thhh, ssss. did I mention she loves to say sssssssss?

hissing is part of her "vocabulary". she does this when excited. she also raises one hand in the air at the same time.

she understands a lot of words. some of them: milk, mommy, daddy, batman, fan, dragonfly (in context to her room), light switch (in context to her room), hi, nappy-time, night-night-time, no-no (sort of), Finnley. who knows what else that mini-brain of hers is comprehending!

she loves to see baby Finnley in pictures or in the mirror

enjoys visiting her dragonfly decal on her closet door, as well as butterfly, flower, and baby Finnley on the picture frame above her dresser. she even waves to them sometimes. always makes her smile.

oh yeah, she waves.

she finds joy in toys but also in most everyday objects. mostly things with which she shouldn't play.

toilet paper is still fun. to unroll. to eat. to tear up. fun.

she eats ANYTHING. maybe she doesn't eat a ton, but there is nothing she really won't eat. she has had steak, peanut butter toast, scrambled eggs with tomatoes and ham, grilled corn on the cob, rigatoni bolognese, every fruit we can find, all sorts of vegetables, cucumbers, salad...you name it. good little eater!

possesses eight chompers with which to eat all of that yummy food. more coming soon, I am sure.

she uses the dog as a means to stand. his legs as a tunnel to go through. his body as something to be crawled over and back again as many times as possible. she pets him. pats him. smacks him in the face. feeds him everything off her tray. they are buddies.

she climbs stairs like a master. she will still go down them head first if allowed.

she throws herself head first off of the couch. constantly. we juts provide a soft landing by holding her up by her pants.

it is fun to now try to feed mommy and daddy whatever is on her high chair tray. sometimes she shows the dog a bite, too...and then takes it back and eats it herself. tease!

she is still obsessed with the Pennsylvania lottery drawing which takes place at 6:59pm each evening. also obsessed with all of the mega-million and powerball lottery commercials. newly in love with the WaWa hoagie fest commercials.

she is the smartest, cutest, funniest, most stubbornly brilliant, dare-devilish baby known to man. no bias there at all. I swear.

not a cuddle-bug still. she gives love, though. in her own ways.

she has a delicious little giggle. dare you not to smile when you hear it!

she is ours. she is almost a year old. she is still the best gift we could have ever been given. not easy. but worth it.

Hope you enjoy this little view into the life of our little babe, as she is at just a smidge under one year of age. Up next? Toddlerhood. Time will only tell when that phase will begin. That next stage should prove to be even more interesting than the last.

Bring it! We might be able to handle it. We might even be able to handle it well.

All Tied Up...

still recovering from wrist surgery and can only type with one hand, as the left hand is still immobilized in a partial cast. will return to my writing / posting when I am no longer bound and in pain! thanks for visiting!

Babes in Swimland

A video of a swim outing during the 4th of July holiday weekend...good times!

Look Who's "Talking"

Finnley doing what Finnley does...as only Finnley can!

In the Blink of an Eye

A few months ago, I used to be able to plop Finnley down on the floor and surround her with some toys while I would occupy myself. And, when I say "occupy myself" I mean cleaning, vacuuming, cooking...you name it. Household drudgery, to be exact. But, it was lovely to simply put Finn down and know that she was safe, non-mobile, and fairly happy for a good while.

Those days are gone. Long gone. Kiss them goodbye-gone. Gone, forever, and ever, and ever, amen.

Now Finnley moves. And she is not happy to stay in one place for more than a minute or two. And, she is not happy to stay out of trouble. And, I still need to "occupy" myself with household drudgery at times. Because if I didn't, we would all be swimming in dog hair up to our knees. Or armpits. And, I don't think I am exaggerating.

So, while I am occupied, for however brief of a time that might be, my little inquisitor is seeking out mischief in every corner of our home. What kind of mischief, you ask?

Well, Finnley has managed the following:

daily visits to the dog's water bowl for a splashing good time

sticking face in dog's water bowl to see what that might feel like...and trying to take a drink

dumping all of the treats out of her "non-spill" treat trap

playing "telephone" where it is then left on "talk" for 70 minutes and we have a "low battery" warning

pulling mommy's diaper bag onto the floor about 500 times and playing with the various contents

taking apart the plastic pieces that direct air into the room from the air conditioner vent

climbing the dog, over and over again

pulling all of the toilet paper off of the roll and then proceeding to eat it

removing all of the items from the dog's basket of "stuff"

climbing the stairs and then attempting to come down them head first

getting in the dog's treat bin, feeding the dog treats, and feeding the dog's treats to herself (I removed all 3 of them)

pulling herself up onto a candle holder and then knocking the candle down on herself

taking books out of my book bin one by one...and then playing with them on the floor

removing several folded items from the laundry basket and throwing them all over the hardwood

going through the garbage can in the bathrooms, taking out tissues and examining them

playing with daddy's Ohio State flag

banging on the wood-burning stove, which thankfully is not in use right now

climbing the front of the oven

tipping over in the highchair (ok, this one did happen, but it wasn't her fault...the dog was underneath and knocked it over with her in it...SCARY!)

And, all of this mayhem occurs IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE! No joke! It is all enough to make a mom laugh and / or have a heart attack. Hopefully the laughter will stave off the heart attack...or something like that.

I am a smart woman and mommy, so no one needs to point out that this list will only continue to grow as Finnley does. Walking will add a whole new dimension of trouble to our little world. Hopefully nothing that band-aids, some good "NO-NO's", and a little bit of redirection and guidance can't successfully treat.

Maybe I will just tape open my eyelids, too, and stop blinking...think it will help???

Exercises

this particular one is an exercise in tolerance and love.

Fascination

in the simple form of a cardboard cracker box. life at that pint size seems to ensure that everything will be fascinating. here, here to being pint sized!

Happy Father's Day...

There were many points in time when we never thought we would be celebrating such a day, but how blessed are we now? I am so thankful for having a strong and silly partner on this roller coaster ride of a journey we have been on, and I am so lucky to have such a fantastic father to our sweet baby girl. Finnley and Batman are more than lucky to have the best dad in the world with whom to share their days, their toys, their laughs....their lives.

Happy Father's Day, Matt...we all love you!


And, as always...on days like today we are ever-mindful of our friends who have not yet fulfilled their dreams of being a dad....our heart and thoughts are with you, and we share Finnley with all of you. Enjoy the day!

New

Photos.



And a Video.

Because we are all just that cool!

Ooops!

Well, the length on Finnley's jeans is perfect! Apparently the waist is still a bit big on this pair, though...because they fell off while she was standing and playing at her new music table. Didn't bother her at all...she never skipped a bit! You go, girl!