Good Day Sunshine!

Now that it's finally FINALLY sunny again, we've been spending more time outdoors. Yesterday, Nicollette and Kristal turned us on to a really cool park near the lake that I didn't even know existed. The boys had a lot of fun flying kites up there:
Then they got distracted by an ice pile. It's going to be so interesting to see if Kinley gets as distracted by random things like ice and sticks and ants. I wonder if these are just natural boy attractions?

We stayed so late at the park that Kinley actually fell asleep in her stroller! Highly unusual. Today we went to the nature park. I love this place. I've been going there since I was Finn's age and it just brings back so much nostalgia. I remember BEGGING my mom to go there. It was just always this really cool special place and it still is! It would be an even cooler place if Finn would just stay by me, but I guess that's why they make kid leashes! Anyway, here's Finn and his new friend Daniel:

Early Birthday!

We had a little party at the park this morning with my mom's group for Finn's birthday. He got a little practice in blowing out candles and everyone sang him the Birthday Song. I think he enjoyed it!

Sale! Sale! Sale!

We had such a nice week! On Monday, we did a little shopping with my friend Melissa. We were going to go to the Science Museum, but I wasn't feeling very energetic, so we did shopping instead. We visited a few of the little baby boutiques up here in Edmond. They have the cutest stuff, but it is super expensive. I found a onesie with "Little Miss September" on it and a matching tutu for $67! Yikes! It was cute though. Mostly I just go there for inspiration on stuff to make or find on ebay.
On Wednesday, we went with my mom's group to the zoo. It was SO SO SO hot! We got there at 10:00 and stayed for 3 hours, but only really made it to one exhibit. We hit both of the playgrounds though AND rode the train. At the Aquaticus building, we made sure to see the Nemo fish and Finn LOVED it! We watched him for nearly 10 minutes I think. Then we went upstairs and saw the Dory fish which Finn equally loved. He kept yelling "Dory Dory Dory" throught the glass at it. We ate a little lunch (well, I did) and then went home for a nap.
Thursday morning was yoga morning again with Sawyer and Nicolette. Nicolette brought a new friend, Crystal, along who just moved here. She and her boys were super nice, so I hope we have a playdate with them soon! Finn did pretty good at yoga, I think. I brought a few toys that would keep him quiet and for the most part it worked. He mostly ran around with Sawyer and Crystal's boy, Noah. The yoga definitely helped me out. Finn did his new routine that morning of refusing all food put in front of him AND THEN walking up to me and telling me he's hungry. THEN, when I go make him something ELSE to eat, he refuses it too. It is MADDENING. I'm fine with him not eating because I know that is just what toddlers do, but when he specifically tells me he's hungry and then we waste food because he won't eat it, I want to scream! Anyway, yoga helped cool me off a bit.
Scott had all of Thursday off (as well as Friday and Saturday), so we started getting our garage sale items together and priced. On Friday, he did the sale from around 8-12 and we got rid of a lot! Sharyn came over and watched Finn and then they all went to the Science Museum (she had taken him on Tuesday too--we are really getting some use out of that pass!). On Saturday, we opened up the garage sale again and sold nearly all of the rest of our stuff. Not too bad! Sharyn took Finn to a birthday party and stayed there with him until the afternoon. Scott and I actually had the house to ourselves! We went out for lunch with friends and did a little childless shopping. It was nice to actually be able to focus my attention on him again! Sharyn stayed the rest of the afternoon and evening and watched Finn while we went out again with my sister-in-law and her boyfriend. It was such a cool day! I love being around my son, but it was nice to have a day out, living like we did before we had kids (when all we did was shop, eat and go see movies).
Anyway, Finn has been talking more and more each day. It's amazing that only 6 months ago he only had a few words! Some of his newest "Finnisms":
--Saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" to everyone (and everything-he said it to his socks today). It's really cute when he says it after I scold him for something.
--He's gotten really good at saying "thank you" for things. Like, the "I'm sorry" thing, he says it a lot when it's uncalled for, but he almost always says it now when I give him something or make him juice, etc.
--Hitting. Unfortunately, he's picked this up. When he gets really angry, he'll run up to you and slap you on the arm.
--He is such a mimic around other kids! We went to the park this morning and he found a little friend there that he played with for nearly an hour. Everything she did he wanted to do too. Very cute!
--Climbing. He's always been a climber, but he's taken it to new heights lately. He climbed up a ladder on the playground today! When he does it, he'll chant "Climb, climb, climb!"

