We're taking a few steps backward for this picture, but this comes from Sunday afternoon. We came back from church with Megan, Phil, and Sadie to grill. Finners was so tired, it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. I nursed her and put her in her crib. When I left her she was laying comfortably on her side with her binky in her mouth and her eyes closed. I went back to check on her several minutes later and she was crawling around in her crib - but she wasn't making a peep, so I thought I would see if she would put herself to sleep. I checked on her a couple of times more and still the same thing. Then, I went to check on her and she was leaning against the crib, still as could be. I thought she was out but when I went in further, she was simply staring at the wall. I ran to get my camera, and Cam, Phil, and Megan. When I snapped the picture, she looked straight at me and smiled huge. She really couldn't be a sweeter baby :)

Finley's First Week of Daycare

As most of you know, I had to go back to work this week so Monday was Finley's first day at Kid's Count. As you can see from the pictures, she is the most adorable thing in the world early in the morning when she doesn't want to wake up. The "teachers" told me she was a sweetheart - "full of smiles and so cute", they wrote on her "report card". I actually did pretty well, too, although I couldn't wait to see her smiling face when I ran out the door of school as fast as lightning at 3:30 on the dot.

Today, Finley started to really crawl. She's got all the gears working now, legs and arms together. Last night, she gave me a scare when I went around the corner into the kitchen at Megan's and, literally 30 seconds later, heard a loud thump, silence, and then a long cry. When I ran to the living room, Finley was laid out at the bottom of the stairs, several feet away from where I left her lying peacefully on her back. The only thing I could figure was that she tried to pull herself up on the bottom of the stairs and fell over. That theory was validated tonight when she pulled herself up on her Daddy's leg.

Besides her crawling and pulling up, she also laughs when I put her binky in my mouth. Then, she takes it out and puts it right into her mouth. She loves to be read to. She puts the book in her mouth until we start reading, then she calms down and listens quietly to each and every page. Finley is starting to understand clapping. She gets very excited when we clap and swings her arms like she's trying it herself. Her hands are getting to be much more useful to her - not simply as fascinating as they once were. She's growing and changing before our eyes!

Happy Birthday, Auntie Megan!

Auntie Megan turned 31 yesterday, and Finley looks scared to death of the idea! Probably not as scared as Megan, though - right, Auntie? ;) We went out for dinner at Campiello's and, as usual, everyone was so impressed with Finley's ability to be calm and happy the entire time. Tonight, we went back to our old stomping grounds and took a walk around Lake of the Isles before going to an apartment warming party for Uncle Shane. We didn't get to stay for long, though, since Finley missed her bath the night before due to Megan's birthday and let us know how unhappy about it she was at 2 in the morning, 2:30 in the morning, 3:00, 3:30, 4:00, etc. Mom finally moved to the couch to sleep until she felt so bad she brought Finley in bed with her, sobbing. Let's hope she gets back on track before Sunday night...!

Correction

Ever the art teacher, never the mathematician, I got the numbers wrong. As Finley's father so delicately informed me ;) Finley is in the 90th percentile for height. I mixed it up with the head circumference, apparently. And, she weighs 15 pounds 2 ounces, not 16. Sorry!

6 Months

Here's classic Finley, eyes wide and a foot in her mouth. She had her 6 month check-up yesterday. She is 16 lbs. 2 oz. and 27 inches long. She was in only the 35th percentile for weight and the 75th for height. She's long and lean so all signs point to Finley being on her mommy's favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance, when she's older :) Now that she's 27 inches, Dr. Noll says we have to get her a new car seat, and now that she's almost crawling, it's time to baby-proof the house. Today, she's been a little sleepy from those nasty shots she had to have yesterday. Unfortunately, we had a nursing student give Finn her shots and the nurse got a little flustered after the first shot and had to stick her twice on her second shot! It was my first moment of protective rage as a mother, I'll tell you that much :( We have her on a pretty good sleep schedule now. She'll fall asleep around 9, wake up 4 or 5 hours later, we'll stick the binky back in and turn on her relaxation music and she's pretty much back to sleep until 7:00 am (if she doesn't poop in between there). What a sweet baby to pull through for us right before Mom has to go back to work, right?!

