18 Months

I had intended to be much more regular about journaling our family life on this blog. Here we are 6 months later, Finn is 18 months old and I am determined to mark this with an entry about our little man. He's a handsome devil and is booming with personality. He's got a consistent fan base and is very confident that anyone he meets will join the club. He approaches any stranger with a big grin and a few shoulder shrugs. He's especially quick with this when he sees that they have a potential "nack." Yesterday at the park he scored a couple slices of freshly baked bread and last week at the beach he snagged some watermelon.

He's starting to act like a typical toddler at times, throwing himself on the ground in protest, or turning the opposite direction of the offender with a dramatic run/wail combo. He will stare me down with defiance and complete the look with a slow, deliberate blink. He requires a wrestling match at diaper and clothing changes. Just today he ran an errand with Jeremy, and insisted on carrying the bag from the store.


He still has hilarious facial expressions and amazing eyebrow useage.



Most of the time he is happy as can be, full of smiles and giggles and TONS of energy. When he gets excited about something (which is several times a day), his whole body exudes energy. He runs everywhere he goes, sings, dances, climbs, chases birds, barks at and pets dogs and plays his heart out. His favorite dance moves currently are shoulder shimmies and shrugs or subtle head nods, sometimes both at the same time. Finn has been singing along to music for a long time now and when we stop singing a song, he'll keep going where we left off. He has the sweetest singing voice.




He loves books--if we were willing to oblige, he would happily sit and read books for several hours a day.

He still thinks the garbage truck, trains, helicopters and planes, and skateboards are pretty awesome. Each of these sights is welcomed by a "wo-h-h-h-oah!" Finn still loves the bus and lately has felt very cool at getting to ride the bus. He prefers his own seat when on the bus, and takes on a very serious deameanor.

Playing in the sand and water is the ultimate fun (but he panics if mama or papa gets too far out to sea or ducks under a wave). He loves to play hide and seek, coming to find us and then turning immediately on his heel and rushing off to find his hiding place. Chase is also a popular game and we find ourselves playing it repeatedly throughout the day....preceding diaper changes, bedtime, bathtime, to get him to walk the right direction, to put a jacket on, etc.



He loves to "nye-ah" (ride-a bike), whether it is his own push bike or riding on the back of mom's. His newest trick is to open the dryer and climb inside.

His latest words are "hike," "odd-oole-ooo" (cockle doodle doo), "uh-uh" (while shaking his head, no), "gock" (broccoli) and "hah!" (hot). He comes up with his own words for things ("eye-ee" = fishy). He understands pretty much everything we say to him and understands a lot of Spanish, which he has mostly picked up from his 1 day/week nanny, Laura or "Wow-wah." Her name as uttered by Finn, can easily be mistaken for the sighting of a "wow-weh"(flower) or a request for some "wa-wa." (water). For Finn, context is everything.
He has recently taken up yelling for things like, "Da-Daaaaa!" He also recently found a love of sending things down the stairs or a hill. This past weekend he combined the two by sending his bike down the hill and yelling "Nye-ah!" (bike) as it rolled down, then fetched it, and repeat, x 10.

He is a keen observer and shows great concentration in trying to figure things out. This may be part of the reason why he reminds so many people of his grandad Bates.




Finn weighs 24 lbs 9 oz (30th percentile) and is 33 inches (75th percentile). He sleeps 10-12 hours at night and takes 1-2 naps during the day (2-3.5 hours total). He likes to wake up at the first sign of sunlight, rearing to go. He has recently become a lot better at sleeping in settings away from home without conditions "just so."

Finn entertains us every day and showers us with love. We are fully aware of the great blessing and priviledge it is to be Finn's parents, and are mindful to not take it for granted each day. We feel so lucky to have this kid in our family. As our family has been shaken recently by a tragic loss, Finn has been our greatest comfort.