Finnian

Finn is almost 26 months old. Needs a haircut. :) I cut it flat across the back a month or so ago and his hair looks much cuter with layers in the back. He's still blonde and getting a very substantial tan. He's had a language explosion lately...lots of phrases and some sentences. Some of his fun pronunciations:

Hin/Hinny (Finn/Finny)
Han (Sean)
Pea Pea (Sweet Pea)
Kin (Kieran)
Hop (stop)
Ink (oink)
Boons (balloons)
Pumming (Coming!)
Pum on (Come on!)
Hunny (funny)
Big hunny (big funny, hilarious)
Hut down (Sit down!)

He likes to run through the family's names with certain words. For instance, he's been talking nonstop about the Peacocks at the zoo.  He says Momma Peacock, Daddy Peacock, Sean Peacock, Pea Peacock, Kieran Peacock, and Finn Peacock. (At first, about a week ago, he would get stuck on the word peacock, and after stumbling a few times, he'd say with a smile, "Hard!" just to tell me that it was hard to form the word!) He also loves the number 2...everything is two! With both index fingers up near his temples and the word "two" being uttered in a delightfully high pitch. He also has developed a fake laugh that is truly laugh-inducing. Finn is also great at copying good manners. He says no thank you, yeah sure (as a yes), thank you, and you're welcome.

Maybe all the stages are cute but I LOVE this one. He's very easy to read...we don't have too many issues with him getting frustrated unless I'm busy with something/someone else and I can't tend to him. He's loves nursing and doesn't seem to have any plans to stop anytime soon. I think one of his favorite pastimes is nursing while I read books to him. He likes the pool and the lake but doesn't spend forever in there like some water babies.

Me: How much does Mommy love you?
Finn: Two

This is a regular conversation between the two of us and it cracks me up!

 He loves riding on the front of my bike. We dropped off and picked up Kieran from school most days this way.

 Watching for hummers.

 Asleep with his peep.

 At Gunter...we found this great half seat swing.

 3 are better than one!

 Ready to hop in the pool!

 He bumped his lip on the pew before I'd even sat down at church yesterday. Bloody mess. :)

His cheek is pink from my arm but I'm not sure why the arms are such different colors! He is tan but that's pretty white/tan.

Whoops. :)

Last DC post

Look carefully or you might miss the helicopter Sean's flying. 

It's been so long I have no idea where Sean was going!

4th child syndrome...we've always tried to make our kids eat at the table in a chair. Finn gets to eat on the booster on the floor during move-out craziness!

Miss Pea

Our violin teacher's new baby. I loved holding him during the kids' last lesson with Mrs. Emily.

Sean was marveling at baby Evan's tiny feet! 

The kids were so lucky to have Mrs. Emily come

Can't remember if I posted this but this marks the last time we visited Purse State Park with our very dear friends. We have a nice collection of shark teeth now! 

At least he's cute.

Final time serving at St. Michael's in DC. Cathleen has decided she does not want to continue in Alabama which is fine since it was their decision to start. 

Expensive playtoy for Finn.

Our BFFs across the street went to trapeze school in DC knowing it was probably not an option in Alabama! Sean was a natural!

Once Cathleen got her legs up, she was hooting and hollering in excitement!

random

Kieran grew these flowers from seeds we got at the White House egg roll. 

Finn climbs up and plays one note at a time. Soooo cute.

I mistakenly left a bar of chocolate on the counter.

Sean working on Boy Scout stuff.

John stayed the night the last night he was in the country. The next morning, they made their "famous" egg sandwichs, invented during the snowstorm earlier in the year.

I'm telling you, he smiled just for the camera!

Sean received the rank of Tenderfoot!

Love!

Cheese!

Finn 16 month stats

Appearance: Cute and fluffy
Weight: 25 lbs
Height: 32.5 or 33...can't tell from doc's notes

Bug bite on cheek. He seems to have strong reactions to bug/spider bites. They swell up and last for over a month!

Grammy and Grampy

Grammy and Grampy stopped by for a few days on their way home from a long vacation to Florida!

Grammy took care of Finn multiple times when I needed to leave and he was napping. Poor kid normally gets awakened from many naps to go somewhere!

Kieran asked me to take a picture of him. He needs a haircut in the worst way!

A little blurry but we love this little surfer dude.

Grammy returning from another carriage walk with the baby.

Finnian is ONE!!

Yesterday, our sweet Finnian turned 1. I can't believe a full year has gone by since that crazy day where Adam and I helped him into this world unassisted. He has taken 5 steps so far; Adam is hoping he'll wait until he gets home from his tour to Texas to really start walking. He's definitely our latest walker...we are still not holding his hands to help him...he's on his own! His hair is very long in spots but the idea of giving him a little boy haircut is a bit awful for me to comprehend. :) 

This was around 5pm and he had just woken up from a nice nap. We set him in the high chair to begin his birthday dinner. Hamburgers, broccoli, and fruit salad. Sean was trying to keep him from crying.

Looking at his fresh fruit salad!

Kieran got the honor of helping Finn blow out his candle.

For some reason, Finn wouldn't pickup the food with his hands until the meal was mostly over. This was the first time we had seen him do that!

Finally reaching for the bowl.

But then he just bit the bowl!

Pea made the cutest party hat! I need to get a closeup of it to post here.

Kieran really wanted these "squawker blowouts" for the party. So we bought them at the commissary.

Finnian, being just one, had no clue how to open the cards or gifts but Kieran was his helper. :)

Out for a walk

After getting Finn down to sleep, I come down to kids in mixed up swimming suits, using a plastic golf club as a gate to slide down into a wading pool of cold water. :) 

Kieran loves to "sword fight" with Sean. Even with toy shovels. With anything, really.

The light was really low as the sun set but my camera still eked out a bright picture, though not completely crisp. What a doll baby sweet Finn is. He was without me for 4 hours today, a record for us. I had a dentist appointment and stopped by a friend's house in Waldorf. 

I couldn't decide which face I liked best.

He did pretty well with a friend and then Adam while I was gone. When I got home, he was polishing off pureed squash. Took him about 60 seconds to start wailing once he saw me. <3 nbsp="" td="">

Finnian tried out the walker for the first time. He's taken a few steps already without help. So cute. Here, the kids were so excited about him walking!

All my little ducklings.

The Reagan National airport in the background as we walked toward the river for an evening walk.

I almost never use a flash but it was that or nothing. Kieran looks like he's about to do some mischief but he's being silly. Sean was excited to discover that soot from a burnt rope might be what the American Indians used on their faces.

Climbing a cherry tree in the dark because they can. :)