Fin is a very affectionate kid - gives lots of hugs, kisses, cuddles, etc. A few nights ago as he was fighting sleep, rolling all over the bed and giggling, he landed close to Daddy's head and Dave started giving him little kisses on his cheek. Fin closed his eyes with each little kiss and I started giving him kisses on the other side of his face, neck, etc. Dave and I grinned at each other over our almost-dozing boy at how sweet it was that we were actually kissing him to sleep and how huge he was grinning while we did it.
After a few minutes, we thought we had been successful and both backed away to let the boy sleep. As luck would have it, it was only one of our almost-successful attempts at getting the boy to fall asleep that night. He opened his eyes a few minutes later, sat up and wanted to play again.
As he once again began playing and climbing all over the bed, he happened to crawl between mommy and daddy, who were trying to play 'possum and show him how much fun it is to SLEEP. (He never falls for this, by the way, but it's our attempt to get some rest, too.)
He sat between us and carefully put one hand on daddy's cheek and one hand on mommy's cheek and tried to push our faces together, so we obliged him and gave each other a kiss. He grinned and got very happy that his plan had worked, so he repeated it. He made us give each other 4 or 5 kisses by pushing our faces toward each other while he sat between us, then at one point, he realized he could be in on the fun, too.
After one kiss between mommy and daddy, Fin leaned over and put his own face between us, so of course we kissed him next. He sat up again, instructed us to kiss each other, then leaned in again for another kiss himself. This sweet little boy played this game for about ten minutes, making us kiss each other, then kiss him, kiss each other, then kiss him, before we finally tackled him with tickles and all-over kisses to try to get him to fall asleep again.
In all, it was a very sweet eveing, but he did end up needing a ride in the car to finally fall asleep for the night. With all those kisses and tickles and cuddles, I can see how a kid might want to stay awake and just keep playing! :)
Monday, May 14, 2007
The missing mama
Yep, I fell off the blog-wagon for about six weeks. Why? Well, having a toddler, a full-time job, strep throat, and a new pregnancy can wear a mama out!
We found out about a month ago that Fin will be getting a gift that keeps on giving for his second birthday. I'm now nine weeks pregnant and my due date is two days after Fin turns two.
So far, NewBaby is making mom much sicker and greener than big bro did, which has not been the most fun. But Fin already loves to yell "baby!" while pointing at mommy's belly and gives NewBaby (and mama) lots of belly kisses and blows raspberries on us all the time, so that definitely helps. I have a feeling he's going to be a natural at this whole "big brother" game!
We found out about a month ago that Fin will be getting a gift that keeps on giving for his second birthday. I'm now nine weeks pregnant and my due date is two days after Fin turns two.
So far, NewBaby is making mom much sicker and greener than big bro did, which has not been the most fun. But Fin already loves to yell "baby!" while pointing at mommy's belly and gives NewBaby (and mama) lots of belly kisses and blows raspberries on us all the time, so that definitely helps. I have a feeling he's going to be a natural at this whole "big brother" game!
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Sweet Baby Love
A few nights ago, Dave and I had a date night at a friend's house. We had dinner, played games (and won!) and generally had a nice evening. My mom came over to watch Fin and by the time we made it home, he had been asleep for a couple hours.
We crawled into bed alongside him as usual and went to sleep. He's been nightweaned for a couple months now, but I do usually still nurse him before bed, so I had already decided I would nurse him when he woke up in the middle of the night even though that's not our normal routine anymore.
Most nights he will sit up in bed somewhere around 2am, rub his little sleepy eyes, crawl over to me, cuddle and go right back to sleep. This evening, however, he woke up at 2:30, rubbed his little sleepy eyes, looked around and realized he had mommy and daddy on either side of him (which he didn't have when he cried himself to sleep a few hours earlier) and just GRINNED like his biggest dream had come true.
He crawled over to me, grinning his huge sleepy baby grin and then laid down to nurse. He nursed for a few minutes then pulled off, looked up into my face and said "Mamama!" and then blew me kisses!
He went back to nursing but pulled off to say "mama" and blow me kisses another 2-3 times before he fell back asleep.
