Verbally Challenged

The wee dude turned eight months a couple of days ago and he’s changing so much every day! I didn’t do a formal 8 month shoot (maybe I will this week) but caught some “in the moment” pics!

Here is a bit about the little dude:
Happiest baby so far with a healthy sense of humor
Makes a crazy grunting noise now
Worst case of separation anxiety yet
FOUR choppers…er…teeth…see?

I thought this looked like he was taking a self-portrait! I had to get low to photograph the teeth!

Amused with teeth grinding
Bites things (or me)…like the shirt of my shoulder and snap it back….apparently it’s funny
Still nurses 6-8 times during the day/night
Likes bananas and sweet potatoes (not together)
Sleeps 10-12 hours at night
Naps 4-5 hours a day over two big naps and one catnap
Army crawling/creeping has replaced rolling and he’s getting fast
Rocks onto the hands….trying to figure out the knees (NOT rushing this one)
Likes the cat…feeling is NOT mutual
Puts EVERYTHING in the mouth…EVERYTHING (normal I know)
Pulls hair REALLY WELL
Nicknames: Finnie, Finner, Finner-oo, baby moo (that’s IS a cow reference), Finner-man
Smiles at everyone, not kidding. This boy is happy!

Happy and mobile. See?

One minute he’s playing on the floor with mama sitting a few feet away:

Sweet boy turns and notices mama:

And here he comes…eyeing me:

Swimming through the air:

OK…maybe he’s not eyeing me:

He wants the camera:

And he got it! I’m so in trouble!

While I have this “Finn is 8 months now” post all typed up and ready to go, I don’t have the photos to go along with it because…well…I’m sick. And I swear to you last night I thought that I was going to die…or suffocate to death since I can’t seem to pass even one molecule of oxygen through my nose and I’m so NOT a mouth breather. My poor wee dude (who still nurses and co-sleeps during the night) didn’t sleep well because of my tossing and turning and gasping for air. He wanted comforting and extra cuddling which is really hard when you’re trying to find a comfy position and strategically balance the snot in your head (don’t gasp, you know you do it). I never did find that balance since my head is like a cement block right now!

Well because you probably don’t want to hear me talk about fluids all morning (dang…that’ll give me some lovely hits on the ol’ blog I’m sure) I’m going to share two cards that I created a few days ago that I’m considering sending to myself. Not kidding. All were made with American Crafts goodies and super simple!

Here is the first one featuring a sweet stamped cherry pie that I wish someone would give me:

I bought one for myself yesterday at a bakery I’ll have you know.

And the second one:

I go through phases with card making and this week I felt like making them. And finishing the inside of the card is something new for me too but I’m liking it.

So that’s little ol’ pathetic snotty cemented headed sick me today.

Baby post coming soon!

For the SEVENTH year in a row we went to the Wiggles concert and went bananas…since that’s what this years concert was called…”The Wiggles Go Bananas.”

We smiled. We laughed.

We pointed. We cheered. We clapped.

We gave thumbs up.

We saw lots of confetti.

We were mesmerized.

We were “Getting Strong” for a bit.

Liam loved getting strong.

We acted likes bears.

We sang “twinkle twinkle little star” in the dark with “stars” all around us. The little gal on my lap was beyond thrilled!

We loved the wiggles as a family.

I really am speechless! Apparently this is what happens when I run down to the store for a few minutes, leaving daddy to watch the kiddos on our playground.

And he’s right if you notice the video title, “No Good Can Come of This”

This post brought to you by the letter “i”… as in iPhone…because it’s better to have a wet phone than camera.

After returning home from a crazy weathered croupy long weekend, visiting the doctor and spending an unpredictable and later rainy (of course) day at the pool we set off for an adventure and landed ourselves here:

An indoor waterpark with slides, a wave pool, squirting craziness, pools and lots of water (guess that’s a given).

The kids quite enjoy this place and well, so do we because it keeps them occupied and sounds like this:

So we do a lot of nodding and pray they don’t ask for a pony while we’re there. Addy quite liked the water slides and went down them at least 200 times.

Liam on the other hand liked the pool with the “obstacle courses” that he could play on. He perfected the flip while Addy perfected her whining (don’t touch me, I can do it, I don’t want help, move, you stand over there) but again, we couldn’t really hear it:

Finn hung out (quite literally) in my carrier while I followed Addy around and tried not to drop my phone in the water (since that sort of damage doesn’t really count towards getting a new phone…pfffft):

But he also hung out with daddy while awake in his carrier playing with the squirters and whatever else he could reach (like my hair):

Addy whined during lunch because she wanted pizza, but she didn’t want pizza, but she wanted it cut up, but don’t touch it (fatigue + 2 years old = bad combo):

Finn chewed on HIS phone a bit and didn’t drop IT in the water either:

And Liam was so busy I have no other photos of him.

