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!

Harper's Growing . . . Fast (and More)

As promised, I wanted to get some family updates, as well as newer pictures up on the blog. First, Harper had her two month appointment about a week and a half ago and she is doing great. She gained almost 2 pounds between her one and two month appointments and is now 11 lbs, 7 oz, which is in the 75%-90% of weight for babies born 37 weeks. This is along with 22 inches (50-75%) and 39 cm head (75%). If you recall, Finley has consistently been around 25% for everything but head, so we aren't used to such a . . . robust child. Finley is doing great, too, and is scheduled for her two-year old check-up in about a month.

So, on with some pictures:


Finley is a funny baby about food -- she'll eat almost anything, but only when she's in the mood. She was in the mood for a half of avocado.

Best friends.

As I mentioned below, Finley HATES having her nose suctioned out, so this picture was kind of funny. Rather than have nightmares during her nap that it would come to get her, she kept control of it while sleeping.

Tonight was bath night -- first Harper, then Finley. Finley was so excited, she got ready a bit early.

Since this is the end of the post, I thought this picture was appropriate at the bottom (two puns -- get it?!?!?). She'll hate this when she's older.

The Girls

I've been very busy at work, so I have been neglecting my blog duties. The girls are doing great, although Finley is fighting ear infections right now. Harper's two-month appointment went well -- she is over 11.5 pounds now, which is almost 2 pounds heavier than a month ago -- she loves what the Mama is cooking!!

We haven't taken a ton of pictures, but here are some from a couple of weeks ago that were cute of the girls. More to come this weekend.

Finley HATES getting her nose squeegeed out, no matter how runny it is. She is turning the tables and going to use it now on her Baby Amy.

Christmas Break Pictures -- and an Unqualified Endorsement!!

Slow time at the Weinsteins -- I took most of the past two weeks off, while Shelley begins to prepare to head back to school. We both knocked off some projects -- painting a bathroom, getting ready to move Finley into a "big girl" room so that Harper can have the crib, etc. As a result, we haven't had much special to record, but below are some pictures that just capture the day to day. At the bottom, I will also give the four of you my unqualified endorsement for a product purchase.


Shelley took the dogs for a walk the other day and bundled Harper up in a slightly too large snow suit. She was asleep for the whole walk under blankets and a cover in the stroller, so when they got home, Shelley didn't want to wake her by unzipping her. She looks like a little pink marshmallow.

Jack got excited about a box of Christmas presents that came a couple of days ago. This is actually after he's backed out a little bit.

This is Harper getting her bath last night. Our girls seem to in only one direction at a time. Finley was getting taller, but now seems to be filling out in preparation for another growth spurt. Harper is starting to chunk out, too, so it is likely she is going to be getting bigger, also.

Monty is very thorough in licking out the chocolate milk cups (don't worry, there is remarkably little left for her to poison herself on).

Great news in the family -- it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Theodore Stephen Hoschek -- 7 lbs, 6 oz and 20 inches. Shae and Lisette's son came last week on the 28th, only hours before Aunt Shelley's birthday. In the course of little over three months, three grandkids have been born to the Hoschek family, bring the total, with Finley, to four.

Monty is in charge of nap training and she reports that Harper is a fast learner. She hasn't kicked Monty in the nose yet while napping.

Not a great picture, but one that we took a day or two after Finley's haircut to show the shorter bangs.

Finley really, really wanted to wear her sunglasses.

As promised, I am trying to get more Harper pictures into the blog. She really does seem to look more and more like Finley as a baby. This is slightly blurry due to the swinging.

Finley loves this dog sweater, but the picture also shows her new bangs, as well.

OK, the Consumer Reports review. This weekend, we bought a webcam so that we could have live video chats on Skype between Finley and her family. So far, Nana Pat and Papa Joel have each installed webcams and both were video conferencing with us in minutes. Finley loved seeing Nana Pat while she was talking to her and my Mom was able to hold up her cat, which Finley loved, too. The picture is very clear and the sound is as good as the phone, so if you have family far away, a webcamera really seems to be a solid investment.

I wish everyone a safe, healthy, and successful 2010.