In honor of the Goober's four-month birthday, we decided another post was in order....

A month after the last one......

So....

Enjoy! 

We've had lots of fun adventures; Finn learned to sleep in a new place; Mom and Dad relearned the intricacies of reassembling a Pack and Play; Kooman and Margie bombed over in their convertible and spent their holiday hangin' out and cookin' DELICIOUS grub; Lizzie did yeoman's work as Auntie, chef AND lawyer; Eli, Ward and Emma did a quick flyby on their way back to Dayton; Eli, Ward and Emma did an even quicker flyby to grab Eli's purse; Carrie swung by on her I'm-goin'-down-to-Nashville victory tour; we 'Q'd a butt; we met a turtle (Yyrtle the Turtle, if you care to ask, who lives on Myrtlewood Court); we found Fat Tire (!!); we went and saw the lighthouse; we realized that Finn probably won't be wearing his 6-9 month baby-clothes much longer; we saw cats, and egrets, and pelicans, and Coast Guard hoppty-cloppters.

And we've still got two full days! It's been an awesome trip, and we can't wait to take more of 'em and see more of you really soon. I think Finn LOVES a trip!

Enjoy the vids and, as always, we're gonna try to do a MUCH better job of posting more frequently....

Really.

Love you guys! Hope everyone's well.

Peace and pulled-pork grease!!!

f., a., m.

Laughin' with Nannie

Laughin' with Mom

Chillin' in his 'Bana

The Fam Goes to the Beach

Fam on the Beach

Hoppty-Cloppter!!

Enough already! After consciously holding off on posts until we could come up with witty narrative, it seems like Finn's got too many clamoring fans  to keep folks waiting so long for updates. And, ironically enough, by the time we do post, we've got weeks worth of new pics and vids to upload, sort through and post all over! 

So, no more! From this point out, or at least until the next point, we shall post more frequently.

Just don't expect the flowing, graceful, incredibly engaging story lines you've gotten used to....

A couple quick updates:

Finn is now just over 3 months. He'll be getting a job any minute now.

He's weighing in at over 17 pounds. He'll be joining the WWE (or the circus) any minute now; see above.

Finn has run into some baby eczema somewhere along the way, but through the miracles of Cortisone cream, Aquaphor, and Dove Sensitive liquid soap, we seem to be keeping it at bay. A heartfelt shoutout to Dr. Martin for allaying our fears (swine flu! leprosy! zits!) and keeping us all (relatively) calm.

We've signed up for a family membership at the National Zoo and are looking forward to countless afternoons and evening on the premises. We all love the Orangs!

Finn has found his voice or, more precisely, the volume and tone controls. While this is super exciting and we all have a ridiculous amount of fun making absurd noises at one another it has startled mom and dad on more than one occasion when Finn starts speaking in what can only be described as long lost Atlantean at full volume.

Enjoy the pics and vids... We'll have more up soon, promise, including from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ann's recent visit.

Peace and bacon grease!!

Finn with his Aunt Kathy over Easter

Snack time at the National Zoo

One of Finn's redheaded ancestors

And another...

Ranger Finn

Still LOVES this chair!

But he has a NEW chair, for when he's a big(ger) boy!

Look at me!

Gettin' ready to head out in the last of the cool weather.

PG Cinco with Finn over Easter

Zoo Rap

And one more Under the Sea....

And we're back!

Poof! And The Report is back online!  

Sorry to be such bad bloggers over the past few weeks; Finn’s been great, but we’ve just been getting used to the whole “two working parents” gig. We’re still working from home as much as possible, but Mags has a monster program this week that has been keeping her SUPER busy at all hours of the day and, well, I’m just a terrible parent.

Gramma Liz, aka Nannie, has been faithfully coming over on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the past couple weeks, though, from 10-2 most days, and proving quite fluent in baby-ese. She’s a natural with Finn, has been an absolute hero, and has already put in an order for more grandkids.

Oi….

We’ve been getting out for more and more adventures lately, and Finn is becoming quite the little traveler. He loves a car-ride, and a jaunt in his stroller is just about as good. Lord help the sorry soul who gets caught in rush-hour traffic or at stuck with a “Don’t Walk” at a busy crosswalk, though; the Dude may abide, but the Dude don’t abide not rollin’!

One weekend we went to Georgetown and strolled the streets of my old ‘hood. It’s really remarkable how much smaller everything is now….. I distinctly remember the houses and streets, and the PARK!, being insanely bigger. Somebody should point out this shrinkage to the local authorities: can’t be good for property values.

We went to a birthday party for Cousin Max and to see Kara and David’s swanky new crib: woo! Swank-Y!!

Last weekend we went down to the river (and no, NOT in a van that we live in) for a walk along the canal’s towpath. What a beautiful trip! The sun was out, the birds were chirping (we even saw herons and eagles), the fish were jumping and the dogs were barking. We had a picnic lunch on a little concrete landing right above Chain Bridge and ogled at the giant houses on the other side of the rapids. And on the way back, Finn even had his first diaper changed al fresco, which I thought was pretty rad.

