Labor Day Weekend

We had a great long labor day weekend. Sean's company is doing some work on Brassua Lake in Maine and they have rented a house for the workers. Sean had to do a bit of work on Saturday so we took the opportunity to use the house for the weekend. We went with another couple. I was nervous because they don't have kids and I was worried that Finn would keep them up at night, etc., but it all went quite well. Sean caught the biggest brook trout he has ever landed at 17 3/4 inches. There is a photo to back this up, but it was on the work camera. Will post once he gets it. Here are a ton of other pictures from the trip.

We enjoyed a lot of hiking.



Finn discovered stairs for the first time and was able to make it up the entire flight.



One morning Finn chose 4:30 as a good wake up time.



We went hiking along the Moose River and Sean and Lily got some fishing in. We had to cross the dam which provided lots of views.



Lily loves fishing maybe even more than Sean.


Finn and I enjoyed watching and checking out the woods.




Lunch on the porch of the house with the river in the background.


Of course there were lawn games. Finn really took to horseshoes.



Our last walk in the woods.

10 Months Old

Finnbar is 10 months old today! Amazing we are in the double digits. It has been quite an eventful month. He is working so hard on walking. Most often it is a step or two before falling down, but on occasion he can go for awhile. He is always so proud of himself. He loves his walking toy. He is enjoying books a lot more. He likes to open and close them and turn the pages. He likes peek-a-boo books and books with textures. He likes to knock down towers of blocks, but sometimes he will put a block on top. He is trying his shape sorter more and he will sometimes get a ring on the ring stacker. He is really enjoying solid food meals. He likes bread and hummus, peas and carrots, almost any fruit, beans and lentils, buffalo burgers, veggie burgers, avocados, sweet potatoes, and more. He hates any kind of dairy and we have tried all kinds of yogurt and cheese. He still resists the spoon. He is back to his terrible sleeping habits, getting up every 1-2 hours through the night. Every once in awhile he will give us a good night with only 3 wakings and that gives us hope. He loves Lily. He loves watching her play fetch in the backyard. He loves exploring outdoors as exhibited in the following photos:

Bathroom Remodel

It has been a few weeks, but we are finally almost done with the bathroom shower remodel, so I thought I would post. We went ahead with the idea I posted awhile back from the Country Living Magazine.

Here is the before:
When we (and by "we", I mean Sean) removed the panels, we found there was a lot of rot in the drywall. So glad we did this!

Sean preparing the corrugated metal panels:

Finnbar was very helpful in the entire process:

Installing the panels:

And, drum rolllllll.....The finished product. We actually need another coat of paint in the bathroom, but that is it. I don't really think the pictures do it justice. The bathroom is so small it is hard to get a good shot, but it looks really nice in person. Sean did a magnificent job. As with all home improvement projects, it took a bit longer than expected and we ran into some snags, but it all came together in the end.

Yoga

The day that we moved to Deerfield, we went to a local pizza place for dinner. As we were waiting for out pizza, I was checking out the bulletin board and saw an advertisement for a mom's group based in Deerfield. It was through Meetup.com. I had never heard of this site before, but it is pretty fantastic. You can go to register and find groups of a variety of interests in your area. I contacted the organizer of the group and joined up and it has been fantastic. We have done meet ups at the park, the beach, storytime, blueberry picking, and more. The website allows you to see a calendar of upcoming meet ups and you can RSVP. There are also forums where you can chat and ask questions of the other members. Our group has 23 moms with kids of varying ages. They try to organize playgroups as well as mom's night out and couple's parties. I am still very new in the group and meeting other mom's, but I am so excited to have found it and so quickly after we moved here.

During the month of September, every Wednesday, they organized a yoga class specifically for the group where you may bring your children and they can play or participate or just be with you depending on the age. The yoga is aimed primarily toward the mom, but you can relax and not have to worry about disturbing others with your baby. Finn and I went today. Another mom was kind enough to pick us up and take us. There were 6 other moms there. I was worried about how Finn would react to the venue, but it turned out to be great! He had such a good time. We all arranged our mats in a circle and he did laps crawling around. He grabbed several other moms' toes to tickle them. He was really in his element. And then at one point we were all doing a cobra pose and he stood up by himself and took 6 steps! His record to this point. I felt relaxed and stretched when we were done and Finn was completely tuckered out. It was wonderful. I am really hoping to go next week.

Hydronephrosis Check

Finn had another kidney ultrasound today to check the level of hydronephrosis. His right kidney was still perfect and his left kidney showed marked improvement. There is still a little fluid on his left kidney, but it is much reduced since his previous visit and they anticipate it will continue to resolve itself. We don't have to go back for another year to check the progress. The doctor said she was just being ultraconservative with ordering another check in a year as if it were going to get worse, it would probably be evident by now. So, Finn is a healthy boy with healthy kidneys! They also weighed him and their scale showed him at 19 lbs 10 oz. So, he is still gaining since his last check up. All is well.