Fin Can Write His Own Name

Fintan can write his own name. Well, half of it, anyway. I have seen him write an "A" so the only test left is the "T" and then we'll have the whole thing. Mark this day in history, folks - Fin is only 37 months old.

Here's how the tale unfolds. Yesterday I asked him to draw Omi an "A" which I have seen him trace in his write-and-wipe books many times. He says the strokes out loud, "down, down, across," so I said draw an "A" and then helped him walk through it, down down across. Omi was impressed - honestly I was astounded. I hadn't expected him to do it.

So tonight we were playing in the bedroom and I said, "Show Daddy how you draw an 'A'," which he then did (it was more like an "H" but it was still impressive), and then Mark said, draw a "U" which he sort of did. Down, around, and up... So he erased those. On a whim I said, can you draw an "F?" and he looked ready to go so I said, "down, across, and across," and he actually drew the "F" you see below. Continuing on this roll I said, "Now draw an 'I'." I was expecting a down with a dot but he actually did the top bar and then the bottom bar and connected them with the long down-stroke. !!! You needn't ask if my heart was pounding already! "What comes next?" and Daddy said, "Draw the 'N'," which he started to do. I started to say "down" but Fin cut me off, saying, "No, no, up!" and he drew a line from the bottom up, then rounded it down like a small "n" - and then Mark said, "and back up," and so he went back up with it finishing the "N" as you see below.

And I said to Mark, quietly, "GET THE FRIGGIN' CAMERA! Nobody is going to believe this!!!"

The final product.

Someone celebrates his achievement.

Bunky at the Boat

Fintan visited Omi last week for a couple days. We missed him a lot, but we know he was having a great time and we needed a break.


I have no idea what he's up to - playing with the hose and faucets on deck or something. Silly.


And here he is with Fergalicious, his favorite dog.

Isn't he cute? :) (Need I ask?!)

Fintan turns THREE!

Today is Fintan's birthday! Yippee! He turned one-two-three! We had a quiet at-home celebration. (Daddy is sick and Mommy is still a bit jet-lagged.) We had dinner, opened presents, and tomorrow we'll go get GELATO! And then on Superbowl Sunday we'll go to Disneyland and ride the "fast train" (including, of course, Space Mountain).

I'm three and I'm cute as can be!

I like to "rip" - first you take off the bow - untie it like daddy's boots. Then you "rip!"


I got a few presents from Cardiff, Wales!


They are all Daleks and a few other Doctor Who toys. I like Daleks. They are cool.

This one even talks and rolls around on its own! Score! "I got da blue Dalek!!!"

Mama climbing the mountain!

I'm the special guest blogger once again while Ingrid is off doing good deeds and climbing Kilimanjaro. However, Fin was very sad when he saw Mama packing to go to the airport since he's been obsessed with "I want to go on airplane!" and "I want to go see grandpa and grandma in New York and go on the F train gelato cannoli." mumble mumble something." So we decided that if Mama was going to be away anyway, Fin and I would take a quick break to NY to see and do all the things he's been talking about for 2 months straight.

As a quick note of explanation, on a previous trip we got him a couple of books - ABC of NYC and 123 NYC which teach the alphabet and numbers with pictures of things in NY. He's been demanding that we read these EVERY night since he got them and has memorized them front to back, so this trip is all about taking him to see all the different things he's been reading about and obsessing over.

As an added bonus, it SNOWED in NY today - the first 'real' snow he's experienced as in falling from the sky snow. He had fun sliding around and trying to make snowballs to throw at Grandpa and has been very excited about everything.

Pictures to follow soon....

Getting Ready for the Big Bye-Bye

When I go to Africa in a couple days, poor Bunky will be without his Mama. He's done it for a week at a time three times before, but this is a little longer and he is a lot more conscientious of time passing now. For example, he understands the concept of "tomorrow" and "later." That might be old hat to some parents but for Bunky it's kind of new.

So I've been trying to spend more patient time with him, and sometimes that's just sitting next to him on the couch while he watches his favorite show, "The Wonderpets Save the Beetles" or some other thing, like "Imagination Movers," which I don't much like but can see the appeal. He doesn't seem to like "Super Why" any more - perhaps it's not challenging enough any more, though it would be if he truly understood the concept of words. Well he was a late talker and will probably surprise the heck out of us one day by really reading on his own. Right now it's memorization. And that's all right. He's not even three yet.

Anyway, his hair still pretty much looks the same, and if I weren't going away I would buzz it off. As it is, Daddy gets to be mortified in public (although he doesn't seem to care, since pretty much any parent would know instantly what had happened).

Bunky's First Haircut... so to speak

There's something sweet and innocent (if at times very frustrating and time-consuming) about a young child who wants to be just like the big people around him and do everything himself. Bunky can unlock anything, memorize the names of five major bridges of NYC by photo, start the car, and dress himself (not to mention having his own sense of taste).

So it stands to reason that after Daddy attempted to cut his hair with the trimmer one day - to which Bunky, at the time, declined - that he would have the presence of mind upon seeing said trimmer one day while going potty to then unplug the electric toothbrush, plug in the trimmer, plug the other end into the trimmer itself, and then proceed to trim his own hair.

Yep. And this is how it came out. A partial reverse mohawk. And one very embarassed and mortified mother.

The really funny thing is - my boss's three-year-old did the same thing a month ago (except with scissors, I think) and she, too, was mortified!

Ah, our little man...

Happy Holidays!

Earlier in the month we went to the Disney Christmas Party which is a private evening in Disneyland. Bunky enjoyed all the rides you would expect and more. At 39-1/2 inches with his boots on, he was just shy of going on the fun ones. Since Toon Town was closed, and that roller coaster was the ONLY reason we went to the party, we had to find other entertainment. So Bunky went on Space Mountain (40" minimum) and Star Tours (40" minimum). He loved them both. I'm sure he would have gone on Space Mountain 500 times if we had not decided that would be the last ride of the night.

Later in the month, Grandma & Grandpa Harwood came to visit. They stayed with us through Boxing Day and cooked us lots of good food. They're fun to have around.

On Christmas Morning we opened presents. Bunky had so many presents that he eventually got distracted by what he'd opened and refused to open any more. However, I eventually got him to open them all.

As with everything in his life, he enjoyed trying to open things himself. "No, I do it!" His favorite puppy was from cousins Logan and Nathan.

Isabel's Bane, that's what I named this guitar. She gave it to him -

and she can listen to him rock out on it all day long ;) It comes with a microphone which he loves.

Another guitar from Grandma & Grandpa Moon - I like this one better because it plays real songs and has actual strings. He liked it too but I didn't get any photos yet.

All in all we had a fantastic Christmas. I wish we could have also shared some time with my parents but that's what life is like these days... they are even making movies about it now! :P

Happy holidays to all!