Finn

Our little man Finn had a birthday last week but with baby Theo in the hospital, it kind of flew by under the radar. I didn’t even get to see him once in the entire 24 hours, which I was really bummed about. But he was really sweet about it and he just made the most of his little birthday by having fun at home with Tru & Kirsten.

We made it up to him by declaring the next 3 days his follow-up birthdays and he was absolutely delighted with himself; the kind of unbridled delight that kids get on super special days. 3 whole days of “Happy Birthday, Finn Finn!!” was a real treat.

We had to reschedule his party but this awesome little boy didn’t even mind. I told him he’d have to wait 2 days to celebrate his birthday with his friends in school and he just smiled and said “Ok momma.”

“Finn Finn eat cake?” he asked.

“Yes! And not just any cake but daddy got you a special ice-cream cake with your favourite vanilla flavour. Who wants ice-cream cake?”

“Ice-cream cake? ME, ME, ME!!” he pointed at his chest enthusiastically. A mashup of his two favourite things? It was all he needed for a rad party.

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True to tradition, I’ve written him a letter that he’ll get to read once he nails those phonics lessons with momma. But first, photos of this little heartthrob!

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Hey Finn,

It’s birthday time!! I’m so excited. Not nearly as excited as you are, but pretty close. Know why? It marks two whole years that I got to spend with you and those have been a pretty amazing two years.

You are my pocketful of sunshine, my little shooting star. Seriously, WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE? I could munch on those delicious cheeks all day while snuggling and reading stories and fixing a thousand puzzles. Or mostly the same puzzle a thousand times. So it’s kind of my job description to hang out with you but here’s a secret: getting to spend my day with you is like the best gig in the world. Being with you is so naturally easy and always, always fun. Just a little Finn-time makes me smile on the gloomiest days.

You’re like lightning in a bottle. All that awesome packed into one tiny little body, it’s electrifying. And also ridiculously exhausting. You’re constantly doing stuff – climbing, running, galloping, somersaulting, climbing some more. Being your mom is strenuous business but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

You love so freely and you’re so extravagant with your affection that sometimes, I’m afraid you might get hurt by people who might not love you back the same way. But you’ve taught me that there’s only one way to love and it’s with everything you’ve got.

Here are some of your two-year-old milestones that are so irresistibly cute:

You’ve grown into a fine little gentleman. You know that any question ending with “please” is so much more likely to result in a “yes“, and “thank you” goes a long way in keeping those “yeses” coming.

You love blueberries and you’ll use them to make elaborate smiley faces before eating them. As with all food fads, you might wake up and decide to hate them tomorrow but for now, I’m loving that goofy blueberry smile.

You’re obsessed with the finger family song. Last weekend, you sang “brother finger” while waving your third finger everywhere around town. You just wouldn’t stop. It’s considered rude, you know. I tried distracting you with other songs or even other fingers but it was brother finger all day. Thankfully, that’s over. I get very nervous when you do that song in public.

Playing hide and seek with you is a riot. You’ll hide somewhere obvious and I’ll call “Finnnnn…” and you’ll yell “Cominggg…” before running right out. That’s not how hide and seek works, it’s adorable.

You’ll come to me at various points of the day to peer at me and say “Love you, momma. Up top!” before giving me a hi-5. It’s one of the things I look forward to every single day.

I love you, kid. Always and always. And Happy Birthday!

Mom.

So the one good thing that has come out of having these awful pregnancy symptoms is that I’ve been able to spend more time at home with Finn. And that’s a very good thing indeed. Having this baby blow kisses at my tummy has a special way of making everything seem less miserable.

I love being this boy’s momma.

Here’s what it means to be baby Finn’s momma these days.

// Running! Jumping! Climbing! Sliding! There’s no time for sitting around or leisurely walks. MORE ADRENALINE!! HUSTLE, MOMMA, you’re too slow!

// All that running usually leads to some falling. He’ll hold up his injured body part for a kiss as his face scrunches up in pain and a tiny little teardrop runs down his cheek. I’ve learnt that the number of kisses required is directly proportionate to the severity of the fall.

// “Love momma!” The two words that turn me into a glob of melty heart jello.

// Tiny hands that fit just right in my palm.

// “OO-DLE!! Want OO-DLE!!” All kinds of noodles, don’t matter if they’re the soft rice vermicelli kind or the springy ramen kind, they’re all delicious.

// Interesting fashion choices, like when he refused to wear anything except Kirsten’s Nirvana top. Who cares if it says GIRLS on the tag? It’s Nirvana. Shh, don’t tell.

// Random high-pitched talking. We start off having a regular conversation and as he gets more excited, his pitch goes higher and higher until it reaches a singsong hypersonic range and suddenly, we’re talking like two chipmunks. It’s a lot more fun than it sounds.

// The Count. He’s not even two and he’s counting up to 30. Such a show off! But consider me impressed.

// This kid gives the best bedtime cuddles – he has a sweet spot in the nook of my arm next to my chest and he gets really mad when that spot isn’t available. When he discovers me lying on my side, he’ll prod me in the rib to make me turn over. It’s giving me massive backaches but my, these cuddles are the sweetest. Don’t ever stop.

