An Apple a Day

Finley's a fruit-fanatic. With so many fruit options out there, I can overlook a fruit or two for weeks. On Tuesday, while perusing the produce at Wilson Farms, I remembered that Finley hadn't had an apple in a while. I bought three different kinds of apples (one each) and after dinner, I took a bite to get him started and he took it from there. He LOVED this apple, he looked as if he was the happiest baby in the world while chomping through it. He ate the skin, the flesh, and even nipped at the stem!

I truly enjoyed just sitting and watching him spin the apple around looking for his next bite. I took lots of photos and then scrambled to find the video camera. There are two videos below and since I haven't posted a video in a while, I figured you all could handle them both :)

So after a while, Finley tossed what was left of his apple on the floor. This is one of his more annoying habits that lets us know he's finished eating. However, after dropping it, he looked over the edge of his highchair quite longingly at his discarded dessert. I got him out of the chair while Dan went to grab the apple to toss it out. Finley got very upset and begged for the apple, so Dan rinsed it off and handed it back to him. He took a tiny bite and then took off.

He basically carried the apple around like a security blanket for the next fifteen minutes. Wherever Finley went, he took the apple along too.

The funniest part was when he walked over the plastic giraffe. This giraffe came with some blocks that you can put down the giraffe's head/neck and they come out at his feet. Finley decided to use the apple as a block.

It came flying out the bottom and onto the floor! I laughed out loud, it was hysterical. Before we could "dust" it off, Finley grabbed it and was off again!

Soon it was time to head to the bath tub, but we had to distract Finley with every toy in his playroom in order for him to drop what was left of his beloved fruit. Luckily it was a successful endeavor and without his knowledge, we discarded the apple in the trash on the way to the tub.

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but (note to self) an apple a day also pleases Finley to no end and can provided both nutrition and entertainment for hours on end.

Holiday Family Fun!

Where to begin? We spent five days down in VA and it was amazing how many people we got to see! This post is just a wrap-up of all the wonderful family that Dan, Finley and I got to hang out with.

#1: Owen (Finley's cousin who just turned one the previous week)

The boys played very nicely together and it was neat to see them somewhat acknowledge each other's existence! Owen's not walking quite yet, but the two certainly found ways to connect.

#2 Chris (My brother, Finley's uncle, and Owen's dad)

#3 Granddad

Finley had fun playing toys, reading books, sitting on his lap, and listening to him play guitar.

#4 Cool Aunt Caitlin (title says it all!)

#5 Grammy

For some reason, Finley took a little while to warm up to his Grammy this visit. He played hard to get, but she was very patient and when the time was right--the fun began!

#6 Mia (Finley's "cousin" who is Dan's cousin's daughter)

#7 Annette (Finley's great Aunt and Mia's grandma)

#8 Daddy

Since Dan came down a few days after Finley and I, the boys made up for lost time with some Christmas morning snuggling.

The whole crew in some posed pre-Christmas dinner photos.

More people we hung out with that aren't pictured: Dave (a good friend of mine from high school), Mitch (a good friend of my mom's who spent Christmas with us), Bronwyn (Owen's mom, Finley's aunt), Eric and Amy (dan's cousin and his wife), Baby Jake Forseter (Mia's new little brother), Bernie (Finley's great Uncle, grandpa to Mia and Jake), and who knows who else!

Finley was a charmer as usual, flashing smiles and giving out belly laughs. While he doesn't usually leap into other peoples' arms or stray too far from us, he does love to be around people and is learning how fun it can be to interact with all those around him.

Toys and the Stairs, plus a creche crashing!

After his birthday and Hanukkah, Finley was pretty sure he was the luckiest kid in town. His luck continued as the little Jewish boy got to celebrate yet another present-filled occasion, Merry Christmas, Finley!

But before any of the presents were even opened, Finley was in hog heaven. My parents have a wonderful collection of toys that Finley dove into each morning. His favorite, by far, was a little writing desk that had a bench with a lid.

