i love the fair!!!!

it's true.
i absolutely love the fair.
it's a big slice of americana right smack dab in the middle of the country, and it's perfection.

we say we like to go to the fair to "people watch".
but the truth is, we go to the fair for two reasons.
the first, and most important reason, is:

to eat.
we go in with a mission.
consume as much food as possible, in as short an amount of time as possible.
(if you take your time, you get full, and then you can't keep eating!)
(gross!)
(by gross i mean amazing!)

spot amazing dinner special- check.

get down to business on some sweet corn- check.

make that a double check.

post dinner corn dog? check.

funnel cakes and deep fried nutty butty bars? check.

deep fried nutty butty bars.
in case you missed that.
i think i'm spelling butty wrong.
anyway...

pretty sure that's a bucket of fries in billy's hand...
so check.

we get 'em started young...

mission accomplished? i think so.

also, mom is on a diet and i think made it through this fried food frenzy totally clean, so props to you mom.

you're pretty.

now, the second reason we go to the fair is because, well:

we're rednecks.
hey, we've got a little redneck running through us just like anybody else.

and frankly, things like this get me excited:

awesome raffle prize #1- freezer full of meat. 
actual type of meat is still in question.

awesome raffle prize #2- bring home the bacon.
that's right- two whole pounds of bacon to the lucky winner.

i mean really, what more could you want?

i know.

billy joe murphy being the most entertaining man alive to compete in fair games:

you better believe he shattered that bottle.
and maybe pulled a hamstring...

it was worth the five bucks just to watch him try this!

what's that?
you want more?

how about an airbrushed onesie for your infant?
i know what you're thinking.
PERFECT.

now do you see why i look forward to the fair every year?
buckets of fun, i tell you.

he's handsome.

mmm ice cream cone...

i even wore my jean shorts.
thanks for the memories, cochranville fair!

gap jeans... who'da thought?

i never used to be able to wear gap jeans because they always ran so big.
i couldn't even fit into their smallest size!

this past weekend, however, we popped into the gap (while we were walking around the mall solely for the purpose of taking advantage of their air conditioning) and i tried on these jeans.

they are 1969 super flares, and they blew me away.
not only did they actually FIT ME, they were bananas awesome.
super soft, and you know i love the hippie flare.

i think gap totally redesigned and resized their clothing so that it's all a lot slimmer and better fitting.  the majority of their pants are still too big for me, but these super flares and the gap legging jeans fit me really well.  yay!
the only problem was, they were $69.99.
which isn't a huge problem in the world of jeans, because we all know a good designer pair can cost you over $200, and these fit me better than any designer pair i've tried on ever, but i was too cheap for them nonetheless.

speaking of being cheap, while i was having a relationship with these super flares in the fitting room, billy was scouring the mens clearance rack and found a pair of awesome 1969 jeans that were $10 and then an additional 40% off.  so they were $6.  stop it.  he wins the bargain hunter of the week award.

but the BONUS deal, was that when we bought his fancy six dollar jeans, i got one of those survey things on my receipt, which i promptly went home and filled out online, which gave me a coupon code for 20% off my next purchase.

so i got the jeans of my dreams for around $50 when i went back to the mall coupon code in hand!  i would have liked to have paid less, but i loved them just too much.  and at least i didn't pay full price!

also, when i got them i got another 20% off survey thingy so if anyone wants to buy something at gap and wants 20% off just let me know, i will send you the code.

without further ado, here are the jeans:

 

it's not a great picture of them, but you get the idea.  

they fit great and i love the dark wash and the flare.

and mom, if you're reading this, clearly i'm going to need you to hem these for me this weekend :D

the poo report- a cloth diaper update.

clearly don't read this blog post if you are not interested in poop or cloth diapers.

.....

who's still with me?!?!
nobody?
well i'm going to keep talking anyway.

finn still wears cloth diapers the majority of the time.  it is going quite well!

here's his "diaper model" pose:

he wears disposables when he is at his babysitter's for six hours on thursdays and fridays.
we also pop him into a 'sposie (that's diaper speak for disposable, get with it) whenever we go out and are going to be gone more than a few hours.  it's easier for me to travel with disposable diapers and wipes than toting around a wetbag and bulky cloth diapers, so that's what works for us.

