Finn's Fall Frolic

Last Friday, the weather was absolutely beautiful.  So Finn and I made the spontaneous decision to go out to Springwater Conservation Area for a photo shoot.  It was something I had wanted to do and I figured that the weather really couldn't get much better - warm and sunny with a gentle breeze.

Finn wasn't quite sure to make of the leaves at first....

 but after the initial 'ick' factor he decided he quite liked them! :)

practicing his crawling!

While we were there, we drank in the deliciousness of fall.  That fall smell that is a combination of leaves and cool, crisp air and campfire.  We watched as leaves fluttered to the ground.  Finn kicked around and waved leaves in the air.  I told Finn how this is the best season of all.  Because how can you resist the beauty of the colours and the feel of fresh air on your face?  It's always been my favourite.  And Springwater is probably one of my favourite places to go this time of year.  One of my favourite places with one of my favourite people.  It doesn't get much better than this!   

Finn's Solution to Teething

As we were attempting to clean up a couple of weekends ago, we came across this little massager that James got as a gift from one of his students last June (bizarre, right?).  Finn thought it was great fun - first for chasing Oscar...(please ignore our Saturday morning pajama attire!)...

...and later for giving some relief to some sore gums...

The current count is four, yes count 'em, FOUR teeth coming in right now.  And who knows?  There could be an additional two making their way in, but the little man won't let me look at the right side of his mouth

Dear Finn...

Dear Finn,
Today you did so many new and interesting things that I thought I should write you a letter.

This morning I was changing you diaper and as usual, we were talking about the lion on the wall and how he says, "roooooar".  You love it when I point to the lion, the monkey and the elephant and tell you what sounds they make.  All of the sudden you got a little smile on your face and YOU started to make a little, "rrrrrrrr" sound!  I roared back at you and you roared at me and we smiled and giggled together.  This is officially your first animal sound.

Next we went to buy groceries and when we came home I brought in all of the groceries while you hung out in your car seat and watched.  When I brought you into the house you were really interested in the baby giraffe toy that you had left on the living room floor.  I put you down so you could play with it and when I was leaving the room (to put away the groceries) you kept looking at the ADT alarm box on the wall and then at me.  I think you know that when we come home I need to disarm the alarm.  You little smarty-party.

After your big nap I thought you might like to do some Jolly Jumping.  As I was getting you set up you let out a little, "YAY!".  We've been hearing you say what sounds like, "Yeah" sometimes, but this was your first big YAY.  HOORAY!

And then, while you were Jolly Jumping I was sitting over by the computer and singing to you.  I started to sing The Duck Song.  Your eyes were jumping back and forth between me and the computer so fast it was like you were watching a tennis match in super fast forward.  Usually when you hear The Duck Song you get to watch the video on YouTube.  I guess you were expecting the video to accompany my singing.....you are just so very, very smart.  (You also like The Duck Song 2 and 3 but I think we both agree that the first one is the best.)

Later on we were playing and your soother fell out of your mouth.  I picked it up for you and said, "Do you want your soother?".  Then you made a sound like, "Ooodah".  I was really starting to think I was hearing things but it was just so clear.

On top of all of this, you are finally figuring out how to crawl.  You can't move very far as of yet, but you are definitely able to move forward by a couple of wiggles before you fall on your belly.  It's taking you awhile to figure out all of this crawling business, but the reality is that you are very easy to please.  If you start to move towards a toy that you see and you realize that you can't get to it, you simply decide to play with something else.  It is only within the last 4 days or so that you have started to get annoyed about not being able to get where you want to go.  Soon enough you'll get there, my baby.

Last but not least, at dinner tonight you tried some chicken.  More specifically, it was the same chicken that Daddy and I had to eat.  This is a first.  You really didn't like the pureed chicken that I gave you awhile ago but you REALLY seemed to like this stuff.  The other night you had our potato soup and loved it.  Maybe you've been picky about what you've been eating because it hasn't been interesting enough.  We're going to try hard to give you more grown-up things to eat.  We just have to be careful because sometimes your body doesn't like certain foods and we want to make sure we know which things it doesn't like!  I'm so proud of you for eating all of that chicken tonight.  It makes me so happy to see you eat big people food and actually enjoy it.

Daddy and I love watching you learn and grow.  We can't wait to see what you're going to do next!

Love Mommy