Recent photos - February through March

Finn started to waive! It is so cute!

The other day when I picked up Max from school, I made small talk in the car on the way home. I always ask him about his day. At times he happily tells me who he played with and what he did. Other times, he needs some downtime after a long and busy day. This day was one of the latter ones. He said "mommy, just drive, I don't want to talk". Lovely..

Today. It's the first day in what seems FOREVER without rain (well, it's maybe the first day in a week and a half or two weeks but to us, it feels like an eternity). Max and I Skyped with my mom. We took a walk (Mommy/Finn) and bike ride (Daddy/Max) to the Santa Clara University to look for sharks in the fountain. There were none. Max showed Mommy how he can ride his bike off the ramp that Daddy built in the alley behind our house. Max hit his first "home run" today!! (Underhand pitch over the fence into the neighbor's yard.) No Barry Bonds but he did it clean... It is a good day.

Finn's check-up

Finn went to see Dr. Nancy on Tuesday for his 6-month checkup...although he is 7 1/2 months old now... He received four shots - no fun. Here are the stats..

Head circumference: 17.4 inches/44.2 cm (41.10% for age)
Weight: 18 lbs 9.5 oz/8.434 kg (42.80% for age)
Height:28.75 inches/0.73 m (90.15% for age)

His eczema on his face is pretty bad one day, better the next. We need to add some Hydrocortisone to ointment a couple of times a day. Better try that ASAP. He is scheduled to have photos taken next week..

Max Getting Rad

Max screwing around in the Specialized parking lot on his new rig. Took a few "spins" around the pump track, which consisted primarily of dad pushing him frantically around the pump track (it's a little challenging to navigate - especially at 41" tall with a coaster brake). However, he did think it was fun and want's to ride more.

Note how he nearly spits straight into uncle Todd's camera lens when Todd gets too close. He can be an ornrey little sucker.

While Skyping with my mom this morning she said that Finn looks so much like Max did when he was Finn's age. I agree. I pulled out Max's photo albums and Finn looks almost exactly like Max did at seven months. I'm so glad I have all those albums from when Max was a baby...especially since our external hard drive where most of the photos were kept is gone (stolen from Brent's rental car last time he went to Dallas). I think I have seven albums for Max from birth, mid June 2007 through year-end 2009. I still have not created one for 2010. This reminds me that I really should finish up Finn's very first baby album...maybe one day when I am well rested and have a ton of time to myself to do nothing else. Sure.

Snowman in party hat

One day last week Max and I stopped at Safeway. Walking towards the cash registers when done, Max stops to look at one of the many gift cards hanging at the end of the isle. He happily says; "look mommy, a snowman in a party hat"! It was a picture of Jack, for a gift card for Jack in the Box fast food. He kind of looks like a snowman. A snowman head. On a human body. In a business suit. With human hands. But still..

GiGi & PopPop visit

In the morning of March 10th, Gi Gi & Pop Pop arrived from Dallas. They kept Max home from preschool and had a fun special day with just him. They spent the day in Capitola. The following day, they had both Max and Finn. They went hiking/mountain biking with the boys, Brent and Todd. Max was on his new bike. On Saturday, we all went to Santa Cruz to visit Todd, Scott & Amanda. Todd toured us through Specialized Bikes that afternoon. Below are some photos from their visit.

March 16

Today is my brother Fredrik's birthday! He is 34. He is a husband (to wonderful Karin), father of one (son Sam), soon two (baby #2 arrives in May), living just outside our hometown Ystad in Sweden. I called him to chat and to wish him a great day. Seems he was having a good birthday. Happy birthday little brother!

What's new?

On March 4th, Finn's first two teeth finally came in! As commonly the case, it is the two in the front, on the bottom.

On March 10th, Max got his new bike! It is a 16" Hot Rock from Specialized (bikes). Uncle Todd works there. The bike is totally cool and in Max's favorite color - blue. Max was so comfortable on his little 12" bike that he has been riding without training wheels since September and we didn't know how Max would react to the larger bike. It only took a few minutes before he got on the new bike and rode it as if he had never done anything else. The following day, he went for a mountain bike ride with Dad, Uncle Todd, Gigi & PopPop who were here for a few days and Finn. The next day, we all got a tour of Specialized in Morgan Hill to see where Todd spends his days. They have a pump track set up in the back of the warehouse that Max tried out. He loved it. Is he going to be a downhill bike craze like his Uncles Todd and Scott??!

Finn is (do I dare to say it out loud...) sleeping much better at night. It has not been that long, probably six weeks or so, since the nighttime feedings stopped. He still wakes up, especially with the teething situation, but usually the pacifier and/or the favorite blanket helps him go back to sleep.

Max is now in a booster seat vs. a car seat while riding in the car. He can open and close the car door on his own and buckle himself in which is great.

We introduced baby cereal and other solids to Finn right after his 6-month birthday. He had shown such excitement about food for several weeks prior so we knew he was ready. He has yet to have his 6-month checkup with Dr. Nancy...but we are scheduled for next week. He will be 7 1/2 months by then..

Our boys are growing so fast and thriving! They are a lot of fun and we are very, very proud of them.