Happy Birthday, Finley

Monday night, we tucked a one year old into bed for the last time.

Because yesterday Finley turned two!

I can’t believe it’s already been two years since this guy was born.  He was the sweetest, easiest baby, and he’s growing into a silly, funny, energetic, rough and tumble toddler.

Finley loves Hannah, who he calls “Nah-Nah.”  Everyday when he wakes up from his nap, he starts saying her name because he knows it’s time to go pick her up from school.  He squeals and giggles when he sees her coming out of school and he loves for her to sit and play with him.

There’s not much that Finley won’t eat.  He’s such a good eater and almost always points at his plate and demands more at every meal.  He’s really good with a fork and spoon and prefers a regular cup to a sippy cup. 

He loves to wear shoes and point to body parts and name them.  His vocabulary is building and he’s saying quite a few French words and phrases and I’ve even heard him say a few things in German.  If we ask him, “Tu veux manger?” which means do you want to eat? he always answers, “Oui.”

At his two year doctor appointment, I said something to him in French and the doctor said, “Oh, you should really only speak to him in your language.”
Touché.

Finley also loves cars, trucks, trains, buses, airplanes and anything with wheels.  He gets excited when we drive past a construction site and could watch bulldozers all day. 

This is pretty typical for us – one kid looking sweetly at the camera, the other being goofy.

This is the face Finley makes when you tell him something he doesn’t like. 
He doesn’t like to be told no and can be difficult to strap into his car seat and stroller.  He wants to walk everywhere.

We had a simple little birthday celebration at home, just the four of us.  We ate dinner, cupcakes, and, because Finn’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day, I made these rainbow fruit parfaits:

(Feel free to pin this very difficult dish to your Pinterest boards.)

Happy 2nd birthday, Finley!
We love you so much!

18 Months

Finley is 18 months old!

He’s weighing in at 24 pounds and has 13 teeth, with one more that is about to pop through any minute now.  He sleeps from about 7:30pm until 7:30am and takes one afternoon nap. 

Finn’s saying lots of words and making animal sounds.  My favorite is when I put his shoes on him and he says, “There.”  He also gives the sweetest, slobbery kisses ever.
He loves playing with cars, trucks, trains and anything that has wheels.  He’s obsessed, obsessed with motorcycles and could look at, point at and make vrooom noises all day.  He also loves to be outside and is happiest if there’s water, dirt or rocks to play in.  He gets really excited about dogs, cats and bicycles, which he calls, “ikes.” 

Finn loves to eat and eats just about anything.  He wants to use a fork and spoon by himself and is getting better at it, but meal times are really messy.

He doesn’t like diaper changes and being told no.  Getting him into his clothes is still a circus act because he wiggles and tries to run away.  He does, however, love getting his socks and shoes on.  He’ll bring his socks and shoes to us, sit down and hold his little feet up.

Finley loves Hannah and she can always get him to laugh.  If he cries, she hugs him and says, “Oh, honey.”  She’s such a great big sister.

He’s on the go all day long!  One day, at the bottom of the stairs, he pulled the baby gate out of the wall and had gotten to the third step before I realized what was going on.  I put him back on the floor and while I was fixing the baby gate he went into the kitchen, poured the dog’s water bowl out and was rolling in the water. 

But it’s hard to get upset by his shenanigans, because look at that smile and wrinkled up nose.
It does me in every single time.

Happy 18 months, Finn!
You are so loved.

Strawberries and Shenanigans

This year Shawn and Hannah planted a little strawberry patch in our garden. 
(In case you think that we have a garden in the American definition of a garden, now is a good time to tell you that Europeans call their backyards gardens, and a backyard is a cement slab/patio at the back of the house.)
To clarify: Shawn and Hannah planted a little strawberry patch in an area of grass located at the back of our house.

Anyway, their plants recently bore their first fruits.

