23 months old!

So, we already covered most of August - James and Finn went to the Isle of Man!
And the end of August into the beginning of September, Finn and I went to America (isn't he a lucky chap?).  But that trip gets its own post, so this is about everything else.  Firstly, on the 2nd, Finn turned 23 months old!  We were at the zoo, in Ohio (more later.  It was brilliant.) so his picture is a bit odd. But here they are side-by side!

22 months old

23 months old

Before I get into his 23 month update though, I need to go back to the picture of him at 22 months.  Because we got these gems that I didn't share!  Firstly is his brilliant ability (that I might have shown before) to do the traditional "funny face" that on him is oh-so-funny!

 

Secondly, Finn LOVES the camera.  But not so much to have his picture taken, more to take them and see them on the screen etc - he seems to think it's hilarious to see Mama in person and on the screen at the same time.  So we sometimes will amuse him by taking pictures that he can then see. Usually we delete them straight after, but sometimes we capture some actually nice pictures!

Also, I would like to point out one more thing that is one of my multiple excuses for late blogs or lack thereofs.  I got really ill!  Like proper puking ill.  And you know how much Finn cared that I was ill?  Not at all.  He still wanted to be on me or next to me constantly. Brilliant.  James thought it was funny enough (not so funny later when he caught it!) to take our picture...

So the update!  I don't know how much he weighs even though I weighed him in America... I've since forgotten.  And I don't know how tall he is, but he's quite small on both accounts.  He can still fit into a lot of his 12 - 18 month clothes, though to be fair he is also too big for some of his 2-3 year clothes, so sizing is all relative really!  But he is often thought to be much younger than he is.  Which is quite funny sometimes when people compliment him on how clever he is, or how well he speaks, or how good he is at walking and then ask how old he is and immediately start back tracking :) Nothing like following a compliment with "oh!  I thought he was much younger!" So not only do you no longer think he's clever, but that he also looks like a tiny little baby-child!?  Luckily, I mostly just find it very funny.  Neither James or I are very tall.  Let's just face the fact that Finn is pretty doomed.
Part of what makes him look young though, is his hair!  I got asked by another mum not too long ago how often I have to cut his hair to keep it "so short."  She was shocked to hear that we have never cut his hair and that was literally all he had ever grown in his ENTIRE LIFE!  Which is not to say that I don't think it's amazing how much he has!  He's getting more!

So much so that we are thinking that we need to cut it.  It's very very fine, but actually quite long on top (though only on top... which is odd).  We've tried to give it a trim, but Finn thinks the comb is way too cool to let anyone use it but him.  And he is not very good.  So we haven't managed yet.  But I think we can be patient... It's not like it's unruly or hanging in his eyes or anything!

So what are the things he most loves at the moment (or at the past moment, remembering that I'm talking about a month ago, not now... though it hasn't changed much...)?

He still LOVES his trains

And luckily his father also loves his trains and they have a great time building really elaborate tracks with lots of bridges and tunnels (Finn's favourite things when it comes to trains - he would have the whole track be bridges and tunnels if he could!).

I don't know if I ever mentioned where this stuff came from but we were on a walk one day and I took a detour to see the stuff drop-off point on the local estate.  It's the place where anyone in the area can put big stuff that they don't want anymore and the council will take it away.  Before we moved I was always checking it out - and judge as you may, we have two or three bookcases, a couple chairs, a table, some toys and probably more I don't remember that came from there!  AND we have a very big box full of trains and train track.  Someone got rid of their kid's entire collection and we picked it up, took it home, cleaned it up and have been enjoying it thoroughly ever since.  There was literally over £100 worth of track (those little pieces of wood are weirdly expensive) and we just picked it up. I refuse to let anyone judge me for the amount of stuff I get from the bins!! We would never have been able to afford enough bits to make something like this otherwise:

