Finley vs. Harper @ ~4 Months and Papa Joel

Papa Joel was here this weekend and was put to good use -- we painted Finley's new room light purple, which is her favorite color. As we are getting ready to move Finley out of the crib, so Harper can have it, we are really trying to get her excited about the process. She was very happy Papa Joel was helping.


Here he is yesterday after a LONG day of painting -- you'd think he was on his back painting a chapel with the noise he made about it.

Finley wanting what she wants, when she wants it. In this case, the camera, but it could be the blanket Harper has or, as is the case right now, me to move so she can have the computer -- really, she is telling me to get up right now so she can have the chair.

Finley either helping Momma feed Harper or interrupting her plot to drown her with milk.

We frequently get asked if they look alike at the same age, so you can be the judge. Here is Harper from last week. . .

While here is Shelley and Finley from June 2008 in Florida. Both have some cheeks, while Finley clearly has a hair advantage. You be the judge.

Finley's Two, Baby Amy's "Aptism," and more

So, ten days between posts isn't too bad, besides, lots happened since the last post -- almost all of which you'll see below -- a nice balance of Harper and Finley this post, which should only continue as the girls get older. Finley celebrated her second birthday with two different birthday parties and we drove to Iowa for baby cousin Amy's "aptism," with Shelley as her godmother. For more coverage on the 'aptism, I'll throw coverage over to our sister blog for the Stueckers on the left side of the page.

I need to apologize in advance, the software for posting pictures is a bit tricky, so there may be a couple of pictures in an odd order. However, you get what you pay for with this blog, so suck it up.


Now that Harper is a older and bigger, Shelley will sometimes carry her in the Baby Bjorn. This week, she's been bundling her up and walking the dogs one at a time, which Finley in the stroller, too (please visualize, as it is quite a sight!!!). One of Finley's Christmas presents was a bunch of doll accessories, such as a bouncy chair, pack and play, and yes, a Baby Bjorn, which you can see Finley modeling above.

Finley's second birthday party, the day after her real birthday, was celebrated at Happy Joe's Pizza in Burlington, Iowa with family and friends (Shelley's, not Finley's. . . yet). Elayna is looking on, and helping, while Finley opens presents. She also had the best line of the night. Elayna is an aspiring fashionista, and when Fin opened an outfit from the Zaiser family, of which she is a part, she looked at Finley with all seriousness, to apologize for the fact they couldn't find tights and shoes to match -- she's in first grade! Good luck Nina and Scott shopping for school clothes with her.

This is prior to leaving for the 'asptism -- isn't Harper fancy? And pay attention to Finley's smile -- you get this face whenever someone says, "Say Cheese."

Finley modeling one of her birthday dresses -- I'm not sure if this is the one that lacked the proper shoes and leggings or not.

A friend from when we lived in Montana, Gary Bradley, was in town yesterday. He loved the girls and they clearly warmed up to him (he held Harper so much that we had to make sure she was in the bouncy chair before he left). We went out to Tacos el Norte for dinner, where we had to warn Gary that not only does Finley LOVE guacamole, but she's a notorious double-dipper.

Monty is so tired, she just rests on my, I mean now Finley's Two Bear.

Yep, you can tell Finley's birthday was a special event -- Shelley baked. The cupcakes had little Fs, smiley faces, or hearts on them.

If you recall from Thanksgiving, Amy dwarfed Harper. As you can see, Harper has filled out some, but she difference in age is still evident -- as is the fact the Amy's father, Steve, is a much taller man than I am.

Finley's birthday cake for the Burlington birthday party was made by the same woman that 9 years ago made our wedding cake -- nice symmetry, huh?

The birthday girl, her parents, and her lollipop.

The Weinstein family for years to come -- happy parents, children that are distracted at best and, as with Harper here, mad at worst. And let's be honest, after a full day of soccer games, we may not look this happy on a Saturday 3 years from now.

Finley discovers the whisk of a mixer for the first time. As you saw from a post last week -- she loves the frosting and wants nothing to do with the cupcake. This was the best part of her birthday party in Libertyville.

