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!

Guilty Displeasures

I knew since that day that I fell in love with my wonderful and perfectly goofy husband that I wanted to have a child or children with him. I wanted to expand our love. I deeply desired to procreate and shower our baby-us with our lifetime wealth of knowledge and our chests of explosive love. That wish and desire only grew as our inability to effectively reproduce did, too. And, on it went for years. And years. And, well...you get the idea.

And, now that I am blessed to be a mother mom (I don't think I will ever be a "mother"), I finally get to experience all that I knew I was and thought I was missing out on. I joined the secret mommy club. We did it! We have a baby-us...and she is wonderful and beautiful...and all things entirely awesome.

But, there is another side to all of this. One that isn't as apparent to the world outside a parent's doors because who wants to share what isn't so appealing all of the time?

However, who am I to ever keep my mouth shut? Or my words sealed inside of my head? So, I share. And, that being, in all of that time of our desperately wanting and heartbreakingly not realizing, I never thought to delve into the true and sometimes un-pretty reality that is parenthood. Like the fact that I might never go to the bathroom alone again. Or that sometimes my baby-us has to go to the dentist with me. Or that reading a book is now for other people. Or that if I choose to shower at a time other than when Peanut is sleeping, that it might be an excruciating exercise in the most brutal kind of patience. One where an infant clings to your naked and wet legs and then repeats a similar sort of behavior and then also cries the ENTIRE time you try to get ready.

It is moments like this when I get frustrated with mommydom. It is also moments like this that I feel guilty because THIS is exactly what I wanted for 5 plus years....and now that I have it, and so many others still don't...it makes me feel like a bad person for even thinking of complaining. But, I have to allow myself the guilty displeasures along with all the greatness that being a mommy is...because that is what real life is all about. The good. The bad. The ugly.

And, the being able to express yourself no matter the current good, bad, or ugly circumstance.

And, so I shall. And does it mean that I am a bad mom? Or that I love my Peanut any less? Not a bit. Thank you very much! It just means that I am still me. And life is still life. Messy. Beautiful. Not perfect, but wonderful.

Now time to go get the Nut...nap time (read: me time) is now over!

In the Kitchen

At this young age, Finnley does what she can to help mommy out in the kitchen. As you can see, though...that isn't a whole lot. I know one thing that she did add to the cookies for daddy...lots of LOVE! What else can you really ask for???

Driving Mr. Price

Mr. Fisher Price, to be exact. Finnley does love him and loves to drive him around the house. Watch out, world...it won't be long before she is able to get around all on her own. And not by crawling. True upward mobility!

H2Whoa

Finnley's first baby pool experience took place on the last day of May, Memorial Day 2010. She loved it!



Well, she seemed to mostly like it. The dog hated it, though...he was tortured by her floaty toys brazenly teasing him from the surface of the chilly water. Nasty squirty toys! The nerve! He stole a couple of them on a few occasions (you know, to teach them a lesson), but daddy always made him give them back. Poor Batman!



Not a bad way to send out the month. Now, on to see what newness and milestones June will send our way!

Mobility is Cool!

I was putting away laundry upstairs this morning. And, the true reason I decided to do this is because Finnley wanted to climb the stairs. A.G.A.I.N. So, if I had to follow her up there, I might as well make myself useful once I got there. Laundry it was.

And, when I was halfway done putting away said laundry, Finnley decided to climb the laundry basket. Being that the basket was still half full, it didn't tip over when she went to stand up. And, once she was standing, Finnley quickly discovered that the basket moved pretty fluidly on the hardwood floors. And, because the basket was half full...it moved pretty much in a circle. Over. and. Over. again.

Finnley didn't mind one bit. She just loved being able to walk behind something. She is ready to walk. Soo, soooo, soooooo READY! Scary, isn't it???

Just Because I'm Cute

A photo for that reason and that reason alone!

While Mom's Away...

"Away" meaning in the kitchen prepping tomorrow's bottles for Finnley. But, while mom is just that much "away"...Finn will certainly play. She had been entertaining herself in the bathroom after bath time by playing with the magazine rack. I guess that got old quickly, because by the time I came back to check on her...this is what I found:






















And, what has mommy learned from all of this? Finnley can find / make trouble VERY quickly. And, Finnley loves herself some toilet paper! Who can blame her. It is sort of fun!

Peanut, The Supercrazy!

A little video offering a view into the day in the life of Ms. Finnley Piper, aka...Peanut, The Supercrazy! This is full day broken down into 3+ minutes of video, but you get the idea of what our little super"hero" is like. A silly silly girl who certainly entertains herself...and her mommy!

Video...how creative a title is that???

Here is the video that I noncommittally promised during yesterday's post. Wow...look at me being productive and delivering the goods that I only sort of said that I might deliver! I am so proud of me!

Enjoy!

Hodge-Podge

That is what you get when we had a busy weekend and my husband then leaves me for the better part of a week. And, given those circumstances I now really don't have many free minutes, and when I do...those free minutes are spent exercising a needy dog, washing bottles, doing laundry, reading the paper, prepping bottles, going to the bathroom by myself, prepping meals, and several other necessary things.

So, the blog suffers. Just as it should. Better than ignoring the needy dog or not tending to the baby, right? See what a good mommy I am??

In the interim, you will see the following pictures from our weekend at the Radnor Hunt steeplechase races in PA on Saturday / pictures of Finnley being Finnley / and possibly a video or two to follow in the next couple of days. Enjoy what there is to enjoy.

Hey, the pictures of Finnley are the real reason you all come here anyway...I know the truth...

Ms. Fancy-Schmancy Pants

Still fancy...just taken to a new level. You see, it seems daily we are adding new skills around here. I have repeated clapping and waving games with Finnley for a couple of months now. I guess "my" hard work is finally paying off. Finn can now wave, albeit mostly randomly. And, once started, she always stops to turn her hand to her face and wave so she can stare at her awesome ability. She can also clap. CLAP, CLAP, CLAP! This happens at appropriate times (like when we are saying "yay, Finnley" or when she is listening to music), but it also happens sort of out of the blue. For example, she loves to clap while sitting in her high chair. For, I don't know...whatever reason. She just likes to, ok? What do I care...at least she can now do these fun things. Way to go, baby!

Ms. Fancy Pants

Finnley learned awhile ago how to crawl. And then she learned how to pull herself up into a stand using just about anything around her. And then she learned how to climb the few stairs to the landing of our dual staircase. And then....she learned to climb the FULL SET OF STAIRS. The ones that are narrow and go all the way up. To the upstairs! G-U-L-P!

That is why God (or Babies 'R Us people) made baby safety gates. Thank heavens for that!