Needless to say, I was a big mushy puddle of mama-love. It really knocks my socks off how sweet and loving this kiddo is.
We crawled into bed alongside him as usual and went to sleep. He's been nightweaned for a couple months now, but I do usually still nurse him before bed, so I had already decided I would nurse him when he woke up in the middle of the night even though that's not our normal routine anymore.
Most nights he will sit up in bed somewhere around 2am, rub his little sleepy eyes, crawl over to me, cuddle and go right back to sleep. This evening, however, he woke up at 2:30, rubbed his little sleepy eyes, looked around and realized he had mommy and daddy on either side of him (which he didn't have when he cried himself to sleep a few hours earlier) and just GRINNED like his biggest dream had come true.
He crawled over to me, grinning his huge sleepy baby grin and then laid down to nurse. He nursed for a few minutes then pulled off, looked up into my face and said "Mamama!" and then blew me kisses!
He went back to nursing but pulled off to say "mama" and blow me kisses another 2-3 times before he fell back asleep.
Needless to say, I was a big mushy puddle of mama-love. It really knocks my socks off how sweet and loving this kiddo is.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Genius Baby!
Okay, I realize that most parents probably think their kid is the smartest, sweetest, cutest most amazing child on the planet. Dave and I definitely fall into that category of parents. I try to temper my parental amazement and recognize that many parents feel this way, but then Fin does something like he did this morning and I am even more convinced that we are right. ;)
This morning before I left for work Fin and I were getting in some play time and he kept pointing at the row of hooks we have behind the front door. He knows the sign for "hat" but wasn't doing it - just pointing and making his "want that!" sound over and over. I finally asked him if he wanted to play with the hats (which he often does) and he did the "hat" sign and nodded.
I got the hats down - one for him, one for Baby Chewie and one for me - and he played with them for a few minutes, but still kept pointing over my shoulder at the hooks. I told him we had all the hats and still he pointed and demanded that there was something he wanted but could not communicate.
I realized he was pointing at the umbrella and told him that it wasn't safe to play with. He pointed and demanded, I gave him hats and tried to be silly and distract him. We had a couple of empty wrapping paper tubes nearby that we use as instruments and light sabers from time to time and I tried to get him to play with those instead.
Finally, realizing that mommy was not going to give in and hand him the umbrella he so desperately wanted to play with, Fin stood up, grabbed the wrapping paper tube and walked over to the umbrella. He tried to maneuver the tube under the umbrella strap and tried to push the umbrella up off the hook, all while mommy stared on in amazement!
He eventually gave up, dropped the tube and came back to jump on mommy's tummy, but WOW! This 15-month-old kid knew that he could use the cardboard tube as a tool to get the umbrella that was on a hook and out of his reach!
I swear, he amazes me every single day with all that he knows and can do.
He even put daddy's shoes on this morning and stomped around the living room for a while, giggling at how silly he was being with giant shoes on his little feet.
Smart, cute, silly, sweet - what more could a mother ask for?
This morning before I left for work Fin and I were getting in some play time and he kept pointing at the row of hooks we have behind the front door. He knows the sign for "hat" but wasn't doing it - just pointing and making his "want that!" sound over and over. I finally asked him if he wanted to play with the hats (which he often does) and he did the "hat" sign and nodded.
I got the hats down - one for him, one for Baby Chewie and one for me - and he played with them for a few minutes, but still kept pointing over my shoulder at the hooks. I told him we had all the hats and still he pointed and demanded that there was something he wanted but could not communicate.
I realized he was pointing at the umbrella and told him that it wasn't safe to play with. He pointed and demanded, I gave him hats and tried to be silly and distract him. We had a couple of empty wrapping paper tubes nearby that we use as instruments and light sabers from time to time and I tried to get him to play with those instead.
Finally, realizing that mommy was not going to give in and hand him the umbrella he so desperately wanted to play with, Fin stood up, grabbed the wrapping paper tube and walked over to the umbrella. He tried to maneuver the tube under the umbrella strap and tried to push the umbrella up off the hook, all while mommy stared on in amazement!
