There's nothing like a puppy!

I wanted to alert all my blog readers to a new and fantastic blog out there. My parents have adopted a beautiful golden retriever puppy and are chronicling their adventures. He is just so cute, you'll want to squeeze him when you read the blog. Enjoy!

Bubbles and Baboo's Blog

Hammer Time!

He's got some moves

Finn has taken to grooving at any music he hears these days. He got a Mozart magic cube for christmas and has really been showing his moves. Wish I had gotten these when he is standing, but this is pretty good.

A Snowman

Yesterday we had a nice snowfall with big, wet heavy flakes. It was perfect for building a snowman. It was Finn's first snowman. He thought it was fun to pat the balls as I rolled them up and then, when I put sticks in for arms, he was thrilled. Unfortunately, he then thought it was fun to impale the snowman over and over again with the arm and then the snowman met his end, but it was a good time.

A Very Merry Christmas

We had a very lovely Christmas. It is the first Christmas in our new home, which was really wonderful. It was also the first time that Sean and I got to be Santa's helpers, and we loved that role. We woke up around 5am as is the norm. We decided to keep Finn out of the living room and keep to the breakfast routine before presents. The night before, Sean and I made pulla, a Finnish cardamom christmas bread. We made orange butter to go ontop and we brewed up some cappacinos. It was a great way to wake up before the festivities. Sean got a fire going in the woodstove in the living room and we let Finn see what Santa had put in front of the tree.

He was very excited to see a new block set:



He also got some mega legos and we couldn't get the package open fast enough. This boy loves to build:

Santa went ahead and put an obnoxious cell phone in Finn's stocking because he loves to press buttons and play with our phone. It was a big hit and has become a great toy for in the car:

After some good playing around the tree, Finn took a nap and then we headed to Nana and Papa's for the family Christmas. First and foremost, we had to get some more ice skating in. Finn will definitely be ready for some blades next year, but this year, Sean "skated" him around on his boots. He thought it was hilarious to slip and slide all over the place:

On of my new favorite pictures:
I got to pull Annalise around in the sled and Lily is never far behind:
Then, it was time to retire around the Christmas tree and play with cousins:
Gift opening was great fun:
The boys got some very cool John Deere vehicles and everyone enjoyed a ride:


A Very Merry Christmas, Indeed!

Christmas Eve

We woke up this morning very festive:

We went to Nana and Papa's to get some snow sports in. Finn and I took the sled down to the lake:


The ice was beautiful, the weather was warm and it was a perfect day for some skating and sledding:

13 1/2 Months

With all of the craziness of returning from vacation and the holidays, I am late in doing a post marking the completion of Finn's 13th month. I want to make sure I record some of the quirkiness from that month, so here goes:

• Finn got a walking bike for his birthday. At the time, he didn't understand what it was and was leery of us trying to get him to sit on the seat. Well, something magical happened at 13 months and he is happy to ride it around. He is also very good at ringing the bell.
• Finn has most certainly mastered walking, he is pretty good at running, and now his new challenge is climbing! Climbing EVERYTHING...couches, beds, chairs the outside of the crib, the open dishwasher, any overturned box or basket.
• He also likes to climb into things...baskets, boxes, the tub.
• He has a fascination with the trash can and likes to try to get into it. Yucky.
• He has a fascination with the toilet and likes to try to get into it. Double Yucky!
• He is getting better and better with using utensils by himself at mealtimes. He also will let us feed him with the spoon when he is really hungry. Yet, sometimes, he eschews utensils and hands altogether and likes to slurp things up from his tray with his mouth.
• He really likes soup.
• Finn got to try walnuts this week in the form of Lentil-Walnut burgers (from the original Moosewood cookbook - yum). This was his first foray into the world of nuts and he seemed to do just fine.
• We are not introducing cow's milk while he is still happy getting the uber nutritious mama milk, but he has stolen his cousins' sippys a couple of times and seems to like it.
• He is getting into dancing, particularly to Christmas tunes. It consists of him stomping around clog-style and shaking his head. Very cute!
• He LOVES to press buttons. He likes the buttons on the telephone, the laundry machine, the radio, the TV, the washing machine. We have a couple of the V-Tech magnet toys for the fridge and he loves pressing the buttons on those, especially the ones on a farm toy to the point that I will never get "She's coming round the mountain" out of my head! (Side note: there are six verses to the song if you are curious).
• We are lucky to live around several farms and stables with lots of horses. He loves to see them when we go walking.