Babymania: March 2007 Archives

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March 29, 2007

Ladies Love Cool Finn

With a name like Finn, you know the redheads are going to love you. These are our neighbors, Rowan and Brooke. Rowan's the one whose look just dares you to mess with her man.

Posted by lisa at 08:22 AM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2007

springtime in chicago

Spending several months indoors with a toddler and a crazy dog due to cold and snow can drive one a bit crazy.

Luckily, days like these come around and make you forget all about it. Yesterday, there were tons of kids at the park running and playing. And I swear, they'd grown a foot since I'd last seen them.

But Spring in Chicago is one fickle beyotch. Today, we're back to cold and rain. But at least the snow is gone. For now. (I'm knocking wood.)

Posted by lisa at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2007

need to bump her down a little farther

I thought this was hilarious. From Shouts and Murmurs in The New Yorker. There's more.

I. A Conversation at the Grownup Table, as Imagined at the Kids’ Table

MOM: Pass the wine, please. I want to become crazy.
DAD: O.K.
GRANDMOTHER: Did you see the politics? It made me angry.
DAD: Me, too. When it was over, I had sex.
UNCLE: I’m having sex right now.
DAD: We all are.
MOM: Let’s talk about which kid I like the best.
DAD: (laughing) You know, but you won’t tell.
MOM: If they ask me again, I might tell.
FRIEND FROM WORK: Hey, guess what! My voice is pretty loud!
DAD: (laughing) There are actual monsters in the world, but when my kids ask I pretend like there aren’t.
MOM: I’m angry! I’m angry all of a sudden!
DAD: I’m angry, too! We’re angry at each other!
MOM: Now everything is fine.
DAD: We just saw the PG-13 movie. It was so good.
MOM: There was a big sex.
FRIEND FROM WORK: I am the loudest! I am the loudest!(Everybody laughs.)
MOM: I had a lot of wine, and now I’m crazy!
GRANDFATHER: Hey, do you guys know what God looks like?
ALL: Yes.
GRANDFATHER: Don’t tell the kids.

Posted by lisa at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

monkey gets a binky

This is not a new photo, but I had to bump that photo of Nicole Richie down.

Posted by lisa at 06:19 AM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2007

hypoglycemia has its celebrity spokesperson

Forgive this interruption of our regularly scheduled Finn programming. But those who know me well have witnessed my lifelong struggle with hypoglycemia. The shakiness. The insatiable hunger. Occasional bouts of incomprehensive babbling. The danger my loved ones face should they ask for a bite of something I'm eating. The constant cravings for Spaghetti-Os.

I've endured this stigma and its taunts ("Someone get Lisa a burger. She's not making any sense."), but it appears it wasn't in vain. Nicole Richie has now put a public face on this private burden. She's come forward as a hypoglycemic. (And not a drug addict with an eating disorder, you pigs.) My hope is that America will respond with more 24-hour drive throughs, more access to cheese products, and compassion for those of us who will be just fine once we eat something, OK? Maybe now hypoglycemia will get the respect it deserves.

Posted by lisa at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

the green-eyed, blue-eyed monster

Little Mr. Finn really loves when we lavish attention on him. But other kids? Not so much. This morning when I dropped him off at daycare, I plopped one of the adorable little girls on my lap while Finn ran around, demanding breakfast. ("Tooooaast! App-le!")

When he discovered Delilah on my lap, he looked geniunely hurt and shocked. Like he couldn't believe that I'd cheat on him with some floosy like her. Or as Finn put it, "My mommy! Mine!". Once he ejected Lilah from my lap and crawled up himself, he made it a point to occupy as much lap real estate as possible, sprawling out, legs and arms hanging about. Leaving no question as to whose mommy this was.

Posted by lisa at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2007

Finn + Daddy

Finn's been going through a serious daddy phase lately. Whenever Shawn sits down somewhere, Finn toddles up to him, grabs his hand, pulls him over to where his toys are, pats the floor and says "down." He's bossy, but cute.

Posted by lisa at 07:04 AM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2007

five things you don't know about Finn and his Mama

A few weeks ago, the Rookie Moms tagged me with the question, "Name five things you don't know about me." I'm just now getting around to writing this, and thought it would be fun to do it for both Finn and me. So, I'll start with Finn.

Five things you don't know about me, by Finn, as told to Mama.
1. I recently gave up my binky. When I started throwing it, Mama figured enough was enough and took it away. Sure, sometimes she caves and gives me one when I really start jonesing for a hit. But I don't need it to sleep anymore and rarely even ask for it anymore.
2. Finding the letter "F" on something is the most exciting thing I can imagine. (I'm starting to learn my letters, and we started with "F" for Finn.) When I find an "F" on something, I start flipping out, jumping up and down, and clapping.
3. I dance like my Mama. That's not really a good thing.
4. Most of the kids at daycare are girls, so I'm well-schooled at playing with dolls, having tea parties, and even playing princesses. I figure this will help me develop my sensitive side and woo the ladies when I grow up.
5. My favorite song is currently "Fergalicious."

Five things you don't know about me, by Finn's Mama
1. I once drove away from a gas station with the pump still in my tank. It came off, and gas went everywhere. The fire department had to be summoned, and when I returned to work, I pretended like I didn't know what people were talking about when people said I smelled like gas.
2. I had dinner with David Byrne from the Talking Heads when I worked in San Francisco. He ordered fois gras.
3. I know all the words to Sir Mixalot's "Baby's Got Back."
4. I once took a class in trapeze.
5. I'm uncomfortable writing for Finn in the first person.