(as a side note, we use seventh generation free and clear diapers and we get them for 30% off because we subscribed to amazon mom.  i highly recommend subscribing if you're a mom!  it is really worth it for stuff that you use all the time like babywash (we love babyganics natural lavendar), diapers, and wipes.  the savings is really substantial and amazon delivers it free as often as you need it.  hello convenience!)

back to finn's butt- so besides the babysitter's house and day trips, he's in cloth.  which i was a little worried about when he started eating "solid" (i use that term loosely because watery bananas can hardly be termed solid) food last weekend.  everyone told me poo horror stories.
"it's going to be awful!"
"it's going to smell!"
"so much poop!"
"poop!"
okay you get the idea.
it really hasn't been terrible though.  so far i've only gagged once!

see, when finn was only nursing, i could throw the poopy diapers right into the washing machine without doing anything to them.
quit your cringing now wait a second!
breastmilk poo is basically like watery mustard and it's water soluble which means it's safe to wash and washes away very easily.

buuuttttt... with the addition of real food to his diet, i can no longer just throw his diapers in the wash.  i have to dispose of the poo first.  this is annoying to me.  i really want to get a diaper sprayer, but in the meantime i have found my solution with these handy dandy little fellas:
bummis biosoft liners
they kind of resemble dryer sheets after you take them out of the dryer.
they are soft and septic safe and totally biodegradable.
so i line finn's cloth diapers with them (only when i'm expecting a poo- no need to waste them!) and then when the deed is done the poo is (sort of) easy to toss in the toilet and flush because it's sitting on these nice little liners.  this has been a good temporary solution until i purchase and install a diaper sprayer, which i think will be a little more effective and also more earth friendly.

i am still happy with using cloth diapers and cloth wipes overall and still highly recommend it (even thuogh this transition to solids is spicing things up a bit).  they really do a good job.  his diaper covers also double as swim diapers, so that's come in really handy and saved us money as well! 

if you're interested, these are the cloth diapers we use, and these are the cloth wipes.
this concludes the poo report!


and here are some leg rolls, just because:

<3

baby wearing, or lugging this huge kid around.

finn likes to be carried around about as much as i enjoy cheese, which is very much.
it is his preferred method of travel.

up until recently, he preferred to be carried around flung over my shoulder with my arms around his butt.  this was fine, except for the whole not being able to use my arms thing.

but as of late, finn wants to see everything i'm doing.  which leads to this annoying neck craning thing where he tries to escape my grasp so he can watch me get a glass of water/windex the mirrors/pluck my eyebrows/godknowswhat.  it was becoming mildly unsafe.

finn really only ever enjoyed the baby bjorn when he was very young or very sleepy.  it is also not super comfortable to have a face stuck to your chest in our 85 degree house, so i was kind of with him on that one. 

but today i finally put two and two together and realized the solution to finn wanting to see everything and me wanting to reclaim my hands was to put him in the baby bjorn facing outward.  his neck control is finally substantial so he actually really enjoyed it.

here he is after a rousing afternoon of watching me swiffer the hardwood floors.  pure entertainment.

and i know you're not supposed to have the front flipped up when he's facing this way, but it conveniently holds his binky in his mouth. perfect.

you're probably thinking the real solution here is... wait for it... put your baby down, meg!
but we are currently battling the negligent-parent-bald-spot.

you know the little patch of rubbed off hair babies get on the back of their heads from laying down that makes you look like a bad mother who leaves their baby on the floor all day?  yeah that spot.

i don't even know how he got the negligent bald spot, it must be from sitting in his car seat because he sleeps on his stomach!  anyway, i live in fear that someone will see it and think "oh man, that poor baby lays on his back all day look at that pitiful bald spot" and so i will continue to tote him around until it grows back.  (although hair growth is hard to come by around here < stares woefully at billy >) or until it blessedly becomes cooler out and i can put little elf hats on him like this one.

in the meantime, i am grateful for this little solution.  i am also grateful that i can still carry finn around and am treasuring these last few months before he becomes mobile and i have to chase him through the house or contain him with baby gates.
although i have a feeling my back is grateful that these baby bjorn days are numbered!

water. i'm important.

