Hello all,
Just thought I'd do another quick post to let you know that Finn is feeling much better now, thank you!
And I've got lots of videos to prove it.
But first, here is sick Finn - we don't watch a lot of TV in this house, but Baby Einstein is a winner when we do! It certainly keeps Finn still and engaged - enough to take his temperature!
Also, James feels it's important to have videos to help us remember everything - not just the good things. So he insisted on a video of sick Finn. It's a bit heartbreaking to watch - I dare anyone to watch it and not want to jump in and make it all better. A bit of explanation though - this was in the night, and we were giving him some medicine when he started reaching for food - he seemed to have maybe got his appetite back, so we were offering him some of his favourite foods to see if he would eat anything. (it is not, however, a wotsit (or a cheese puff) - it is a baby-corn-carrot-puff-thingy... we don't give Finn wotsits!) And he was trying to eat them - but was so miserable that it wasn't going well. Poor poor Finn - but this is an example of what we were dealing with for about three days straight.
Now after that, how about some nice videos, eh?!
Two of him in the bath, being silly and one of him with his cherished bowl...
We're back safe and sound from Berlin. Finn did brilliantly on the flights, as always, and we all had a really excellent time.
Unfortunately, since we've been back I caught a nasty virus with stomach cramps and raging fever. It has since gone away, but it is clear that Finn now has the exact same thing. We're doing all we can to manage his fever, but he's simply miserable and my heart goes out to him. It must be so hard to feel so awful and not know why, or why no one is fixing it. And to top it all off, he's got a tooth currently breaking its way through - so even nursing, which always helps to calm him down, is just causing him more pain and that's upsetting him even more.
Poor, poor baby.
Anyway, we've got our hands full trying to help him stay calm, get some sleep, drink as many fluids as he can etc etc. So in the meantime, I thought I would post a link to our Berlin photo album that I put up on facebook. Have a look at the fantastic fun times we had. And send lots of get-better-soon thoughts to our wee unhappy baby.
First up - the hair. I went in during his bath today with the hopes that the wetness would show off his hair better, and it definitely did. You can see all his super-fine-fuzz (and his gorgeous, gorgeous blue eyes). And you can see some of the colour debate - it looks a bit red in the top photo, but very blond in the bottom...
So here it is, ladies and gentlemen, Finn's hair - it really does exist!
Secondly, we tried very hard yesterday to get video of him clapping and we managed not one - but two! Finn claps randomly while hanging out on the couch and then again when he was playing with the "other baby."
Enjoy!
Lastly, I thought I would throw in a little montage (just click on it to make it bigger) that explains how hard it is to get photos and videos of a baby that thinks cameras are the coolest THINGS EVER!!!
It has been ages since an update. I'm sorry. My best friend from home came to visit me for a couple weeks and it became a bit all-encompassing. I actually wrote a blog post in advance so that I could just post it while she and her husband were here, but even that didn't happen. (I'm still saving it...). I was just all over the place quite literally. And to top it off I've got a job interview, we're headed to Berlin next week, I was trying to find a nursery place for Finn... etc. etc. life. etc. Oh, and did I mention that the football was on? It was time for Euro 2012 - and the football is an extremely important part of life that shall not be interrupted. By anything. Including bath time.
ANYWAY! I'll make up for my long delay with lots of photos and videos, shall I?
On the 2nd of July, Finn turned 9 months old! I tried very hard to get a good picture of him but as he gets more and more active, he is less and less inclined to sit in the chair. Soooo it's not the best - but here they are side by side anyway!
8 months old
9 months old
And here are a couple of the outtakes :o)
As for the updates -
He currently weighs:
9.13 kilos
or 20 lbs 1 oz
or 1 stone 6 lbs
depending on your preference.
I don't know how long he is, I didn't check.
As always in these monthly updates I have MORE teeth to report. He now has SEVEN! Yup. Seven. He seems to be holding at seven though, which is odd - normally the matching one comes only a couple days after the first (as in two on the top, two on the bottom, the two next to the two on the top) but he's only got three on the bottom and no sign of the fourth. Who knows. Strangely though, it feels like he's about to get two more on the top - which are supposed to be some of the last to come in... but since when have Finn's teeth cared?
So, yeah, lots of teeth.
