Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Happy Birthday!

To this guy:


Last night, we celebrated early by spending a night out in Georgetown. We left the children with my parents and spent the night in the guest bedroom at my office. We never were farther than 2 blocks from our house all night, and yet felt like we were on a mini vacation. We were.


This morning we walked home and were greeted by two darling children and lots of birthday hugs. Nana and Papa joined us for a birthday brunch as did Grandma, auntie Chrissie and cousin William, who sang happy birthday with us via FaceTime.



In a couple of hours we are driving to the coast to do a sunset photo shoot (Finn, Inca and I are the models!) for a personal project Nick is working on. It is a good day to be born.

Finn, our little fish






 


Monday, July 30, 2012

Look who climbs!

Sunday morning, I had just finished making breakfast and ran into the living room to let Finn know breakfast was ready and I came back to this little missy on Finn's stepladder trying to help herself! What a little monkey!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Daddy talks funny

Sunday in the car, Nick and I were having a playful conversation about the correct way to pronounciate a particular word and the debate quickly turned into English versus American language. At the end of the conversation, when Nick had 'won' the linguistic debate, Finn clearly feels sorry for me, turns to Nick and says Daddy, you need to speak properly.

What do you mean I need to speak properly, Finn? asks Daddy

Well, Daddy, you don't really say things right. It sounds kinda weird.

My words sound weird to you?

Well, yeah, you kinda sound like a goat.

Nick and I laughed ourselves to tears, Finn's comment made even more funny by the fact that Nick's melodic accent sounds nothing like a goat.

Thanks, kid!



Friday, July 27, 2012

The stories these days

Finn has a thing for birthdays. They are his favorite occasion, besides someone coming home from a trip with a prize for him and getting a new digger. He is very anxious when people have birthdays and he cannot be there to help blow out the candles and watch presents being unwrapped. So, last week when we were writing some birthday cards for some upcoming birthdays, he was gung-ho to draw in the cards, until he heard that they were birthday cards. And he was not going to see them for their birthdays.

Oh, no! he cried, not for their birthday! They are not going to get these cards because before the mailman brings their cards, they are going to fall in a lake and a monster is going to eat them all up and they will never have a birthday again!

We talked about why he felt so bad about someone else's birthday and how sad it would be if they really fell in the lake and got eaten by monsters, so he conculded the story with this:

When they fall in the lake, before the monsters come, a nice whale sees them and pokes them up to the top with his nose and they get to climb out and have a really, really fun birthday and get lots of presents and blow out the cake three times. The End.

Although this is an example of an unhappy story, lots of Finn's stories involve happy things and provide an excellent window to his current state of mind. Unlike his difficult stage at 18 months, he can articulate much more these days and is able to give us little clues to his mental well-being. The imagination on this one is incredible and I have to start writing down more of these stories.

Did you know... we have a teeny-tiny deer that lives in our lettuce patch? He is very shy and hates it when I water the lettuce and this little deer built a little house under the lettuce leaves. One of the leaves is his blanket and his best friend is a tiny frog that no one can see but the deer. They ride the diggers at night when no one is watching and the diggers are supposed to be sleeping. (not) the end.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Princess Poppie plays dress-up

We have a lot of weddings, birthdays and other fun and fancy parties on the horizon and Poppie has been through a growth spurt lately so we had a little dress-up sesh to make sure her current wardrobe still fits.
A little Mexican number with lace detail? With a pink bolero and a flower in her hair? A uni-brow would complete this Frida Kahlo look.
What do you think, Finn?
The party princess look. She couldn't stop staring at the bow. It fits, for now.
Yay, Finn! You can jump on mommy and daddy's bed sooo high!

And the winning ticket? Her favorite green flowered frock that is easy to put on and light and comfortable. Perfect for finally being allowed to play with Finn!
Before we collapse into a pile of ruffles and tears! Poppie does not like this dress-up game. She wants to be jumping on the bed with her brother!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Caught 'em: a few steps!

Please ignore the missing tiles and the fact that she is chewing on something she shouldn't. She's walking! (almost)