Island Dreams

Today was a beautiful day so we decided to go for a walk on Mackworth Island. We had tried to do this once before but we were turned away because there was no parking. So dad put on the Bjorn, I grabbed the camera and away we went. Finn seems to thrive outside which isn't surprising since his mom and dad also thrive in the out of doors!



I think he liked looking out over the ocean. Mark would pick up a rock and put it in his hand so he could feel the texture. He would also throw them in the water so Finn could see the splash. Hard to say if any of it was noticed but you can't blame a guy for trying. Soon he will appreciate those things.
The most interesting thing he got to feel was some seaweed.



Not sure he liked it judging from the look on his face, but who knows. It got pretty sunny out there on the beach so we used dad's hat for protection as well.

Then we moved back up into the woods and enjoyed the view from a shady swing.

but Finn fell asleep


All in all it was a beautiful walk and I think that Phineas will one day really love visiting the island. Tomorrow we may head over to Two Lights State Park.

2 months

We have hit the 2 month mark! I love the new things he does and it seems like everyday he greets us with a smile. One that looks kind of like...

except less blurry.
Yesterday was his 2 month child well check. It went pretty well. He weighed in at 13lbs 11oz and was 24 inches long which puts him right about in the 90th percentile. Poor little guy got two shots but he was way braver than I was. Here he is after we got home from his appointment.



He sure was enjoying chewing on his cloth. Soon after he got fussy. He enjoyed the taste of his Tylenol and after a walk with his dad was able to eventually calm down and get some rest.

discoveries

Phineas has been VERY busy the last week or so. Everyday he has made a new discovery and built upon it. His smiles are infectious and his constant cooing is heart melting.
He has discovered he has hands, he has feet and a voice! Such a busy little boy. He now loves his swing and is very content to sit on his own quietly and absorb all that is around him. It is amazing to watch. Of course an update wouldn't be complete without some photographic evidence.


yes he is cross eyed but he is watching as he moves his hand in front of his face. It isn't like his arms are that long! He absolutely loves to look at his feet, he smiles and coos at them. He also seems to enjoy looking at my hands. I spread out my fingers and wiggle them and you can tell he is taking notes! I see hi-fives in his near future.


doesn't he just melt your heart? This is usually the look I get while he is cooing at me. What a charmer!!


here he is in his swing. I am so happy he is finally enjoying it. He stares up at the mobile and talks to the sea creatures. He will sit in there for a long time and he has even fallen asleep. The reason this is amazing is because he had never gone to sleep on his own before this. We have always had to hold, rock or pat him to sleep.

Getting to 8 weeks has been quite an adventure but I think Phineas is really starting to take shape. He is less fussy and so much more interactive. We will update again after his doctors appointment and fill you in on all his stats.

it's for the birds

We have seen a change in Finn in the last two weeks. He has really started to enjoy being a baby. Don't get me wrong he still has his fussy times but now they are sugar coated with sickly sweet smiles and coos. Just one big smile and you forget that 5 minutes ago you were ready to get in the car with all your belongings never to return. One of the greatest joys in his life at the moment is a certain mobile his Grampa Frasier gave to him. We hung it up over his pack and play and he is literally entertained for 10-15 minute chunks. It gives us a breather and Phineas gets so excited to see his birds. He kicks the side of the pack to make them jiggle and smiles from ear to ear. Here are some action shots...




In response to the present, Phineas created his first work of art. We made his Grandpa a card. While lying in the pack and play Finn moves his arms like crazy. I took different colored markers and put them in his hand. The paper lay beside him down flat on the mat and as he waved his arms wildly he would leave marks on the paper. Not so bad for only being 6wks old at the time eh?

rubber duckie is not the one, at least not yet

So Phineas is not a fan of his bath time. He screams as if I were holding him by his ankles and dipping him head first into the water... uh isn't that how it's done?? I kid. Seriously though this kid is not interested at this point in the game. He wants to be a smelly hippy so we let him. Kind of. He is now taking showers with us. Don't worry one of us is a spotter. Slippery when wet does apply though I think we have a good strategy. One of us gets in, we turn the water on a little more than a mist, kind of a light rain/sprinkle, then when ready the spotter hands him in. We do a cradle hold which makes it a lot more of a stable hold and we don't move him from that position too much. We cup water every where he needs a good dousing and he doesn't seem to mind the water hitting his face. After he has been rinsed and we make sure to get all his neck folds and behind his head, ears, bum, front and hair we pass him back into a nice dry warm towel and body. I won't give up, I know one day he will love his tubby but for now the shower works just fine. I think I might attempt to put him in his tubby and run the light mist at the same time and see if that helps. I will keep you posted! ;) Until then here are some blurry shots of him not enjoying his bath!

