I think they’re talking about now.

Leading up to Finn’s arrival, I asked a lot of parents that question: What was your favorite age? Of course, to some extent, their answers varied. Yet, there seemed to be a large number of parents who remember the last half of their babies’ first year particularly fondly. Many, many people told us to look forward to the 6-9 month period, especially.

And, now that Finn is nearly 7 months old (WUT?!), I am starting to understand why–even though every age brings with it a new set of adventures–this time, right now, is super special.

A good friend–one who is looking at having kids within the next couple of years, himself–recently asked us, “What’s the most surprising thing about having Finn?” And my reply was instant: “He’s so much fun!”

I knew there would be all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings associated with having a little one. I knew there would be lots of challenges, too. But I truly didn’t anticipate just how much I’d love hanging out with our little dude. I feel like, now, I understand what parents mean when they say their kid is their best friend.

The truth is, Finn is my favorite person to hang out with (next to Sona, of course).  And, once he turned 6 months, he became even more fun. He’s interactive and curious. He is constantly doing something new. He’s funny–without trying. He’s showing interest in all of the things around him: new foods, new textures, new toys. He screams at the cats and begs for food and tries his best to constantly win our attention.

And, now that he’s bigger, stronger, and a little braver, we have been trying all sorts of things as a family. We let him experiment with food almost daily. We’ve taken him to the park–riding swings, pushing him in little cars, and going down the slides. We’ve started going to family swim each weekend.

All of these activities allow for meaningful and intentional family time–time spent focusing on one another. Best of all, rather than just being a sleepy, albeit cute, bystander, Finn can actually participate in these activities! He enjoys them as much as we do–or that’s what we tell ourselves, at least.

It’s also ridiculously and obscenely exciting to watch him try new things. I’m embarrassed by how giddy I was to see him in a swimming pool for the first time. Like most parents, we went positively bonkers each time he did, well, anything. “Look! He moved his feet! He must be kicking!” “Oh my gosh, he just blew bubbles!” “Did you see that?! I swear he was trying to hold his breath!” “Did he just do a perfect backstroke?” (No, no he didn’t.)

The point is, Finn is at an age when he can be an active participant in our lives. Since this is the first time that’s happened, every single experience brims with excitement and anticipation. He is constantly experiencing a new part of the world, and we are constantly thrilled by watching him.

I know there are a lot of fun times ahead, too. Still, if you offered me a chance to push pause–to keep this chubby, giggly, sometimes clingy baby exactly as he is right now–I’d be very, very tempted to take it.

Sometimes, living life gets in the way of blogging about life, and that has been happening a lot, lately.

We’re finally getting our sea legs, figuring out how to do this whole mommy thing with both of us back to work full-time, but it’s taken us nearly a month to adjust.

Truth is, we’ve just been crazy busy. And I could’ve blogged, if I wanted to, but I would have had to sacrifice something to do it: exercising (yes, yes, we’re back on THAT wagon, too), play time, cooking, showering, etc. Weekday evenings are no joke.

Yet, here I am. Alive! On a weekday evening! With a few minutes to spare! It’s a miracle, I tell ya.

So, what’s been going on with us, lately? Not much new. We’re still on the hunt for a house. Us mommas have started MyFitnessPal, again. We’re all adjusting to the nanny situation pretty well. My parents just left after a week-long visit. Our 15 year anniversary is this week (we celebrated with dinner while the rents were in town). Our first big family vacay is in a month. We’ve discovered that we can get our favorite donuts delivered to our doorstep (this conflicts a bit with the MFP thing).  Ya know–the usual.

Finn will be 6 months old this week, which is CRAZY. He can roll over, but he’s pretty lazy about it. We have to motivate him with an iPhone. Speaking of the iPhone, we seriously need to start hiding ours from this kid, because he is OBSESSED. And that’s without our actively trying to engage him with it. He’s obsessed with all screens, actually. Right this second, he’s sitting beside me, watching me type. He was having a fit, begging me to see the computer screen. Once again, we are waiting for that Moms of the Year award to come in the mail. Any day now, right?

He’s still cute as ever, though, and we are enjoying him more and more. This is a really fun age, and his personality is revealing itself a bit more each day.

I plan to be better about blogging, and a lot of that has to do with finding a little more time for myself. It’ll happen, I know.

But, for now, I better run. There’s a baby who needs bathed. A wife who needs attention. A new Jamie Oliver recipe that needs tested. An episode of Jane the Virgin that needs watched.

Life is busy, for sure, but it is also GOOD.