On the day we bought the plants at Hornbach, which is like the European version of Home Depot (they have an orange sign and everything), a woman approached Shawn and asked him a question (in French) about the strawberries.
He politely explained that he doesn’t speak French well enough to help her so would she mind if he spoke English? 
The woman rolled her eyes, gave and exasperated sigh and walked away.

The French have a phrase for expressing anger: J’en ai plein les bottes, which literally translates to I have full boots and basically means I’ve had enough.

Apparently this lady’s boots were really full because she tracked down a manager, brought him to the strawberry plant table, pointed her finger at Shawn, and complained loudly about his poor French.

Now, I don’t know if it was the shirt he was wearing or the way he was meticulously sorting through the plants with a certain horticulture expertise, but it became apparent that this woman thought THAT SHAWN WAS AN ACTUAL EMPLOYEE OF THE STORE.

The manager stared at Shawn, then back at the woman and explained that there was nothing he could do about this man’s ability to speak French because he does not, in fact, work here.

I don’t know how we get ourselves into these kind of situations.

*****

You may be wondering why Finley is not wearing pants in this picture.

Here’s what happened:
We were walking to school to pick up Hannah when a bird flew overhead and pooped directly on Finn’s jeans. It took a minute for me to register what had happened and later that day when I texted Shawn to tell him about it he replied with some nonsense about it being good luck.  Well, maybe for Finn it was, but it certainly wasn’t for me, as I was the one who had to clean it up.  And I was in a big hurry to pick up Hannah, get the kids back to the car and get to my doctor appointment. 

Then I realized that I didn’t have a change of clothes for Finn because OF COURSE I DIDN’T. 

So we headed to my doctor’s office and the receptionist showed us into the little room to wait.  Hannah plopped down onto one of the chairs and discovered that if she sat down with enough gusto, the leather chair made a tooting sound.  This reduced her to a heap of giggles because when you’re six, there’s not much funnier than toot noises.   Then Finn started laughing because when you’re a boy, toot noises are funny, no matter what age you are.  And I started laughing because the whole thing was just so ridiculous.

So, to recap our day:  a bird pooped on Finn, my doctor walked in to find all three of us laughing at toot noises and Finn was sitting in his stroller without pants. 

I bet I’m his favorite patient.

(And I think Shawn may be Hornbach’s favorite customer.)   

Better Late Than Never: Finley’s First Birthday

I’m terribly late in posting this, but here’s Finley’s first birthday!
(He’s 14 months as I type this.)

As I said earlier, I had some drama with my laptop but now it’s fixed.
Apparently all that was needed was a new (cheap) power cord that Shawn brought back from the US and she’s ready to chug along again.
And also, for the last I don’t know how long, I had to have the laptop plugged in at all times because it would not hold a charge.  And now it charges right up.  Who knew?

AAAAANNYYY-WAAAAAAY…
Back to the birthday boy.

He’s really looking more and more like a little boy and less like a baby.
At his one year check-up he weighed 21 pounds, 5 ounces and was 29 inches tall.

Being far away from family when your little one reaches such an important milestone is hard.  On that day, there was nothing I wanted more than to have all of our loved ones gathered in our home to see Finley on his first birthday.  Our little family and a few of our close friends here in Luxembourg celebrated with cupcakes that Hannah and I made.  She said that we should make green icing since Finn’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day.
I couldn’t have agreed more.

At first, he was hesitant.

But once he figured out that THIS TASTES GOOD, he was shoveling it in by the fistful.

He also got spoiled with gifts from friends here in Luxembourg, and packages sent from America.

Happy first birthday, Finn Man. 
We love you more than you know.

Way Back in February We Went Skiing

After my little break, I’m finally getting caught up on things on the old blog.
Let’s go back to February, shall we?
It was the half term school break in Europe, which is also known as QUICK! EVERYONE GET TO THE MOUNTAINS FOR SKIING.
Shawn had been in the US for work and returned to Luxembourg on a Sunday, just as we were saying goodbye to my sister who was going back to Los Angeles.