Happy Half-Birthday, Finley!

Finley turned 6 months old today and she has a fuzzy head of hair to show for it! This is her after her bath. When she first came out, we used to call her "Duck" because she looked like a baby duck after her bath. Then, she lost all her hair... but it looks like the Duck is back :) She also cut her second tooth today! Tonight, Mom got ambitious and cleaned out Finn's room. I put all of her 0-3 month old clothes and 3-6 month clothes that don't fit her anymore in big tupperwares and got her 6-9 and beyond clothes out and in her drawers. It was exciting to imagine her in the bigger clothes that my little Sadie used to run around in, but it was definitely a little sad to remember the little peanut that used to fit in the little clothes. At the same time, that little peanut wasn't the big smiler and goofy game-playing sweetheart that Finley is now. She loves to play with Dad, especially peek-a-boo, and she also does this funny fake laugh whenever he laughs. I discovered tonight that she really loves zerbits on her belly, which is, as Grandma Julie says, soft as silk. Today in church, she was, of course, the most well-behaved baby there - and there were a lot of them! It was definitely a circus in the back of the church. I haven't heard a sermon since she came out. There is a little 9 year old girl that goes to our church and she just loves Finners. She always comes and holds her (don't worry - she has taken a baby-sitting class and even knows baby cpr!) and wants to play with her in the nursery. It's fun to see Finley fitting into that community. As Grandma Brenda says so much, Finley is definitely loved.

I Love My Parents!

OK, so I know I've said this before, but I'm pretty sure there has never been a cuter baby than our Finley Vi! You may have seen this outfit before since it was a shower gift from Auntie Megan before Finners had even come out to play yet, but it fits her perfectly as she approaches her 6 month birthday. The best part about it is that it's cute coming and going! Looking at this little sweetie made the cold and dreary day a little brighter.

Finley's San Frannies

Paige and Natalie left on Wednesday after a 6 day visit. Cam and I already miss them and can't wait to see them again. Finley misses them too - especially all the attention she got while they were here! We had so much fun. We went to the pool and out to dinner on Friday, the lake for the weekend (where Natalie waterskiied for the first time!), the Mall of America on Monday, and Uptown shopping and a backyard barbecue on Tuesday. We finally did some relaxing in the backyard on Wednesday before the San Frannies headed to the airport.

Finley has been trying to get back in the swing of things since they left - namely learning to poop now that she's regularly eating solid foods ;) She's still keeping her mommy up at night - 2 hours last night to be exact. We're working on that since she goes to daycare in just over a week when mom goes back to school :( While she's still not crawling, she certainly knows how to scoot herself across the living room floor. She got herself wedged under the chair last night!

Show Off!

Here's our big girl, sitting up all by herself. She's been doing it for a little over a week now and she's getting very good at it. It surprised Grandma Brenda how easily she pulled this trick off. She can now push herself into sitting position from her hands and knees, and when she's lucky, she can go the opposite way, too! She's also anxiously awaiting her Aunties, Paige and Natalie, who are coming from San Francisco early Friday morning. Maybe she'll be crawling by then...

Finley's First Twins' Game

Here she is - our little Twins Fan! She's wearing the gear we got for a shower gift from 2 of Cam's friends. It also came with a blanket and a bib. I threw the skirt on so people wouldn't think she was a boy. Good thing I did, too, because a guy gave me some trouble for "budging" in line to get by Cam who had my ticket and using my cute baby "boy" as an excuse for doing so. I showed him the skirt and he got the picture ;) Unfortunately, the Twins weren't thinking about baby girls when they chose their colors. Finn was great, though, and she should have been because she was treated to a suite, thanks to "Uncle" Shane and "Auntie" Nikki. Too bad the Twins lost, though.

Even More Wedding Pictures

She's looking a little surprised in a couple of these!

More Wedding Pics