He eventually gave up, dropped the tube and came back to jump on mommy's tummy, but WOW! This 15-month-old kid knew that he could use the cardboard tube as a tool to get the umbrella that was on a hook and out of his reach!
I swear, he amazes me every single day with all that he knows and can do.
He even put daddy's shoes on this morning and stomped around the living room for a while, giggling at how silly he was being with giant shoes on his little feet.
Smart, cute, silly, sweet - what more could a mother ask for?
Photo proof of Fin and Baby Chewie
I finally got a new card reader and uploaded some pictures of Fin with Baby Chewie. This is the first day that he asked for a drink and gave it to Chewie, but he still does this at least once a day. He's such a little sweetie.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Adventures with Baby Chewie
Fin has named his doll. Dave asked him what the baby's name was and started tossing out random boy names. Fin just sat there making the "chew" sign over and over, so Dave asked him if the baby's name was "Baby Chewie". Fin thought this was hilarious and squealed with laughter every time one of us said Baby Chewie, so that appears to be the doll's name. Welcome to the family, Baby Chewie! (Now, whenever one of us mentions the doll or says Baby Chewie, Fin just sits there giggling and doing the "chew" sign.)
I came home from work a couple days ago and was playing with Fin while Dave made dinner. Fin wanted his doll ("bay-bay") so I retrieved Baby Chewie from the bedroom. When I gave Fin the doll, he signed "drink" before I could sit down, so I figured he was thirsty. I got him a sippy cup of water and sat down to play with him and the doll. He immediately held the doll in his arms and gave Baby Chewie the water. It was so sweet that of course I had to take a picture. (I'll share it whenever I find the cord to get the pictures off the camera...sigh. But trust me, it's adorable.)
The next morning Fin woke up, sat up in bed and looked around the room for the cat, as usual. He was glancing around the bed saying "meow?" when his eyes landed on Baby Chewie next to the bed. "Bay-bay!"
Once again, as soon as he had the doll in his hands, he signed "drink" so Dave hopped up to get some water. Dave brought back both a sippy cup and a bottle of water and Fin kept the sippy for himself and gave the bottle of water to the doll. Apparently this is a thirsty baby.
The sweetest part of the morning however, was that when Dave went to get the water Fin signed "love". I asked him if he loved Baby Chewie and he nodded. "Yes." He signed "love" again and I asked if Baby Chewie loved him. He just looked at me urgently and signed "LOVE" like I was dense. So I asked if he loved mommy and he replied with the full body nod. "Yes!"
Those BabySign classes were worth every single penny.
Later that night, as we were trying to convince the boy who could barely keep his eyes open but refused to stop playing that sleep really would be a good idea, we decided to put Baby Chewie in bed with us and put the doll to sleep in the hopes that Fin would play along. We told him Chewie was going night-night and laid him down. Fin promptly grabbed the doll by the head (ouch) and just hugged him tight.
For the next few minutes, every time we would kiss Fin, he would in turn kiss the doll. Finally, Fin decided he and Chewie had had enough snuggles and kisses and they were off on an adventure. He crawled to the foot of the bed with Chewie in tow, threw the doll into the Pack'n'Play and started trying to crawl in himself.
Danger baby!
I asked him if he wanted to play in there with Chewie and he said "In", but immediately wanted "up!" as soon as he realized Dave and I would not be joining in the PnP games. Chewie spent the night in the PnP and Fin finally settled down and snuggled next to Mommy for the night.
Chewie was a pretty good purchase for $10. :)
I came home from work a couple days ago and was playing with Fin while Dave made dinner. Fin wanted his doll ("bay-bay") so I retrieved Baby Chewie from the bedroom. When I gave Fin the doll, he signed "drink" before I could sit down, so I figured he was thirsty. I got him a sippy cup of water and sat down to play with him and the doll. He immediately held the doll in his arms and gave Baby Chewie the water. It was so sweet that of course I had to take a picture. (I'll share it whenever I find the cord to get the pictures off the camera...sigh. But trust me, it's adorable.)
