The Last Few Days....

My favorite thing recently - she is smelling flowers!

Walking on the deck in the sunshine:)

I call this one "The Atlas" - couldn't resist sharing!

My most recent beautiful Annie pot with the things currently blooming around the house - Forsythia and Daffodils!

No caption necessary:)

This picture was for Mac when she got back from being away for a week - Finley in one of Mac's old outfits looking like "hey, where you been?" or some saucy thought.

Outside cuteness.

A Laugh for You.

I was thinking of posting a picture or two from a year ago since things were very different back then. As it happens, a few days ago Finley had a picture crumpled in her hand and when I grabbed it from her little paw I see that it is one of my most treasured photos. I am 12 years old clutching a farm cat that is desperately trying to get away and sticking out my big belly that I got from visiting my Aunt Louise in Wisconsin who let us eat everything all day long. My brother and I gained 20 pounds in one summer. I mean look at the haircut, the glasses!! I used to hate and now deeply love this photo. Anyway, I get the it back from Finley and stick it into the closest picture frame in our bedroom for safe keeping not noticing the correlation to the photo that is already there... Not much has changed in 26!years. So have yourself a chuckle, and don't say I never gave you anything.

The Evolution of The Walk

Finally!! I have been dying to blog this and only just got back to my computer this afternoon... SO! It began a couple weeks ago with the "finger walk" and we knew it was just a matter of days...


And sure enough April 15 (I can finally think of this day now without cringing!), the day after Craig leaves for a few days' work I am at my friend Marni's house having a baby pow wow when I see her out of the corner of my eye - she's up and crossing the room! So these are a few of the actual first steps and my reaction which I SO wish I could edit out:)



And finally, this was the following day is Soho when we hooked up with The Papa for a few hours in between jobs. All little long to watch, but worth it if you love us! She was so proud of herself you could totally see it on her excited little face -- some really great days!


She also is hugging on request - you could just die. Well I do and I ask for them all day long. As for speaking, she talks all the time - stuff that sounds like "ithagethagum" "amagoothema". And get this, two days ago I said "Finley, do you want your sucker?" Not really expecting an answer, I was just going to give it to her and she goes "Neh." shakes her head and means it! Then I said "Finley, do you want some water?"and she says "Yeah." and takes the water. It may not sound like much, but when you spend all our days with someone like a baby who can't do things like this and then one day they just do them... This is B-I-G. We have actual verbal communication!! W-O-W!!!!

Music, BABY!

One of the things that greatly increases my quality of life is music as I am sure it is for most people and having a kid has opened my ears up to a whole new genre. I had no idea what to expect, but thanks once again to my sister-from-another-mister Annie, Finley and I have quite the collection of really great stuff that is so much fun for both of us. (NOT like the cd I picked up in Borders for kids that made me want to scratch my ears off.) We are talking Dan Zanes and all his friends, Raffi and many others. On the last trip she gave us "Free To Be You and Me" an unbelievably GREAT 1970's product of Sesame Street that we have on heavy rotation. I went online looking to see what one of the singer's name was and found this clip. His name is Rosey Grier, football player, actor, minister and author of, get this, Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men. I love this clip I found - he is SO cuddley and check out how teeny he makes the guitar look. By the way Annie - there are lots of other clips from "Free" - a really cute one with Roberta Flack and Michael Jackson of the one that Diana Ross did on the cd. Oh, and it surely is alright to cry.


Finley jamming out with Father Goose

Animal Behavior in The Hollow

Check 'em out Carlin! The ladybugs have decided they really love our house - it is a total invasion and we love them - it is the final reason why I decided to have it has Finley's totem animal (bug). Also, the squirrels are climbing the tallest trees in the yard! Yay Spring!! Oh, and it is 65 degrees today!!! We are so excited. Excuse me while I GO OUTSIDE!



Another cute little animal in The Hollow

Silas...

Another favorite... I think we know where the c-word thing started!

A Couple Days Last Week

Finley and I stayed with Pops and Bebe and had a great time. It's still pretty cold but you could definitely feel Spring in the air. Bebe and I took Fin to the Children's Museum - something I have wanted to do for a long time. They have a whole floor for babies and man, she was all over it. She plows right into the middle of the fray. She liked this little baby obstacle course and had to go through the tunnel about 20 times. My favorite was the life size Lite Brite! Pops got in a little light solo babysitting and had her going crazy with this stuffed gorilla. Good times.

Manhattan Spring Clean

We had a family adventure yesterday when we had to make the trip down to the city in a giant rented van to pick up a bunch of furniture and stuff from the apartment that our roomate no longer needs. I forgot to take before and after pics, but what a difference! It sure needed the spring clean and it is now more safe, baby friendly and beautiful - I can't wait to spend some time down in the Village with my girl. Here she is at the end of the day, parked illegally, waiting on 23rd Street. This "squeezing" behavior is something I don't fully understand - it could be intense joy or maybe be a tendency for the insane which we all know runs in the family. Both sides.

Finley's Tat

P.S. This was our attempt at an April Fools... Did we getcha? Yeah, probably not.