Finn's Baptism, part 1

Finn was baptized today at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He did really well with the ceremony and it really was lovely. I must say, baptism wasn't necessarily a top priority for me, but I am so glad we did it. We have been attending this church since we moved to Concord and it is a really nice community of people. I also really enjoy the Reverend Celeste and her take on things. The ceremony was part of the regular church service and seven children were baptized. I got a bit emotional over it. It was amazing to watch Finn experience a ritual that has been conducted for centuries and which both Sean and I experienced as well as Finn's grandparents, great-grandparents, and on.

I wasn't able to get many photos on my camera and I am hoping to get some from those in attendance to share in a 'part 2' post so you can all enjoy. I am also going to subject Finn to a photo shoot tomorrow in his outfit. He won't fit in it long, so I will take advantage tomorrow.

Here is Reverend Celeste:

Godparents, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jon, along with Libby and Liam.

Joined with Uncle Jon and Aunt Kate and Annalise:

We really missed all our friends and family around the world today and wish you could have joined us to celebrate. We send all our love!

Radio Flyer

Cruising around on Memorial Day:

Grassy Grass Grass

grassy grass grass
treey tree tree
leafy leaf leaf
1, 2, 3
birdy bird bird
fly fly fly
nesty nest nest
high high high
cloudy cloud cloud
windy wind wind
rainy rain rain
muddy mud mud
doggy dog dog
runny run run
quicky quick quick
homey home home
beddy bed bed
sheety sheet sheet
sleepy sleep sleep
dreamy dream dream
dancey dance dance
singy sing sing
growy grow grow
biggy big big

--Woody Guthrie

The Nibbler

It has been a busy week and it is only Wednesday! Finn had his 6 month check up yesterday. We got to meet our new pediatrician and I am so happy with her! She was so easy going and cheerful. She actually seems to like children which goes a long way in a pediatrician and it makes me realize just how bad our last one was. Finn was pronounced to be exceptionally healthy and developing well. He is weighing it at a whopping 18lbs and he is 28 inches tall. That is 85% for height and 50% for weight so he has dropped in the percentiles a bit. The doc was impressed that he is already sitting unassisted and with how well he was standing, saying he is a bit ahead of the game.

I talked with her about food because Finn is, shall we say, finicky when it comes to eating. He had the one good banana day, but he hasn't enjoyed it since. She was completely unconcerned saying that we are only in the practice stage now and he will get it when he is ready. And then as if he heard me have the conversation, just to prove me wrong he enjoyed some rice today. We also got a "nibbler" which is a mesh feeder where you can put in whole pieces of fruit or veggies, or frozen cubes and the baby can enjoy chewing and tasting, but only little bits get through the mesh. Since Finn is constantly grabbing for the spoon, I thought this might be fun for him. I put in a cube of frozen sweet potato and low and behold, he had a grand time:



So, it seems he will get food when he is ready and perhaps some days he will like the experience more than others. This week he gets to try green beans so we will see how he likes that.

Genetics

We have had mixed reviews on who Finn most resembles. Some have sworn he is all Sean, while others say he looks exactly like me. So, for some fun, here are some baby photos of us. What do you think? See the new poll on the left.

Banana Boy

We have been introducing food to Finn for the past week, starting with sweet potatoes and then avocado. Each time we gave him a little, he would purse his lips and grimace as if we just put dirt on his tongue. He would then look at us with such utter disbelief as if he couldn't fathom why we would torture him so. Well, this weekend he got his first taste of banana and he finally thinks this eating thing might be okay. I don't think he ingested very much, but he was still smiling by the end so there may be hope yet.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

CHEERS, Momma!

Thank you for everything I never knew you did for me until I became a mother!
I love you so very much!

And thank you to all the wonderful, nurturing and caring women that have helped me navigate these first 6 months of motherhood. I admire and love each and every one of you.

Just Some Friday Cuteness

Wanna play?

Finn loves bubbles!

Finn really wants to crawl (probably still a ways away):

We are seeing more and more extreme sleeping positions:

Cinco de Mayo

I know, I know, but this is what you get when you leave me home alone with a baby, a dog and a sombrero......

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Finn is 6 month old!

Wow, we have had a son for half a year! It has been amazing. It has passed so quickly, yet everyday has been intense and lived in the moment. Never in my life have I felt so present and living moment to moment and feeling every emotion so explicitly. It has been so hard and so joyful. There have been times I have wondered why on earth I did this, why anyone does this! But then, Finn smiles and laughs and I have never felt the happiness that soars through my heart. Okay, those are my deep thoughts for the day.

Finn is very interested in toys and grabbing anything and everything he can:

He loves standing up and always looks so proud of himself and amazed at the view from 2 feet up!


We are still working on crib sleeping especially for naps. We can often get him down for one sleep cycle. He loves sleeping on his side:
Can you believe the difference 6 months makes?!?

Sweet Potatoes

Well, as Finn turns 6-months-old tomorrow, we decided to begin the solid food phase. We really wanted to make as much of our own baby food as we can. It is cheaper and easy to do! I have the book Naturally Heathly First Foods for Baby: The Best Nutrition for the First Year and Beyond by Jacqueline Rubin and I have been reading a lot on wholesomebabyfood.com. We decided Finn's first taste should be sweet potatoes and we are going to follow the Wholesome Baby Food introduction schedule. Last night, I baked 3 sweet potatoes and blended the heck out of them in our blender. Then I put them in an ice cube tray to freeze. Now, we are set with portions of sweet potato for quite awhile! We froze them overnight and then took them out of the tray to put in a bag. This morning I took one cube and microwaved it and then added enough breast milk to make it very thin.


This morning, Finn was happily ready, but he doesn't know what he is ready for:

At the first offered bite, he whole-heartedly grabbed the spoon and brought it to his mouth. Of course this is what he does with everything he is given so it wasn't eagerness for a meal.

He ate it and then sucked on the spoon a little bit:


After that, he really wasn't sure about this eating thing:


In the end, he just wanted the spoon.

And that concluded Finn's first breakfast. Not really a fan, but it is supposed to be a learning process. I thought it tasted pretty darn good myself, very sweet and creamy, so he should get the hang of it. We will try again tomorrow. We will stick with sweet potatoes for about 4 days to make sure he doesn't have any reaction and then we will try some avocado. Perhaps sweet potatoes just aren't his thing, or maybe solids are just going to take some time. Quite the adventure we have started on.