Our Field

Because we have a very large yard and a very wee mower, we have let the back part of our yard grow into a beautiful field. It has sprouted a lot of wildflowers and become a haven for butterflies and bumblebees. Finn likes to run through the tall grass, pick flowers and follow the butterflies.

Tenants

We are lucky enough to have a good population of snakes living in our crawl space and basement. We see a lot of garter snakes in the yard and the other day we opened our basement to find this beauty about to go sun himself:

Flutterby

We have seen a lot of butterflies fluttering about the yard. Finn has discovered the joy in chasing them and watching them land on flowers.

Hanging out in the yard

Taking the bike out for a spin:


Picking some wildflowers:

A beautiful poppy:

How does your garden grow?

We have been working hard to establish our gardens in this first summer in our house. We are a bit behind, but looking forward to getting the plots dug and plants in the ground. We are going to start with four plots and expand from there. Eventually, we are going to frame them up and turn them into raised beds. Our neighbor, Art, has been kind enough to give us a lot of chicken manure to incorporate in the soil. Finn has been quite the helper over the last couple days as I have been digging the last couple of plots for the vegetable garden. He loves the idea of the shovel and wants to try to dig with it. He quickly figured out how to mimic me standing and hopping on the shovel:

He is also very good at dirt moving using his dump truck:

And, the many earthworms we find have provided endless entertainment:

18 Months

Wow, Finn is 1 1/2 years old! This feels like another big milestone. It is incredible how much he has changed and grown. I absolutely love this age. He is so curious and playful and he comes up with something new everyday.

We had his 18 month well check yesterday and he was pronounced perfect (which, of course, I already knew)! He is 34 inches tall (88th percentile) and 24 lbs 6 oz (28th percentile), which is pretty much the same growth curve he has been on for awhile thus he is really growing well. He got his last vaccine booster until he is 4 years old, aside from flu vaccs every year. His next well visit will be when he is 2, so we are in cruising mode for now.

Okay, at 18 months...

• We are slowly seeing language development. Finn first word is officially "hot." Mostly, he uses it reference to food, often whether it is hot or not. He really likes to blow on his food to cool it now. He does also drop "hot" for other random things, much like Paris Hilton. We are also getting some "mama," "daddy," and "dog," but usually only when prompted.
• He is really grasping the concept of "no" with vehement head shaking and an "uh uh" He used to just always say "yes" with rapid nodding after every question asked of him. Now, he typically responds with "no" often only to switch to "yes"
• He is expanding his climbing abilities, most recently by scrambling up three shelves in the pantry in 1/2 second flat! Seriously, it takes no time at all. He will be playing happily so I turn my head to do something and next thing I know he is perched on the dining room table.
  
• He has loved playing a game we call, "tickle monster." Usually, I will be holding him and we will hide somewhere while Sean stomps around looking for him to tickle. This results in much giggling. Finn has now taken to the role of the tickle monster, stomping around the house with his hands raised, ready to tickle anyone in his path. No one is safe, much to Lily's dismay!
• Finn has 8 teeth now with 6 on top, and two on the bottom. He actually did pretty well when the top molars came in. I think we have some moment of the bottom molars now too. I see a suspect white lump on one side. I am praying this can be blamed for our poor sleep these days.
• Yes, Finn is STILL the world's worst sleeper.
• Finn loves the concept of "more" He signs it like a champ, but now he has started to ask for more of everything. For instance, an awesome truck will drive by and he will ask me for more. If only, I could command the trucks.
• Trucks are the best. Finn loves his "Big Truck Book" and he gets very excited by any truck driving by. We have a house being built up the way and we had to stop and watch the excavator for a good 10 minutes on out walk the other day.
• Dogs are also the best. We read a lot of dog books and Finn just loves to see any dogs in the neighborhood.

After the appointment and lunch yesterday, Finn and I took advantage of having the car and we went to the playground in Deerfield Center. He had so much fun. He figured out the concept of climbing up the stairs and going down the slide on his own. He must of gone down it 50 times, each time signing "more" at the bottom of the slide. He also really got into working on his climbing ability on all the structures. It was such fun.

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a most fantastic Mother's Day. Finn and Sean made me french toast this morning and then they left for a long walk with Lily while I enjoyed a nice soak in the tub with my morning coffee. It was so relaxing. We then geared up for a nice visit with the family. There was a lot of fun with the whole gang together.

There was a lot of bubble action:



Giant bubbles:

Some jumping rope:

A family photo:

I want to wish everyone a wonderful mother's day. I know a lot of amazing, nurturing women that I can only hope to emulate in my own mothering. Thank you for providing such beautiful examples of motherhood.

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods is one of the most beautiful places in the Springs. I have such wonderful memories of hiking, biking and rock climbing there. We took Finn for a walk to get some pictures in the red rocks. He was a bit of a maniac trying to climb everywhere and he had a great time exploring.