His hair is at least an inch long, but you still wouldn't know it to look at him... Janet swore it was red though - so I'll take her word for it! You can see it a bit better when it gets wet, or when he wakes up from a nap and it's all fuzzy all over. This picture sort of shows it...
He doesn't zombie crawl anymore - it's now a full on commando crawl. The trouble is that he's so good at it (and FAST) he doesn't seem to be at ALL interested in normal crawling - no big worry though because he gets around just fine. And I know that he can get up onto his hands and knees because he likes to crawl on top of things. Particularly James' guitar. And, when he's doing that he will even get up on his hands and feet! Like so:
He also REALLY likes to stand up. He's pretty strong and can't hold all his weight if you balance him. And he also likes if you help him 'walk' around. Then James introduced him to 'running' and it's now one of his favourite things to do. No more walking now that he's learned about running. Luckily James is happy to oblige:
Speaking of guitars, he is getting super skilled at playing his. He can strum! Yup, that's my baby - can't crawl, can't sit up, but boy can he strum a guitar. And grow teeth. Those are two things he can do.
Just to prove it though, here's a video of him playing his guitar:
Other things that need updating...
We thought that he had learned to shake his head "no" because I had seen him do it at one point. So we kept trying to get him to do it again and mimic us saying "no" but he wouldn't. Turns out, we were wrong. He carried on doing it but only when he wanted to. Eventually I made the connection that he was only doing it if he heard music... yup - he thinks he's dancing. Apparently you dance by shaking your head back and forth. And he will start dancing any time he hears music. Or "music" - because he also dances to the beeping of a truck backing up, or the rattling of a shopping cart, or the thumping of the washing machine. Now, some may say that he doesn't know what music is - I say he finds music in all things!
Here are a couple examples of him dancing - one from when James started playing his guitar and the other when he heard his favourite toy 'Scout' the musical dog...
Apparently he also knows how to clap - but again, he won't do it "for" us. He does it on his own while he's playing. If you try and clap and get him to clap back he looks at you like you are crazy. So we thought he just didn't understand. Imagine my bafflement when I woke up in the middle of the night to him lying in his crib clapping to himself... Of course this means we have no video of him clapping. Sorry. I'll keep trying though.
He has discovered his index finger and loves to touch things. It's really funny to watch! He's always loved different 'stuff' and textures but now he will spend ages reading a 'touchy-feely' board book carefully stroking each page with one finger... very very odd to watch and strangely endearing. It's only not pleasant when he decides to do the same to explore your face and those two interesting holes under your nose... Here's him investigating a flower:
We finally found a table chair that fits over our table skirt and we love it! It has the added benefit of fitting on nearly any kind of table (except glass) and we have since tried it out many places. Different restaurants, pubs, picnic tables. Brilliant. I almost love it a lot except for one thing - it's hand wash only. WHAT?! Who makes a seat for babies to EAT in hand wash only?! Silly. So I've sewn a couple covers out of James' old work shirts that can be tossed in the wash. Looks a bit scruffy, but not as bad as a bunch of gross caked on food. Because believe me, this boy makes a MESS!
He's recently discovered a new trick though - we put a chair underneath his seat because... well... I don't know really - lack of a better place to store it? Anyway, he's learnt that he can use it to stand up. And sometimes he finds this the most entertaining thing to do during dinner. Luckily, if we get too fed up, we just take the chair away. But most of the time it's just funny (and probably good practice - standing in general I mean, not standing during meals per say).
(PS - you will be reassured to hear that he went on to eat the entire apricot and many others after that. All his best foods start out with a horrible face of some sort!)
I think that's all the major updates. As I mentioned, he still can't sit up without pillows around him because he topples over - I reckon it's just all those teeth weighing him down :) either that or his great big clever brain.
So I guess I'll leave you with the pictures from some of our tourism trips out with Janet and Marcus. We did loads and loads of stuff!
We explored the city - Piccadilly Circus and Buckingham Palace
We got a car and went out to see Stonehenge
(I LOVE Finn's new sling by the way - it makes traveling around so much simpler and quicker! And I can hide him when he's sleeping...)
We visited a castle
And when we went to Big Ben, Finn was himself the tourist attraction! That's right, my baby is so cute that people stopped us on the street to take his picture. One woman even asked to hold him so she could have a picture taken WITH him. So weird. But, let's face it - he IS pretty darn cute! (and thank you to Marcus for the pictures!)