< places soap box firmly on ground. >

ahhem.

this post is about delicious tap water, and how it is good.

it is also about bottled water (or plastic tea, as we sometimes call it) and how it is bad.

i know that the plastic-water-bottle craze is sweeping the nation. 
marketing companies have brainwashed us into thinking that the water that comes out of our faucets is scary and bad for us, and the water we buy all wrapped up in plastic at the grocery store is good for us.

i'm here to tell you people, that this is not true.

our tap water is monitored and tested ALL THE TIME and has to meet certain standards.
you can find out exactly what is in your tap water here.

on the contrary, bottled water companies DO NOT HAVE TO TELL YOU WHERE THEY GET THEIR WATER, OR WHAT IS IN IT.

do you know why they don't tell us?
because it's not good water!
the environmental working group tested all of the bottled water companies water and here is how bottled water measured up:
KNOW THE FACTS
for example, on their testing scale tap water (yep regular old faucet water!) got an "A"
and brands like deer park got a "D"!  target's archer farms brand water? an "F"!
seriously, read the list, you will be shocked at how your favorite bottled water brand scored.

so let me ask you, why would you pay money to drink water that has stuff in it that isn't good for you?


and besides the whole let'snotdrinkcontaminatedwater deal, we should really NOT support these companies that are refusing to let us know what's in the water they're selling us, and in the meantime happen to be filling the landfills with plastic.  what a horrible thing for the environment!

i'm here to tell you that tap water is delicious. 
buy a filter for your home faucet or a filter pitcher for your fridge, and a nice handy dandy glass water bottle like the awesome ones they make at faucetface or lifefactory or even go for a good plastic kind like the ones they make at camelback (but don't put it in the dishwasher!) and
DRINK FROM YOUR TAP!!!

and if you really want to have fun with it, get a bottle freaker to protect your glass bottles and keep your bevvy cold. :)

if you quit buying bottled water and start drinking from home:
-you will be drinking healthier water
-you will be supporting a green cause and helping the earth
-you will be saving money
-you won't be supporting dishonest companies
oh, and you'll look a lot more hip with your personal unique water bottle! 


thanks for listening to my soapbox rant, and i hope you learned something! :)

and as the most interesting man in the world would say, stay thirsty my friends.

the hotness.

no, this blog entry is not about a band.
i am not referring to a new pair of shoes.
i am not talking about my husband.

i'm talking about the heat.

has anyone else noticed that it's hot?

well, let me just say that this big hulkin' old rusty bones house of ours and all of its 3300 square feet are 3300 unairconditioned feet.
which means we're living in a large microwave.

previously, the heat was a little uncomfortable.
but this week really set us over the edge. 
we have officially gone from "it's a little warm upstairs" hot to "i think my face just melted off my head and is stuck somewhere inside my shirt" hot.

we have one little window a.c. unit that we keep in the upstairs hall. it was like $90 and is basically the cheapest smallest coverage air conditioner available.  normally it does just fine.  but it is no match for temps such as these.

so while i lay here on top of my covers, sticking to them, with curly hair because it's too hot to turn on my blow dryer, as i pine to once again wear long pants and use my oven, i am reminded of...

the winter.

this winter it was so cold, and it cost so much money to heat the house with our oil furnace and thin windows.  in the coldest months we were bound to our bedroom and the upstairs hall with a little electric heater.  we wore our coats in the kitchen (remember when i lit my pregnant self on fire leaning over the stove because i was wearing a scarf? yeah.), and if we wanted to watch tv in the family room we had to bury ourselves under blankets and sweatshirts.  we would argue over who should reach for the remote because we didn't want our hand to have to go out from under our covers!

and now here it is in the hottest months of the summer, and we are once again sectioned off up in our little bedroom and upper hall with our one little a.c. unit... (that has been blasting it's little heart out all day long and it's still 86 degrees in here). 
we're wearing the smallest, lightest clothes we have, and we are hot.

and happy.

i always think that these will be the days we remember the most fondly.
when we were living in the barn, i often complained about... everything.
but i miss those quaint little country days now, and all of the hilarity that went with it.  i could write a book with all of my barn dwelling tales.

and i don't mind being hot so much.
it reminds me of great granny's and the country.
and as billy's mom once told me when i experienced my first unairconditioned summer in pennsylvania years ago... being cold in the winter and hot in the summer is the way our bodies are supposed to feel.  that's why we eat mashed potatoes and bread all winter long (something to look forward to when you're freezing your tail off) and in the summer when it's so hot you don't want to eat anything but ice cubes, losing all that carb weight cheers you up (when your upper lip is sweating into your sweet tea.)
it's true. 
if it stays this hot much longer billy and i might shrink down to david and lisa the gnome size and sleep under mushrooms in the garden.

anyway, my body adjusts to the heat much easier than it does to the cold.  and little finn has been a champion, as well as tuck.  what a little family of troopers. 

i'm sure we will get through these dog days of summer and reach a much more comfortable temperature soon, but in the meantime, i will enjoy the hotness. 
because it is another season.  i am grateful for it.
and these days really are so beautiful.