We rang in 2016 on the couch. In our pajamas. With cheap champagne and gummi bears. Just like any new parents would! (To be honest, I’m impressed that we made it to midnight.)

Actually, it was perfect.

Now, we’re visiting Sona’s family in New Mexico. More on that, later.

It was bittersweet to see 2015 end. In many ways, it was an unexpectedly challenging year. The stress of a baby coming hit us hard in a lot of ways. We searched furiously–and in vain–to buy a larger home. (We’re still looking.) My father was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, and I was overseeing his treatment–which was rough–from across the country. There was some family drama (isn’t there always?). Sona had very little time away from work, as she saved all of her PTO for maternity leave. Our marriage sometimes struggled under the weight of all the stress.

But, in ways that will, in the long run, outshine the challenges, 2015 was a year for the books. It goes without saying that the best part of the year was having Finn. I’ve waxed poetic about how much light he’s brought to our lives, before. So, I’ll spare you the sentimentality, today.

We have high hopes for 2016, too. And though we aren’t usually the type to make–or keep–resolutions, it is nice to pencil in some goals for the year. Just some things to keep in the back of our minds–some things to guide us.

So, here are some hopes and wishes and pipe dreams for 2016:

• Buy a house in Andersonville. No, we will not leave our neighborhood. Yes, we realize that narrows our search radius to about 6 square blocks. Yet, we believe we can find the right place (and we hope it happens, soon)! We’re tired of grandparents sleeping on an air mattress in our living room.
• Travel more than we were able to in 2016–with Finn! We are travelers at heart, and I crave adventure more than just about anything else (except maybe donuts). Last year, we had a great babymoon in the Caribbean, a short trip to NOLA, and I got to visit Sona’s little sister while she was away for a semester in Merida, Mexico. However, we had to majorly scale back travel, both because of Sona’s pregnancy and because her maternity leave sucked up all of her time off. I hope we can start making up for that, this year. We already have a trip to Virgin Gorda planned for March, and we’re looking at summer trip, too.
• Cook more homemade Indian food. Okay, this one is mostly just for me. Because, let’s be honest, Sona hasn’t cooked a meal in the 15 years we’ve been together. (No, I’m not kidding.) But being with her family in New Mexico has made me realize how much we love homemade Indian food, and I want to expand my repertoire. First up: batata poha!
• Worry less. If we’ve had resolutions in past years, it’s always been some version of this. I guess we’re still working on it. 🙂 Sona and I are both bad about getting caught up, stressing about clothes that need cleaned (her) or to-do lists that seem to keep growing (me). We are, each in our own ways, worrywarts. Sona’s frequent worries: Is the house clean enough? Are we spending too much money? How am I going to finish all of this laundry? Is Finn’s toe broken/head flat/eye swollen? Should we be in a better place–have a bigger house, drive nicer cars–than we are in? Mine: Do I deserve my job? Am I a good enough wife/mom/professor/photographer/blogger/writer? What if I’m missing out? Am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing? Will I regret not climbing the mountain/moving to the islands/quitting my job and becoming a travel writer? Is it (everything) good enough? Are we making the right decisions for Finn? You get the idea. We are, in many ways, our own worst enemies. If we stopped listening to the voices in our heads, we’d be a lot happier.
• Put our marriage first. Every book or blog you read for new parents warns you about how hard it is to maintain a relationship in the year following the birth of a new baby, and we figured that out for ourselves pretty quickly. We didn’t prioritize our marriage this year, and we are going to try to do better in 2016. To help, we’re committing to date night ever other weekend. It’s a start!
• Be the kind of people we want our son to emulate. Nobody is perfect, Sona and I included. But there are specific things that each of us want to work on–ways that we want to try to be better people, for ourselves and for Finn. A lot of that has to do with changing our perspectives and focusing more on the positive.
• Get serious about a game-plan for baby #2. I’m just going to leave this one right here.
• Start working out, again. For a while, we were doing really good about going to the gym regularly, and we both felt better as a result. It’s not about being skinny, and I really hate the thin-obsessed dogma that you see circulating this time of year. We just want to be able to eat more donuts without feeling quite as guilty about it. It’s been tough to find the time for working out with Finn around, but we’re going to try.
• Take the 365 day DSLR challenge, starting February 1st. As a photographer, I’m always taking pictures. With Finn, though, I find myself just taking quick snaps with my iPhone. Those phone snaps are nice to have, too, but I’d really like to be better about capturing higher-quality photos of him, especially since he’s growing and changing so quickly. So, starting February 1st. I’m going to challenge myself to take one photo each day with my DSLR.
• Find balance. This is more of a life-long, never really going to reach, kind of goal, isn’t it? But I go back to work next week, and I think it’s going to be a little tricky, trying to transition out of the maternity leave bubble and transition Finn into his nanny share situation. We’ve only just gotten our routine down, and it’s about to change pretty dramatically. I hope we get to a place where we don’t feel like we’re constantly chasing our tails–a place where we can breathe, let go, and appreciate the joy.