It was, in fact, such a magical, beautiful, wonderful day that we failed to bring a camera with us and take any pictures of any of it, at all, for posterity.

So you’ll just have to take my word for it that any of this actually happened.

And this past weekend we had lots of family visits, starting with a Cumberland / Didden / Hogan get together on Saturday to celebrate another of Finn’s innumerable cousins, Joe, getting confirmed. Damian and Anne were down, with Clare and Caroline, their two little girls; Kara and Max were there; Amanda and Mark; Aunt Kathy; Lisa, Joe and Sam; Grandpa Bill (who we now call PG Cinco or PG-V); Clare and Bill, the incomparably gracious and generous hosts; and us. And Finn wow’d ‘em all! Honestly, he was a star… He’s holding his head up more and more now, looking all around, and actually seeing stuff, so he interacts with you. And he talks! Well, he wants to talk. He’s got his own rock’n’roll fantasy language and if you get him going, wow, good luck getting him to pipe down. (We know which side of the gene pool that particular attribute comes from!)

Then on Sunday we trucked on out to Grannie Glenda’s and Grandfather Morrow, Sir’s, for an Easter feast that can only be described as divin-elicious. PG-V and Auntie Lizzie came as well, and we all feasted on ham and lamb and salmon and cheese and chocolate and cupcakes and all kinds of other artery-cloggers. Phil and Tiger were chasing Kenny and Angel around Augusta in the background and G’s gardens were a riot of pink and yellow. Not a bad way to spend a sleepy Easter Sunday.  

So thanks to you all, friends and family, who’ve been with us over the past few weeks. It’s been great to see you all and making sure you get to see the Goober.

To the rest of you, we send our love, our best wishes, our thoughts for a happy and healthy spring, and our real and honest hope that we get to see each and every one of you very, very soon….

In the meantime, enjoy the latest vids….

f., a., m.

ps: and for those of you who STILL haven’t received a thank you note for a generous something or other, please bear with us!! it's coming, i swear!! 

pps: oh, and if anybody has any good suggestions about trimming the nails on a wiggly baby, please, PLEASE, feel free to let us know!

Under the sea

Under the sea 2

Under the sea 3

Under the sea 4

Finn is 2 months old!!!

Hey Gang!!

Our boy is now 2 months old - Whoohoo!!

We are just starting to feel like we have some sort of a routine now which certainly makes life easier on poor old Mom and Dad. He's not sleeping through the night yet but at least we now know when to expect him to rise.

In the past two weeks we've had all sorts of adventures. We've finally taken him out in public a few times -- to the grocery store, for a stroll in Georgetown and of course - Babies R Us. He's starting to show some personality and cooing seems to be his new favorite thing to do -- that and beating himself in the face.

Below you will find some new videos and pictures of our Star - Enjoy!

Video: Mr. Personality

Video: Its Friday!!

VIDEO: Messy House

OK, so it's been a while since our last post. Busted.

Finn's been doing very well since our last update, has had more visitors, and has been stabbed three times.

After a couple weeks of evening fussiness (usually from 4 to 8, or so), the Goober seems to be returning to his original, mellow roots. While some proclaimed this general crankiness "colic" I've decided that we'll call it what it really is: baby gas. Yup, Finn is doing his part to contribute to rising CO2 levels, and whatever comes out the other end. Is that methane? That's cows, right? One of our scientific friends will surely know...

Anyway, Finn's great! He got his first round of vaccinations at the doctor's (hence the stabbings), and got all his bits and parts measured and weighed. So far, everything is in the green. Percentile-wise, the breakdown went this way: weight, 100, height, 94, and head, 80. So he's big, long and doesn't have a Stewie head. All good!! 

A word of particular pride: Finn does NOT like going to the doctor. He practices all of his most ear-splitting screeches and does everything he can to let everyone know, for sure, without any doubt, that he is in residence. He hasn't peed on his doctor or any of the nurses yet, but there's time. He's just lulling them into a false sense of security and then, when they least expect it, wham-o! Or whazz-o!! Or whizz-o!!! It'll be awesome....

(It should be noted, in all fairness, that it probably isn't very cool to make your kid go to the doctor on St. Patrick's day. You're talking to the guy who made us dentist appointments on our anniversary however, so go figure.)

Maggie's camp friends ('Ghany-girls all) came by to check him out and all ooo'd and ahhhh'd at how cute he is. Carrie, Elizabeth and Becca all hung out with Finn, holding him and commenting on how well-behaved he was. Little do they know... He's no fool!

Gramma G and Grandfather Morrow, Sir, visited the other day, and Mags and the boy are heading across the river to visit Gramma Liz later today. We've been doing lots of walking around the 'hood of late, and just might go down to the canal-path or the Mall this Saturday if it's nice enough. Spring in D.C. is an excellent time to be a Goober!

Oh, and yes, Finn is participating in this year's March Madness. He has his own bracket, and is pretty positive he's goin' all the way. After all, ya gotta be in it to win it!

In the meantime, enjoy the pix and vids, enjoy the spring in your neck of the woods, and keep on keepin' on!! 

