Surf's Up! & Other Photos

Don't forget you can click to see the larger image. If you save photos off this blog, you'll want to save the larger image so you can print it or size it however you want. :)

I took Fin to the beach on Saturday.

We just played in the sand and got our feet wet.

He doesn't like walking on sand or grass barefoot.

Such a howlie.

Fin with Santa Monica Pier in the background.

Gremmie in the making.

Fin and Aisling have a playdate.
They got along really well!


Fin and my boss's son Vincent (8)
play at work. I had to bring him because
the nanny had a doctor appointment.

Here's a pic of Fin on Omi's boat having a blast.

Finny and Fergie on the boat.

My first bicycle ride.

I'm cute.

I'm silly.

Little drummer boy.

It's almost pre-school time

So at the very last second I decided to apply to a particular pre-school that I was previously boycotting, knowing full well my perfect child would not be accepted. It's a $100 application fee, so this is not cheap. But after all the other preschools I've looked at (well, three) that are on my way to work, none measure up to this one, and so I decided to go for it.

At worst I lost $100. At best, Fin goes to a good school that is very clean and safe and has a great program, isn't overly academic yet will continue to challenge him at his own level in both areas in which he is strong (pre-reading skills) and areas in which he is still lagging (some pre-math skills and world knowledge). Plus he'll get much more exposure to social skills and structure.

Anyway, after being put on the "waiting list" and expecting never to hear from them again (yet being tempted to bribe his way in), one day I got a call and so we decided to go for it.

He'll start part-time in July, and then work his way up to full time, depending on how we want to juggle the nanny situation and whether mark still has a job and all that. Keep your fingers crossed that he does keep his job for a while longer, because to pull Fin out of this school will break my heart.

Anyway, we have a slew of photos to upload, so stay tuned.

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).