(... Well, actually, he was two years old now a month and a half ago, but let's ignore that, ok)
This is what a two-year-old looks like (next to what a one-year-and-eleven-month-year-old):
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| 23 months old |
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| 24 months old |
And here is all of it all together! (click on them to make it bigger...)
It's been a long year which, looking back on it, went very quickly. It's hard to imagine our lives twelve months ago when everything was all so very different.
Back then Finn couldn't walk, talk, sleep through the night, be near Cori without demanding to be breast-fed etc. But now, a year later, none of this applies and he is, quite clearly, a little boy.It struck us, at around the two-year mark, just how much and how quickly he is growing up. He is becoming, each day, more and more like a little boy. And, because of that, he is becoming more and more fun to be around. And this was perhaps especially so around his birthday...
The 2nd of October was a work-day for us, and so Finn was in nursery most of the day. But he did get to wear his, by now, three-birthday-old onesie, with "Happy Birthday
After nursery, with me (James) sadly working late at a lecture, Finn was given unheard of treats: First, a doughnut...
And then, secondly, a TV dinner!
Because of his turning two mid-week, the rest of the celebrations had to wait until the weekend. Then, on the Saturday morning, of course the first thing we did was to try and recreate the lovely pictures of last year. Sadly, they didn't work out so well...
But we persisted, until we broke through resistance into boredom... it was the best we could hope for!
Last year we were able to go to the pub, but because Finn and friends are so mobile now, it would have been far from appreciated or appropriate to have gone again this year. So, knowing that Finn loves to hang out with his friends, and that going anywhere else would just be a distraction from this for him, we decided just to have a few friends round. And we were blessed to have Conrad, Annie and Lily around for the afternoon. (It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you add in their Responsible Adults, it gave us a full house - the first one ever in our new flat!).
We had been telling Finn that Conrad was coming round all that morning, as well as the night before, but he didn't really seem to understand. When we pushed the point, he asked if we were going to go out to nursery. We explained that Conrad was coming to our home, but then he just looked baffled (with his distinctive wrinkled-brow frown). - It seemed that friends were people we met outside of the house; they are not at all the sort of thing that could be inside our home. How foolish or incomprehensible an idea!
So, when the door bell rang and we told Finn that it was Conrad, he was incredulous. Not quite believing it to be possible, let alone true, he ran out onto the landing outside of the flat and waited at the top of the stairs as Conrad's mother carried him up. As he came around the corner, Finn went bonkers with excitement, smiling and shouting out "Conrad! Conrad! Conrad!" and pointing at him. Conrad leapt out of his mother's grasp and they were off into the house shouting. - The party had begun!
They same sort of excitement was repeated as both of Annie and then Lily arrived. It was as if Finn was constantly being amazed that all of these brilliant and fantastic people were coming to his house. Brilliant!
So Finn and the gang were darting around shouting and having fun from room to room, causing a ruckus and making a mess, as the grown-ups were happily content chatting in the lounge and sipping tea/coffee/juice. I was on guardian duty though, with Finn and the gang, but I really enjoyed myself - I always do when Finn is having as much fun as that, and also with all of his friends, all of whom are ace!
Here are a series of three pictures to give an idea of the mayhem. They are not the best pictures we've ever taken, but they do show the anarchic fun (and also the admirable boyishness of the boys and the girlishness of the girl!):
(Note Conrad's gift firmly gripped in Finn's hand!)
Although the Fire Engine was unquestionably the only one Finn cared for on the day, he's since come to also really enjoy the things that Annie and Lily got for him. We were surprised to realise when Finn unwrapped the gifts that they were the first real "educational" games that Finn had; a number-matching puzzle, and a clock with a number book.
I don't think that we'd really grasped that Finn was of an age to be able enjoy and make the most of educational things like these, so we'd not really thought to try them out on him. But once he started on them over the next few days, he got really stuck into them and he was fantastic at them. We were amazed and delighted, for example, when he matched up the one apple card with the one apple, and then the number one card with the number one, and then the two trees card with the two trees etc. all the way up to ten, and hardly any help from us whatsoever. Amazing! ... Although, we did have to admit defeat when it came to four - "mine" Finn would say when we pointed at the image of four cars for him to put the card down on. We had to complete the rest of the game with Finn quietly clutching his four cars card and every now and then taking a look at it!
As for any good party, there was good old home-made cake:
And, of course, some great blowing out of candles (which, as the pictures might show, required some amount of excitement from the grown-ups in order to get the little 'uns going!):
(Note the Fire Engine grasped in Finn's left hand behind Cori here!)
You'll also see here our inventive solution to the too-many-people/not-enough-chairs problem. We called it An Indoor Picnic and pretended it was the sort of quirky thing we parents do all the time!
The earlier arrivals - Conrad and Annie - left shortly after the cake. I have to admit to feeling rather pleased with our good work when they both started crying and putting up a fight at being taken away so soon when so much fun was yet to be had. - A sign of a good party, I though, even if it was slightly painful on their parents as they took them away for their overdue naps!
Left alone without distraction, Lily and Finn settled in for some celebratory after-party smooching, encouraged, of course, by Finn's mother who thought it sufficiently cute to take pictures of it:
But it was unclear whether Finn was elated or... something else... with his first two-year-old kiss:
(And, if you were wondering, the Fire Engine is still there in Finn's left hand, just in shot).
Once the last of the partiers had gone, Finn took a long and well-deserved nap. And the rest of the day, once he was up again, was taken up, as is often the case on the weekends, with a walk around the block. This time, however, it was particularly fun for Finn because he had a brand new and much-loved Fire Engine to hold...
Let's hope that there are many more such lovely days to come for Finn and friends, especially now that our new flat was christened as ready for visitors by the party. Long may she sail... or something like that...
Happy birthday, Finn!
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