Fintan's First Toofers!!!

So here is a first look at Fintan's first two teeth. They came in about the same time, though the one on the right seemed to be peeking through a bit earlier. You can feel their sharpness under the gums before they break the gums, so every once in a while I let him chew on my knuckles (he likes it, don't ask) and I see if I can feel any others getting ready to come through.

Two little toofers poking through the pink.

Ooooh, Fintan is making his Evil Genius face again... look out! Evil Genii bite!

A close-up of the toofers. I'm sure they have a little more popping out to do. I remember Little Joseph, my friend Lynn's baby, had these two little toofers at 6 months, too. Babies are much more interesting at this age, aren't they?

This is just a little shot of the little guy in his little pack-n-play... easily pushing both sides out. He is longer, I think, than most 1-year-olds! Poor kid. No wonder he can't push himself up on all fours yet. We make him do push-ups and pull-ups now but so far it's not helping.

Future Canadian Hockey Champ

Fintan really likes his new hockey jerseys. Dad, of course, really likes that they're Toronto Maple Leafs and Team Canada. Here is Fin enjoying his first taste of hockey stardom!

Dad's really proud! (And we hope he gets Dad's great teeth! He really loves having his teeth and gums brushed.)

Look at me! I can stand up on my own! That means I'll be skating before I can crawl! (And it's true. The kid can stand and even balance himself while holding on to things, but he can't even get himself into sitting position by himself yet, or push himself up onto all fours. A little backward, just like his dad.)

This is a good hat for when it's too hot for my jerseys. (I hope it still fits this winter!)

The Amazing Flying Finny!

This is just a little story of a boy who could fly.

His dad wasn't impressed.

Is this one of those new first-class reclining beds? Oh, no, it's just Dad's lap. (Hey, is the beverage cart in here??)

Ahhh, much better with the seat back ...

Finny was a great flyer. We kept his self-serve (read: tiny 2oz) bottle full of water so he could keep his ear tubies open. He only cried when hungry, and that was an easy fix. Otherwise, what you can't see here is him (a) squirming the heck all over the place for five hours, (b) sleeping on the tray tables, (c) giving Mama the biggest slobberiest most disgustingly precious kisses, and (d) the "on the sly" diaper change (our aisle seat neighbor didn't even notice!).

Fintan's Great Grandmother - 94!

On Monday the 24th it was Grandma Harwood's birthday. 94 years! She's doing very well all things considered. It was fun to visit and surprise her with Mr. Fin. First Mark's dad went in - she was expecting him. Then Mark went in - what a pleasant surprise! Then I went in with Fin in the stroller - and it took her a few seconds for it to register who I was -- and who the baby was -- and then she was so overcome with emotion that she couldn't speak for a moment. It was great - a fantastic surprise! She was ecstatic.

I think Fin liked his great grandmother, too. He was very calm on her lap (she is in a special wheelchair) and not his usual squirmy self. He smiled the whole time and didn't even complain about having to wear a "nice shirt."

Then we all went to the activity room and had some Swiss Chalet. Mark likes Swiss Chalet. It is kind of like a Marie Calendars specializing in chicken. It's good, but I don't know what the excitement over the Chalet sauce (gravy) is. I don't like. They have good pot pies, tho.

Grandpa gives Fin something to eat after we all had our meal. GG looks on adoringly.

Here we have the four generations of Harwoods. It's kind of sad Grandpa isn't still around, but at least we get four generations one way or the other. Mark looks like the odd man out here...

Grandma gave Fin his very own KITTY! OMG he loved it. He didn't put it down the whole trip (well, except when he ate and when he had a tantrum and tossed it on the floor - but other than that he and his own kitty were inseparable).

Here he is climbing all over Grandma, who is enjoying every minute of it, I assure you. Don't let Mark fool you - she is as crazy about him as my mother, and so now he really can't complain! :)

Smooches for Grandma!!! A tender moment.

GG is fun! We like zooming around on her wheelchair and kickin' back in her arms. She's wearing a nice silky dress, too. Isn't she 'great'?

Bunky at the Toronto Zoo

We arrived safely in Toronto. Fin seems to love to fly. It must be genetic. We had a pretty uneventful flight, with Bunky sleeping on the tray tables, my lap, dad's lap, etc. (Next time, his own seat. Sheesh!) We spent most of Saturday checking in, changing hotel rooms three times, and finally settling in. We were all exhausted.

Sunday we went to the zoo. It's Bunky's first time at the zoo, and he had a pretty good time. It rained on us at first, but then cleared up. It was nice and warm, though, but not hot.

