The Baby

Finn continues to insist we are having two babies.  One, the brother, is in my belly, the other baby, the sister, is in his belly.  He says we need two babies because his friend Hayden has two babies.  And, yesterday when we saw the twins at a party, Finn suggested we bring Graham home.

Usually when I ask Finn what we should name our baby he doesn't have an answer.  Once he said, "No Name."  This morning, though, he suggested, "Garbage Truck!"

--JAK

Tid Bits

For breakfast today Finn asked for broccoli and cheese.  Poor guy, we didn't have any broccoli on hand, so had to deprive him of his veggies!  This is after he'd asked a few days ago, "Mommy, can please eat some vegetables in the garden?"  So sweet!

This afternoon Finn gave my feet a bath.  I felt like a queen!

When Finn talks about playing in our backyard he calls it his "big backyard."  I love that he thinks our little city-sized yard is big!

--JAK

Exploring

The slides and swings and sand are not the best part of the Maple Park.  Today Finn discovered the sort of under belly of our local park.  Until today I'd thought this area to be reserved for juvenile delinquents and winos.   (None of either population were present today.)  On the back of a hill, in an area sectioned off from the actual park, is a sort of impromptu maze of low bushes and dirt paths, perfect for my two-old-boy to lose himself in exploration.  Finn claimed he was looking for his blue car, which was lost somewhere in the park, but really he was enjoying the freedom of getting lost in this miniature forest.  He walked around and around the paths, discovering where each led and dead-ended and circled him back to the beginning. 

I was lucky to have a bird's eye view from the top of the hill.  I was very relieved that the back side of this little maze was completely fenced in, so I didn't have to follow little boy worrying he would escape onto Harlem Avenue.  Sometimes he would come to a little clearing, look up, and notice me watching and smile and wave.  He was in a state of bliss.  Once in a while he would make his way up a path back to the top and say hello.  I even received a few kisses before he headed off down another path.

--JAK

Day out with Thomas

Saturday was hotter than hotter than hot, but it was the annual Day Out with Thomas and we needed to be there!  As  ignorant parents and grandparents of a first child, we had absolutely no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  I truly believe every Chicagoland family with a boy between the ages of two and five was there.  And they all seemed to have matching Thomas t-shirts.  Yet we saw Thomas and all was right in little boy's life.  We even managed to see Sir Topham Hatt!We were a bit taken aback when we realized we would be riding in an unidentified passenger car, not Annie or Clarabel.  Yet thankfully we could glimpseThomas for a moment, pulling our load, as we curved left on the tracks.

Really the best part of the day was riding the various trains.  We could have skipped the Thomas hoopla, waited for a cooler fall weekend and taken the trek out to Union and been just as happy.  So we'll visit again.  And maybe child #2 won't spend the day with Thomas.  Or maybe in a few years we'll forget how hot and crazy it was and make the pilgrimage again.

--JAK

Grandma says...

Finn's quote of the day:

"Grandma says I need to watch more tv."

Our Tour of Sweden, by Volvo

Just a "few" photos of our 10-day sojourn to Scandinavia.  Enjoy.

 

Click here for more photos.