Garden Wall

These little guys are a couple days old...if they are like the others they will fly away in the next two weeks.  Amazing, right?!

Lunch time.  Same story, different day...haha.  I feel like I do so much cutting up and serving and there is so little eating or drinking unless it is avocado, cheese, ham or yogurt.  Even those are hit and miss depending on the day. 

Dada is almost done working outside!

I've been giving Finn her baby to sleep with during naps, but this was the first night I let her have something in her crib.  I don't think that it really makes a different to her throughout the night though. 

She still wakes up at 10:30, 11:30 and 3:30 like clockwork.   Ugh!

We've been practicing our letters.  This girl is so smart!  She can say "s" and point out all of the decorative S's in the house. 

Grandma watch Finn while we ran to Lowe's to finish up buying some things for outside.  She took this cute picture of her in her toy bin. 

Finn "tried" some of her mac n cheese and broccoli tonight.  That means she put them in her mouth for a second or two, but progress is progress.

More early morning walks to get Mama sweaty before the day even begins!  That humid air plus baby carrying will do it every time.  We talk about everything that we see on our walks and Finn points out all of the things that she knows like red trucks, signs, birds, bunnies, etc.  We have to stop so she can touch dew on flowers and bushes too. 

I finally found a couple of bathing suits that fit for the beach and I am finally starting to get some ab definition back.  I'll take this look and being able to eat ice cream each night. 

So proud of my girl for trying on her sunglasses...we are trying to get the glasses wearing down before the beach!

Oh my, this messy girl!   Today she put ham and yogurt all through her hair during lunch.  :) 

And.....success!  I had her practice wearing her sunglasses while in the swing and after taking them on and off and talking about the bright sun, she is now keeping them on!  Yay!  I love when I say it is bright outside and she puts her hands on her head. 

After her nap, Finley also figured out how to put on her hats all by herself so we had to practice this over and over again sometimes with two hats on at once. 

We purchased stones to make a retaining wall around the garden and get rid of the fence.  It was quite a pain to get them level and matched up correctly, but once Jeff got it done I was able to help glue them together during Finley's nap. 

The final product minus the extra soil we need to pick up. 

In just a couple of days, they have doubled in size!

Dada is certainly a jungle gym these days!  Whether it is before bed or when he is trying to stretch, Finn is all about jumping on top of him.  She really likes to "brush" his hair after her bath which means wack him in the head with the brush.  

Belly buttons have to be pointed out on everyone else all day long.  If you are near Finley be prepared to have your shirt lifted up so she can point it out.  She has her own word that sounds so cute for "belly button." 

A new cup for rinsing hair means a new toy to play with in the tub.  I love watching her explore something completely new.  She turns it over in her hands and really inspects all parts.  

Growing Girl!

Every day I look forward to finding out what new thing Finley will do or learn.  She is a sponge and is so inquisitive!  In just a couple of minutes she learns what something new is called or learns how to say another word or animal noise.  The best part is that she retains it even when we've worked on it for such a short time.  For instance, I explained that a sheep says, "baaa" for just about two minutes.  She never repeated it in the moment but hours later when I asked her what a sheep says, she quickly said "baaa"!

Oh and hearing her pronunciation of baby go from bebe to baby is remarkable.  She sounds like a little adult now! 

It also seems like we have turned a corner with the fussiness.  She has been soooo much better at meal time - not throwing all of her food on the floor, drinking a little more juice or water, and a little more open to trying things.  She loves to point at everything on her tray over and over again to learn the names of each type of food.  When she gets ready to throw something, we ask her to put it back on her tray and most of the time she does.  The positive reinforcement is going a long way these days.  She will close doors/cabinets when asked, give us things she is not supposed to have in her hands and throw trash away all.  We just ask with a please and thank you and she smiles and follows through with the task. 

Her sleep has also improved in the last week.  Could it be that walking has coincided with the better sleep?  Or is it because we decided not to give her the milk of magnesia anymore?  We are trying high fiber oatmeal and juice to see if we can get by without medication.  I hate having to force her to take it each day and I really hate her taking something everyday.  

Finn loves to help with everything and "do it herself."  Last night, she wiped herself with a wipe after I took off her diaper and then threw it away in the diaper pail! 

Why not put everything on your head? 

On the move to pull everything down in the closet. 

Finn found her bin of shoes, most of which don't fit yet, so now we have to try them on and take them off multiple times a day.  haha. 

Oh the mess that is still the backyard...

This girl was practicing walking with the broom...if that doesn't speed up the process I don't know what will.  She looked like a little weight lifter deadlifting the broom. 

Now the dirt needs to be spread ,garden wall built, and grass planted, but at least the trash is gone...

Just a girl and her dog relaxing after dinner... well, one of them was getting to relax...

Father's Day and She Walks!!!

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that Dada cleaned on Father's Day.  Ha!  Finn and I got in plenty of reading time and she checked out her new Leap Frog book that I am hoping entertains her a little on the trip to the beach.  I've been trying to come up with all kinds of ideas to keep her occupied, but I doubt most of them work!  She just wants to be free of that car seat and on the go. 

Dada did not want any "gifts" for Father's Day because he just ordered himself a new laptop.  We ended up making him some cute crafts which he enjoyed just as much. Finley made sure to growl like a monster for him too:)

After lunch, MeeMee and PawPaw stopped by to see Finley and Emily.   It was pretty hot out, but we hung out on the deck and porch for a while and watched one of the does that has been out in the field a lot.  

Finley loves her some PawPaw.  I know PaPa would have loved this age too!  

Speaking of PaPa, I just happen to think that he had something to do with Finley taking her first steps on Father's Day!  All it took was us telling her to stand up and she took a little half step at first.  She got back up and saw Marley and took five steps towards him.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect.  I was able to capture the video and Jeff and Emily plus his parents were here to watch her.  She got back up a couple minutes later and did another good five steps.  I don't think it will be long before she is stomping through the house! 

These two are like twins!