KITTIES!!!! They have big ears. (These are caracals. We also saw jaguars, a cougar, a Canadian lynx, a tiger, a hyena, lions, and probably some other felids I can't even remember now...) Note: I had originally listed them as cervals. Cervals look more like mini-leopards. Don't ask how I could have been so grievously mistaken!!!

Grandma Harwood gives Finny a break from the stroller and lifts him up to see the...

... hungry hungry hippo!!! No really, he didn't seem hungry, just sleepy. Bunky got hungry, though. He ate like a hippo the whole trip!

This lioness was so strikingly pale that I had to photograph her. And she was lying up on the rock quite regally, with a very typical kitty cat-nap expression on her flawless face.

Silhouette of Bunky looking through the glass at the lions. Biiiig lion!!!!

Quit monkeying around, Bunky! I'm trying to get some photos of the orangutans back there!

Ahhh... the baby and his mommy. This baby boy was born three days before Fintan!!! How come Finny can't climb ropes and stuff yet? I guess he does - I'd say these two primates (Fin & the baby orang) are almost identical in their physical and mental development (pretty amazing!). Eat that, intelligent designers!

Evidence of Mark participating in the child-rearing process. In fact, Mark carried the Snoopy diaper bag most of the time and also pushed the stroller a fair amount.

Grandma pets the hornbill while the handler gives Mom the evil eye.

He did see the elephants and thought they were pretty cool. Dad says it's because they're big and smelly and have big poops. I say "Just like Daddy!"

I think Bunky's expression says it all about how much he liked the zoo. Even if he did sleep through half of it and not look where he was supposed to for most of it... but we parents had fun and he was a good sport indulging our love for animals.

Our first swim!

Whew! Today was a scorcher! Lucky for us, Jenny & Brian's townhouse is air conditioned. It was so nice in there that I didn't feel like going to the pool after all. But we did, and Fin loved it. We stayed on the shallow and shady side of the pool and tried to avoid getting stung by floating bees and splashed by other swimming kids. Aisling is quite the water baby, too, very relaxed in the water. Fintan was wicked tired (he's been sleeping since we got back around 6, it's now 9:30) so he clung to me after sticking his feet in the water. We bobbed up and down for a while and that felt great and he seemed to love it. Of course, when I got out, going from near-weightless to full gravity was a killer!

Aisling gets studious in her Bumbo while Fintan gnaws Ais' plastic keys on his Bumbo.

Aisling feeling a little camera shy while Fintan tries another angle with the keys.

Over the Shoulder shot!

Reverse Over the Shoulder!

Daddy lets Fintan walk all over him - a tactic to prevent crank-in-the-pants.

It seems to be working. Fin's legs are ENORMOUS and strong!

Finally we get out to the pool - just after Fintan decides to finally doze off.
Here he is trying to wake up. "What's all that splashing noise about?"

Finny gets his feet wet... he's not sure what to make of this ginormous bathtub.

Aisling and Brian get into the act. And some little kid with floaties.

Once he got past the initial cold-shock, we went all the way in, me holding him to my chest and him clinging like a baby chimp. Not scared, but tired, and enjoying the cool, soft water and the smooth bouncing motion and the gentle lap of the waves. (Oh and he chewed his rubber ducky the whole time.)

The Many Moods of Fintan

This cracks me up. You might think he was an actor or something!

We have been busy trying to get his (and my) passports, birth certificates, etc. for our rather spontaneous trip to Toronto next weekend. We were going to go to Toronto when we go to Michigan but that's not working out and would actually cost us a lot MORE. So we are going next weekend, hopefully, to see Grandma Harwood (Fin's great-grandmother) who is, I think, turning 94 on Monday the 24th. Yay!

In Fin's world there have been a lot of advancements in just the past three days.

1. He's cutting his first tooth officially. You can see and feel it just below the very last layer of skin/gums now. He's doing very well, not too cranky and just drools and chews a lot. It's his bottom front right tooth.
2. He shakes his head. I first noticed this Thursday night when I put on "Ice, Ice Baby" which we frequently dance to, and I thought he was trying to dance. Now he shakes his head all the time, as if the sensation of it is the most marvelous new discovery in bodily control.
3. He's definitely got the bottle figured out. He knows he has to raise it, too, but he gets caught up in the eating part and his arms droop. There has to be a better bottle for this, but they're all so big... I dunno. He did, at Chicken Cafe tonight, recline in my lap and drink the full 4 oz of formula entirely on his own - a first!
4. We discovered the wonders and joys of popsicles. Mark made home-made 100% pure juice (orange and pomegranate) popsicles and as it was over 100 degrees today in my living room I decided we needed to cool off. He has the sucking thing down and the cold was scary at first but it must have felt great on his gums because he wouldn't let me take it away! I had to go finish it in the kitchen so he didn't see it.
5. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but he is absolutely fascinated with the cats now. I think "kitties" is the only word he recognizes at this point - not "mama" or "daddy," that's for sure. If I say "where's the kitty" he looks around on the floor until he sees one and squeals with laughter.