I know, I know. I’ve been a little Christmas-crazy, lately. And even though the holiday has, technically, passed, I still want to talk about it just a litttttttle bit more.

Cause, you know, it was our first Christmas with Finn.

My parents were in town for the week, and we tried to cram as much holiday cheer as we could into our time together.

We started the week off by going to Christkindlmarket, which is in downtown Chicago. We’ve gone for several years–but never on the weekend and never with a baby. WHOA.

To say it was crowded would be an understatement. We literally had trouble moving, but we made the most of it, found a corner table to hijack, and ate our weigh in all things German (sausages, potato pancakes, schnitzel, pretzels, etc.). Plus, Finn’s stroller made for a good excuse for barreling through the crowds.

Finn slept through most of it, which was probably for the best. He did manage to wake up long enough for this photo with Pops. I’d assumed that they had matched by accident. NOPE. Turns out, Pops intentionally bought a hat to match his boy.

Because Mimi couldn’t stand it, Finn got to open his Christmas gift–a jumparoo–early. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more: Finn or Mimi. He’s maybe still a tad bit too small for it, but that doesn’t stop him from going absolutely BONKERS each time we put him in it. Lights! Sounds! Spinny things!

I’m pretty sure I’ll be stealing the batteries within a week. Can we just take a second to bemoan all of the peace and silence lost when babies start playing with toys?

Christmas Eve, we went for our annual dinner at Lawry’s. Finn was a champ, sitting quietly for the entire meal (even though he’d been awake for 5+ hours at that point). He enjoyed the carolers and the crowds, but he REALLY enjoyed the mashed potatoes.

We’ve been letting him taste quite a few things, lately. (More on that, later.) But I think that the enormous amount of mashed potatoes he gobbled up on Christmas Eve will go down in the books (you know–the baby books we aren’t actually updating) as his official first meal. And that suits me just fine.

After we got home, we did what any totally sane, healthy family would do: we dressed everyone up in matching PJs and posed for an obscene amount of photos.

Then, we opened stockings and started a new tradition of reading Finn ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. That was Pops and Mimi’s idea. We all agreed that we’d practice reading that thing before next year rolls around. Who knew it was so long? Three pages in, we were all looking at each other like, “Isn’t this supposed to be a short poem?”

Christmas morning, we all woke up a little earlier than usual, even Finn. I made sausage balls and croissants, we put on the A Christmas Story marathon, and opened gifts.

Finn went first, of course.

His very first present! To be honest, I didn’t expect him to pay it any attention, but he actually ripped the paper off himself. As expected, he cared much more for the paper than the present itself (a Nogginstik).

He lasted through a couple more gifts before he was ready for a nap. So, we spent much of the morning tending to him, munching on goodies, and opening gifts here and there. I think everyone was prepared to spend the day in jammies, especially once the post-gift-and-binge laziness set in, but Sona and I really wanted everyone to rally for Christmas dinner downtown.

And we did.

Fun fact: Finn had those skinny jeans and Chucks on for about 15 minutes before we took pity on his sweet, tightly packed soul and changed him into some sweatpants.

When we got home, Sona and I threw on yet another set of matching jammies. Because, you know, one just isn’t enough.

The truth is, we’ve had these matching Hanna Andersson nightgowns for years, and we’ve always fantasized about having a little one to join in.

Even though the pajamas were so tight on Finn that we were worried we might be sterilizing him. Even though my parents had to sleep on an air mattress that was bumping into the Christmas tree. Even though there was a bit of family drama and an hour-long drive to see Christmas lights that weren’t turned on and too little sleep and a lot of “Can we stimulate him just a little bit less, please?” requests. Even with all of that, it was a really wonderful Christmas.

And now, I must go start de-Christmasing the house. (Insert sad face, here.)

Wait–have I mentioned that I’m excited for Finn’s first holiday season? I just want to be sure we’re all clear about that. 😉

This may be a good time for me to tell you a little secret: Finn is–what a good friend calls–HindJew. That is, Sona is Hindu, and I am Jewish. So, it’s a little ironic that we’re so Christmas-obsessed. I mean, we totally buy into every overly-commercialized, big box-manufactured second of it.

Don’t worry, Finn is also having his first noodle kugel and potato latkes this week, too.