Of all the things I thought I’d google, I didn’t think it’s ever be “HELP, MY BABY IS TURNING INTO A CAT.”

And not just any cat, but Maru, the legendary cat in a box.

How did this happen? I do not know. This baby woke up one day and decided that the meaning of life can be found in cardboard boxes. Or something. And I’m turning into a crazy box collector lady just so that he can sit in them.

Finn’s motto in life these days is ““Is that a box??? Why, I must be in it!” I guess if one must have a motto, that’s a pretty good one to have. 

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

The End

One of the downsides of having multiple kids is that I don’t get to spend as much time as I’d like with each of them. And among all 3 kids, it’s baby Finn who has the least alone time with me.

With Truett and Kirsten, I was all they had so I was there for everything – the nappy changes, the songs, the baths, the feeds, the sleep struggles, the tantrums and all of the kisses. With Finn, I’ve had to spend more time at work and whatever time I have at home has to be split 3-ways. So that means less poopy diapers, less screaming fits and less epic food fights but also? Less baby snuggles. And if there’s one thing I need more than anything else, it’s those darn baby snuggles.

The husband knows that my mommy kryptonite is feeling like I haven’t been there enough for baby Finn. Plus with another one on the way, I feel terrible that this sweet, unassuming little third baby of mine is going to be sandwiched with even less mommy time.

Most days, the only time I get to spend alone with Finn is when I put him to bed at night. He drinks his milk snuggled in my arms and we’ll talk a little and sing a couple of songs and snuggle some more until he falls asleep. I live for these moments. Also recently, he does this thing where he pulls up my shirt, points to my gigantic belly, laughs his head off and says “BABY!” Sometimes, he’ll throw in a few raspberries blown for good measure.

So we were doing our bedtime routine earlier and as usual, I asked him “where’s baby?” Instead of pointing at my stomach, he pointed at himself and says “Baby. Finn Finn baby.” To make sure I got the message, he touched my nose and said “momma”, then pointed at himself again and said “baby.”

My heart melted everywhere as I held him and told him that he would always, always, always be my baby. He would be my baby and I’d forever be his momma.

And then he nuzzled his head into my arms and drifted off to sleep.

This is baby Finn, my nerdiest baby by far. In his free time, he likes to read books and fix puzzles and build abstract lego structures.

And it’s not like we don’t give him non-nerdy toys either. Truett has a formidable stash of toy cars and trains which he used to spend hours playing with but Finn doesn’t quite get what to do with them. He’ll roll them around for like all of 3 seconds and then he’ll be like “pffft…this is so lame. WHERE ARE MY PUZZLES???”

I get such a kick out of watching this geeky baby work on baby puzzles over and over. Moms are totally allowed to do that.

So I’ve got these boxy shelves from Ikea and yesterday, I heard baby Finn yelling STUCK! STUCK! from the vicinity of my Ikea shelves. I ran in to discover this.

Clearly, he’s taking the whole puzzle thing a bit too far. He managed to fit himself into one of the cubes and didn’t know how to get out so I did my mom thing and rushed to um, grab my phone for a photo.

PS. He’s since figured out how to get himself unstuck.

PPS. This is his new favourite hiding place. By hiding place, I mean super obvious spot where everyone pretends not to see him.

Before baby Finn was born, I didn’t have much experience with nosebleeds. I knew what it was but I haven’t seen it happen to anyone up close (thankfully!). I was hoping to keep it that way too because I tend to go a little weak in the knees when I see massive bleeders.

And then I went and had a baby who makes nosebleeding a regular occurrence so now I’m kind of like a nosebleed expert. By regular, I mean that in the past 6 months, this little guy has had 5 episodes. That’s 5 times too many.

Each one goes more or less like this:

The kids will be in the room playing one of their crazy games like they usually do.

A commotion ensues. There’s some running and screaming and yelling. During which, I’ll hear words like BLOOD! QUICK RUN AWAY!! MOMMMMMM!

They always say not to panic when a bleeder happens but there’s usually only one response when you enter a room to see your toddler covered in blood – which is to throw your hands in the air, shriek a little and run around in circles.

By this time, the baby thinks that we’re playing a super fun game so he starts running around the room, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Btw, have you ever seen a nosebleeding baby sneeze? It’s like how artists create graffiti art with cans of spray paint, except with blood. It lands EVERYWHERE.

Eventually, what you get is a reenactment of the elevator scene from The Shining.

I’ve tried several methods of containment and finally found one that works…BATHTUB TIME!

The only way he’ll let me go anywhere near his nose to attempt to stop the bleeding is when he’s distracted by bath toys. Plus I make sure he only bleeds into the tub instead of all over the entire house.

According to the doctors, nosebleeds are nothing to worry about and the important thing is to keep the baby calm and happy until it stops. What that really means is that baby Finn pretty much gets whatever he wants for the next 2 hours.

This kid makes bleeding look like so much fun.