Anyway! I digress!  So I pick things up from the side of the road.  Moving on.
Another thing that Finn loves is playing with his friends.  I still find it odd that children so young (and before they can even communicate) can have actual 'friends' and best friends at that.  But they do. There are twins at Finn's nursery.  He has known them both the same amount of time and isn't ever anywhere with one and not the other.  And yet he can't stand being around one of them and will ignore him completely and pretend he's not there.  And the other?  Finn will shout his name and jump up and down when he sees him.  So he knows who he likes and very much has friends.
AND best friends.  He has two that I would consider his best friends.  One is Conrad.  Conrad is Finn's number one favourite person in the world (besides family). Conrad hasn't appeared in this blog, but only because I haven't asked his parents yet if they are ok with me putting pictures of him up.  Other than that, he would be in nearly every post. Conrad and Finn greet each other with shouts of glee each morning.  Conrad usually gets to nursery first and he always carries two cars until Finn gets there, and then he gives him one and they run off together to find some more.  When we leave nursery, Finn has to say a specific goodbye to Conrad before we can go.  The joy that the two of them find in each other is a beautiful thing to watch. The other day Finn was sad because Conrad wasn't at nursery when he got there (we were actually on time for once!) but then his mum sent me a text saying that she dropped Conrad off and Finn "burst into an excited laugh as a welcome." Which was good because apparently Conrad had asked three times on the way to nursery "Finn coming?" When she left "they were sitting in a corner chatting and taking each others shoes and socks off." I love the relationship they have with each other and am so so pleased that James and I really enjoy Conrad's parents as well!  We've obviously arranged quite a few playdates and they are just plain lovely people.  I think Finn just has really good taste :)

One of his other best friends is Lily.  He has two friends named Lily, actually - both of which he loves to be around.  But it causes great confusion when we tell him we're going to see 'Lily' and he's clearly imagined the wrong one... But anyway, one of the Lilys (Lilies?) is an utter utter genius child.  As in literally she floors you with her cleverness.  She's one month older than Finn and can speak in sentences (in three languages) and is just beginning to read (as in she can recognise letters and knows her name when she sees it).  She's brilliant.  Which is kind of nice because there is no competitiveness that is possible because she and Finn are on completely different playing fields!  But they really love each other (and again, we LOVE her parents - which is amazing!) and we spend a lot of time with them (she's appeared in this blog a few times before).  These are from a picnic - when it was still warm enough to have one!
 

 When not compared to Lily, Finn is very good with language now.  The trouble is, James and I (and sometimes only me) are the only ones to understand him.  So he has a very clear understanding about language and words representing things, it's just that the words he chooses are not always that close to the words that other people use!  But sometimes he doesn't seem to even realise that he's not saying the same thing... he's decided that the word for milk is ""bah" (actually closer to something like sbghah) and no matter what, even when repeating after you, THAT is the word for milk.  He doesn't seem at all aware that you are saying two different things.  In his mind they are one and the same:

There are other examples as well - it's a bit odd.  But he's consistent and clear once you know the code!

He does delight in language though, and often will parrot people as they talk, even if he doesn't know what they are saying.  This offers endless fun in getting him to say all sorts of fun things like
'Leeloo Dallas Multipass", or "Dee-dah's a bogie." (which is another thing that confuses people.  In Finn's world James=Dee-dah.  Daddy=Taxi.  I am Mama and Mummy=Money.  So if he's talking about Daddy and Mummy then he's taking a journey somewhere...).

One of his favourite things to do with language is to make up songs.  He's always singing and loves to sing whatever comes to his mind.  It's very hard to capture this on video without him stopping but here are a couple good examples:
 

The other thing he loves to do is to read and be read to.  He LOVES books and will spend ages finding just the right one on his shelf before settling down to look through it.  One of his favourite books is his big Thomas the Tank Engine one.  It's old school Thomas and has lots of beautiful drawings that Finn could spend forever just looking through, and often does.

His other loves include tents and houses (like all toddlers!).  This morning we had a great time in a living room tent (or 'tunnel' as he calls them) having a tea party with a teddy bear.  You know, I used to have quite specific ideas about what was "fun" and a "good use of time." I never would have believed you if you'ld told me that I would one day think that sitting under a blanket suspended between two chairs pretending to drink tea with stuffed animals was as near to the peak of happiness that I could reach. But there you have it.
Here are some more great memories of a little tiny box house that was small but hugely enjoyed:

Although Finn does very definitely love tea parties and houses - he also likes tools.  I think I mentioned before about his constantly wanting to help with DIY, and loving tools of all sorts.  One of his favourites is my drill.  He really really likes the drill.  So I found him a drill of his own and he "helps" me when I'm drilling, as in this video (I'm practising on a spare piece of tile before I drilled into our beautiful bathroom walls, by the way - not randomly drilling into the floor...)

And his other favourite 'tool' is still the hoover.  I don't know why he loves that thing so much (I certainly don't)!  But he does.  So much so that when I decided to use his bath time as a chance to tidy up, he immediately climbed out to hoover instead (and he loves his bath, so I was amazed!).  But it was certainly interesting to say the least!

And on that note I think I will leave you!  I'll try to get the next bit up as soon as I can.  But it's already midnight and I. Am. DONE.
But hopefully you all feel a little bit more up-to-date on the world of Finn :)
Later!