What are we learning?

Finn and I have been practicing learning how to pick up "puffs" and put them in our mouth. His favorite flavor is Sweet Potato, but he also has apple and purple carrot. Finn mastered the task in under a week. He choked on the little bits at first, so I would crush them into powder and put it in his mouth little baby bird. Then, after a while, he started rolling the bits into his fists and tried putting them in his mouth. They would roll out of his palm and into his lap. Oh, how I wish we had dogs at our feet sometimes! Practice, practice! Just yesterday morning, Finn picked up his puff with his thumb and first finger and amazingly put it right in his mouth. YES! Success! His face was so happy! He is gnawing and mashing the puffs between his gums, even though he doesn't have any back teeth yet. The puffs melt pretty easily, thank goodness.

Finn is now rolling from back to front, and from front to back. He wasn't sure about being on his front for a long time, but he has been building up his body strength, and now he is starting to like it. We find him asleep on his stomach in his crib now, and he almost never needs us to get up at night to get him out of a tight spot (sometimes he scoots himself on his stomach into the corner of the crib, and can't get unstuck) Poor little guy, he wakes up in the dark on his face and just has a heart attack. I would too!

We walked around mommy's old neighborhood this week, in NW Portland. We drove downtown to pick up daddy from work on Wednesday, and took a detour through my old stomping grounds. I showed Finn the outside of my old apartment, and I pointed out the shops and restaurants daddy and I used to eat and shop in. It felt great to get out of our suberbic atmosphere and be in the city for a little while. I think Finn really enjoyed being outside, we both needed the fresh air.

February-A Fresh Start

I have been recently given the amazing opportunity to be a "stay at home mom". I feel so lucky to be able to spend the days with my little cutie pie Finn. Look at that face! I wanted to start a blog about our adventures at home and about town. I want to remember the crafts we make, the nature we see, and the fun things we do.

With Valentines Day approaching, and Finn being the little cupid that he is, we decided we wanted to hand out personalized cards to all of his friends at Partridge House this holiday. Pictured here are our creations.
The memory's from my childhood came rushing back, as I tore along the dotted lines and wrote everyone's name out on the back of the Valentines.The cards and a tiny scoop of conversation hearts (they encourage reading, right?) were wrapped up neatly in their own heart shaped cellophane bag. I remember coming home after school with my box of Valentines, and going through them over and over again!
Making Valentines with Finn was very special. He sat in his seat next to me, so curious as to what I was making. He grabbed at my heart shaped bags, and made sure he licked a few Valentines. I'm looking forward to when he is a little older and decorating his own handmade Valentines. Probably putting glitter on everything, even himself.

 The look and feel of a vintage Valentine brings me so much joy. I love the old style drawings and the innocent message's on the front. Cards from past decades have such retro appeal. I would love to get my hands on cards like these. There is an aisle at Goodwill that has mostly stationary, cards and wrapping paper. This is my first stop thrifting lately, I love to dig through the old note cards and find Christmas cards from the 40's or baby shower invites from the 60's tucked away. My mom had once given me a stack of "we have moved" cards she found in one of her trunks from Hallmark, circa 1975. I sent them out when I moved in with Erhan, and I came across one not to long ago. I just love them.

Finn went to his first Birthday party this year for his friend Clark who turned one. He dressed in handsome birthday attire, combed his hair, picked out a very lovely present (colorful stacking blocks) and got ready to eat some cake! (well, maybe in a few more months).

The party was a Sesame Street theme and the decorations were very cool. Finn didn't know what to make of the giant Elmo balloon! We had a wonderful time, it was so fun to watch Finn interact with other children his age.With all of our friends having baby's this year (and last!) Finn is sure to go to many more party's and make some great new friends. I can't wait to start planning Finn's first birthday coming up in May!

One of our favorite TV shows is Dinosaur Train. The series features a curious young T.Rex named Buddy who, together with his adopted Pteranodon family, take the Dinosaur Train to meet, explore, and have adventures with all kinds of dinosaurs. Finn is allowed to watch about 20 minutes in the morning while I enjoy my coffee, he smiles so big when it comes on. I think the show is educational and very creative. What's really great is that you can stream the show from Netflix. Thank goodness for PBS kids!