and billy looks hot in a tank top.
yow!

mama thoughts.

finn is at a really cool age right now.
billy told me the other night that so far this is his favorite.
he really is fun.
but all parts have been my favorite. especially teeny tiny baby part, when all we did was snuggle.

he is so interactive and funny. he laughs and sings and talks, it's so cute.
since he's getting so good at rolling over and holding his head up, lately when he wakes up from naps he pulls these stunts where he is awake and it seems like he's trying to like be really quiet and do stuff without me knowing that he's awake.

for example, yesterday i thought he was napping and walked in his room to put something away and found him laying on his back (he sleeps on his tummy) whispering to the owl on his mobile.  it was so funny!  he was completely content.

then today i put him to sleep on his little quilt on the family room floor and went upstairs to do some cleaning.  i kept listening for him but didn't hear anything.  when i came back downstairs he was under the coffee table!  i don't know how he got under there.  he does this little army crawl/worm wiggle thing.  when he discovered i had found him he just looked up at me and laughed.  he looked all proud like he had discovered a whole new territory.

he is doing well with eating... i did start mixing his rice cereal with applesauce to sweeten it (thanks michelle!) and he loves it.  he also likes bananas.  i only feed him three times a day and sometimes he only eats a few spoonfuls, but even with a little bit of feedings he seems to be nursing less during the day.  so i'm kind of taking it really slow because i don't want him to slack off on nursing during the day and then be up all night wanting to nurse.

i feel like i am really settling in to this whole mamahood thing.  i really think it took a solid three months for me to feel really comfortable and relaxed.  so the past month has been really enjoyable. 

it's not without a price though. 

i feel like i can't wear a lot of my old clothes, not because they don't fit, but because i feel like they're not "mom-appropriate".  i don't feel as comfortable gallivanting around in my daisy dukes that's for sure.  let me just say that having a baby on your hip can turn jean shorts from "kinda cute" to "white trash" in two seconds flat. and let's not even talk about finding tops with my wonk boobs. bleh. 

for the first time in my life i also feel constantly a little bit behind on the housework, which i don't like, and i don't always have dinner on the table when billy gets home. 

in short, i am now sympathetic to the misfortune that is "mom jeans" and also understand why my mother made so many casseroles when i was little.  i also understand how easy it is to not do your hair and put on makeup, things i always always did, and therefore "get" why on home videos of christmas morning mandy and i always looked like china dolls and if mom accidentally panned the camera across a mirror she literally screamed.

speaking of christmas, is anyone excited for christmas already? i am. know why? because it's 80 bazillion degrees in here. and i'm making billy and finn wear matching pajamas. i digress.

finn is cool, being a mom feels good, and i'll stop wearing jean shorts.
now to start on that chicken casserole for dinner...
the end.

oh wait, did anyone read this post at young house love? let me just say that i am impressed.  i hope i can breastfeed finn for 14 months.  but i am also glad that he doesn't eat every two hours and that he'll take a bottle. sheez, that woman deserves a medal!

ok really the end! xo

baby restaurant week.

if i were a restaurant i would be a 24 hour drive thru.
and finn would be a chubby college student with a constant case of the late night munchies.

the kid loves to eat at night.
he goes right back to sleep afterward, he doesn't cry, so it could be worse.
but seriously, the past few weeks (maybe month?) it's been every 2 hours.
all. night. long.
sometimes he'll go three.
sometimes it'll be every hour.
what.
yes.
tired.

i think finn also might be fixing to cut a tooth.
i know "fixing" is a very southern term, but i can't think of a more appropriate one.
because he's not "getting ready to", he's like fixing to get ready to.
it's not incredibly close to happening, but i think i can kind of see/feel a tooth fixing to come through.  anyway, this has made him very drooly and cranky. yayyy.

back to eating-
feeding finn "real food" is both time consuming and messy.
these are two of my least favorite things.
perhaps i will just breastfeed him until he's old enough to eat cheeseburgers.
gross.

this link from dr. sears was super helpful to me because it talks about starting solids and how it's not supposed to be a meal replacement for your baby at first, but just kind of a sampling in addition to regular feedings.  it also has lots of good cues to look for on if your baby is ready and when a feeding is over and stuff like that. 

so far finn is interested in eating rice cereal for all of six spoonfuls and then he's over it.
this is kind of annoying.
but anyhow, here is a little how-to on making rice cereal, just in case you're at home avoiding target and have nothing better to but spend time making food for your baby not to eat.

step one:

 

measure out 2 oz of brown rice

step two:

 

put it in a blender.

step three:

blend on high for a long time. like five minutes. 
it should be very powdery.

step four:

while you're waiting for your rice, boil 8 oz of water

step five:

hey look, your rice is done!

step six:

whisk rice into boiling water. reduce heat to simmer.
cook for ten minutes, whisking often to prevent sticking.

step seven:

it's done! it looks like this. kinda like grits.

step eight:

add a little breastmilk or formula before serving,
to thin it out.