Love ya!

What's THAT.....?????

Could it be....???? A CHEESEBURGER..... ?????

A BACON CHEESEBURGER!!!!!!!

SOOO Good......

The Goober goes to his happy place....

Carrie and the Goober

Elizabeth and the Goober

Becca and the Goober. Becca hates babies. (NOT TRUE!!)

Just chillin' on a Saturday morning.

Wave your arms in the air!!

Week 5

Finn's 5th week was full of activity. Finn had his first BBQ at the Brown's house -- and the Kooman's also came in from out of town for a visit! We were also fortunate to have some crazy weather -- both a snow storm of 7 inches -- and then 3 days of 60-70 degree weather. Crazy!

On a sour note - Finn has a super case of baby acne and has also decided that from 4pm-8pm everyday he's going to be the King of Fuss!! He really has found his vocal cords.

Here are some recent pics and yes another video with yet another smile!!!

Video - push play!

THANK YOU!!!!

So, last week was Finn's quasi-birthday, if you're one of those people (and when I say "those people" I really mean "new parents") who like to take every opportunity to celebrate your new child's incredible achievements. 

Like us.

And by quasi-birthday, I mean just that. It wasn't a "birthday" celebrated in the traditional sense, the annual anniversary of the date on which one was born. It was a relatively arbitrary demarkation of Finn's time here with us on the Lodge, and even that arbitrary nature was sort of convoluted...

See, Mags recognized Tuesday, the 24th, as Finn's "birthday," taking into account the strict Mags-ian calendar that recognizes months in only four-week allotments. Then came Friday, the 27th, yet another opportunity to observe the passing of a month in a more traditional, Gregorian sense.

So, short version, Finn celebrated his planetary existence pretty much all week long. Which, if you think about it, is not a bad way to spend 20-25% of your first days on Earth. That existence has lasted for about a month, and we hope it lasts a lot longer than that. I will, I guarantee it, go a little slackjawed at some point down the road when someone asks me how old my son is and expects an instantaneous answer. This will not be a reflexion on how much or how little I love my son, I promise. Rather, it will be a reflexion on the fact that thinking in time units much more specific than a single year is difficult for me and, I dare say, many dudes. 

So don't bust my chops if, when you ask of my 1 month, 2 day, 18 hour and 45 minute old son, "How old is he?" I answer, "Almost one."

The other thing that was really driven home during Finn's birthday week was just how incredibly lucky we've been in the month just recently passed. Both our jobs have afforded us the incredible luxury to stay home and spend time with this remarkable little person we call the Goober. And since I've been back at work, I've been lucky enough to keep working from home at least one or two days a week. Friends and family have been generous almost beyond belief, with their time, with their gifts, with their advice, with their well-wishes, and with their love. Finn has been showered with all of these things, and others, and we cannot tell you how much it means to us that you all have been so amazing and so welcoming to our little boy.

From the bottom of our hearts, and we really do mean this, in the most sincere and genuine fashion, thank you, all of you, for everything. From those of you across the oceans to those of you across the continent, from those of you across state lines to those of you just across the street, thank you, thank you, thank you from the three of us for absolutely every single little thing. You've all been absolutely amazing.

You've meant so much to Maggie and me over the years and it means the world to us that you will so obviously mean that much and more to Finn. He's a lucky guy. 

And we're an extraordinarily lucky family.

Thanks....

More Video!!

Week 4 -- Many of you have asked for more Video -- so ask and you shall receive:

Oscars weekend

Finn enjoyed his very first Oscars weekend!!!

On Saturday morning cousin's Kara, David and Max visited us so they could see little Finn for the first time. They came bearing gifts of beautiful tulips and delicious apple cake. Max even helped us wash all of Finn's baby bottles - a total bonus!

On Sunday afternoon Anna-marie stopped by and brought us a large goodie bag of food that will keep us out of the grocery store for at least a week!! Sunday night we watched the Oscars and feasted on Sushi -- something I'd really missed the past 9 months. We were very pleased to see that Slumdog Millionaire won for Best Picture as it was the only movie on the nominations list that we had seen. Now we just need to wait for all the others to come out on NetFlix so we can get caught up!

Tomorrow will mark his first four weeks of his existence! Way to go Goober!!! To celebrate we took him out for a brisk walk using our new Baby Bjorn carrier and we dressed him up in his cute fuzzy bear jacket.

Here are some recent pics and videos to enjoy -- yes we finally captured his adorable smile on film - although very briefly.

Well, yesterday was Finn's unofficial birthday: 3 weeks old! Woohoo!! Things around here have remained startlingly sane, even with dad going back to work on Monday. (I admit, I did work from home Tuesday morning and all day today...) However, mom has been great at holding her own with the Goober while dad's away, forming bonds and building alliances I shall doubtless never be able to sunder. Ah well... 

We had another bath tonight, and thought post-bath might be a good opportunity for some new vids.

So, without further ado, a couple new clips to keep folks up to date! Enjoy.

Here he is, all squeaky clean....

And here he is, not cooperating with requests to smile for the camera....