I’m home with some kind of severe stomach funk. So, I thought I’d capitalize on the opportunity and get a blog post up. I haven’t exactly been a prolific blogger, lately.
Nonetheless, even though I haven’t been doing a lot of writing, we have been doing a lot of living, and that’s really more important, right? It’s my favorite time of year, and we’ve been taking advantage of it as much as we can, despite a month of colds, Finn’s first bout of pink eye, and, now, a stomach bug.
Finn is full-on walking, now. I alluded to that in the last post, but I haven’t said too much about it. It happened SO quickly, but I guess it always does. Within a couple of weeks, he went from never having taken a step to refusing to crawl or hold a hand or seek any kind of assistance. My step-dad jokes that he’s like a drunk frat boy, stumbling around aimlessly, slapping helpful hands away, and running into walls.
The truth is, it is unbelievable how steady he’s become. Yet, his confidence still outweighs his ability. He’s a cocky little sucker like that.
Walking has made some things more challenging, yes, but it has also made a lot of stuff more fun. He can explore on his own. Parks are a whole new ballgame. He runs up the stairs and throws himself down the slide–and then does it all over again.
There are some downsides to his being fully mobile, too, as any parent knows. Of course, there’s the whole has-a-death-wish-and-must-be-watched-constantly thing, but what’s worse is that he has become even more fiercely independent. Finn has always been an independent little guy. If you’re feeling a little less charitable, you might even call him willful. (We all knows where he got that.)
Walking has only fanned that fire. He’s even more emboldened. Like, you can tell he’s thinking, “Screw you people! I don’t need your strollers or your hands or your wagons. I’m out of here!” And so, he absolutely refuses to be restrained. He’s pretty good, riding in the stroller. But try to hold him, cuddle with him, or grab his hand and he will arch his back, his body will go limp, and he’ll have a full-on temper tantrum.
Exhibit A:
What awful torture were we asking him to endure, here? We had the gall to request that he sit still for 20 seconds so that we could get a photo with his bestie, Veen. Oh, the humanity!
Speaking of Veen, we took the boys apple picking for the second year in a row. You may remember my post from last year’s apple-picking adventure.
CAN YOU EVEN HANDLE HOW MUCH THEY’VE CHANGED? I CAN’T.
That first trip was a little tricky because Finn absolutely refused to drink from a bottle, forcing Sona to whip out a boob in the middle of the orchard.
The good news is that no boobs made an appearance at the orchard, this year. The bad news is that tantrums did. Mostly, we had a great time, but Finn was his usual antsy, independent self. He didn’t want to linger at the animal pens in the petting zoo. He didn’t want to wait in line for the “Moo Choo” train. He wanted to run.
Bye, Felicia.
Luckily, he did pretty well in the wagon once we got out to the apples.
These boys. I love them so.
We tried, yet again, to do a couple quick family photos while in such a beautiful fall setting. Veen cooperated.
Finn? Not so much. #oneofthesethingsisnotliketheother
But even with all of the toddler antics introducing themselves, it’s more fun doing things with Finn, now. He understands what is going on, and he engages in our family activities. He’s like a little person–and not a little drooling blob. Granted, he’s a pretty cranky person, sometimes, but he’s our crank. And we love him.
And because we’re starting to lap Finn’s first year, there are lots of opportunities for side-by-side comparisons. So, here’s one more of our little cranky pants. Does it make your heart stop? Because mine sure does.
