Fifteen Months

While I have had the best of intentions to keep up with Finn's monthly posts past the one year mark, reality has set in and it just hasn't happened. Therefore, we will try every three months since we see the doctor at that interval until he turns two.

Since he has turned one, he has just taken off. Literally. He started walking just before Thanksgiving and has really picked it up quickly since then.

He still LOVES waving and clapping and dancing. All of which usually happen simultaneously. Here is a great example.

 

The past three months, I have really started seeing the difference between boys and girls. I remember when my nieces and friends' girls were this age, they would sit for a (short) period of time and play with a toy or listen to a book. Not this little guy. Now, it may just be a personality thing, but this little man is into anything and everything. He loves exploring and finding new things. He loves figuring out how things work and is overall just a ball of joyous energy. He still loves being outside and pointing to birds and airplanes. He really doesn't even need to be outside, because he'll still raise his hands when he hears airplanes from in the house. He's also never met a stranger. Separation anxiety has never really been an issue. Sweet boy is certainly happy with whoever he's with at the time. My absolute favorite thing that he loves doing now is giving hugs and (wet) kisses. He will not sit still long enough to snuggle, but he saves the sweetest hugs and kisses for just before bedtime. He loves to eat, but we're finding that he's getting to be a little pickier. Pasta is still an overwhelming favorite (just like mommy). Fruit, avocados, sweet potatoes, cheese, turkey, waffles and toast with jelly also rank pretty highly on his list. He still loves to sleep for which we are ever so thankful. He'll sleep 12 hours at night and still takes two solid 1.5-2hr naps each day.

At his doctor's appt last Friday, he was down a bit to 22.8lbs (he was 24 at 12 months) which puts him in the 50th percentile for weight. This is most likely, because he seems to be eating less and moving more. He's only grown a half an inch to 30.5in, so he's in the 25th percentile for height.

Sweet boy, we love you to the moon and back and are trying to soak up every last minute as a family of three before your baby brother comes along. You have the sweetest, happiest, little personality and it just makes us so happy to see your big cheesy grin when you really like something.You seem to grow more fun each and every day!

 

Merry Christmas!

28 Weeks

Hello, third trimester. Those are words, I never thought I'd say (or type). In some ways, this pregnancy seems to have flown by, but yet in others it has seemed so incredibly long. That might be because we had two weeks notice before Finn was born. Something in me likes the quick turnaround time, but nonetheless, this pregnancy has really been a breeze and I can't complain. Here we are, entering the third trimester and I really have not done a thing in preparation for this baby. Those are also words I never thought I'd say. We got our double stroller and a crib, but right now everything is just piled in our guest room. We will probably take a hospital tour at some point (I keep having to remind myself that I haven't actually delivered a baby and that my baby experience really starts once the baby is out). I may be new at the whole labor, delivery and breastfeeding thing but I can change a diaper, swaddle and follow a schedule like a champ. Luckily, I have sweet friends that have done this part before and I find them much more valuable than sitting through a class so that is where I'm planning to get the majority of my preparation from.

I've seen these little lists on other blogs I follow, so I figure now's as good a time as any to fill in the blanks for myself. This will probably be the only time I do it during this pregnancy, because I've got a nursery to work on apparently.

How far along: 28 weeks
Baby Size: an eggplant. ~14in. & 2.5 lbs.  
Weight gain: +20 (see food cravings below.)
Maternity clothes: pretty much my wardrobe these days thanks to Target, Old Navy and friends.  
Sleep: Not great. I toss and turn to get comfortable and that takes some effort.

Gender: BOY!

Movement: Anytime I'm sitting still (which isn't too often these days)- usually the most at night

Best moment this week: Our last ultrasound at the perinatal specialist. I'll just see my regular OB from this point.   
Looking forward to: Just seeing what he looks like  
Food cravings: salt and vinegar chips and milk and cookies (not all together though).
Anything making you queasy or sick:  It doesn't make me sick, but I haven't really been wanting ground beef or burgers (I wasn't the biggest red meat fan pre-pregnancy, though)

Labor Signs: nope

What I miss: sleep, having energy and my back not hurting constantly

Symptoms: lower back pain big time (mostly because of the bending, squatting and carrying associated with big brother).

Nursery: zero progress

Belly Button in or out? In  
Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood: Couldn't be happier! 

