Sunday, March 16, 2014

come on spring

we brought the pop-up home and set it up to get ready for camping season- we've been eating, napping and playing in there 

We had a couple of nice days last week. Days that reached the 50's and the sun was shining. We played outside with our dusty garage toys and the new little motorized four wheeler that baba bought Finn for Christmas. It's a Lightening McQueen car but Finn calls him Mater. For a while whenever he would see the tv he would ask to watch Mater. We don't want him to watch a lot of television but with this weather this winter, we have been stuck inside so we let it slide more often. He loves that goofy little tow truck. He says the lines and laughs with James when they watch sit snuggled together on the couch. It makes me laugh hearing them laugh.

He was so happy to be outside. I wonder if he thought it was going to be winter forever. I wonder if he even remember what the sunshine and warmth feels like. I drew him a little road with chalk on our driveway with a gas station, a bank and a park and he drove that little "Mater" up and down until James got home for work and took him to the playground at the top of our street.

Our playground! Finn would talk about it in the car sometimes this winter. "Playground?" And I would have to say "no, not yet- it's too cold."  And lately he would reply, "Playground far away" I would explain it isn't far away even if it felt like it because he hadn't seen it in so long.

We went last week and he squealed with excitement.

You see your child grow every day. Every day is a new challenge and a new milestone and a new excitement, or a new word, or a new sentence. You understand your child is growing and changing and every little detail you take note. But sometimes you don't fully understand how much they have grown until they are put in a situation that makes you remember how they were a few months ago. Like our playground. Finnegan walked up to those steps that I carried him up every day last summer. He walked right up to them and put his right foot up, held on to the railing and started to climb. I was standing behind him to grab him at any second but he kept going. On his own. All the way up. And then walked over the slide, sat down and turned onto his tummy and went down.

He's not a little baby anymore. He's a toddler.

Like that newsletter that gets sent to your email every week. "Your newborn is a week old!"..."Your baby is six months!" "Happy One year to your toddler!"

How does this happen? And so quickly?

I told James that it seems like Finn is talking more this week. He is really getting the hang of using different phrases and jokes and his personality is just so big for that little body and he is just so, so sweet.

He looked at James tonight before bed and so sweetly said, "goodnight dada" and leaned in with his little lips puckered and gave James a kiss. When he pulled away he said "oh thank you dada, thank you".

He says thank you so nicely. If someone hands him something we no longer have to ask "what do you say?" He says it all on his own.

If you ask him if he wants to do something and he doesn't he replies "no thank you".

He says please. He says excuse me if you are in his way. He sings songs. He dances. He is so full of life and love and honesty and sweetness. He's just such a nice guy. and I get to be his mama.

Tonight when he was getting his pajamas on I was downstairs and he was calling me. "mamaaaa. mamaaa. Mamaa. Come up here" Ok. I'm on my way.

We took him for a walk on his bike that he gets strapped into and has the handle on the back that we can push on one of the nice days last week. There were two little girls at the top of the street. Finn waves to everyone he sees. He waves and says "hi girl/guy".

"Hi Girl" he said. The two little girls just stared at him.

He waited...

"Riding my motorcycle"  He said.


His imagination makes me beam with happiness. My little boy.