Our Week in Pictures and Video

We've had a somewhat busy week. Sunday was Father's Day, but Scott scheduled himself to work, so we only had the morning with him. We all went out for breakfast. After naptime, we met my family for lunch and then went over to my parents' house for some yummy apple dump cake. We tried taking Finn to the park nearby but it was SO HOT! Lately, we have at least had a breeze to cool us down, but there was nothing that day.

Monday, we had a playdate at a friend's house. It was with my mom's group, so there were a TON of kids there. Finn was very irritable the whole time. He's still having teething issues. He is constantly chewing on his fingers (of feet--which is cute, but not when we've just finished playing at McDonalds). Another girl let me hold her baby daughter at the playdate and Finn was NOT happy about it. Becca tried to get him to say hi to the baby while I was holding her, but he just kept telling her "bye-bye." I'm afraid he's gonna put a hit out on her next. He is definitely going to have to transition when we have Baby Girl.

Monday afternoon we were supposed to go to the spraygrounds, but the weather was acting real funny. For the last couple of days it hasn't decided whether it's going to be sunny or rainy, so it switches back and forth about every 2 hours. Today was much nicer though, so we went this morning. I met Becca and Nicolette up there with their kids and got lots of great shots:

Finn and Tyler:Finn, wearing Hailey's shoes:

Finn and Sawyer, stuck in the mud:At the playground nearby:Afterward, we went to the McDonalds nearby where Finn tried to befriend anyone with food, while avoiding eating his own (I eventually got it down him). That kid is such a handfull! As soon as I am engaged in something, he totally wanders away from me. He tried to walk right out the front door while I was ordering, then he wandered off to some far away booth. It really is just endless. He has no concept of the need to stay close to me. Keep your fingers crossed that Baby Girl will be more clingy and give me somewhat of a break!

Anyway, I made another cloth diaper this week and thought I'd show it off. The one on the left is one I made for Finn and on the right is one I made for Baby Girl. Bending over the sewing machine really killed my back, so I'm not exactly eager to make another.

The rest of our week is pretty busy too. Scott has the day off tomorrow and we have another birthday party to go to. Friday I work. On Saturday, Finn and I are going to Dallas with my mom to visit my Aunt Debi. I'm really excited to go see her (and visit IKEA), but I'm also quite scared because we haven't traveled too much with Finn before. The last time, I forgot to take his white noise machine, so he kept waking up at night. He wasn't fussy, but it was just hard for him to sleep. We tried to bring him into bed with us, but he had no idea that it was with the intention to sleep. He thought we wanted to play or something because he has only ever slept in his crib. But, it's only one night, so I'm sure everything will work out.

Lastly, here is a cute video of Finn:

May 22

Finn finally took a nap today! I tried to tire him out by going to a playdate, but it got cancelled. Instead we went with Scott to a park for a little bit. Finn used to love the slide and would hardly ever sit for more than a minute in the swings, but lately he has been all about the swings. He'll sit there forever! He's so friendly too. He just walks up to all the mommies on the playground and says hi (he's a bit of a flirt). And he's been so loud lately. He'll just start yelling out salutations across the playground. I'm trying to teach him to talk in a whisper voice, but so far it isn't working.

After his nap, we went to Nicolette's house to swim. She has a great pool and beautiful backyard. Finn had a great time. He really liked splashing in the pool and trying to drink the water (gross!). The last time he was in a pool was last summer when we took swim classes at the YMCA. He enjoyed it then too, but didn't really get the whole splashing thing at that point. He made up for it today! I was a little nervous to have him around a pool since he is such a wild child, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. HOWEVER, as soon as I voiced that to Nicolette, he started acting up. He kept going to the ladder at the deep end to stand at the edge of the pool or try to climb in. A couple of times I was afraid he was just going to jump! The wild child definitely came out! Anyway, we had a really great time. I'm so glad it's getting warm enough to be outside and swimming!

Of course, I forgot to take my camera to the park and the pool. It's a shame too because Finn and Sawyer were so cute together. They both had identical swim shirts on and were just adorable. They were really cute playing with the beach balls too. Sawyer would kick it and run after it, and then Finn would run along behind him. Finn really likes his little friend, but he kept trying to take his stuff today! I know it's just the stage he's at, but we have to work on the sharing thing. His idea of sharing right now is to offer something and then take it back before giving it to you.

Anyway, I did snap a picture of Finn this morning. He wanted to wear his hat around the house AND his bunny ears. Here he is playing with his little "computer":