 My doctor could not get over how large of a big toe baby boy has. I was close to getting the husband to take his shoes off to prove that it's totally normal as his are indeed very round. Like father, like son.

Cinnamon Sugar Crescents

Usually on Christmas morning, we have cinnamon rolls of some sort but I forgot to get some the last time I was at the store, so when we did our little family Christmas morning yesterday at home, I whipped these little gems up. We did have a roll of crescent dough, however. After a quick Pinterest search, I found this super yummy recipe that is sure to be repeated.

Cinnamon Sugar Crescent Rolls
1 roll of crescent dough in the can (I used Trader Joe's)

Filling:

6 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ cup white sugar
2½ teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze:

2 tablespoons butter, melted
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven according to package directions.
2. Place the unrolled and separate crescent rolls on an ungreased rimmed cookie sheet (one with sides- very important as the butter will melt all over).

Filling:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, sugar and cinnamon
2. Evenly spread the cinnamon butter over the crescent rolls and roll up tightly.
3. Bake according to package directions.

Glaze:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
2. Place in a zip lock bag and snip a tiny corner off (of just use a spoon like I did, because I was out of small bags).
3. Drizzle the glaze over the cinnamon rolls.

I dare you not to eat one right off the pan when they're done. The husband actually said "it tastes like a Krispy Kreme doughnut" and Finn thoroughly enjoyed his special breakfast treat.

Christmas Round One

We had our own little family Christmas this morning at home before we leave town on Tuesday to be with family in South Carolina and in Florida. We did this last year for the first time as a family of three and it was just the sweetest little memory from Finn's first Christmas. This year was even more fun, because our little guy could actually participate and got excited about his gifts (as excited as a 15 month old can). In our house, we celebrate Jesus and Santa- in that order, so Finn got some presents from mommy and daddy as well as some Santa presents. We will most likely continue this pattern in our family, because we want our kids to recognize that mommy and daddy love them and work hard to get them things they want and not everything is from Santa. We stayed home from church this morning, because the Christmas service at our church was sure to be quite possibly the most crowded Sunday of the year and we didn't want Finn to get sick from Waumba Land (nursery) right before we leave town since he seems to get sick about 75% of the time following church. Here are some pics I was able to capture this morning.

 Yes, he normally wakes up around 6 or 6:30... this morning was 7:45.

 Since he slept so late, his only concern when he first got up was having his milk.

 And then he notices the presents.

 Meeting his new friend.

 

Now for the video... yes the redneck in the background would be husband/daddy.

 We honestly could've wrapped empty boxes and he would've had just as much fun with the paper.

Merry Merry

So we are only 10 days away from Christmas and I feel like we've been packing as much Christmas fun into this month as we possibly can. Finn is at such a fun age that we are trying to soak up every minute of our second (and last) Christmas as a family of three. Here is a peek into our season so far...

We picked out a Christmas tree. In 75 degree weather.

There was a fire truck. Something tells me that he will be way more excited about this in the future.

The cutest little reindeer I've ever seen.

 

We decorated the tree after Finn went to bed.

 

And of course I had to capture his response in the morning.

 Surprisingly, we haven't really had any issues with him trying to pull the tree down. Considering this is the kid who is into anything and everything I was preparing for it to be on its side within 48 hours. He started waving at it so we went with that response. Every time he gets close to it, we just say "wave to the Christmas tree" and he immediately waves and grins. Now he just waves on his own every time he passes it.

 We had a fun Christmas pj playdate with friends.

Finn wore daddy's 30 year old sneakers to church so of course I had to take a picture. He is also pointing out Christmas lights to us.

We got dressed up to go see Santa for the very first time. Last year, Finn was less than 3 months old and the idea of standing in line at a crowded mall of kids with an already respiratory-sensitive baby made me way too nervous. So this is what we ended up with last year...

This year, though, someone was excited even though he had no idea who Santa is.

Success.  I'm not sure why part of me was a little disappointed that we didn't end up with the classic crying picture, but this happy boy had the sweetest smile.

 

We continued our fun with Chick-fil-A for lunch.

 

And a ride on the carousel.

And a warm chocolate chip cookie (ok this may have been mommy's idea). All in all, it was such a fun afternoon and with sweet memories.