On Monday afternoon, we loaded up the car and headed to a precious little chalet in Les Gets (pronounced LAY ZSHAY) in the French Alps.

(He LOVES his car top carrier.)

Finley spent the entire week trying to figure out how to get outside to the snow.

And Hannah and Shawn spent nearly all of their time on the slopes.  
Hannah took lessons with a French ski instructor named Marco, and every time she said his name she pronounced it with a French accent.

Now, I know that the title of this post leads one to believe that we, as in all of us went skiing, but the truth is that only Shawn and Hannah skied.  You see, in the days prior to leaving I was feeling a cold coming on and by the time we arrived at Les Gets, I had a full case of tonsillitis.  We’re talking sore throat, fever, and tonsils the size of golf balls.  It was delightful.

Since I wasn’t out on the slopes, I only have a few pictures of this trip, and I think this has to be my favorite:

 

I’ll be doing some more catching up when we return from this weekend’s adventure.
We’re heading to Germany (with three other families) to Phantasialand, which is a theme/amusement park.  My friend sent me a text this afternoon saying that she’d been looking on the park’s website and read that The Black Mamba rollercoaster has restrictions for “guests with particularly large thighs.”

I have no idea what the Germans consider “particularly large thighs.”
So I guess I should bring some Spanx.

And don’t worry, Shawn’s already packing up the car top carrier.

11 Months

I’m a few weeks late in posting, but Finley is 11 months old!

Last week at the doctor he was just an ounce shy of 21 pounds.
I think this is what Hannah weighed around 16 months!

One of his new favorite things to do is take a ride on Eeyore.

He’s still easy going, and moving all over the place and into everything.  He loves to pull himself up on everything.

He loves to wave and make his little cars drive across the floor.

Finley eats just about everything we give him.  He loves all his fruits and veggies, but he makes funny faces when I give him spinach.  Sleeping is still going well, except when he had a cold last week and woke up a few times during the night.  He takes two naps a day and I’ve noticed that since he’s gotten so much more mobile and active he tends to wear himself out and sleep better for naps.  This has been nice since he’s not always been the best napper.

Finley loves his family and he gets so excited when we pick Hannah up from school everyday.  Shawn was in the US a few weeks ago and when he came home, Finn squealed and flapped his arms around like a bird. He couldn’t get over to his daddy fast enough.

We’ve been working on baby sign language and so far he does the sign for “milk.”  I’ve been showing him the signs for “more” and “all done,” but he seems to have made up his own sign for “all done,” because when he’s in his high chair and he’s had enough, he raises his hands above his head and then slams them on the tray.   

Happy 11 months, Finley!
We love you so much!

Ten Months

Finley is ten months old!

So, what’s he up to these days?
His eighth tooth just popped through this week.  He’s got four on top and four on bottom.
He’s eating just about everything.  He had his first grilled cheese sandwich, cut into slices, and he held on to those pieces like someone was going to take them from him.

He’s still nursing 4-5 times per day and eats solids for lunch and dinner. 
Finley’s back to sleeping well again – it took us about 6 nights to get back on schedule after we returned to Luxembourg from the US for Christmas.  Jet lag is no joke, people.
He’s been going to bed around 7:30 and waking around 7 in the morning.  He takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap, and he typically sleeps well for at least one nap each day.  Sometimes the other nap is a bust.  But we can’t complain because he sleeps like a log during the night.

He’s army crawling all over and has crawled up on all fours a few times, although ever so tentatively. 
(Hannah started crawling at 10 months also.)

He loves to stand and play with his toys on the coffee table.

He also manages to get himself stuck under it.  Every single day.

Because of his recent mobility, I’ve set up the pack-n-play so that he can play there while I do my workouts in the living room.  Then I take it into the kitchen when I make dinner.  He seems to like it.