Ah, the cuteness never ends!

Tomorrow................ our first swimming adventure with Aisling!!!

Just a walk in the park!

I got home from work today right on time, and it was fairly cool out (well, like 80 not 95) with a nice breeze. Bunky was really hyper - I don't know what Isabel was feeding him but man was he playful and full of energy! Like I've never seen before! So... I decided let's go for a walk to the park! Omi and I had gone and Omi took him there herself, and we did not get enough pictures. So today we went and I remembered to bring the camera.

Remember, you can click on them to enlarge the photos.

First we played on the swing. Fin sits quietly, well, sometimes talking, but mostly he watches all the other kids running around or digging in the sand or doing whatever kids do.

There was a little girl playing on the slide so we went on the slide. I put him on his little cloth and helped him down. He enjoyed it. Then we climbed around on the bars. I swear he was totally climbing on his own, I was just holding his middle for balance. He can't walk yet but he can climb! (Thankfully he hasn't discovered that in the crib yet.)

Omi said he liked to kick the sand around. So I went a step further. I sat him on the blanket and let him put his feet in. Then the hands went in. I watched for a while to make sure sand didn't go into the mouth... and he seemed to really enjoy the feeling of the sand in his hands. So I took a few seconds away to snap some photos, hoping he didn't lurch backward and hit his head on the wall or do a dirty face-plant.

All in all it was a wonderful evening, and we were there for over an hour, and he was still hyper and still wanted to play, and stayed awake the whole stroll home. He leaned forward in his stroller as far as he could and talked all the way as if telling someone the exciting story of his park adventures.

Fintan's First Haircut

First, I just want to say a few things.

1. This has nothing to do with Auntie Lala's overwhelming desire to cut his hair yesterday. I was adamantly opposed.

2. This is the result of a huge knot in the back of his head and way too much sweat in this 105-degree heat.

3. I did a horrible job and he looked way better with the long hair and curls. I can't wait for it to grow back out.


That said, Fintan got his first haircut today, and what a butcher job I did. I went a little crazy. It's not easy cutting a baby's hair when they are fidgety and you have scissors in your hand. I need a Flobee or something. But I didn't want to lose all the length on the top, especially since that is what is so cute and it covers the bald band around the lower half of his cranium.

Poor baby. Well, maybe he'll be cooler now. I hope it grows back soon.

The Fintan Report - 5.5 months.

Fintan is now five and half months. Man when they tell you time flies they aren't kidding. Whoever "they" are... everyone who knows, I suppose.

I'd like to do a photo essay on Fintan's development but it's kind of challenging considering my darn camera battery is dead and I can't find my charger and Mark is being a bugger about letting me borrow his... but here goes. Straight from Guru Dev Fintan's mouth:

1. I can sit up by myself now!
   
   
   
   
2. I stand up pretty tall! I still need a little help though.
   
   
   
   
3. I can sit up in my stroller and look around!
   
   
4. I recognize the "kitties" and I can actually tell them apart. I like Ikey the best! And I think he likes me too.
   
   
5. I can hold the bottle. I'm not so sure about how to get the water to come out though.
   
   
6. When I want to be picked up, I can either put my arms out, or scream bloody murder when that doesn't work.
   
   
7. I can turn completely over on my own. I'm not as good at turning back over, though.
   
   
8. Sometimes I sleep on my belly.
   
   
9. I like to fall asleep with something soft smashed into my face. It's especially fun to see Mom react as if I am trying to kill myself.
   
   
10. I have this bippie completely figured out - I can take it out, turn it around, chew on all parts, and then put it back in the right way - all by myself.
    
    
    
    
11. Sometimes I eat biscuits. They're tasty. Mom gets organic, no refined sugar kind only.
    
    
12. I can talk to myself, to the kitties, and to mommy and daddy - for hours and hours and hours.

Well, I hope you enjoyed that tour of Finny's life these days!