Bonus fact: Two of the above fun facts about Lisa involved Brenda Tucker. Try to guess which ones!

To keep the meme going, I'm tagging Susan and Anna, H and Fiona, Misha and her boys, Jenn, and Leesh. Feel free to bug them to finish their entries!

Posted by lisa at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2007

Crochet--To Go!

My beautiful and talented friend, Alicia Bergin, just had her book pub. It's called The Crochet To Go Deck and it includes patterns for 25 different crochet projects in a deck format. This girl is seriously talented—you can preview some of her designs on her crochet blog. When he was first born, Finn was the lucky recipient of a gorgeous handmade sleepsack at her talented hands. Whether you already crochet or are looking to pick it up, definitely check out Leesh's deck!

Posted by lisa at 06:18 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2007

what Finn says when he pretends to be on the phone

"Allo?Allo? Bfmeigat. Bfmeigat! Ajaloman joji. Mama. Daddy. Santos. Pretzel. Ball. Bfmeigat. F. B. Doggie. Horses. Bye-bye!"

Posted by lisa at 02:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2007

his friend is never far behind him

Posted by lisa at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2007

this is how we roll, part 2

Say what you will about the Chicago winters, but after suffering all those months, there is really nothing like the rush of that first day it's over 60 degrees. Memories from last weekend need to be gathered together in a video montage of images with something like "Daydream Believer" playing in the background. Finn riding his trike around the front yard. Finn and Mama going down slides side-by-side at the park. One of the neighborhood kids stopping by to get the baseball he accidentally hit into our backyard. Santos finding a sandwich stuffed in the branches of a tree, then stopping to sniff every tree with the belief/hope that sandwiches grew on trees during springtime in Chicago. (Only in heaven, boy. And there, they have bacon on them.)

Finn is now 18 months old and more and more delightful every day. He loves any and all animals. At Carrie's, he got to pet an actual kitty cat for the first of time, and it almost blew his mind. The cat was a great sport, but started to get annoyed as Finn followed him around the house, saying "kika, kika!!" He also loves horses (like his Auntie Julie!) He insists on reading his book about horses every night before bed and makes his stuffed baby pet the pictures in the book. When he saw the neighbor's fish tank this weekend, he almost plotzed from excitement, jumping up and down saying "Fishies! FISHIES!"

As he is in constant motion right now, Finn's also a bit of a handful. But such a delightful, adorable handful. Not one of the kids content to sit and play with blocks, Finn is more likely to be stacking up the blocks to use them as a step to open the window and throw his toys out. It's as if he can't believe that his Mama and Daddy, as ambulatory people like him, don't spend entire days opening and closing cabinets, emptying the drawers of their contents, and chasing the dog around the house.

The other day, as we were walking back from the park, Finn looked up to me from the stroller and said, "Pretzel, Mama." I gave him a pretzel, and he smiled and just said, "Happy." May you have a lifetime of happy days awaiting you, my little love.

Posted by lisa at 07:08 AM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2007

this is how we roll

Here's Finn in the new Aeron chair that mommy got for a song from a failing business on Craigslist. Please note that Finn styled his own hair this morning, with a mixture of banana and Whole Foods Adriatic Fig Jam.

Posted by lisa at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2007

recent milestones/anecdotes in Finn's world (and one in Santos')

* He had his first haircut last weekend.

* He knows more and more words every day (we've lost count) and revels in pointing out objects that he knows the words for. ("Choo choo!" "Kitty Cat!" "Cheese!")

* He knows the names for almost all his friends at daycare. There's "Eye-Lie" (Eli), "Lala" (Deleila), "Ella" (well, he's got that one down), and "CaCa" (Francesca).

* He also now knows that he, in fact, is Finn. When you ask him, "Who's Finn?" he proudly marches around saying "Me, me, ME!"

* Along with "me" also comes "mine." He is a mini squatter, going around, collecting items, and declaring them all, "mine!" (By the way, exclamation points are in no way superfluous when you're talking about a toddler.)

* He is a kissing bandit--except with Shawn and me. He kisses the characters in his books, people on TV, his friends in daycare, our friends, but for some reason, is shy about kissing his own mama and daddy. Maybe it's because we're always kissing him so much.

* He's learning his letters! The first ones we taught him were his initials--F and H. He now proudly points to these letters on everything he can find, and claps when he finds one.

* Yesterday, he was being kind of clingy when I left him at daycare. But Marilyn had made French Toast for the kids for breakfast. As sure as he took his first bite, he said, "MMMM!", then looked me straight in the eye, waved, and said "Bye-bye, mommy" and went back to his toast. The kid likes his food.

* Last Saturday morning, we let Finn fuss in his crib for a while, as we attempted to eke a few more minutes of sleep. After a few minutes of Finn's fussing, Santos literally went over to the baby monitor, smacked it over with his paw, then ran to Finn's door to wait for us to go get him. I hate to think we were out-parented by the dog.

Posted by lisa at 07:44 AM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2007

Happy First Birthday, Cousin Anna!

Finn would like to wish his sweet cousin, Anna, a very very happy first birthday!

Posted by lisa at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

you better take this one, Santos

Apparently, this call was for Santos. (Who looks a bit alarmed.)

Posted by lisa at 07:25 AM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2007

Anarchy Rules

This is one of the more adorable products I've received for review on SheFindsMom, a baby mohawk hat from Knit-Head. The fact that Finn's wearing it in pink just makes it that much more punk rock.

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