Virginia Visitors

Lucky for Finley, his Grammy and Granddad stepped up to the plate to take care of him while his daycare was on vacation last week. Lucky for him and lucky for us, too! My mom drove up on Monday and my dad arrived Wednesday via Amtrak. Around this time last year they had come for a baby Finley visit and missed a HUGE Virginia blizzard, so it was only fitting that they were here for our one bazillionth blizzard. Aside from the icky weather, it was a wonderful week! Finley enjoyed all the grandparental attention and showed them all his new tricks and favorite toys, books, and foods. My parents went above and beyond the call of duty doing everything around the house from cooking and cleaning to diaper changing and food shopping and even some snow shoveling and ice chipping! It was hard for me to imagine how we had been surviving without them :)

I didn't take nearly enough pictures or blog along the way, so this posting will be my best attempt to recall all the fun we had and will undoubtedly be looooong.

During my millionth snow day on Wednesday, we managed to dig the car out and venture out for lunch. Finley was disappointed that we were basically the only people at the restaurant, but thankfully the hostess kept popping over to chat with him. I was disappointed that the high chair was way too low for him to reach the food on the table, but Finley made it work.

Once his food came, Finley was shoving it in as fast as he could.

He seemed to get bored after a while and so I handed him my fork (I know, pointy metal objects and toddlers don't usually mix...). I showed him how to stab his chicken and get it into his mouth. He was fascinated! My mom and I took turns helping him and by the end, he almost had the hang of it.

The next two days, my parents watched Finley during the day and I came home in the afternoon to hang out. My mom took some great pictures and it always makes me smile to see Finley having fun even when I'm not around!

One afternoon, we went to the Children's Museum so Finley could show off one of his most favorite places. Since he hadn't napped terribly well, he wasn't as perky and outgoing as he usually is, but fun was still had by all!

Friday before bed and Saturday morning, Finley was busy "self-activating" as my dad called it. Just bopping around from room to room, toy to toy, and making himself laugh. It was neat to see him be so independent and cheerful without much effort on our end. He would occasionally bring one of us something or what to sit on a lap for a minute or two, but other than that it was all him!

My boy, the genius! Yes, the name of that book is Big Brain Games.

Finley recently rekindled his love of this phone we've had since July.

And now he'll hold it up to his ear if you say "Hello!"

These next two are a bit fuzzy due to poor lighting and a dirty camera lens...but you can see the cuteness, right?

They are intently "reading" the Pier1 catalog, ha ha ha!

At dinner, Finley tried out his new clip on chair. He seems to like it and wanted to make sure his Grammy knew where he was.

On Saturday, we went to an indoor rummage sale and then to breakfast before my parents had to go. None of us wanted to say goodbye, but that's the way it went and we are eagerly looking forward to the next visit. My parents saved us in our time of daycare need, but it sure felt like much more than that. They got to bond with Finley, they took some pressure of me and Dan in terms of around the house stuff, and made me feel like they don't live so far away :) What more could I ask for??? Another week or two perhaps??