Sleeping Beauty

Phineas has been pretty busy the last few days. As I mentioned in my last post we were going to the mall. He pretty much slept through it and when he was not asleep he was totally enthralled with the lights. We were shopping for a present for his great cousin Eden who turned one today, so maybe he was bored by all the pink watermelon dresses I was looking at. He did wake up at one point to eat but fell back a sleep shortly after.

On Friday Mark and I took him on Portland's First Friday Art Walk. I would say he enjoyed it since...yeah you guessed it, slept through it! Here is a pic of him and his dad enjoying the art.

He did eventually wake up when he was hungry. Here is Mark feeding him the bottle I brought with us. How many kids get to eat dinner in an art gallery?


Today we went to Eden's birthday party. It was a wonderful party with good peeps and delish food. Phineas would have been able to hang out with all the toddlers if he hadn't....SLEPT THROUGH IT!!! Seriously this kid misses everything. He did wake up eventually because he got hungry and was able to visit with the family that was still there. I didn't take any pics but I know they exist and will steal them as soon as I can.

So the moral of this blog, Phineas is a heavy sleeper and will only wake up when hungry.
Here is a shot of Finn sleeping since he does it so well!


He turned 1 month old yesterday and Mark and I are fairly sure we are starting to see real smiles. I have tried to capture them with the camera but without luck. He is also starting to talk a bit more. Hopefully videos will be coming soon to this blog and you can see/hear for yourselves. For now, it is time for me to sleep...Finn is, well, already sleeping. Goodnight!

Get the Ball Rolling

So I still can not access all the birth pics unless I steal them from Facebook in which case they would be VERY small sooo here is a pic of Phineas right after he was born.



He was so chunky with those big cheekers!! He is not as full figured these days.


OK so lets move on so I can start seriously letting you in on what my little guy has been up to.
He has been sleeping quite a bit and for the last two nights he has even slept through the night. Here is him sleeping when we first brought him home.


He eats a lot!! In fact I am keeping track today because I think he is getting more than he should.. He is a big kid but he seems to be eating above normal.

MILK FACE!

We try to get out of the house at least once a day. It is hard in these early days since he mostly just sleeps and eats though his awake time is getting longer. Here he is at Hannaford, it was his first time in a cart!

He slept through it, he sleeps through most of our excursions. sigh
Here he is at Target trying on the sunglasses!


OK so I think that about will bring us up to date.. Phineas and I will be checking out the mall today I think... and maybe visiting his grandmother who works across the street! See you soon!

HE'S HERE!!!

So this entry has been waiting for pics to be uploaded to the correct place so that I could post them here.. they are still not on the network but I can't put this off any longer. Phineas arrived on May 8, 2009 at 8:41am! It was a long hard 28 hour journey into the world but lets not dwell on that as this is Finn's story not mine. When they put him on my chest he immediately lifted his head and looked around the room. Strong and inquisitive right from the start! He was a little blue so they gave him a couple seconds of oxygen and he pinked right up. His dad stayed with him while they weighed and measured him at 9lbs 5oz and 21.5 inches long. I will post pics as soon as I am able I promise but for now just know he is here and we are so very happy. He has long fingers, huge feet and his dad's ears. I will be back soon to update and post pics.

5am may 4th

May 4th is here hurray, my due date
But it seems the main star is going to be late.
What is he doing inside my big tummy?
Flipping and flopping and stretching out mummy.
Doesn't he know he is supposed to come out
That we all are waiting for his cute little pout?
I don't want to rush him, no need to chime
I know he will come out, all in due time.

25 days to go!!

Today we got to see Finn again. I always love looking in on him. I can feel him moving all the time but to see his little cheeks and nose make me completely head over heels for him. Today was no different. As usual we were not able to get a great pic but I will take what I can get. I am exhausted and don't feel like resizing so I apologize if these are huge....

as per usual his hand is up to his face. Also she said he was very close to the Uterus which made it harder to get good shots. You can see the umbilical cord there in all the shots as well.

This is the first time we have seen him make faces. It was pretty cool and I like to think he is smiling for us....sssshhhh can't we pretend?

I think it looks like he is sucking his thumb in this one but Mark doesn't think so. Who knows but he does look pretty content doesn't he?

He is measuring 39 weeks which is consistent with his last two scans, but according to my LMP he is 36 weeks and 5 days. They estimate him at about 7lbs 4oz. I commented to the tech about his huge head and she agreed.. yep, it's big. Meh, I have great birthing hips, no sweat....right? er right?