The next morning Fin woke up, sat up in bed and looked around the room for the cat, as usual. He was glancing around the bed saying "meow?" when his eyes landed on Baby Chewie next to the bed. "Bay-bay!"
Once again, as soon as he had the doll in his hands, he signed "drink" so Dave hopped up to get some water. Dave brought back both a sippy cup and a bottle of water and Fin kept the sippy for himself and gave the bottle of water to the doll. Apparently this is a thirsty baby.
The sweetest part of the morning however, was that when Dave went to get the water Fin signed "love". I asked him if he loved Baby Chewie and he nodded. "Yes." He signed "love" again and I asked if Baby Chewie loved him. He just looked at me urgently and signed "LOVE" like I was dense. So I asked if he loved mommy and he replied with the full body nod. "Yes!"
Those BabySign classes were worth every single penny.
Later that night, as we were trying to convince the boy who could barely keep his eyes open but refused to stop playing that sleep really would be a good idea, we decided to put Baby Chewie in bed with us and put the doll to sleep in the hopes that Fin would play along. We told him Chewie was going night-night and laid him down. Fin promptly grabbed the doll by the head (ouch) and just hugged him tight.
For the next few minutes, every time we would kiss Fin, he would in turn kiss the doll. Finally, Fin decided he and Chewie had had enough snuggles and kisses and they were off on an adventure. He crawled to the foot of the bed with Chewie in tow, threw the doll into the Pack'n'Play and started trying to crawl in himself.
Danger baby!
I asked him if he wanted to play in there with Chewie and he said "In", but immediately wanted "up!" as soon as he realized Dave and I would not be joining in the PnP games. Chewie spent the night in the PnP and Fin finally settled down and snuggled next to Mommy for the night.
Chewie was a pretty good purchase for $10. :)
Monday, March 12, 2007
My Baby's Baby
Fin has an ABC book with pictures for each letter of the alphabet. On the page for D the pictures are a dog, a door, a dinosaur, a drum and a doll. As we read the book, we tend to point to the various things for which he has a BabySign or word or sound.
Point to dog, he does the sign for dog - panting and patting his leg. Point to drum, he hits the book because he knows you "pat pat" a drum. Point to dinosaur, he roars.
A few weeks ago we were reading the ABC book, got to D and he kept pointing at the doll. It's a picture I would usually ignore because with the drawings in this particular book, it looks more like just a little girl than specifically a doll. I also skip the woman in white who is a nurse for N because "nurse" to Fin is an activity, not a person and she just looks like a lady dressed in white and wearing a funny hat.
Anyway, one day he kept pointing at the doll, so I told him "doll". He pointed again, I said "it's a doll - like a little person, a baby." He kept pointing. I finally asked him if he wanted a doll and he emphatically nodded "YES!"
So, I told him I'd get him a doll the next time I went shopping. I didn't get a chance to get to the store that weekend and assumed he'd forgotten about it, but a few days later he did the same thing - point, point, point to the doll. "Do you want a doll?" YES!
I finally made it to Target yesterday and decided to check out the baby dolls to see if I could find one that didn't creep me out. They had a cute little doll called "Baby I'm Yours" (I've been singing that song all day now!) for about $10 so I picked one up for Fin.
When I got home, he was just waking up from a nap. Usually he wants mommy and nursing right away, but I took the doll out of the Target bag and his little face just lit up! He was in love immediately! He didn't even want a wake-up snuggle from mommy, he just wanted the doll out of the box!
We let him play with his little baby, showed him how to hug and kiss the baby and he proceeded to hug, kiss and love the baby for the rest of the day. We gave him the baby doll to keep him occupied for diaper changes (a real feat if you've ever tried to wrangle a super mobile baby to a changing pad when they want to play) and before he would fall asleep last night, we had to bring the baby into the bedroom for some nighttime cuddles.
This morning as soon as he woke up and chased the cat for a minute, he crawled back in bed with us. I pulled the baby doll back onto the bed and he immediately grabbed the baby, gave it a big hug and kiss and then laid his head on the baby for a snuggle. So very, very cute.
He's been saying "baby" over and over since he got the doll. LOVE this little man - he is such a sweetie!
