Finn walking

We mentioned in the last post how Finn's now walking, but we didn't actually put up a video. Here it is:


Of course, he began taking steps over five months ago, and he's now been walking fully for over two weeks, so Finn's already quite reliable on his feet. This video, however, is only perhaps a week into his walking, so he is rather more precarious. It's amazing that he isn't falling over walking like this!

We'll be back with the full update hopefully on time at the end of next week...

19 months old!

Hello all!

This has been an extremely busy and stressful time lately.  I've been interviewing for and been offered a new job and James and I have been finishing off the process to finally purchase our own flat (which we now have!  Woo!).  Sooo... we didn't do much in the month of April.  But we've done a LOT already in May.  But the stuff we've done in May belongs in his 20 month update, so this one may be a bit sparse.  Although I think I always say that and it ends up being long anyway :)

First off, here are his pictures side by side:

18 months old

19 months old

And, as a first - there are no outtakes!  For once, he climbed into the seat himself and hung out there and enjoyed himself smiling and having fun.  Partly because he LOVES his new tiger shirt.  So instead of outtakes, here are two more good ones!

First up.  Here is a photo that shows us as the worst parents in the entire world.

Finn is sitting on a counter.  Next to a knife.  And a hot stove.  Wearing a borrowed jumper because we forgot to bring one when we went out.
I can hear people dialling child services.
It IS a bit staged though, to be fair.  We DID forget his jumper and need to borrow one. And Finn LOVES to sit on this section of the counter.  I don't know exactly why, but it might have something to do with the fact that his snacks are kept in that red bin.  And we do cook while he sits there.
BUT - there is always someone standing right next to him whenever he is there (assuming they aren't quickly ducking away for the sake of the photo).
So it's not really all that bad, but I thought the photo was pretty funny!

Other stuff we do.  Finn loves to chat on Skype to his Grandma.  We usually do it on Sundays right after he wakes up from his nap.  Here's a fun series from a recent online chat.

We also love going to the park now.  We go nearly every day on the way home from nursery and are blessed that there is a great park just outside our front door.  Finn's favourite is definitely the slide.  He loves the slide.  And now that he's getting more mobile, he can go down by himself!  He still needs help getting up the steps though, but yesterday he managed to climb up the slide all the way to the top.  I was hovering right behind him in case he slipped but he didn't - I was very impressed!  That kid is stronger than he looks (he was walking up and holding on to the sides). He also loves pointing out every. single. car. siiiigh.

 

The biggest news is, of course, that he's really fully walking with confide

nce now.  The first time he properly did it (as in refusing to hold our hands and running off on his own) was in Ikea.  As thrilled as we were for his new found independence, I'm not sure I recommend Ikea as the ideal situation in which to find it.  Exhausting.
What I find amazing though is how much his walking has given him confidence in other areas.  He has always been extremely clingy to me and not liked it when I moved too far away from him.  But now he seems to know that if I go too far, he can come and get me, so it's fine.  Yesterday we went to the library and he sat down to read some books in the kids section and I was able to go to the other side of the room and look elsewhere.  It sounds like no big deal, but in our world this is HUGE!  He would keep checking I was still there, but was fine.  After a while, he stood up and brought his book over to ask me to read it with him, which we did for a bit.  But then when he was bored of that book he walked himself back over to the baby section without me.  It really was amazing for me.  I know walking brings its troubles as well but so far it's been nothing but fantastic.  A couple days ago we were on the couch Skyping with my Mum when Finn asked for some water.  I told him to go get it from daddy who was in the kitchen.  And Finn stood up, walked into the kitchen, asked for water, got it and brought it back to the couch.  These sorts of things blow my mind.  He certainly is no longer a baby.

His communication is definitely getting better as well.  I'm not sure if the rest of the world can understand him, but James and I certainly know what he is saying!  It's amazing how clear he can be even with minimal words.  And putting them together to make himself understood.  I was trying to distract him with his train set when I wanted to get dinner ready and he very clearly said "no.  bye-bye choo choo."  He said it with such a stern face as well it was hard not to laugh!
I think my favourite word of his, though, is thank you.  It's a bit like 'dah do' but the inflection is clearly 'thank you' and I find it very sweet.
So I leave you with a video of him saying thank you...
Enjoy!