Ye Wee Finnegan

This little man is growing up, folks. He can say a few words like more, uh-oh, baby, ball, water, mumma, dada. He can also sign 'more' (which is synonymous with food for him), and milk. His tongue can make so many more noises than I remember Madie making. But then again, I remember Madie making the same noise (Dada) with more varying inflections. Funny how different these kids are.

Lately, Finn has been obsessed with any ball he can pick up and throw around. He has quite the arm. I leave my soccer ball laying around upstairs so he can play with it when he feels inclined. He also loves his foam baseball and actually plays a form of catch with me. Finn also loves to play with kitchen utensils. He's got plenty of toys, but he always opts for what Mom and Dad use in the kitchen, those always look like the most fun! Why do we buy toys for kids again?

He is still pretty attached to blankie, and goes to his vulnerable position whenever you hand it to him. It's a blessing and a curse. If you leave it at home during a family outing, you are certainly cursed.

Finn still opts to get around using his monkey crawl, although he has been taking steps lately. He has had moments of taking anywhere from 3-5 steps. He is certainly willing to walk if he has someone or something to hang onto, but he will have to decide when he is ready to walk. I'm definitely hoping it's before winter comes because I couldn't imagine him doing his crawl in the snow being very fun.

Summer wrap-up

Well, summer is gone in Maine and fall has arrived. The leaves are just starting to turn, and the temperature is cooling down. But here are some random iPhone pictures that never made it into the blog. 

This heap of threads was caught on Finns leg and he was dragging it all over the house one day. 

We had a trip to the ER when madie was sick. Luckily it wasn't from a tick bite! Just some seasonal thing passing through. 

Lots of tubbys. 

We hosted an open house in our green house. 

We spent lots of time at the beautiful lakes and beaches near us. 

We did a lot of work on our new home!

We went on lots of hikes. 

Looked for shells, rocks, and sea glass at the beach down the street. 

Went to Utah for a family reunion. 

We ate lots of good food. 

Read lots of good books. 

Climbed some fun rocks. 

Played some family games. 

Played in the rain. 

Watched some boats. 

Worked on the yard. 

Learned about super hero's. 

Drew lots of pictures (Madies latest). 

Watched the sunrise. 

Played piano. 

And were just plain silly! 

It was a great summer, but there is always a new season to look forward to. We are excited for fall and winter coming so we can play in the leaves, go skiing and sledding, and enjoy some good soups! 

Madie the Cyclist

Madie got a bike for her birthday and loves riding around (as long as we are holding on that is. Our driveway is a little rough for a beginners proving ground. But, hey! We live in rural country with gravel driveways and rugged terrain. 

4 Years and 1 Day

This is obviously very late, and I know most of you know, but for recording purposes, here we go...

The day after Madie turned four I woke from a short and much-interrupted nap to find this:

Four years of growth. Gone.

Party like it's 2009

Madie turned four on the 20th, but we celebrated on Friday so that we could celebrate with her Aunt Eden (thanks again for sharing your special day Eden). We kept it simple and went to the park nearby. Let the kids play, had some pizza and cake, easy party. And of course, a pinata! Madie wanted a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake. Eden went for a blueberry cheesecake. Both were amazing. Compliments to Mal. 

Conner Reunions

These pictures cover a few small reunions in Utah and Maine. It worked out pretty well because we went out to Utah for about a week and a half to go to the Watkins reunion and hang out with Mals family for a few days. Thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation, we got to see the Conners within a week of returning from Utah! Here are some highlights of the things we did: 

We went to the Watkins Cabin near Sundance for a night and I got to introduce the Conners (and friends) to the legend of Old Man Stewart, the history of the cabin itself, and all the fun things to see around there. 

Finn and Grammy. 

Before we went on this trip, we realized Finn has been having night terrors. And while we were staying at the cabin, he had one or two. A friend of ours said that their son had them as well, and they just stuck him in a cold shower to wake him up. Leading up to this trip, we did the same thing with Finn and it seemed to work really well. He was always calm we wrapped him in a warm towel after a cold drench. So at the cabin I improvised...I stuck his little feet in this ice cold river! Let me tell you, that definitely worked! **NIGHT TERROR UPDATE** Finn hasn't had a night terror since we switched him to strictly almond milk. Thanks for the suggestion Tiff! 

We fed the horses that graze near the cabin. They are not my families unfortunately...but the owners to don't seem to care that we feed and pet them. 

Madie loved feeding them, but was a little timid around their big smacking lips. 

And we can see how much Finn loved them. 

FAST FORWARD....we are now at our house for a lobster bake. These lobsters were HUGE! Thanks again Conners for providing those. It was fun to have the Conners stay on the island for a few days and be close by. 

FAST FORWARD AGAIN...This is the following weekend and we met up with the Conners at Grammy Haskins home. I think you can literally fit 1.5 Killian heads into one of Finns. "That's a huge noggin!" (said with a Scottish accent)

We went to Baxter State Park to attempt a Mt. Katahdin hike, but got started too late. We just went a couple of miles up just to check it out. We figure that since we live here we'll get another crack at getting up there soon. 

On Sunday we headed to Hope, ME to Seth's house for another lobster bake and reunion. I love this picture of Finn and his cousin Pip.  

I really liked Seth's yard. Nice playground, lots of grass for the kids, and tons of room. We had a scare when Madies neck got nailed by that tandem swing, luckily it didn't hit her head on, otherwise we could have had a much different evening looking for an ER. Thankfully, nothing serious happened.  

But let's get real, we all know that these three guys were the main event. 

Particularly after these two! Apparently Pip did not think much of Killian because he was literally going head to head with him, then tried to sit on him. I have more photos that capture the sequence, it was pretty spectacular. 

Love at first sight. Finnand this Power Wheels Jeep. As soon as he saw it, he was trying to find a way to break in to check it out.  

Another photo op. 

One more Conner reunion before they leave Maine. Stay tuned...