But let’s be honest: none of that holds a candle (see what I did, there?) to Santa. And nothing really compares to Christmas in Chicago. Over the years, Sona and I have cultivated our own set of Chicago Christmas traditions–and there’s enough of them to fill the whole month! While they aren’t all baby friendly, many of them are.

So, here’s what’s in store for Finn over the next few weeks:

1. Get Christmas Tree from Gethsemane.  Check! Mark this one off of the list. As we do every year, we picked a tree from our neighborhood shop and decorated it while watching Home Alone and eating pizza.
2. Meet Santa. All of the area Mamas swear by the Santa at Bloomingdale’s downtown. Apparently, he’s the “real deal.” And they let you take your own photos, which is always a plus! We’re planning on taking Finn at the end of this week. I’m secretly hoping for one of those hilariously awkward pictures–complete with a screaming, flailing baby. We’ll see.
3. Visit Zoo Lights. Chicago, technically, has two zoos and, thus, two sets of zoo lights. But we always go to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It’s free, for one, but it is also right in the city. I think this may be Finn’s favorite thing we do, as it’ll be the activity that will likely engage him the most. Music! Twinkling lights! Animals! It just seems age appropriate–whether you are 1 or 40.
4. Christmas Trees from Around the World at the Museum of Science and Industry. This is our newest addition to our Christmas in Chicago line-up, as we just went last year for the first time. The museum puts up dozens of Christmas trees, each representing a different country. It makes for a great afternoon, and it’s a good escape from the cold.
5. Christkindlmarket. This European-inspired open-air market is one of our very favorite holiday activities. A bunch of gingerbread-like houses, lined up on Daley Plaza, serving all kinds of yummy German eats and selling a variety of goodies. Plus, they serve glogg in ceramic boots. What’s not to love? And one time my mom ate a hot pretzel so fast that she puked in a garbage can. So, there’s always that memory.
6. Christmas Windows at Macy’s. The Christmas windows at Macy’s are always fun to see, and they are only a block away from the Christkindlmarket. It’s easy to hit them both up at the same time.
7. Christmas on Cleveland Street. You know those homes with the ridiculously over-the-top light displays that you always see on the news? Yup, this is one of them. These home owners go all out, putting on the best home light show I’ve ever seen–complete with their own radio station that plays music synchronized with the lights! It’s well worth the drive out to the ‘burbs. Go on a weekday evening, else there will be cars lined around the block. As a bonus, the family is always collection money for various charities.
8. St. Lucia’s Festival of Lights. Our beloved neighborhood, which has Swedish roots, hosts a bevy of holiday events. One of the best is this little parade. Right at sundown, a host of tow-headed Swedish kids dress in white gowns, wear holly wreaths on their heads, and march through the neighborhood, carrying candles and singing holiday songs. It’s simple and sweet–and very Andersonville.
9. Christmas Eve Dinner at Lawry’s. I know how kitschy Lawry’s is–trust me. That’s the appeal! If you can have a little kitsch on Christmas Eve, when can you? A traditional English holiday dinner, served on a silver cart, and carolers dressed in 19th century garb? I’m in! This is our longest-running and most-loved tradition. I make reservations October 1st. No, I’m not kidding.

Sadly, there are a few Christmas traditions that will be difficult to do over the next few years, as they aren’t very baby-friendly. Nonetheless, they are worth a mention:

• Glogg at Simon’s. Okay, I’ve actually already done this, but it’s not a family-friendly tradition (at least, not until everyone in the family is of drinking age). Still, having mulled wine at this neighborhood bar is one of our holidays musts! Make a wish on the ginger cookie they give you with your glogg and, if it breaks into three pieces, your wish will come true! (Mine did break into three pieces, this year. My wish: adventure!)
• Christmas Movies at the Music Box Theater. This fabulous neighborhood theater has a long-running tradition of hosting a double-feature of White Christmas and It’s A Wonderful Life during the week leading up to Christmas. You’ll want to buy tickets in advance, but it is totally worth it! People come out in droves, dressed in their tackiest holiday sweaters and wearing all sorts of ridiculously festive things (antlers, bells, etc.). Before the movies, there’s a 20-minute sing-along with a very charismatic–and campy–Santa. I really can’t imagine anything more Christmas-y, and I can’t wait until Finn is old enough to tag along.
• The Christmas Carol at The Goodman. Sona and I have been seeing The Christmas Carol at the Goodman for at least 8 years. Because we want to spare all of the other audience members, we won’t try to take Finn to this show for a few years, yet. But as soon as he is able, we will work this little tradition back into the fold.