THE END!
pretty simple.

now, if you made it this far through the blog, you get a prize.
here's the prize:

(prepare to crack up laughing)

watch out, ladies.

feed me.

this weekend we decided to start feeding finn "real food".

i always thought that i would breastfeed exclusively for six months, but finn is definitely ready for other foods in addition to breastfeeding, and his doctor also recommended it.

so far i have been still just breastfeeding him on demand, and then about an hour or so later i will feed him cereal with a spoon.  this seems to really sustain him so he goes longer between nursing.  today it has been every 3 1/2 or 4 hours instead of every 2 hours.  this is a big relief for me, because it was getting pretty physically demanding to keep up with him.

the doctor recommended starting finn on rice cereal and then introducing a new fruit or vegetable every three or four days.  so yesterday i made my own brown rice cereal.  it was the first go at it, and i don't think i ground it up fine enough, so it was a little grainy.  finn wasn't thrilled with it.

here's how it all went down:

Alright, hit me.

 

 

 

 

 

okay, i think i can handle this...

dear god! never mind! what IS THIS!?

oh no.

oh gross! it definitely has a kick to it!

mom! what were you thinking giving me that crap!?

i'll have some more now please.

focus...

 

hmm. maybe not so bad?

he seemed really interested in eating, and he was actually eating a fair amount, i think he just had some trouble getting used to the new texture at first.

i also gave finn organic unsweetened applesauce yesterday in addition to the rice cereal.  he still made faces, but ate it just the same. 

today he had rice cereal at breakfast and applesauce at lunch.  he ate the applesauce cold this time and seemed to like it better that way!

he is really doing well considering it's just been a few feedings.  already there is a big change since yesterday.  he actually pulls my spoon-wielding hand towards his mouth!  and hardly any more bad faces.

i made a different batch of rice cereal this morning and it turned out better because i ground it up for longer, cooked it a few minutes longer, and then put a little bit of sugar and breastmilk in it so it was pretty sweet and tasty.  yep, billy and i both tried it.  after those awful faces he was making we had to be sure we weren't giving him anything nasty!

i decided i am going to start posting blogs on making finn's baby food for anyone out there who is pregnant or has a little one and is interested in doing the same.  i don't plan to be one of those people who freezes ice cube trays full of baby food and has all this special equipment.  i cook dinner for our family most nights, and i simply plan to puree a small portion of the fruits or vegetables that i fix for me and billy, and use those for finn's meal. 

tomorrow i will have a post with pictures on making the rice cereal, so check back if you're interested.  it's pretty simple and kinda fun! :)

retro shades.

mom was rocking some pretty rad shades this weekend.

i asked her where she got them and she said... granny!

granny gave them to her a couple weeks ago because she never wore them... she said she got them over 20 years ago!

you know that really set my vintage alarm off!

after MUCH persuasion, i managed a trade that allowed the rad granny shades to come home with me.

late 80's glory!!

ouch! the 4 month shot update.

whoever said shots are harder on parents than they are on the baby was absolutely correct.

i was totally not prepared for finn's two months shots... didn't even have baby tylenol in the house... and was caught completely off guard when he woke up from a post-shot nap screaming and with a low fever.  so of course, i was dreading his four month vaccines today.

billy has a harder time than any of us with the shots, i'm pretty sure.  about two days before the appointment he starts trying to get finn out of it.  he is his closest ally. 

billy- "why does he have to have them? he doesn't need them!"
meg- "so he won't get sick. the doctor says he does need them."
billy- "why can't we just give him medicine?"
meg- "um, i don't know. i think he would actually have to contract an illness for us to give him medicine, which we're trying to avoid altogether here."
billy- "i just can't take it! i can't take it!!!!"
meg- "you're going to be at work!"
billy- "it's too much!!!!!" < runs out of the room waving his arms above his head >

so of course finn is all smiles and a ball of gleeful joy at the doctors this morning, talking to everyone and showing off his leg rolls.  i am overcome by anxiety by what is sure to come.

