dear finn,
today you are fourteen months old! we have a full-fledged toddler on our hands, who keeps us on our toes every minute of the day. this stage is SO MUCH FUN! i am seriously loving watching you grow and learn and turn from baby to boy. with every day that passes i fall in love with you more and more, and i often catch myself thinking, "i can't believe he is mine." :)
we have been loving the summer so far, you and i. we have spent time at the pool at the rec center, the splash pad in foxboro, chillin' in our backyard eating lunch and wandering around the yard all day long. life is pretty low key right now, which is just the way i like it. you are an extremely active little boy, who likes to be on your feet a majority of the time that you are awake each day. from the time you wake up from sleeping/naps it is go go go! you pretty much just like to wander around in circles. if we're in the backyard, you always have a golf club or the golf bag in your hand. if we're inside you usually find some other toy to carry around. i don't know if it is a comfort thing, but you always have to be holding something. :)
you are still obsessed with dad's toothbrush, and if ever you catch the bathroom door open, you book it upstairs and into the bathroom faster than i ever imagined you could go! you've really been getting into drawers and cupboards lately, which at first was annoying, but i've come to realize that once you get your way with something you get over it pretty quickly and move onto the next thing....so unless there are hazardous materials in the cupboards/drawers, i usually just let you play with it.
speaking of obsessions, you are still fascinated with the dogs' water/food bowls, but mostly the water bowl! it has become obvious over the past few months that you LOVE water, so i guess you just like splashing around in it like you do every other thing that has water in it. you started taking the pups food out of the bowl and just playing it, which really grinds duke's gears. he has become so extremely possessive of his food/water...to the point that he growls at even claus when he goes near it! sometimes you like to just do laps around the kitchen table, and duke will always stand close by and when you get close to the food/water, he will run over and growl at you! it is quite hilarious actually, but i do worry that one of these days he might nip you so i just have to keep a close eye on you two.
you love your brothers, so much, that is very apparent. you constantly walk up to claus for him to give you kisses, and you still love chasing duke around. duke has taken a bit of a turn for the worse when it comes to his relationship with you. i think it mostly has to do with you touching his food/water, but he is just so nippy and growls at you whenever you go near him. the other day he actually bit your hand, to the point where it must have hurt really bad because you started crying and shaking. :( it broke my heart to witness. i had to get mad at duke, obviously, and let him know that it's not okay to bite you, which was hard for me because i never like making any of my kids feel unloved. but your safety is my biggest priority, so i did what had to be done. hopefully he learned his lesson.
you sure are a silly little kid, and you love to play games, like peek-a-boo, patty cake and hide and seek. we started playing this new game just last week, where i chase you around the kitchen table...i guess we could call it 'tag,' and you LOVE it! you just get the biggest grin on your face and start giggling when i catch you. it's one of my favorite things to do with you. :)
at this age most babies do "so big" or "arms up," where when the parents say either of those two phrases the baby lifts their arms up. well, since you're a boy we put a spin on it and taught you how to do "touchdown!" whenever we say 'touchdown' you lift both arms straight in the air....then you just keep doing it over and over and over again. it's so funny and people seem to get the biggest kick out of it.
you also learned how to blow kisses this past month, which is one of my favorite things. it is so sweet, and always impresses other people who witness it. you really are such a sweet kid, and still love to give hugs and kisses, which makes me and dad and grandma cindy so happy. you still don't really know who your other grandparents are, and it makes me kinda sad. :( you start crying whenever any of them try to pick you up, but it's just because they don't spend enough time with you so obviously you don't know them. i feel so bad for you, but am hopeful that as you get older they will realize how important it is to spend time with you.
lately you have become quite the mimic, and will try and do anything we are doing. if someone is looking at you and nodding their head, you start nodding your head. if i look at you and shake my head (no, no, no) you shake your head too. when we turn the music on and start dancing, i can tell that you are trying to do the same dance moves i am doing! i love it. a few weeks ago i was rubbing lotion on my hands, and you started rubbing your hands together, like you were putting it on too. it's so cute! :)
your eating habits have been getting better lately, knock on wood. it is still kind of hit or miss, but lately you've been trying and actually eating lots more. a peanut butter and honey sandwich is still your staple, but this month you ate pizza (whole pieces!), peaches, strawberries, cherries, grapes (sometimes), watermelon - you LOVE watermelon. so lots of fruit, which is great! and of course, you still love ice cream and anything with sugar in it. :)
you got your molars this past month, much to my surprise! i thought you were just getting regular teeth, but one time we were up at grandma and grandpa hansen's, and vickie said, "he got his molars, huh?" and i was like, "really?" and she said, "yep, they're huge, can't you see them?" apparently i need to be a little more observant when it comes to your mouth! after that realization, it became obvious why you have been sleeping so bad the past little while, why your diapers have been so full of runny poop and why you have been more fussy than normal. i actually felt quite relieved after realizing all of this! your two bottom ones came in first, followed by the two top, which are still making their way down. i feel so bad for you when you are cutting teeth - especially molars - because i am sure it is just so painful. ;( but the good news is, the more you have, the less you have to get. i think i can see a light at the end of this painful teething tunnel!!!! hooray!
you still love your daddy tons, but you have also started to like me a lot too!! thanks finn. :) it sure makes me feel special when you reach your arms out for me to hold you. every now and then if i am sitting down, you'll walk over to me and just sit in my lap, it melts my heart. i'd still say you're more of a daddy's boy, but that i love, because i think it's so important for a son to have a great relationship with his father. he loves you so much, and any time you come to me, rather than him, i can see that it makes him a little sad. it's funny how we get so jealous of you. ;)
speaking of jealous, i just have to record this story for documentation purposes. a couple weeks ago locke came over to play while his mama ran some errands. well, he was quite sad when she left, and started crying, so i sat down on the ground, put him in my lap and started reading a story to him. it took you about two seconds to run from where you were, straight to me where you sat down in my lap, pretty much on top of locke! haha it was so funny to see you get jealous like that, but i'm not gonna lie, it made me kinda happy. :) then, a couple days later we were up at grandma and grandpa hansen's, and kelly was there with baby devyn. i wanted to hold baby devyn, mostly because i wanted to see what you would do. well, sure enough, you got jealous and tried to climb up into the chair with me! that jealousy only lasted a couple seconds before you were on to something else, but again, made me a little happy to know that you do love me. it will be interesting to see how things go when your little bro gets here!
another funny story that i need to write just for records sake......the other day i went into the bathroom downstairs to throw something in the toilet. well, when i lifted the lid up, much to my astonishment, i found the remote control to the sound system sitting there in the toilet bowl! haha lately you have become fascinated with the toilet (so gross, i know) and, kind of like with the toothbrush, whenever you see either of the bathroom doors open you book it in there to play with something you're not supposed to! silly {and somewhat naughty!!} little dude.
well mr finn, i love you so much. it's just amazing how i love you more and more every day. you are my whole world, and i don't know what i would do without you! i'm excited for this next month....next week we are going to hawaii! then it will be the fourth of july, which is one of my favorite holidays! and i think aunt tiff and uncle kev are comin' to town the beginning of july, so that will be tons of fun, too!! love you mister!
love,
mom