Harper really is a generally happy baby. She has a great disposition and unless Shelley leaves her alone with me, she is the sweetest baby possible. However, whenever she knows she is being watched by the substitute teacher (me), she can be a lot more direct that she isn't getting the level of service she's grown to expect.

She loves to smile. . . and does it a lot more as she gets older (yep, unless Shelley's gone, then she turns into Baby Ms. Hyde).

Another picture of Harper from the same sequence.

As Finley says, "Nana Pat with two babies." As you can see from Finley, someone told her to "Say Cheese."

A little video of us acting like fools to make Harper smile for you.

This was a lot, so I hope it tides you over until next time.

More from this Weekend

As promised, I wanted to freshen up the blog by posting a bit more from this past week and weekend. I do have a bit more to post that I'll probably get on the blog Sunday.

Before I get to the stuff from home, below is a great little collage of Harper from daycare that they put together for Valentine's Day. As you can probably tell, she is starting to become much more expressive and show her personality. You can see from the pictures, too.

Finley said she was tired, so when we asked her if she wanted to go to bed, she proceeded straight over the the dog bed in the living room. More surprising, Jack didn't immediately get up and run.

When we asked her if she was going to sleep there, she put her head down and closed her eyes. If Child Services is reading this, I can assure them that she did not sleep there.

In Finley's hands is Two Bear, my childhood teddy bear (who am I kidding, my life-long teddy bear). Finley has claimed it as her own, to the point of becoming visibly upset if I refer to him as "my Two Bear." She still plays the stuffed animal field - there are 6 stuffed animals/dolls that she requires in bed with her each night (and carried to the living room during the day), but it seems she likes Two the most, primarily because she can deny me him. This is probably good practice for when she'll want my car . . . or wallet.

With Nana Pat in town last weekend, Shelley made cupcakes for Finley's first of many birthday celebrations. She refuses to eat the cupcake itself, but is VERY thorough in removing the frosting. Saturday also brought her first chance to like the whisks of the mixer -- she was like Monty the beagle attacking every drop of frosting from the metal. . .

. . . and her hands.

More to come -- check back soon.

Harper Smiling & Finley at Gymnastics

I know, I know, I start every post with an acknowledgement that I'm not doing very well and a promise to do better. I've been on the road a great deal lately and as this blog is a one-parent hobby, I get behind from time to time. However, I've got some good things below and some more to come tomorrow or Monday.

These pictures are from Nana Pat's camera, who is in town this weekend for the Super Bowl. She went with us to gymnastics today, so she was responsible for Finley's action photos. I'll post some pictures from our camera, as well as a couple of videos if they turned out, as I mentioned above.

Responding to feedback, we're gonna try to get more pictures of Harper up on the website. She's becoming responsive to people other than her mother, with smiles and coos. She is also starting to get her own look, as opposed to people just saying she looks like Finley. Her hair is lighter and almost reddish, while she has a good Hoschek hairline, and her eyes are very blue right now.

Finley is a jumping fiend on the trampoline. She doesn't have very much height, but she bounces like a rabbit on the tramp, until inevitably, she loses her balance and falls over. She also is not very pleased when Daddy gets on the tramp with her. . . "Get off, Dada, get off!!!"

She loves climbing up the slide by herself and going down.

It isn't a very clear picture, but Finley was doing great on the bar today pulling her feet off the ground and hanging or swinging. I've been working on pullups with her and by working on it, I mean I tell her about it while she runs to the slide or gets distracted by the green monkey hanging off the bar.

As one of the grand dames of Baby Gym (this is her third session, after all), she is always one of the first to get in line for the activity. Here she is demonstrating fine barrel roll form with the younger Ms. Kelly.

As promised, here is the first picture of Harper's smile. She has been a very happy baby, even last week through a bout of RSV, a respiratory virus that can be pretty tough on babies. She is starting to only wake up once during the night, so that is helping her mother a great deal. We are in the process of painting a room and buying a "big girl bed" for Finley, so Harper will be in the crib shortly.

As I said, more to come shortly!