Phineas the tank

I received a present in the mail a few days ago from one of my online friends. She is on pg.org with me. It is the coolest hat and I am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my support circle!

Mark loves it too! I can't wait to see him in it!

So today I had an U/S and appointment. Everything looks great. In the ultrasound he was moving around quite a bit. His head is still down and his HB was about 157 and regular. We could also see him taking practice breaths which was so reassuring. His lungs are developing nicely and that would explain why he gets the hiccups so much! I have plenty of fluid in there for him and all my parts look healthy too! wooot!

So remember last time when he weighed over 4lbs and he wasn't even supposed to be 3 yet... the tech told us that most likely he had gone through a growth spurt and he may not weigh much more than that at the next visit....WRONG! He is estimated to be 5lbs 13oz! WHOA! Holy heck I am so glad I have "breeding hips." The tech just kept saying "you have a very content baby in there... very "healthy"....yeah healthy indeed!! the kid is a TANK! They don't seem concerned yet but they are not the ones planning on birthing this cute monster!

So we also found out he has a full head of hair

the white lines sticking out are apparently hairs. She said he has a full head and that these were sticking up down near his neck. He must get that from his dad because I was as bald as bald can be!

last but not least here is the newest mug shot.

He sure does like his hands up near his face. He looks a bit different in this one from the last one. I love his pouty little lips!!

Anyone know of any good weight lifting programs I can join... I think I am going to need all the upper body strength I can muster to pick him up!!

Finn flies

Phineas took his first plane ride. I will admit I was a bit nervous for him but it went smoothly. Other than the fact they don't make planes pregnancy friendly we had no issues. I think he enjoyed himself really.... who wouldn't being all snug and warm while 21,000 feet? He also enjoyed his first trip to Florida. He got to hear a lot of his relatives and they all showered him with presents! I am pretty sure he enjoyed the mass quantity of fruit I fed him as well since he danced all around every time I fed him some. Next week I will get to see Finn again and this time his dad will be there to see him too. I think he will like that. He seems to react to Mark's voice and touch. Till then.....

hide and seek

I got to see Finn today. According to the measurements he is weighing in at a little over 4lbs. I was a bit taken back by this since all my literature says he shouldn't even be 3lbs yet. The U/S tech assured me it was normal and that he may have just had a growth spurt and when I get my next check he might not weight much more than that. As long as he is healthy I am happy. He was dancing all around which made it hard to get a good picture of him but the one we got I am smitten as a kitten about.

Mark thinks he looks like me, but I can see some of Mark in him too. I was told by some co-workers who were looking at the U/S that he has hair. If so then I can confidently say the wives tale about heartburn is true because I have it 24-7! I have another scan in about 3 weeks and I can not wait to catch another glimpse of Phineas.

the early stages

I feel I should start somewhat early on. We will have to backtrack for a while but I am confident we will catch up soon.

After many positive tests (I was addicted to seeing the second line or the digital word "pregnant" for a while) I started to believe this could be real. My life long dream coming to fruition. It wasn't until we heard his little heart though that I felt safe in allowing myself to openly feel joy and excitement. My OB found it right away and Mark and I were in awe of the little woosh woosh.
Soon after we got to see him.

I have posted the pics with his measurements because afterall, this is his blog. It was another in awe moment. To see this growing blob taking shape into a baby that we created. Everything looked great and right on target.

Our second visit was to find out if we were having a boy or girl. I seriously had no preference and Mark had changed his preference from a girl to a boy. I was just so happy to catch another glimpse at my baby. Again he seemed healthy and happy in there. He was squirming all around and making the technicians life difficult. I am pretty sure he has the same reaction to cameras as Mark and I... no pictures please! Too bad, here is what we saw.
profile pic
baby feet are the cutest!
This is looking down on his face and arm
He is giving us the peace sign. I can not wait to kiss that cute little ear! Oh and I am not going to post it but we got a nice shot of the goods and he is clearly a boy! We high fived with that news!

Now that you have seen pics let me tell you a little bit about Phineas himself. I can of course only speculate but I think that he loves fruits and sweets. He is most active when I am not. According to Mark he kicks me all night long but I sleep right through it for now, but he is getting bigger by the second and I have a feeling this will become less easily slept through soon. He can really boogie down and sometimes I think he is in there breakdancing, spinning on his head with his hat to the back and his pants keep saggin. He likes to play games with me. I will push on him and he pushes back. He is not always in the mood for this game and he can tire of it pretty quickly. I don't want to reveal too much about him in the first post so I think I will wrap it up for now.

My vision for this blog is to document my boy as he grows and changes. I just know he will be a magical element to my life and I will never want to forget the small things.

Bethlynne & Phineas