Friends of Finn, Orry, and Oshin: 11 months old!

Yup - he's nearly 11 1/2 months old now, but I haven't managed to upload all the photos and videos and stuff until now, so it's a bit late. Not much has changed in the past couple weeks though so it's all still good!

Anyway, here is Finn's 11 month update!

10 months old

11 months old

As always I have to start with an apology for how rubbish his monthly picture is... and so here are some of the outtakes so you can see that it really is the best of a bad bunch (he's in two different outfits because we tried on the 2nd as normal and then again on the 3rd to see if they were any better... and got an ok one)

Again, I haven't had him weighed so I don't know for certain. But following his normal chart would put him at

9.75 kilos
or 21 lbs 7 oz
or 1 and a half stones
depending on your preference.

He hasn't got any more teeth in the past month but he's lately doing this a lot:

So I think he might be working on his molars. I can't quite get a good enough look to know...

His hair is most definitely blond. Which might account for why it's still so hard to see. But it is getting longer! And he has two hair whorls at the back which makes it sort of stick up funny in a cowlick right at the back. This isn't a very good picture - but at least you can see his hair!

These show you his hair as well and are from an instance I won't forget - Finn normally plays happily with toys on the bathroom floor while I shower, but this day he waited until I was completely lathered and soapy with a hair full of conditioner to start hysterically crying and trying to climb into the shower with me... at first I tried to calm him down but then realised that his clothes would dry so "whatever" and I scooped him up and plopped him in the shower with me - where he happily splashed in the water and played with my comb until I was finished and we got out. But not before I took a couple pictures to remember it by :)

There's one bit of hair you can always clearly see, though - he has the most incredible eyelashes!! I love them (and I want them for myself). They are so long they almost curl back on themselves to touch his forehead. These pictures are not only adorable - but show them off really well...

And also this less-than-adorable picture from when I accidentally used the flash on the camera (I don't know if Finn had ever seen the flash before!). But check out those lashes!!!

What else? It's funny to look back on the 10 month update and realise how much can change in one month! That one discussed the fact that he was sitting up but still a bit unsteady. That's totally a non-issue now. Now, he not only sits up just fine, but can easily hold himself steady while standing... and we can now even leave him to sit himself back down again after he pulls himself up (which is a huge relief). A couple of times he has even managed to let go and balance briefly without holding on to anything... but that has literally only happened twice, so I don't think it quite counts as 'free standing' yet. Although he does sit fine now, he doesn't often do it. If he's playing he much prefers to sort of sit/kneel.

He also gets himself into weird positions when he's in his carrier. He adores to hang himself upside down and watch the world go by that way. No matter how much he enjoys it, it looks awful - and I wonder what other people think when they see us carrying him that way. I want to explain to every person we pass that he likes it and is doing it on purpose! Here is him on his way to his first day at nursery. And speaking of nursery, I think this picture looks like the traditional school photo! But I like the outtake much better:

His favourite things are still those that make noise and play music. James posted a couple videos last week but here is another one - this one shows off his new full-body dancing!

And another video of his new ability to lip-smack :)

I think that's all for the update really - but I wanted to share a couple stories with you that are just bizarre.
It's a well known fact that everyone loves Finn, of course :)
Sometimes (often) people stop to chat and coo at him etc. But the other day we were walking back from nursery (very slowly as I was still on crutches!) and an older man stopped us to say 'hi' and 'how old is he' etc and all the normal things. We chatted briefly and Finn smiled and cooed away. And then, as we went to move on, the man reached into his pocket and gave me a handful of coins as he said "here, please, buy the baby some chocolate!" I tried to refuse but he was so insistent and the situation was so odd, that I ended up taking it. It came to £1.23 and I've set it aside for a time when Finn can eat chocolate - it would just be rude not to do as the man wished!

Secondly is a story that I'm not too sure how I feel about. The other day I was in the dentist and was slightly late to pick Finn up from nursery (only by 5 minutes! But I still got a telling off...). He must know around what time I come though, so he was seemingly expecting my arrival. Enter another woman who is about my height and build and, although blond, wears her hair in a similar ponytail. But otherwise, NOTHING LIKE ME! The nursery reported that when she came in to pick up her daughter Finn immediately crawled over to her crying and pulling himself up on her leg. He was so upset and insistent that she had to pick him up and try to calm him down - and when the nursery workers tried to take him away from her he was grabbing and clinging. He thought she was me. !?!?! Ok, fine, it's a one-off right? I was late, he was anxious - who knows. The very next day James picked him up (I was at the dentist AGAIN). He had him in the carrier and was getting the daily update and saying goodbye to the workers and the same woman walked in. And again, Finn went crazy - reaching for her and crying and not knowing why his "Mum" was ignoring him. Although she didn't ignore him - no one could! So she came over to try and convince him that she wasn't me... but he wasn't having it. In the end James had to just leave! How does he not know who I am!? Funny yes. But... what?!

So that's it I suppose. The next monthly update will be when Finn is one YEAR old!! I can't believe it! But until then, as always, I'll leave you with some random pictures that I like :)