A Busy Boy

Hello Everyone!

I am a busy boy these days, as you can see.

My mom and dad are just as busy, too.

They are doing all sorts of strange things.

They hung colored lights all over our apartment,

and even on a little tree they brought inside.

After they wrapped the tree in lights, 

they hung sparkling balls from its branches,

and put a white star on top.

There are also giant socks hanging from the 

bookshelf now.  I don't know whose they are, 

but they must have three big feet.  Maybe 

it's this Christmas person we are waiting for.  

Mom and Dad keep saying Christmas is 

coming soon, so it must be.

I don't know what this Christmas guy is like, 

but he must have sticky fingers because they 

keep hiding things from him by covering them 

in shiny paper and tying them up tight with bows.

They also keep telling me I will get to see 

Santa Clause.  To tell you the truth, I'm not that 

thrilled about sitting on the lap of a man with 

red fur all over his body, but I am excited to 

visit my family.

I had such a great time at Thanksgiving, 

I can't wait to see everybody again.

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you 

all my newly completed nursery.  

I keep Mom and Dad so busy, 

they just finished it last week.

'Til Next Time,

  Finnegan

Two Moons Old

I'm starting to learn the art of sleep.  

Although, sometimes sleeping all day seems to be more appealing than sleeping at night.  

Either way, Mom is happy.  And so am I.  

Being the growing boy I am, I need my sleep as much as I need to eat.  And as you can see I'm doing plenty of that, too.

In fact, I'm growing so fast that Mom & Dad got me a big new bed, so we'd all have plenty of sleeping room.

  Now that's more like it!

I am TWO months old today.

My newest fascination is daily playtime.   Mommy started gathering all these things to entertain me for a bit each evening, which is great cause I'd been telling her I was getting bored for a couple days before she figured it out.  There are finger puppets, the guitar, rattles, my octopus, and all the other friends.

We sing songs, Mom, Dad,  and all my little friends.  They live in my room and help us play games.  There's the elephant, teddies, and the puppy, of course, crazy camel, Totoro, and so many others, too.  We like to look at shapes and colors, and make goofy faces, mostly.   Like this one.

 

     The fairy made me do it.

I'm being introduced to a whole lot of songs by Mom; mostly ones about or related to animals.  There's "The Teddy Bear Picnic," and "It's Not Easy Being Green,"  and also "Octopus's Garden."

I Love Visual Aids.

Daddy is adding to my musical education as well.  Some of our favorite artists include Bowie, The Velvet Underground, Johnny Cash, and The Three Amigos.

While my smile has been hanging around for some time now, I've just discovered my hands, and especially, my thumb.  My fist just won't quite fit in my mouth, despite my efforts, and in one such struggle, I discovered a happy surprise when my thumb just popped in there.  I hate pacifiers, but this thumb thing is great.  

 Can't wait to see what else there is to be discovered,

                              Finnegan

Happy Halloween!!!

  Since this is the time for ghouls and bats

  Halloween spirits and ghosts and cats

  Happenings are weird and witches make brew

  My neighbors are loud and might drink the night through.

  All these goblins that have come our way

  Costumed phantoms I wish the wind would blow away

  By tomorrow they will be whisked from the streets

  And then Mom and I might get some sleep.

  

Hello Again Friends!   It's my first Halloween, and I've discovered one very important thing...I look terrific in Orange.  Don't you agree?

  Mom and I took a walk earlier to scope out the neighborhood, sporting our orange and green pumpkin wear.  We wanted to look at the decorations and see if any of the night walking creepies were out and about yet.   There were a few here and there, but we went out early and Mom promises me I'll get to see more in the future.  She looks forward to the first time I get covered in pumpkin goop.  And I can't wait until I'm big enough to use the awesome pumpkin trick-or-treat bag Aunt Heather gave me.

  Well, now it's late in the evening and the city is crawling with crazy things the likes of which I've never seen before.  I'm trying to relax amidst the surprisingly loud debauchery outside.  At first I was enjoying all the commotion, but now I'm over-stimulated and cranky.  

But tomorrow is another day.  And my days are full.

  I'm now six weeks old and showing interest in more things every day.  I'm more observant of my surroundings, when I'm not sleeping, and stare wide-eyed at everything.  Today I

 took great interest in a fire truck.  

 

I'm also starting to reach out for things I want to see:  the bees on my swing, stuffed animals, Mom's hair and glasses, rattles, my ax, you name it.

  Although my first time in the bath tub was a little intimidating, I've come to thoroughly enjoy the experience.  The scrubbing, the bubbles, the warm water, they're all great.  I can't wait until I can really splash around.

  Mom and Dad are settling into my schedule, or rather the fact that I don't really have one yet. My sleep is sporadic, I want to eat all the time, and don't even think about putting me down.

  Mommy has learned to function on only about 4 or 5 hours of sleep, and with one arm.  Daddy tries to give her some extra sleeping time when he can.  He's really busy though, and we look forward to seeing more of him.  

  They both shrug off the hard stuff though, and we have a good laugh over it whenever possible.  How could we not?  We all enjoy each other so much.  When I wake up, I mostly smile and coo, as I haven't discovered my laugh yet.  But just you wait.  

  Love, 

    As Always,

         Finnegan

Finn in the City

Hello out there to you all. I thought you might be interested to know how I've been spending the first month of life here in this big world. Well, my world has gotten much bigger, particularly in the last two weeks, as Mommy and I have made the trip to New York to live with Daddy.