Point to dog, he does the sign for dog - panting and patting his leg. Point to drum, he hits the book because he knows you "pat pat" a drum. Point to dinosaur, he roars.
A few weeks ago we were reading the ABC book, got to D and he kept pointing at the doll. It's a picture I would usually ignore because with the drawings in this particular book, it looks more like just a little girl than specifically a doll. I also skip the woman in white who is a nurse for N because "nurse" to Fin is an activity, not a person and she just looks like a lady dressed in white and wearing a funny hat.
Anyway, one day he kept pointing at the doll, so I told him "doll". He pointed again, I said "it's a doll - like a little person, a baby." He kept pointing. I finally asked him if he wanted a doll and he emphatically nodded "YES!"
So, I told him I'd get him a doll the next time I went shopping. I didn't get a chance to get to the store that weekend and assumed he'd forgotten about it, but a few days later he did the same thing - point, point, point to the doll. "Do you want a doll?" YES!
I finally made it to Target yesterday and decided to check out the baby dolls to see if I could find one that didn't creep me out. They had a cute little doll called "Baby I'm Yours" (I've been singing that song all day now!) for about $10 so I picked one up for Fin.
When I got home, he was just waking up from a nap. Usually he wants mommy and nursing right away, but I took the doll out of the Target bag and his little face just lit up! He was in love immediately! He didn't even want a wake-up snuggle from mommy, he just wanted the doll out of the box!
We let him play with his little baby, showed him how to hug and kiss the baby and he proceeded to hug, kiss and love the baby for the rest of the day. We gave him the baby doll to keep him occupied for diaper changes (a real feat if you've ever tried to wrangle a super mobile baby to a changing pad when they want to play) and before he would fall asleep last night, we had to bring the baby into the bedroom for some nighttime cuddles.
This morning as soon as he woke up and chased the cat for a minute, he crawled back in bed with us. I pulled the baby doll back onto the bed and he immediately grabbed the baby, gave it a big hug and kiss and then laid his head on the baby for a snuggle. So very, very cute.
He's been saying "baby" over and over since he got the doll. LOVE this little man - he is such a sweetie!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Feels like the first time
So I suppose the first blog should be an intro of sorts. Or is that too typical?
Eh, it is what it is. So here goes.
I'm Benah - which rhymes with Dana but is (obviously) spelled very differently. I am a mom and a wife and all those other things I listed in my "About Me" space over on the sidebar. I'm 31 - somehow. My son is Fin - 14 months old - and amazing and adorable in just about every way. He takes after his dad a lot. Which sounds really shmoopy and goofy, but it's true.
So why a blog? Because I never actually have time to write in my journal anymore and my son's life is speeding by before my very eyes. I'm hoping a blog will help me capture some of the amazement I feel every day when I gaze at him in wonder and awe at the little person he is becoming. I don't much care if others read it or not - but I hope to be able to give some of it to him when he is older so he will know how incredible these days really are for me.
Naturally, he'll think it's a weird mom thing, but hopefully one day when he has kids of his own he'll understand just a little bit all I'm hoping to capture here.
Enough for now - back to work. Gotta pump some milk for the little man.
Eh, it is what it is. So here goes.
I'm Benah - which rhymes with Dana but is (obviously) spelled very differently. I am a mom and a wife and all those other things I listed in my "About Me" space over on the sidebar. I'm 31 - somehow. My son is Fin - 14 months old - and amazing and adorable in just about every way. He takes after his dad a lot. Which sounds really shmoopy and goofy, but it's true.
So why a blog? Because I never actually have time to write in my journal anymore and my son's life is speeding by before my very eyes. I'm hoping a blog will help me capture some of the amazement I feel every day when I gaze at him in wonder and awe at the little person he is becoming. I don't much care if others read it or not - but I hope to be able to give some of it to him when he is older so he will know how incredible these days really are for me.
Naturally, he'll think it's a weird mom thing, but hopefully one day when he has kids of his own he'll understand just a little bit all I'm hoping to capture here.
Enough for now - back to work. Gotta pump some milk for the little man.
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