now, i can't say enough about our doctors office.  it consists of one doctor, and one nurse, and one receptionist.  who have all been there for thirty years.  they are amazing.  it's like a family.  actually, the doctor's daughter was working in the office today because she is home from college for the summer.  we see the same nurse every time, i know how her "shot style" and we see the same doctor every time.  this definitely helps to lower my anxiety meter.  if i ever have a question about finn or a problem (like after his last shots) i call the doctor's cell phone number directly.  it's pretty amazeballs.  they are super awesome.  anyway, the no nonsense nurse immediately sized me up today and said "listen, just because he had a hard time the last time doesn't mean it's going to be like that every time.  it could just be one and done."

enter wonderbaby.
seriously, this time when finn got his shots he didn't.even.cry!!!
he literally let out like a deep guttural grunt, turned red, frowned at me, and then continued playing with his monkey, al. (tripp named him al).
i was dumfounded.
he then promptly fell asleep in the car on the way home and remains sleeping now.
phew!

i did give him tylenol before we left today, so i'm hoping when he wakes up from his nap he will be feeling a-okay, and not like total poo poo like the last time.  sigh of relief!  now i can relax!

in other four month doctor appointment news, finn ways 18.2 pounds (yes you heard me right) and is 26 inches long.  he is in the 95th percentile for height, weight, and head size.  i think he probably took his shots like a man because he basically is a full grown man.

i asked the doctor about finn's lumpy head.
i have recently discovered that finn's head is shaped exactly like my dad's head.
i also recently took a closer look at a picture i have of dad when he's about two years old...
and his head is still lumpy.
it's literally shaped exactly like finn's. kind of like a parallelogram. wonk head, we call it.
this gave me little hope for finn's birth canal bump to disappear back into his cranium.
the doctor said "well, it will probably stay lumpy for awhile, but you won't notice it as much when his hair starts growing in."
all signs point to finn rocking the long locks.

he is also ready for food!
AHH!!!
the nurse said to start with rice cereal and then alternate fruits and veggies every 3 or 4 days.
i am still kind of in disbelief that my baby is old enough to eat real food.
they said to wait to start them until a few days after his vaccines, so i think i will start on sunday.
i plan to make my own brown rice cereal, and then just puree my own organic fruits and veggies.
things are definitely going to start getting interesting around here... i dread the first solid food diaper.

the doctor also gave me a prescription for a baby multivitamin with fluoride for when finn's teeth start coming in.  i have never heard of this before.  it's a liquid dropper that apparently tastes kind of bad and i 'm supposed to mix with his food if he has trouble taking it directly.  we'll see how that goes!

thanks to everyone who offered me advice on how to make finn's shots easier for him.  he did such a great job!  and billy and i are doing okay now too! :)

4 months

can you believe little finner is already four months old?

sometimes i am holding him and i look down and think "how did he get this big!!?" he is starting to look like a little boy and not a tiny baby.  this simultaneously makes my heart melt and break.  it's such a joy to watch him grow and such a sadness to accept that his tiny baby days are passing by so quickly!

this month finn has really been learning and changing a lot, and he's really starting to get a little personality on him.  he's a very content baby overall, and many people tell us how blessed we are to have such an easy going baby.

finn can roll over both ways now, from tummy to back and from back to tummy.  he rolled over from tummy to back for the first time in a fit of rage on john and whitney's floor last week while whitney was cutting my hair.  he was screaming and i couldn't get up because i was getting my hair cut, and the next thing i knew he had flipped himself over.  and he's been doing it ever since!

he is also doing a really good job of holding his head up now, which he was slower at mastering because, let's face it, the kid has a big 'ole head.

he loves to talk and coo, and smiles easily.

he loves to stand up if you hold his waist for him.  his chunky little legs are sturdy!

he is also doing better every day at napping in his crib (for a couple of hours!) and sleeping in his bed at night.  normally after i get up to feed him around 4 i bring him back to bed with us, because our favorite time with him is in the morning (he's just so happy and snuggly!)

some of finn's favorite things right now are:

touching faces...

mr. fox...

 

and his cousins...

 

he also really loves being read to.  billy and i read to him every night and he just eats it up.  he looks back and forth from the book to our faces while we're reading.  he is so captivated and interested!  right now i am reading him the beatrix potter stories (peter cottontail, etc.), which is really sweet because i remember loving them when i was very small.

here are some of my favorite pictures from this month:

it seems like yesterday he looked more like this...

it's definitely going by entirely too fast!
i just love him so very much and am so happy that i get to be his mommy!
happy four months finn!