7 Months!

Finley’s first Super Bowl! Our next-door neighbor’s hosted a party; Finley and I walked home after the first rub-of-his-eyes, he made it to the end of the first quarter. Am I the only one that believes the Super Bowl starts wwwaaayyy too late on a Sunday? Why can’t it be on a Saturday??
Of course Finley was dressed for the occasion…no one even noticed! Obviously the other guests were mostly strangers, they didn't appreciate the thought I put into dressing my kid each day!
Tuesday marked 7 MONTHS! Every month starts with the same thoughts…I can’t believe we even have a baby, and…Holy s#!t – he's still alive, healthy, and happy!
Pictures with a sign are getting tough; a paper cut on Finley's tongue will mark the end!

Finley has become incredibly "grabby" EVERYTHING goes into his mouth. It doesn't matter what I have in my hands, what we walk near, or even my hair, everything is straight into his mouth!
Finley made it a whole week at daycare! No illness, no appointments, no trips to Mayo - we didn’t give Stephanie any bonus days off! Not sure what the boys are doing here, but this picture makes me laugh...you tickle me, I'll tickle you!
Who's the baby girl? There was a special guest at Stephanie’s this week…Annie! Annie’s mom works at Northwoods; her sitter had a baby so Stephanie played back-up. Evidently Thursday was "Stripe Day"!
Along with the stripes above, another random coincidence, Annie shares a birthday with Spencer; they will both be one in March…I can’t believe Spencer is going to be 1! Miss Annie is already walking all over; won’t be long and Mr. Spencer will be too, scary!
On Friday, Finley attended his first elementary music program. Maya and Riley had a “Western” program at Northwoods; I hoped Finley would be a good listener…Stephanie said my little cowboy slept through it all! At least he looked cute in his plaid shirt, overalls and cowboy boots...told you I think about his outfit EVERYDAY! Western Program = Western Outfit!
Sadly, we said good-bye to many outfits this weekend! Finley must’ve recently grown; every outfit I put on this week was too short. The hassle of changing wasn’t worth it, so my conversation with Stephanie started the same each morning, “I know his outfit is too small, it’s the last day he’ll be wearing it.” It felt better to state the obvious rather than pretend he looked OK.

Grandma helped me pack up clothes; while we were at it we packed Finley for Cancun. I know we're not leaving for a month, but it felt soooo good to check it off the to-do list. I wanted to be sure he had enough summer clothes - he does! I think it's important that all seven-month-olds have five swimming suits.

Patrick was snowmobiling Thursday to Sunday; so Finley and I made sure to have fun home alone! We hung out all weekend…Finley was literally trying to “hang out” on the coffee table.
Grandma & Grandpa watched Finley while I snuck in a run and a trip to Target on Saturday. I’m not sure what Grandpa was teaching Finley, but it looks really serious...maybe he's telling him who to vote for?!
Grandpa is trying to convince Finley that Republicans are fun...
...Grandpa buys it...does Finley???
Of course the forgotten child wanted in too; whose big dog is that? I think Auntie used to have a dog like that one.

On Sunday, I saw how big Finley has gotten. We visited Little Liam! Finley is now a "big kid" in comparison pictures. Liam is sooooo sweet, it was like picking up a feather - there was nothing to him, everything was sooo teeny. Suddenly my little boy felt like a horse!

We are heading into a busy week...on Tuesday we see Dr. Bite at Mayo. He's the pediatric plastic surgeon who recommended helmet therapy; the last time we saw him was pre-helmet. I'm very anxious to hear his thoughts on Finley's progress...I'd be lying if I didn't have a bit of hope that he'll say, "Oh - he looks great, burn the helmet." Chances are slim, but my fingers are still crossed....here's a recent picture of Finley's head.
Don't forget where we started...


A head's up, next Sunday's post might be late! We will be attending Winter WonderFest and getting back late Sunday. It's a 4-5 hour drive...with a baby...catch my drift? We'll see how Sunday evening goes!