Happy 5771!

Yep! It's hard to believe, but 5770 is just a memory now and we are into the year 5771. It has a nice ring to it, huh? We traveled down to NY to be with Dan's parents and other family types for Rosh Hashanah last week. Two days of great food, lots of family time, and services at Temple Israel Center. Finley's been to temple before, both in Boston and in NY, but this might have been the first time he was awake and aware of his surroundings. He enjoyed listening to his Aunt Ellie sing and hearing the shofar being blown towards the end of the services. He also REALLY enjoyed checking out all the other babies that were around; he got to meet Henry, Isabell, and Jude (all 2009 babies of family friends). Finley's really become quite interested in his fellow tikes, making cute squeaky noises, cooing, and smiling at them. We also ran into some other babies that we didn't really know, but made friends with quickly. Including one little guy who was just a week younger than Fin and was wearing a suit! I kid you not, he had on a grey suit (with pink pinstripes), a button down pink shirt (tucked in), AND a gray patterned tie!! I think Finley looked a bit underdressed in comparison since I failed to pack shoes or socks and he was at temple barefoot, oops. Dan was proud that our boy was dressed much more laid back (collared short sleeve shirt and corduroys), but perhaps we should invest in a couple pieces for future formal occasions...

We had dinner at Dan's parents house the first night and at Finley's "Aunt" Linda's house the second night: both evenings he got to hang out during the appetizer portion and went to sleep before dinner started. The second night, we put him to sleep upstairs at Linda's, enjoyed our meal, and then got him back to sleep at Dan's parents house. We'd never done such a transfer and were pleased how easily it all went! Finley was clearly surprised to be up in the middle of the night, but not upset and went back to sleep quite peacefully 20 minutes later. Perhaps we can do this transfer more often and get to go to our friends' houses for dinner instead of always having them at our place. Sweet!

I failed to take any pictures until right before we got in the car to go home. Bad Mommy. The truth is, now that Finley's more mobile and keep us on our toes, I don't seem to ever have my camera at the ready (since I often need both hands free to catch our very brave, but not always coordinated son). Here are some photos from our photo shoot in Dan's parents' front yard:

Oh and two more pictures to share from the trip home. As we drove, we heard a slurping noise from the backseat and I peered over (with my well rested camera).

Yep--he was sucking on his big toe! Busted :) We caught him in the act! In the next picture, I feel like he was saying, "See how fun it is back here! We've got toys and toes to play with, come on back!"

Note to self: wash Finley's feet more often (and more thoroughly) and bring socks/shoes to all religious holidays.