Do I know that the holidays aren’t all about buying tickets to shows and attending fancy dinners? Of course, I do. But these are the things that our family is lucky enough to do each year, and they give us a really good reason to spend time together.

Neither Sona nor I grew up with many traditions, to be honest. Since we’ve been celebrating the holidays together, we’ve really tried to create our own–and maybe we’ve gone a bit overboard to compensate. Yet, there’s something special about having our own traditions to pass down to Finn; we hope it makes him feel grounded–makes him trust in the consistency of our family.

This year, the initiation begins.

This past weekend–and the coming weeks–are packed full of stuff. It’s the busiest time of year for us, usually, but it’s also the best.

My dad left on Friday, after having spent the week with us for Thanksgiving. Friday night, as soon as Sona got home, we went to get our Christmas tree. It’s always a challenge to wait until after Thanksgiving–and sometimes we don’t–but we try not to be TOO obnoxiously enthusiastic about Christmas (especially since, technically, I’m a Jew). But getting the Christmas tree is always one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s the beginning of what I know will be non-stop time with family and friends. There’s cookies! And Christmas movies! And snow! Am I annoying you, yet? If you know me, you know this is not hyperbole. I really get that excited.

So, we bundled Finn up in as may layers as we could get on him, and we headed for the neighborhood garden shop where we always buy our tree. After just a couple of minutes of looking, a sales person came over and kindly said, “We’re closing in 5 minutes.” I panicked! I couldn’t possibly wait another day for our tree. So, I did what any sane person would do: I pointed at the first tree I saw and shouted, “We’ll take that one!”

That’s us, posing in front of the tree that we didn’t yet know would be 6 inches too tall for our apartment.Refusing to be defeated, we chopped the top of the tree off, drug her inside, and crossed our fingers, hoping that the many gaps in the way-too-big tree would fill out by morning.

They did!

Saturday, we got up and headed to brunch downtown with some very good friends who, sadly, no longer live in Chicago. We hadn’t seen them in nearly two years, and they hadn’t met Finn.

We braved a busy restaurant, ate a delicious brunch–complete with mimosas–and spent a couple of hours exploring the area.

Finn kept up with us like a champ. We rewarded him with a nearly 3-hour “family nap” when we got home. (He sleeps really well when we all sleep together.)

That night, we woke up, put on Home Alone, ordered pizza, and started decorating. That’s our thing. It’s my most favorite thing, actually.

Finn watched us decorate for a looooong time. He sat in his MamaRoo, mesmerized by all of the commotion. And the lights.

Despite the fact that it’s kissing the ceiling, this year’s tree may be my favorite yet. Of course, that has everything to do with who was watching us put it up.

Sunday, we woke up, drove to the ‘burbs, and met friends for our annual holiday family photos. They take photos of us; we take photos of them (more of those, later). Really, we were just excited to get Finn together with his bestie, Veen. They were SO excited, too. Can’t ya tell?

After an hour of photos in the cold, and after lunch with our friends, we headed home. Since Finn was a champ through such a busy weekend, not getting cranky on us once, we rewarded him with another family nap. (Okay, okay. Mommas were also just really tired.)

Tomorrow, Finn has his own Christmas photo shoot. Thursday, my bestie flies in from Texas, and we have a weekend full of stuff planned. Next week, we are taking Finn to meet Santa. Then more family comes. Then Sona and I have our holiday date night. Then more family comes. Then we have like 1,438 Chicago Christmas traditions to introduce Finn to.

It’ll be a busy month, for sure, but it’s my favorite time of year–in my favorite year ever–with my favorite little boy.  And I’m SO stoked.

Because I am privileged. Because I have all the things a younger version of myself prayed for. Because I have a fat turkey in the oven and a warm house and two cats curled up in bed. Because, though he drives me batty, my father is here–and he is in recovery. Because I live in a city I love. Because there are so many other cities to fall in love with. Because of cheese and chocolate and anything that is even close to a noodle. Because my wife is my best friend (and because she’ll understand why she came after noodles). Because I meet 60+ students every semester, and so many of them challenge me to be a better person. Because it has already snowed once–and will snow again. Because it will then stop snowing. Because of oceans and wild things and all of the unknown. Because I have choices. Because I have been able to wear mostly pajamas for the past 4 months. Because I am not alone on the holidays and because I am not alone. Because one bestie last month, one bestie next. Because a mother who is now a Mimi. Because a tree, tomorrow. Because Finn has been asleep for 63 minutes, meaning he got through his first sleep transition without waking up.

Because Finn. Because Finn. Mostly, because Finn.