Overall it was a good time and I didn’t drop my phone in the water. WHEW!

Otherwise known as how much suckier could my summer vacation get.

Last week my hubs took the week off so we could spend a little extra family time together. We didn’t go to Arizona in june like we always do (booooo…hiiiiiiiissssssssss) but it was probably best to skip a year as mama doesn’t look forward to being on east AND west coast time with the baby. Plus we’ll appreciate it all the more next year when we go….right? We will right?

So we headed up to our cottage at the lake for a lovely weekend. Problem #1, don’t set your expectations too high. We left on Friday to give us MORE time over the weekend to do fun things (or enjoy the rain together). I didn’t even pull out my camera because the kids were borderline insane and I needed a break. I did. So I planned a trip to Wal-Mart to get some cheese (not kidding). We were having pasta and who on earth could eat pasta without cheese (and I don’t mean the powdered can processed stuff). I needed a hunk of parm. I’m a cheese snob – I own it. So off I went.

Except that when I got in the van it wouldn’t start because our battery was dead.

So after we found someone to give us a jump I drove to the auto store and had a new battery installed by a man who hated vans (he told me at least five times) and wasn’t very nice. He also told me that I need to hose down the engine area under my hood more often too since it was pretty dusty…because I don’t have anything else to do with a spare second I manage to find in the day. Thanks buddy for that grand tip.

So off I went with my new battery powered mom driving dirty engined van complex to buy cheese. And I did. And dinner was yummy even if I didn’t get to eat until 9:30pm.

The next day, Saturday, we woke up re-charged and ready to take on the day. I napped the baby who woke up happy…

The dog sat and worried about clouds looming overhead:

Addy gave dirty looks to anyone who messed with her marshmallow:

While I perfected my technique for roasting the perfect marshmallow.

Why it IS lovely thankyouverymuch.

Audrey perked up a bit when the sun came out (while showing you why she could never be a show dog with those crooked teeth):

Addy (or is it “Kayla”) took a ride to “the store”…perhaps to get some cheese?

While Liam worked on building his “car” from trash…er…marshmallow kindling (the talent we breed is amazing, no?):

And Finn continued to smile.

It was a very lovely afternoon until we were getting ready to head to the beach – and then it started to rain.

Sunday started off rough right out of the gate when we learned that the barking heard in the middle of the was indeed not the dog but our daughter. She had croup which also meant that she had no energy or a voice. See? Or would that be hear…hmmmm.

So that day was spent “getting steamy” which involved some hot water, a small bathroom and some drawing on the mirror in ten minute intervals.

Did I mention that Sunday was a beautiful day? A perfect beach day? We had to divide and conquer, one at the beach with the big boy and one at the cottage with the sick one. Finn was passed back and forth like a hot potato.

Monday we drove home, went to the doctor and Addy got a shot. The day sucked. The End.

Stay tuned for part 2!

A video for you of the littlest boy belly laughing, as promised.

But don’t mind the poor quality…
Or the messy car…
Or the fact that you’re watching the baby through the mirror…
Or Nate is dealing with the drivethru folks at Wendys…
Or Nate phone getting a text…
Or Liam screeching…

A laughing baby always make me smile.

I promise you that I have other children.

I really do!

It’s just that this one is growing at an incredibly fast rate and I need to capture it before it’s too late. Or he’s crawling. Or running. Or mobile…unless you count rolling…which he did a lot of during this shoot.

But the little dude is now seven months and this is a new favorite photo of him:

It’s like he’s saying “pull up a chair,” “let’s talk,” “got any milk?”

And he’s really into whatever you’re saying.

Which is usually “ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba” – yes that’s the adults talking.

But he is responding to that, with lots of “ahhhhhhhhh” (s) and yesterday I heard one “da da” – but it meant nothing. He had no idea what he was saying and won’t until he masters “ma ma” first since I carried him for nine months and feed him seven times a day from my body. I deserve to hear it first, no?

He has also mastered certain skills like rolling (no surprise there), grasping, chewing, hair pulling, smiling, laughing, foot clapping…

He really likes that last one.

And then at seven month he is also:
*Getting his top two teeth in (I don’t like this part)
*Napping three times a day still (middle cat nap)
*Belly laughing (video coming soon)
*Loving oatmeal
*not loving avocado (boooooooo)
*enjoying banana
*pushing way up on his knees
*inch worming
*happy happy happy