Daddy did all the scouting for an apartment for our family while Mommy was still pregnant, and he found a gem in the heart of Astoria, Queens. We're still getting settled in, rearranging things and unpacking, as Mom is busy with me all day, and Dad is busy with work and his current show. He's been in rehearsals for a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with Terry Schrieber's Studio, but this weekend was the opening of the run, so hopefully his schedule will settle down a bit in the upcoming month.

I'm getting used to all the hustle and bustle here. The noise of city life and loud neighbors hasn't really interrupted my napping.

Sometimes I actually sleep in my crib, though I still prefer Mom and Dad's big bed, and seem to sleep longer and more soundly there.

I also like to take naps in my swing and my car seat too, so with all the choices available it looks as though I will be a content city boy.

I enjoy looking around at all the commotion when Mom and I go out to run errands, too. She just puts me in the Baby Bjorn and off we go to the supermarket, the laundrymat, the coffee shop, or wherever.

Usually I fall right to sleep as she walks around the neighborhood, but sometimes I just stare at everything swirling around me. People stop my mommy to look at me. They think I'm a cutie and are amazed at how tiny I am.

But really, I'm not that small anymore. I'm growing bigger every day. I've already outgrown some of my tiniest clothes and last Monday, at 2 weeks and 4 days old, I lost my umbilical cord.

Mommy thinks I'm sporting quite the cute belly button. And Daddy just stares at me when he comes home from a long day. I think he might be a cannibal because he keeps trying to eat my nose and hands. I try and tell him that I need those parts, but he won't listen.

Mommy and I are going to be taking a trip back to Danville to stay with her parents, my Mim and Pop, for a couple nights. I have my second pediatric appointment this week and will be meeting some more friends, particularly the Pauls, my godmother's family, who are super excited to meet me. I already got to visit with Chris and Lily before Mom and I left PA. They bestowed an awesome Steelers garb upon me along with a cuddly puppy who keeps me company while I'm having my diaper changed. Also Miss Abberson came to see me at the new apartment last week. We snuggled a bit and she sang me a very lovely song.

And although it will be a while before we meet in person, I've had some very sweet notes from my godfather, Joseph P., and some super cool and trendy gifts sent all the way from Korea from my Fairy Godfather, fRyan. Some of Daddy's family and family friends have sent me some terrific gifts as well, and we couldn't be more thankful for

everyone's generosity.

Well, Daddy's home now and with all this cuddling and football, Sundays leave me pretty sleepy...

So, for now I'll bid you all farewell.

Until

Next

Time,

Finnegan

Welcome To This World.

Well,I've finally arrived after spending 40 weeks and 3 days in my mom's tummy. It was so cozy in there I just didn't want to come out. But, I decided that it was indeed time to get things rolling and on early tuesday morning, September 16th, my mom's labor began in the early morning hours.

Mommy decided that things were getting serious on Wednesday morning and was admitted to the hospital at 1:30 pm, after spending the previous 24 hours at home having lots of contractions.

My godmother Rebekah was with my mom and stayed throughout the birth, and Mommy's other good friend Miranda came to keep her company and be present for the birth too. They greatly helped pass the time until my daddy arrived from New York on the evening train.

He got to the hospital around 9 pm, just as things were starting to get pretty rough for mommy. She wanted to try and have a natural birth, but after many long hours of being stalled at 6 centimeters, was not fairing so well, and that was hard for her to deal with and for daddy to see. She finally decided it would be best to have an epidural and was glad she did because it made her feel much better. Then everyone was able to calm down and relax and really enjoy the experience of welcoming me into the world.

Things began to progress around midnight, and I was moving down lower every hour. At half past three Mommy began to push, and after much focus and determination on her part, I made my grand entrance at 3:57 am. It was indeed grand because my parents, Michael and Maddy, who were told that I was a little girl, were greatly surprised to discover that I am in fact a little boy.

You should have seen my dad's face when he first saw me! I was having trouble breathing at first because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck, so the doctors were looking me over under the warmer. After making sure Mommy was alright, he walked over to take a peak at me. He only got halfway before he stopped in his tracks.

Mommy said, "How does she look?"

And he said to mommy, "Um, she looks like a boy."

To which mommy said, "What? You mean in the face?"

Then the doctor finally chimed in with, "It's a boy."

And mommy said, "Nah-ah."

Nope, she didn't believe him right away, or Daddy for that matter. (Daddy's a great kidder.) But they were both right. I'm definitely a boy, despite what it looked like on the ultrasound.

Needless to say, they had a good laugh over the whole thing after the initial shock wore off, and in truth were simply delighted to meet me.

I've met most of my family now. Grandparents and great grandparents, my uncles and aunt, great aunts and uncles, friends, and other loved ones, but I still have many more wonderful people to meet and things to see. My parents were delighted at all the phone calls and messages from those they love wanting to wish them congratulations. They heard from people all over the world - New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, California, Arkansas, Scotland, and even Korea! I'm so lucky to be surrounded by all this generous love.

My first day at home was quiet and nice. I'm eating well and my jaundice is going down. I even enjoyed my first Steelers game (although they lost).

It's been a busy start to this life and I only imagine that it

will continue to be busier. I like the car and don't mind

traveling, which is good because Mommy and I will be moving to New York to be with Daddy very soon.

Since all our friends and family are so spread out, and we can't be everywhere at once, we want to make sure to keep you all up to date on what we are doing. So please check in with us here from time to time and we'll keep you posted on all the happenings.

And of course there will always be new pictures of me.

Enjoy,

~Finnegan~