A birthday wish

Dear Finley,
As a birthday present to your mama, could you PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE sleep a little tonight. Even a 3 hour stretch would be heaven. Your father and I can't take your every hour wakeup anymore. We're about to go certifiably nuts. You need to cry it out but I am loathe to do that before our trip to Michigan, since I know it will mess you up and we'll just end up having to do it again. I don't know how we're going to make it through the next two weeks on such little sleep. We love you but you're making us insane. OMG you just started crying as I'm typing this. Please babycakes aaaaaaaaaaargh.

Love Mama

Sunday Funday

Spring has sprung!

My girl Fats

Dear Future Finley-

Recently some of your family members have been giving me a hard time because of my favorite nickname for you: Fats. They're worried that you're going to be reading this blog at some time in the not so distant future and be horrified that we (I) were vulgar enough to call you by such a crass moniker and that you're going to be scarred forever. And I considered their requests for a short time and I concluded this: Future Finley, I love you heaps and heaps. You are truly the greatest baby on the planet. You are sweet and pleasant and adorable and when you laugh your entire face crinkles and your belly heaves and you are just the best. But baby girl, there's no way around it- you are one giant chunk of a bambino. You are all cheeks and chins, and even your neck has folds that have folds (see pic above). You are absolutely without a doubt aptly named. :) And we love it! Who wants a skinny baby? All angles and bones. I MUCH prefer your chubs and rolls. Your brother was like this too at your age, and look at him now! He's a total string bean. When I see the two of you together, I am always reminded of the nursery rhyme :"Jack Sprat could eat no fat; his wife could eat no lean". My babies the Sprats. It's too fun.

So, lady lou, I have no doubt that this period of baby fat is exactly that and you're going to grow out of it like a weed and become just as long and lean as your big brother. But if for some reason your genetics don't work that way and you remain a little (or a lot)chunky, then I promise you this: first, I won't call you Fats beyond the age of two or whenever you start to understand your own name, just so it doesn't catch on. And secondly, I promise that skinny or fat, short or tall, or any of the sizes in between, I will love you unconditionally and once you're old enough to get it, will never, ever comment on your weight. That was one of the greatest gifts my mom, your Grandma Barbara, gave to me- she never mentioned my weight (even after that summer when I worked at the french bakery OMG), only ever told me that I looked lovely, and consequently I always had a healthy body image. And this legacy I will soon pass on to you. Just know that right now, we joke around, but your father and I consider you absolutely PERFECT. And we always will.

Love,

Mama

An Easter miracle- my dad actually took some good shots

Some pics with Nana, who is 86 and going strong! G learned her name pretty quicky and was calling her by name before the end of our visit.

G and his favorite cousin ever, Miss Reagan (who is newly 8 and surely had better things to do, like watching Hannah Montana, but who instead spent every moment of her free time with G, totally making his weekend!)

Family shots

My dad has his eyes open! And isn't squinting! Or doing something weird with his mouth! It's amazing!!

Fats!! This dress (a gift from Jc's Aunt Emily) was TOO CUTE! She was a total baby doll in it, and all of our Philly relatives are completely smitten with Finn. She is the all time greatest.

Sugar baby

How to make your child the happiest kid on the planet- wake him up Easter morning and give him a basket full of chocolate. Gray, who is not the most verbal kid alive, picked up pretty quick on this word- "choco". "Mom? Mom? Choco? Mom? Choco? TCHEEEEEEESE? (please)". As soon as we got home from Philly, I hid the basket. He's going to be making some pediatric dentist a LOT of money in the near future.

Future Polar Bear Club president

My cousins opened their pool this week but didn't really expect anyone to get in it since it was maybe 60 degrees. They didn't count on Graydon, who despite my best efforts managed to strip down and get in several times. The water was FREEZING and yet we had to coax him out every time. He is a water lover and a nudie judy, and was having the time of his life.


Aaaaand he's in:

Convinced him to get out:

Buuuut not for long:

He's totally nuts. I guess we're just lucky he never went under!

Horseback riding and farm time with Reagan

This is my awesome cousin Reagan. She had a horseback riding lesson on Saturday so Gray went along to check out the scene and had a blast. Here's Reagan on her horse-nice seat Ray Ray!

Checking out the horses from the bleachers:

How to do the chicken dance G-money style:

Happy guy!

Hanging out in the hay bales: