Finn

Finn turns 7 months tomorrow and I just realized that since he was born, I haven’t once checked Babycenter to keep track of his developmental milestones. I used to do it all the time when Truett and Kirsten were babies – get all excited at each new milestone and document all their firsts.

I guess all those things they say about parents with 3 kids are all true. By the time the third kid comes along, whether they crawl or stand at the right age isn’t as big of a deal.

But better late than never right? So here’s baby Finn’s 7th-month developmental update:

– He’s always got a smile for everyone. He’s been like that since he was a month old. If anyone stops to pay him any attention, he’ll break into the widest smile to make them feel real special. I’ve lost count of how many girls he’s made shriek “SO CUTE, HE’S SMILING AT ME!!” with that charming grin of his.

– He’s unbelievably playful. Some might call it unstoppable. He needs constant interaction and even when he’s sitting down with a toy in hand, he’ll be kicking his legs in a frenzy.

– He’s a proficient flipper. He doesn’t know how to crawl yet so the only way he moves from one point to another is to flip over and over like a stick of satay on the grill.

– He sits up relatively well. Occasionally, he falls over on his face (on the bed, relax) which makes the 2 bigger kids laugh their heads off.

– He adores Truett and Kirsten. They’re like his favorite people in the whole world.

– He’s trying to talk by making “bleh bleh blehhh” sounds with his tongue. It’s mostly gibberish but his sing-song intonation is super cute.

– His sleep patterns are like that of an infant. At 7 months, he still wakes up 3-4 times a night for boob chewing sessions. I don’t know how I’ve put up with this for so long.

– He’s still on breastmilk exclusively, with a bowl of baby rice puree in the morning. These days, he eats carrots, peas, pumpkins and avocados. Baby steps.

– He has no teeth. Not even one. Nothing in there but gums.

– He’s very grabby. He’s got the reflexes of a ninja and grabs everything in sight. When I try to remove anything from his iron grip, he’ll make his fake crying face in slow motion before bursting into tears. It’s actually cuter than it sounds.

– He loves music and his all-time favorite song is Head & Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

– He giggles easily and often. Which immediately turns my heart into mush.

Baby Finn was born with the most glorious hair and I’ve done a Samson on him by refusing to let anyone cut his hair from birth. I loved the poofy, gravity-defying hair he used to have but it’s all grown out and floppy now, which is still cute in a different sort of way.

Only thing is that everyone has been commenting on how long his hair is and even though I dress him in manly togs, 9 out of 10 strangers will assume that he’s a girl. So much so that these days, I just roll with it.

A month ago…

Stranger lady: She’s so cute, how old is she?

Previous me: Actually HE’S a boy.

*Awkward silence. 

These days…

Stranger lady: She’s so cute, how old is she?

New me: Thanks! Um, almost 7 months.

Stranger lady: I like her hair!

New me: Yeah, me too!

*Slightly less awkward silence. 

Anyway, I’ve decided that it’s finally time for baby Finn to have his first haircut. I thought of bringing him to the place where Truett does his hair but then I figured that since it’s a relatively minor trim, I could save the money and do it myself.

Yeah, I didn’t know that I had it in me to cut hair either but motherhood is all about discovering new skills, innit? That, and saving $20.

So this morning, I put him in his Bumbo, brought him out to the corridor and started snipping. The husband had to entertain him with a song and dance routine to stop him from wriggling and I managed to make it through without accidentally jabbing him in the carotid artery with my scissors.

The plan is to keep his hair long like Henry LaMontagne from Criminal Minds so I only took off a bit of length at the back and evened out the sides.

Voila, what do you think?

Over the past 2 months, I’ve been trying to introduce solids into baby Finn’s diet. Apart from the hassle of having to chop, steam, mash and freeze the purees, weaning is an exciting time because 1. It’s so adorbs watching them taste food for the first time and 2. My boobs get to have a break.

Okay, mostly 2 because as I’ve come to realize, boob rest is a very strong motivation in life.

Unlike Truett and Kirsten who were both voracious eaters of tasty food, I’ve discovered that Finn has a rather more delicate palate. Plain baby rice or the occasional teething rusk, he’s ok. Mild flavors like pumpkin or peas, he tolerates. But anything stronger like mango or peach or sweet potato, he finds it disgusting.

Like last week was his first taste of applesauce.

I usually talk him through the process while I prepare the food, like “today we’re having something new and exciting…APPLESAUCE! It’s yummy and you’re going to love it.” And his gave me a look like ” Mom, we’ve been here before. I just want plain baby rice, that’s it, nothing fancy. Put some milk into the baby cereal and you’re done. None of that weird tasting stuff.”

But of course I know better than he does because I mean, it’s applesauce, a delicious treat most everyone enjoys. What? You’d rather have tasteless cereal over applesauce? That’s just crazy talk.

I went ahead to scoop a tiny spoonful into his mouth and he immediately made a face. A face that said “From whence cometh forth this foul taste in my mouth?”

And as the flavor made its way to the rest of his taste buds, he was all “THIS IS SO NASTY GET IT OUT GET IT OUT NOWWW!!!”

This will henceforth be referred to as the applesauce face and I may or may not have fed him another several spoonfuls of applesauce just so I could take pictures of him cringing.

Next stop: durians.

Having a new baby is very much like getting to know someone for the first time.

Just because a baby came out of your uterus is no guarantee that you’ll hit it off – it still takes time to get to know them, understand their temperament, figure out their preferences and manage their quirks.

I’m not sure if it’s a third kid syndrome, but Finn is by far the easiest, sweetest, most obliging baby I’ve had. Which is not to say that the other two were little terrors, they were just a little more um, demanding. Ok, Truett was quite a feisty, restless baby who didn’t believe in sitting still or playing quietly by himself. He didn’t care much for sleeping either.

So far, Finn has been the complete opposite. He cries only when he’s hungry or in a lot of discomfort and even then, it sounds less like a scream and more like the low hum of a Ferrari’s acceleration.

“Reeooowww”

“Rrrrrreeooowww”

*pause*

“Reeooowww…”

*falls asleep from the exhaustion of like 3 consecutive yells*

When he’s awake, he spends a lot of time looking around quietly. He enjoys hanging around his siblings and doesn’t fuss when they’re a little over-enthusiastic with their affections. Even when he was ill, he’d struggle to breathe on his own for several minutes before screaming.

3 weeks with this kid and he’s already stolen my heart.