He basically opened and closed this thing a million times, though that's a conservative estimate. He put little toys into it and then pulled them out. He put his cracker in there to save for later. He liked it when someone would say "open" and "closed" as he flipped the lid up and down. It was quite entertaining to watch. Eventually, he tired of this (after day four or five) and discovered he could climb on top of it. I wasn't a fan of that activity as much, but he finally figured out how to get back down so it turned out to be alright.

When it was time to open presents, Finley was ready!

However, the neatest thing Finley "got" this visit was that he's officially not afraid of climbing stairs anymore! He used to go up a couple and then want to turn around to give up or he'd slip on one and then pout to be picked up. No more! My parents have a front and a back staircase that he scaled with ease many times and we had to hook up the gates that my folks had in reserve since Finley became obsessed with them!

Not so skilled at going down, but we'll work on that. While he wasn't fearful of stairs, he still wanted someone "spotting" him so he would walk over and perhaps climb the first step before calling out to one of us to come over and go up with him. No official words for this, but a little "ah ah" while he waited for us to give in. He does this more and more now whether it's to spot him on the stairs or just come with him into a different room, very cute and quite effective.

This new stairs accomplishment caused a little embarrassment on Christmas Eve, though. We accompanied my mom to church for the children's service so Finley could see all the kids dressed up for the nativity and he could meet some of my mom's many church friends. He enjoyed seeing all the kids in costumes and frequently approached the 3 Kings to check out what they were bringing to the soon-to-arrive Baby Jesus. He smiled and made friends with just about everyone and enjoyed walking up and down the main aisle as the pews were filling up with congregants. When the service started, Finley LOVED all the singing and "sang" along with my mom--nothing more adorable than that. Soon it was time for all the costumed kids to gather at the altar near the manger scene. When all the "friendly beasts" were invited up, Finley took that as his cue and leapt from my arms and began down the aisle. Eek. So I followed behind, but that wasn't the embarrassing part. Lots of "oohs" and "ahs" came from the crowd and I figured maybe this wasn't so bad :) We got to the end and I had Fin sit on my lap to listen to the rector tell the rest of the manger story. However, Finley wanted to be part of the action and he soon spotted the three steps at the base of the altar. He freed himself from my grasp and crawled up through the well-trained, seated kids and into the "stable" at the top of the stairs. Yikes! I bolted up and snatched him before he tipped over the manger and snacked on some hay. Yes, all of this in front of a few hundred people. We then made our not-so-smooth exit down the side aisle and back to our seats. Phew.

My mom later said how cute everyone told her Finley was and how funny it was that he crawled right into the scene. Never in his life had he been so bold and daring, it really took me by surprise. Who knows what he'll do next!

Finley Eats his Way Through the Holidays

My mom stocked her fridge and freezer with all of Finley's favorites, which made meal times quite enjoyable all around. However, we did provide him with some new foods to try. He'd had a clementine slice once before, but wasn't really into it. This time around, every slice went down in a flash!

He is very into sharing his food lately, but sometimes tries to take it back out of your mouth when he realizes that he'd rather eat it himself. Yuck!

He also tried some grapefruit, one of his daddy's favorites.

My mom made us pancakes, which Finley was fairly suspect about at first, but was soon shoving pieces into his mouth with both hands!

It can be very fun to feed the little guy when he's in one of his flexible feeding phases, I'm glad my mom got to enjoy this one!

Finley also had a great lunch out at The Cheesecake Factory with his parents and grandparents. No photo evidence, but he was a gem! He had lots of his chicken and cheese quesadilla, some of his dad's sweet potato fries, lots of water, and a few cheerios. I'd say he spent at least half of his time turned around making eyes at the ladies at the table next to us or chatting with our waiter (not to mention grabbing and pulling his tie). As my mom said, "He sure makes a good date!" I couldn't agree more :)

This last photo is a post-breakfast shot when he was enjoying some water and hanging out with his Aunt Caitlin.

Good thing footie-PJs leave lots of room for an expanding waistline! Eat on, little boy!