Shawn thinks that it’s kind of hillbilly to come home to a baby in a pack-n-play in the kitchen.  Especially when the baby is only wearing a diaper.
(Not that that’s ever happened or anything.)

And speaking of diapers, changing them is still a circus act because he rolls and wiggles and scoots away every time.   He’s got stuff to do, I guess.

Finley’s still easy going, smiles all the time and is in desperate need of a haircut.  But I just can’t because he has a few little curls and the way his hair looks after he’s had a hat on cracks me up.

He waves bye-bye, loves to play peek-a-boo, cracks up when anyone sneezes and loves when we make a big fuss when he does something new.
He also adores his big sister.  I think his favorite part of the day (besides eating) is when Hannah runs out of school and gives him a hug. 

A couple of times, we’ve heard him say what sounds like “uh oh.”  He also says “dada” and “mama.”

The biggest thing he did in the last month was travel from Luxembourg to the US for his first Christmas and New Year’s.  He did great, although the first two hours on the flight back were tiring because he was so wiggly and just wanted to touch everything.  Once he fell asleep, he slept until we landed.
 

New Year’s Eve with my good friend and one of his favorite ladies.

Happy ten months, Finn Man. 
It’s hard to believe that in a few short months we’ll be celebrating your first birthday.
We love you so much!

9 Months

Finley is nine months old!

I also want to mention that one year ago this week my dad had surgery that went terribly wrong.  When we arrived home in the US, he’d been unconscious for about a week, but had been intermittently alert enough to communicate with my mom and sister.

When I got to his ICU room, 26 weeks pregnant, he opened his eyes slightly and my mom said, “Tina’s here.  Look at her belly.”

He couldn’t speak, but he mouthed to me, “Boy.”
I wish he could’ve known that he was right.
Sometimes I wonder…in heaven does God tell him about Finley?

Hannah was my dad’s world and I can’t even tell you how much he would’ve loved him, too.

Finley’s still sweet, calm and easy going.
And this boy loves to eat!
He’s had just about every fruit (except citrus), vegetable, meat and pasta in puree form and feeds himself peas, bananas, bread, cooked carrots and broccoli.  It’s a big mess and most of it ends up on the floor.  He’s also tried drinking from a cup…and that usually ends up on the floor, too.

Finley had a doctor appointment last week and he was 19 pounds, 8 ounces and 27 inches. 
His rate of weight gain has slowed down, and I asked the doctor about that but she said it is completely normal at this age.  Then she laughed and pointed out that his belly was hanging over his pants and said, “Dees ees nosing to worry about.  Dees ees a healthy baby.”

His favorite game is peek-a-boo!
He has seven teeth – four on top and three on bottom.  The doctor also said that “dees ees time to do goot washing of zee teeth.”  

He gets up on all fours and scoots backwards, but hasn’t quite figured out how to go forwards yet.  I don’t think it will be long, though.  Diaper changes and getting dressed have become a circus act because Finley rolls and wiggles all over.  I think he likes to be wrestled in and out of his clothes. 

We put up our little Christmas trees and he LOVED the lights.

Finley’s still a great little sleeper and sleeps 11-12 hours at night, but naps aren’t as consistent and I think it’s because we’re on the go a lot with Hannah’s school and activities.  He still takes two naps a day and some days he sneaks in a little cat nap around 5PM.  On the days when he’s not sleeping during nap time?  This is what he’s doing.  It’s like he knows we’re watching him.

Finley’s started to wave and he really babbles a lot. He says, “dada” all the time, and “mama” every so often.  (My mom got him a pack of four of the striped onsies he’s wearing below.  They are the best – so soft and comfortable and they wash well and go with everything. He’s going to be living in them until he outgrows them.)

He has a great laugh.  See?

(The video is dark because we had just pulled the car into the garage and Hannah had him laughing so hard in the backseat that I couldn’t not take a video.)

Happy 9 months, Finn!