The summer's flying by and our postings have gotten fewer and farther between. Finn is doing great, and mom and dad couldn't be more in love with him. He's totally amazing and every day brings something more incredible. In more ways than he'll probably ever know, he really gives more to us than we do to him...

Anyway, we're getting settled in our new "country" digs and loving the space and pace. Mags has gotten super busy and the fall looks even more so. Jamestown is keeping dad busy, with some really fascinating projects (and some cool travel around the corner), and come September 7 the boy starts daycare 3 days a week. We're all very excited, if a little trepidatious.

Finn was still off-the-charts at his 18-month checkup. Well, technically, his noggin and his height were off the charts; his weight was just near the top of the charts. Might have something to do with his new diet of solid foods.... He's a great fruit eater, a middling protein eater (have to work on that for Snackerbowl) and an awful veggie eater (which is just fine for Snackerbowl.)

His fascination with planes, trains and automobiles has fully kicked in, and he's becoming quite adept at a wide range of animal noises: monkey, dog, cat, wolf, goat and sheep (interchangeable in Finn-speak), lion, tiger, bear (also pretty interchangeable now that I think about it....) and elephant. Oh, cripes, how could I forget!! He does a mean snake impression, too. A little Parseltongue, this one... (Yeah, dad's a dork.)

Wanted to get a few pix and a vid from a trip to the Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazey Center that we made on a recent rainy, swampy day. Museums are a really interesting experience with someone who's got an attention span of about 15 seconds.... It was a hoot; I don't know who had more fun, me or the boy. Anyway, it was a great excuse for gratuitous photography, and a great excuse to post an update for you all.

We send our love to all, and formally announce the opening of our new casa to anyone who finds themselves in the Piedmont region, and specifically to anyone who finds themselves near Gilbert's Corner.

Peace and bacon grease!

f., a., m.

Just really cute...

18 months and pensive

I know there's a snack in here somewhere...

The Goober meets The Blackbird

Get that stuff outta here!

The Wanderer

Dirt

Everyone's well, happy and healthy, but we HAVE been bad about The Report...

So, in the midst of boxing up our lives, thought this vid would bring a smile to everyone's faces. We miss you all and can't wait to catch up over the summer.

Peace and summer grease!

f., a., m.

Dirty Paws

Still here

Sorry, sorry, sorry... We've been really bad about posting lately.

Luckily, there are now about 3 to 4 months of pix and vids for us to parse through, so you may have to wait for a few more days on that.

Finn is still in one piece, he hasn't grown horns, or a third eye, or anything weird like that. He's still the cutest little dude around.

But his parents are really irresponsible. And don't care about other people.

In the meantime, wanted to post the boy's latest 40 times from his 15 month checkup today...

Weight: 30lbs 8oz

Height: 34 inches

Mellon: 20 inches

Still off the charts. Dude's a monster.

Love to all. Happy spring. More later.

Peace out.

Still walkin'.....

And now....

With keys!!!!

He's amazing!!!!

Love to all

m., f., a.

The Goober Walks!

More pix and vids to come but this one was too good to hold onto...

Love to all

a., m. & f.

One more vid....

We call this one "Delirious Goober." Enjoy!!

Oh, and we got new "40-times" at his one-year checkup today; still off the charts.

Weight: 29lbs, 12 ozs

Height: 32 3/4 inches

Head circ: 19 3/4 inches

And congrats to our friends the Crumrines (http://crumthekid.blogspot.com/) and the Barrentines; new babies on the way!!! Woohoo!! Nice work guys!!

Love to all...

Delirious

Vids: Playing the Piano and Walking!

Had a couple vids from the last few weeks we wanted to get up and out to everyone....

The first couple are of Finn's Nanny teaching him how to play the piano over Christmas; the last few are of Finn displaying his emerging walking skills. While the first two may predict a thrilling future as a concert pianist, the others may simply portend a lifetime of doing the Lawnmower.....

In either case, we thought they were really cute and worth sharing.

Enjoy!!

The Pianist

The Pianist 2

Walking, sorta...

Walking, sorta (2)...

Walking, sorta (3)...

Woohoo, figured out how to get vids posted again!

Remarkably uncomplicated when I got right down to it.

Sadly....

Anyway, we'll get some holiday shots up soon, but wanted to get video of Finn's first swing ride up and also had a great photo-series of the boy's first attempt at a jailbreak that's too amusing not to share....

A little context: Mags and I got a night off for New Year's eve when Mom and Dan gave a us a free-night-out pass for Xmas; that New Year's morning, Finn was doing his normal roamings and wanderings when he ran into his newest nemesis, the babygate we had to put up to curtail his new favorite hobby, stair-climbing (which wouldn't be so bad if his stair-descending was a little less like stage-diving); this time, though, Finn brought along one of his newly adopted "toys," one of Maggie's mixing bowels; and unbidden and uncoached, the little rascal demonstrated problem-solving and tool-use all at once. See for yourself. The look on his face in the last shot pretty much says it all. Special thanks to Dan for capturing the moment; and double-super-special thanks for actually thwarting the jailbreak!

Hope everyone had a wonderful season and is already having an amazing New Year!

Love ya!

Swingtime!

Planning his route...

Ascent...

The summit!

Snowpocalypse!

So, no Finn shots, but wanted to get some of the storm we had over the weekend up and posted. I went out snowshoeing on Saturday afternoon in the midst of everything to check it all out and thought some of the pix were kinda fun.


I know this is nothing for you folks up in New England or out west, but still pretty impressive for us flatlanders....


Happy holidays to all!!


a, m. & f.

That's my car under there....

And that's our deck.

Grillin' blizzard burgers

Wish I'd put the grill cover back on

REALLY wish I'd put the grill cover back on...

Snow!

Hi all-


Finn's doing well and looking forward to his first Xmas. Well, honestly, he has no idea what's going on, but he's a big fan of the various packages that keep showing up at the house. It's occurred to both mom and dad that a Christmas composed entirely of boxes, ribbons and crinkly paper might've been our best bet.


We got our tree up last weekend and the boy's totally pumped about it. The only way he'd be more pumped is if we let him put the whole thing in his mouth.


We've been getting out as much as possible lately and Finn has been a real trooper about all the various layers his mom insists on bundling him up in. (Yes, if it were up to his dad, the boy would run naked through the streets... Yet another reason we're all so lucky to have Mags in our lives!)


Speaking of running, Finn has discovered "assisted walking" or what some people would refer to as "cruising." This largely entails watching Finn clamber his way up to the vertical on any object within reach (ottoman, chair, table, wall, pants) and then shuffling around said object, parent or parents hovering in the immediate vicinity with breath held and arms outstretched for the inevitable tumble. A lot of the time this results in harmless bumps on the rear; just as often it seems to result in a bonked noggin, plenty of hollering and tons of parental guilt. "The floor's carpeted, I'm sure he's fine," or, "Holy, My God, he's done irreversible harm to his mellon and we'll forever be to blame when he can't muddle his way through Chem 101!"


Sorry, that's probably just dad projecting....


Anyway, Finn rode on his first swing last week (we've got a vid but Blogspot won't let us post it for some reason; share your outrage with them) and got out into his first snowstorm on Saturday. All in all, not too shabby a week!


Everybody's doing well (fairly healthy, not terribly wealth, but incredibly wise!), and we all send our love and best wishes for the holidays!


Peace and baby grease...