Travis, Hannah and Tristan visit

The Thornton crew is visiting from Houston, and the cousins are having a blast reconnecting!  They haven't seen each other since Finn was about a month old, if memory serves, and Annie is fully enamoured with the big kids.  Finn was very confused as to why there were interlopers at his grandparents house, but he's come around, too.  Yesterday was the first full day they were here, and we filled up the hours with running around (lots and lots of running) at the house, a trip to the playground, and a trip to the pool.  We had a house of tired kids by dinnertime. 

 

After everybody tried on Toby's fire equipment, he was required to fully suit up for a photo. 

 

And here is juts one example of the many rounds of dramatic and overzealous hugging that went on throughout the day.  Of course it is super cute, even if Annie looks a little like a prisoner rather than a willing participant here.  More to follow!  Its going to be a great week!

 

Passing the torch - or at least the trike

3/16/2011

6/21/2013

Finn's 1 year stats

For photos and a recap of birthday festivities, see yesterday's post.  (Just an FYI since I rarely update my blog lately, and now I've done two posts in two days!)

Stat's from Finn's 1 year checkup this morning:

Height: 30 1/4 inches - 75th percentile
Weight: 24 lb 8 oz - 75th percentile (and just one pound shy of Annie's weight at age 2)
Head: 18 1/4 inches - 50th percentile

Finn is growing and growing, sticking to the 75th percentile just as he has been for a long time now. He giggled, played and laughed through his appointment, except when it was time for shots.  The doctor also has a very cool new tool that was able to tell us that his vision is good. 

Shots today:  3 - MMR, Hep A and Chicken Pox.  I still can't believe there is a vaccine for chicken pox, but if it prevents shingles when he is grown, I'm all for it.  I remember when my Grandma had shingles, and it was awful.

New tricks!  On Finn's first birthday he came up with two brand new party tricks - blowing kisses and dancing!  The dancing is so funny.  I've been lamenting the fact that he isn't a dancer, since Annie danced early and often.  She did the cute full-body shrug and the bobbing up and down that I've seen from lots of other babies.  Finn, however, takes after his daddy.  He keeps his upper body completely still and just throws his legs around, marionette style.  I'll post a video soon.

Now if we can just get him off of the bedtime bottle before he turns 2...our track record isn't great. :)

Finn turns 1!

I just can't believe it.  My baby is pretty much a toddler now.  In fact, if he realized that walking is an actual mode of transportation and not just a fun party trick to get people to laugh at him, I'm pretty sure he'd already be an official toddler. 

Over the last 12 months, I've come to decide that Finn is decidedly complicated.  He is a fairly serious baby, but has an awesome chuckle and huge smile.  He is a fairly chill baby, but don't get in between him and mama, or make him wait more than .5 seconds to eat.  He has started throwing tantrums, but only for mom and dad.  He loves cars and balls, pushing other kids on walking toys, and books with flaps.  He sleeps pretty well, and is going to follow in Annie's footsteps to become a certified paci junkie.

Annie helped me make the grown-up cake and the smash cake.  She was so excited that she got to decorate Finn's cake with blueberries and blue sprinkles.  (Blue, you see, is her favorite color.  My anti-pink crusade continues, and I'm very proud that she hasn't yet bowed to pink peer pressure.  The day is coming, though -  I'm not delusional.)

 

 

What happens when you forget to add the blueberries to a blueberry cake?  You create an opportunity to make a blueberry trifle cake! 

 

 

Finn ate all the blueberries off his cake first.  (After Annie's first birthday when she refused to touch the cake, I wisened up and added something Finn would find familiar and tasty.)

After finally trying some frosting, he decided that cake was worth smiling about!

 



Then he discovered that too much cake can cause a sugar coma. 

 



Finn had to work hard to be involved in the gift unwrapping. Annie is quick, determined, and has developed a habit of pretending she can't hear her mommy, especially when her mommy is saying things like, "Don't open all of Finn's presents!" 

We had a really fun party with just our family and Grandma and Grandpa.  It was such a nice, relaxing way to mark the occassion.  Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Hello, summer!

We thought we'd usher in summer by pulling out all the stops.  Parks, parties, zoos and pools, oh my!  We very nearly added a boat, but decided that we ought to save something for the next three months.

These are in reverse chronological order, but I decided to start with the cutest, in case you lose interest part way along. :)

Here we are poolside!  Annie found an abandoned Barbie doll and much to my chagrin decided to confiscate it for some time.  It looks like she may be trying to teach Barbie to swim at the same time that Toby is trying to teach Annie how to use a pool noodle and a diving stick to create an improvised projectile device.



And then of course we have Finn doing what Finn does best when Grandpa is around - cuddling with Grandpa.  Somebody please tell Finn that I hauled him around for almost 41 weeks, birthed him and nursed him even after he got a mouth full of teeth, so perhaps he could consider sharing some of those cuddles with me.  

 Block party fun!  Finn appears to be a fully grown man, but really he's just 11 months old.   Annie is providing evidence that (1) blue is her very favorite color; (2) cupcakes are her very favorite food; and (3) her parents have failed to instill in her a sense of modesty.

Artificial dye - hooray!

Here we are at the bouncy house birthday party with Annie's old besties - Sofia and Sammy Grace.  Annie was too distracted by her horror that they were serving pizza  to smile.  Have you ever met a kid who would not eat pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, or any other food typically served at birthday parties?  If you have met Annie, you have indeed met such a child.

Finn and Daddy enjoyed the bouncy house action, too. 

Pileups at the bottom of the big slide are so much fun!

Bouncy house obstacle-course fun or firefighter training?  You decide.

 

 

Tiny little steps

Finn, born on Father's Day, took his first "real" step on Mother's Day.  This kid is going to appreciate meaningful occassions when he grows up.

Go, Finn, go!

Annie was terribly impressed.

Goodbye, April!

 

April was not our best month.  We are all fine, just recovering from the little frustrations, disappointments and bumps in the road that come from, well, living.  The month ended with recovery from a flooded basement, which has been a time-consuming mess to fix.  It turns out that even the best insurance companies are sometimes too busy with major problems to worry about a claim that involves only a hot water heater, A/C unit, washer, dryer and assorted stuff stored in the basement.  But dealing with those things is a pain in the neck, even if I am trying to remember that if the insurance company is busy dealing with the bigger fish, there are other people with much bigger problems than replacing some appliances.  I still wish I could just snap my fingers and be done with it. 

 

Anyway, there was some good news in April - very good news actually.  You may remember that Toby had to perform CPR on a colleague about a year ago.  The accolades continue to pour in for a job well done, and Toby is being honored at work next week and at a fancy-schmancy state-wide EMS function at the end of the month.  He was highlighted in the Franklin Fire Department's annual report (see below).  But most importantly, Toby's colleague finally received a heart and lung transplant late last month, and he is doing amazingly well.  It is absolutely beyond comprehension that a young man who was pretty much dead when he was found by his co-workers received such great treatment from bystanders, EMS staff, and of course the hospitals, that he suffered no neurological impairment and was strong enough to get a heart and lung transplant when a match became available.  The messages his mother sent to his office were so heartwarming.  So that is what I'm going to try to remember about April.  Sh*t happens, but so does really, really good stuff.