11 Months

Yesterday, Finwe turned 11 motnhs of age.

He weighs 26 pounds.

He's currently supposed to be napping. He's not.

This is all you get for now.

Haircut

Ah, he's all boy again. None of that hair over the ear thing.

Push Toy

Who needs those push toys sold in stores when you have a cheapo ottoman from grad school for your baby to push around? It's got the proper amount of friction for his state of development. Wheels would just reduce the friction, allowing him to move faster. This faster momentum would only cause gravity to claim him. I'll take the ottoman over the push toy any day.

We do have a wheeled push toy. We just aren't using it right now.

Expect nothing . . .

and you'll be happy with nearly anything.

That's how I want you to think of this blog for the next few days. Why?

My van will be in for normal maintenance tomorrow meaning that I will have to shove all three kids into Phill's Ford Escape for a trip to the library (as promised today to two very upset children who wanted to go TODAY!) and to get some heads of hair cut.

And, to add to the chaos, Finwe is currently in serious, painful teething mode. Both of his upper front teeth are descending through his gums. The right one made its initial break yesterday. The left is still working on it. He's very unhappy. He won't nap. He's waking at all hours of the night.

It took infant's ibuprofen and some Orajel on his gums to get him to just sit still this evening. He doesn't want to drink anything for very long. He does like chewing on food, though.

I'm tired. Phill is tired. The girls are a tad frightened of me as I'm a bit scraggly and short tempered.

Expect very little until Finwe decides that he can tolerate the pain or until the pain can no longer tolerate Finwe.

Standing

It's difficult to tell from this picture, but Finwe is standing on his own. He is not using his elbow to lean on the table at all. He's standing on his own more and more lately. I even coaxed him to think about taking a step today. Not that I want to rush him, but I can't help it.

Watching a baby figure out the mechanics and balance of walking is so exciting. Even Inwe and Larien get into the cheering and coaxing.

They really want him to talk. They imagine that he can say doggie and Inwe. He doesn't. He has lots of sounds, but none of them mean a thing.

Tattoos

Not that you can tell that this is Inwe, but she chose to put two of the tattoos from the grease pit on her feet. And, I don't really have a frame of reference, but her feet are huge in comparison to her body. As opposed to Finwe who can wear shoes labeled 6-12 months but is wearing clothes for 18-24 months. He has little feet, that or the food never has a chance to reach his feet because his belly and hiney get it all.

Imagine no longer

Mommy! I'm getting two of my top teeth. I need something to chew.

(Picture of a worried Finwe with some slobber on his chin. His dark blue t-shirt is smeared with food from Dad not putting a bib on him.)

Oh, look, that toe will do just great!

(Picture of Finwe leaning over so that his belly is touching his legs. He is chewing on his left big toe.)

Now my feet are all slobbery. Can I have towel?

(Close up of feet wet with slobber.)

Someone Needs a Haircut

On Wednesday when I picked the kids up from the gym's Kid Zone, I commented to one of the workers (one of my favorites, actually) that Finwe needed a haircut.

"Really?" she said with sincere surprise, "You aren't going to wait until he's a year old?"

"Uh, no." I added, "He's had two haircuts already."

To which she replied, "Wow! If you had waited he'd have way too much hair."

After this exchange I started thinking and wondering, Did I miss something? Do any of you other people out there know of some ritual haircutting for boy babies at one year of age? Did I break some rule, unknown to me?

He still needs a haircut. I guess I go call MS PSHair now.