Finn's 15-month check-up

Yesterday, I took Finn to see Dr. Nancy for his 15-month check-up. He was exactly 16 months old but we are always behind on the check-ups. He did well. Was very busy as usual and tore the paper on the exam table but at least he didn't try to eat it this time.. He received two shots and barely cried at all. He was waving to everyone at the office upon leaving. Stats were as follows:

Height 33.5" (85.1 cm), 94.35% for age

Weight 24 lb, 1.9 oz (10.94 kg), 37.78% for age

Head Circumference 18.31" (46.5 cm), 25.17% for age

Very similar to Max's stats at this age. Our boys are so tall...

Target trip

Last night, Max wanted to go to Target to buy a new toy. With his own money, that is. We brought along the piggy bank and searched for about an hour for the perfect item. Most all the items he pointed at ended up costing more than the $9 or so that he had in his bank. He became quite disappointed. He was so cute. He just continued his search. I felt this sting inside, wanting to just let him have whatever he wanted. But, we are teaching him an important lesson. Besides that, it is almost Christmas and we all know that the kids will receive a pile of toys. And, thinking about all the kids who don't have anything at all, or very little...we are so lucky. Finally, Max ended up buying a game which cost only $4 and a puzzle, also $4. We counted out the coins at the cash register, four quarters at a time. We tried out the game as soon as we got home and laid the puzzle (100 pieces!) this morning. Max did an awesome job. He really is amazing at laying puzzles. I have decided that it is time for Max to receive a weekly allowance. Not sure how much, but I think he is ready.

Christmas tree hunt

To find this year's Christmas tree, we again visited one of the local tree farms in Santa Cruz Mountains. We went on Saturday following Thanksgiving. The day was gorgeous, nice and sunny and warm. The boys had a great time running around in the forest and we found what we think is the nicest Christmas tree we have had so far. Max and I decorated it the next day and it turned out quite lovely.

We met up with Rhee Bevere at the Vasona park today for a family photo session. The boys were happy, the weather awesome and hopefully we got some decent shots. Brent got some Christmas lights hung on the house, Finn and Max both slept and so did I. Max refused to eat his dinner and Finn leaned over the edge of the bathtub and fell in head first. Thankfully it was empty.

Thanksgiving

We spent our Thanksgiving with the Uffelmans like we have in years past. It was so nice. The food was excellent and the company fun. The kids all played rather well with each other. We are so thankful for our family, our friends, our health, our jobs and for the wonderful lives we live.

Brothers...

For my birthday, Brent planned a getaway to Palm Springs and for Gail & Dom to come and stay with the boys. We found out that the weather wasn't going to cooperate so we decided to postpone our trip. However, Gail & Dom were still coming out since it was kind of late in the game to change their trip. Brent and I decided last minute to still take off for a couple of days, somewhere close by, and headed out for Paso Robles on Saturday morning. We had a really nice time away while the boys had great fun with GiGi & PopPop. Although we were only away for one night and two days, it felt like a mini vacation. Thank you Gail & Dom for coming and for watching the boys so we could have some much needed time away!

Max and I were talking in the car on the way home one afternoon:

Me: Who did you play with today?

Max: Charles and Leo

Me: What did you guys do?

Max: We played inside, then outside, then inside, then outside and then inside again. What a crazy day, huh mom?

When I picked up Max from school on Tuesday, I asked what he learned in school. I usually don't get much of an answer. However, on Tuesday he had a lot to tell me:

"Mommy, people were riding on a huge, huge boat called Flowerride (the Mayflower) and some were very sick and some were not and some even died. They came from a town called England. Then in America, they met the Indians and built their house next to the stream to get water and hunt for fish. And they ate and ate and shared it all together"

It seems we are learning about Thanksgiving. I need to record him telling the story. Too cute.

I turned 40 today. 40. I used to think that turning 40 would be difficult. It isn't the case. My birthday was a fabulous one. My day at work was great. The birthday wishes from friends and family were many and my evening with my family was wonderful. I feel so lucky, so blessed. There is nothing I need, nothing I am missing. Nothing at all. Lucky, lucky me.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time celebrating Halloween this week. Max had fun at school where they carved pumpkins, sang their Halloween songs and got to bring home their little bags of treats. At home, we carved two of our five pumpkins. Max wanted his to have a scary mouth with big, sharp teeth. Brent carved an "F" in the smaller pumpkin that is Finn's. Around 6pm, we went outside to meet up with the neighbors, Max in his Batman costume and Finn as Batman's buddy Robin. Soon thereafter it began...Max and Luke led the pack of 10 or so kids around the court and scored an enormous amount of treats. The boys were so excited it was difficult to keep up. Finn wasn't into it though. He pretty much cried from the start and was much more comfortable hanging out in his stroller with some milk and just watched as the other kids ran from house to house, trick-or-treating. As always, it was fun but crazy. Another Halloween celebrated on the Court with our great neighbors. Here are some pictures of the fun event!

Finn is now a little over 14 months old. He has ten teeth and two more breaking through. New words are added to his vocabulary daily. Some of the newer words are; "hi", "cheese" (when posing for photos), "patience" (when we sign the word patience which he has little of..), "happy" (when wishing GiGi happy birthday today!), "doggie" (for when he sees a dog but also when searching for his favorite doggie blankie). He tries to meow like a cat when he sees one. Our little guy is trying so hard to express himself with words and becomes so frustrated when we don't know what he wants and needs. Soon enough, there will be more new words mastered. I don't ever want to forget how he sounds and looks and feels at this age. They way he runs towards me with his open arms, calling out "mommy, mommy" and hugs me so hard. The way his laugh sounds and how he loves to play peek-a-boo. The way he screams out loud when he disagrees with you, wines and squirms when he is on the changing table, hating to get dressed, undressed or his diaper changed. The way he places his head on your shoulder, holding onto his doggie blanket and lays down for bed without a sound. He is such an amazing little boy.

On Saturday before Halloween, Max and attended a party at Leo and Lily's house. Leo is a friend from Central Nursery School. We baked pumpkin-shaped cookies with black sugar sprinkles to bring to the party. The weather was amazing, Brenda and Lars' backyard looked great with all the decorations. We had a great time!

GiGi and PopPop visited with us earlier this month (October 20 through 23) to hang out with us and to celebrate Brent's birthday. Brent and Dom played golf at Wente. On Brent's birthday, we spent part of the day in Half Moon Bay at a pumpkin patch. We lucked out, since it was Friday, it was empty at the patches and no lines anywhere. The kids had such a blast! They visited a petting zoo, went pony riding and Max rode a big, huge slide. We also checked out the pumpkins, of course. We enjoyed lunch at Half Moon Bay brewery and went for a stroll on the beach. Thereafter, we drove to Santa Cruz to visit Scott, Amanda and Masao and Brent received his birthday gift which was hidden in Scott's garage. Brent loved his new surf board! I think he had a pretty good birthday. I have so many photos from our pumpkin patch visit and promise to upload some soon. If I can only choose a few..

Here are some photos from late September to early October including some of Max and his mohawk hair-do, Finn and his huge blue eyes and Brent installing our new wine fridge and cutting board station.

Finn in his new bib (referring to Uncle Todd!) - gift from GiGi & PopPop