April 2007 Archives

We went to the Woodland Park Zoo for the big Easter Egg Hunt. Nancy made FInn a little green jacket with a bunny sticking out of one pocket and a cloth carrot on the other side. It's really adorable! Here's a little video of his zoo egg hunt, and another one we put on for him in our local park. It might look like he eats a lot of candy, but mainly he tasted jelly beans and spit them out into the plants. Turns out he didn't like chocolate at all. The music is Finn's favorite band They Might Be Giants..

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Finnegan!

Finn has been into Superman for months and fell in love with his 12" action figure at Christmas. When I saw this for sale I had to get it. The S straps on his chest. He even calls himself Clark when he's wearing regular clothes.

"Clark" as he sometimes calls himself, has a good time running at the playground. Go Blue Represented as well, with the Michigan football.

Click here to see a Slideshow of Birth Photos

Time for martinis. Actually this is a chocolate protein shake, but Finn likes it out of a frozen martini glass. What a gentleman!

To our surprise, Finnegan is beginning to broaden his culinary palette.

I have been worrying about his eating habits for a long time because for a while all he would eat was dairy products and fruit. I was afraid that he wasn't getting enough nutrition.

He's been a skinny kid and I have secret fears that I've not been feeding him properly and it's stunting his growth. Fortunately, several other mothers have assured me that their child went through the same phase. Whew! It's a phase and Finnegan is starting to move out of it.

This week he has enjoyed eating steak, chicken, sloppy joes and he loves hard boiled eggs. He especially likes to color the eggs and then select a different color at each meal.

Last night, Finnegan and I were going through the bedtime ritual and the last thing to do was to brush his teeth.

I was anxious to watch Finnegan use the new organic non-flouride toothpaste that I had found at the supermarket--thinking that it would be better for him.

Well, he was very reluctant to try it because it was different from his other toothpaste which was a fruity smelling jelly and this new one was a strawberry flavored paste. We tried and tried. I even put some of the toothpaste onto his teeth to get him to try it. That really set him off.

When he opened his mouth to protest I put some on his tongue and he made an awful face and looked at me like I had betrayed him. Then he rolled over onto his pillow and wiped his tongue on it. I couldn't believe that the toothpaste could be soo bad. So, I tried it myself and sure enough it was terrible!

That was the end of his teeth brushing activities and we probably have to go through a few days with good toothpaste to rebuild his trust and fondness of teeth brushing again. I suppose Finnegan's reaction is a no vote for organic toothpaste. I guess we'll stick to the basics.

Finnegan has been carrying on conversations with us for several weeks now. He tells us stories, most of them we understand and some we don't--all of them entertaining.

Lately, I've been spending as much time with him as possible after he gets home from school. We play, then get dinner ready, eat, go to the potty, take a bath and get ready for bed.

My favorite time is after reading stories because that's when we snuggle and I sing him some songs. He really enjoys this time together and so do I. I have missed Finnegan's nearness to me so much that after Elijah was born I would cry at night knowing that I could not be near him.

Last night as we snuggled and I sang him some songs we whispered in the darkness of his room and I told him that I loved him. I also told him that he was a beautiful boy and that we were so happy to have him in our lives. After singing a few more songs, Finnegan put his hands on my cheeks and looked directly into my eyes and said, "I love your face mommy."

It wasn't a prompted comment and it made me cry for the sheer joy of being loved by my child. In that moment I wanted to protect him from all the ills of the world and hold him close. I also realized that we don't know how much time we'll have together and that each day we have should be our best.

I hope that Finnegan will look back on his childhood and know that he was greatly loved by his parents and that he has the ability to love and to be loved.