Finley & Hadley's Blog: Finley LOVES...

Recently I've found myself watching Finley - it's amazing to see him growing into this neat kid! He's catching onto things, he's talking more, he likes to tease, he's got a great belly-laugh and he's a helper. Finley's also strong-willed; he knows what he likes, what he doesn't and what he LOVES...

Finley LOVES to be like Stephanie's kids, they wear backpacks and he wants to too. Stephanie took this picture a couple weeks ago, he told her, "I go school."

Finley LOVES playing in Stephanie's sandbox - could he look happier running through dirt?!

Finley LOVES school buses, anytime we see one, he asks, "Where's Riee?" (Riley is one of Stephanie's kids). This week, Finley & Stephanie chaperoned Duncan's field trip to the apple orchard...Finley took his first ride on a school bus!!

Coincidentally, our kindergartners went to the SAME apple orchard, on the SAME day, at the SAME time - I got to see Finley, it was fun to bump into each other! Finley played apple games...

...listened to a story about apples...

...went through a hay maze...

...painted with apples...

...and picked one!

I love this picture - Finley & Duncan are definitely buddies!

Finley's big boy room is a work-in-progress, it's getting close to completion. Finley LOVES his big boy room! He likes to jump on the bed, he pretends to sleep and he shows it to everyone; he's very proud of his new room! The red stripe needs a little tweaking, Patrick was uber-excited when I decided it doesn't match well enough.

If you've spoken with me recently, you know the struggles we're having with Finley. He's been waking up in the night upset and won't stay in his crib. He goes down fine, he doesn't crawl out in the morning/after nap, but in the middle of the night? You'd think his crib was on fire! We're debating on the next step - move him into his big boy bed? A crib tent? I've ordered both the bedrails and a crib tent...I'm not ready for the BIG transition, but the mama-guilt is getting to me - do we just go for it?? We'll see!

Finley LOVES gymnastics, each week we review skills and learn something new. This week we jumped on a vault launcher-thing (I'm sure it has an official name)...

...we hopped through hoops...

...walked/hopped/skipped across the large trampoline, a favorite of all the little gymnasts...

...and crawled across this large squishy-catcher-thing. Maybe next week we'll learn gymnastics vocab?

Finley LOVES play dates! Fortunately, on my days off this week we've had gorgeous fall weather! Melissa, Elle, Finley & I had a last-minute play date in Owen Park...have I mentioned how much I'll miss Melissa when she returns to work??

Finley has gotten brave on the playground equipment - scary! He climbs higher and doesn't want Mom's help...fortunately Mom's got quick hands, I caught him once!

Friday we had a playdate with Jill, Gavin & Maddie, Kristi & Liam, Faith, Zach & Eli. We met at Irvine Park and visited the animals. I've never seen the animals so active, they were walking (pacing, stalking) near the glass. This cougar is scared of strollers, he hisses at them - it's spooky!