A Change of Perspective

I feel like a lot of things are changing in "Finn World" these days.

He is starting to eat more real foods, he is adding a lot of fun baby tricks to his roster.

He is actively copying sounds, and is making attempts at saying words, which to the normal human ear, they all sound like "da-da" but to the highly specialized parent ear, I hear, doggie, duck, Greta (we've been working on that one, and it really does sound like he says it sometimes!).

He is moving more....rolling lots more. Defying a nap or bedtime, or just for general merriment Finn can be found on all fours, peeping his little neck like a gopher, checking things out from his crib.

Which leads me to this change of perspective! His lowered crib.

For many more months than normal I think, we were able to keep the crib on the highest level because Finn never cared to roll around. Much to the chagrin of my lower back, down it must go....here are some pics of Finn enjoying this change.

And just for good measure, a few photos I will title, "Bed Head" one of MY new favorite things.

Visitors!

This weekend we were lucky to have my dear friend Kresha and her friend Dan for a visit!

They came down on Saturday and we had a great time together.

This was Kresha's first time meeting Finnegan and the two took on quite a fast liking for one another. Kresha was smart in donning a gorgeous black cardigan with bright flowers on it, Finn was mesmerized, and they quickly settled into a myna bird routine of a secret language made up mainly of what sounded like Hatha Yoga breathing!

We headed out to enjoy one of the first "nicer" days we've had in a while. 28 degrees and sunny! We headed to Millenium Park (one of my favorite spots in the city) to check out the Museum of Modern Ice! It was really beautiful and a fun outdoor thing to do.

Here is part of what the exhibit looked like!


It was truly beautiful and it was nice change to be APPRECIATING ICE for a change instead of just swearing about it under my breath all the time.

We went out for a nice lunch!

And of course had to stop at The BEAN!

It was a really nice time.

Thanks for coming Kresha and Dan!

Note: To all those who read this blog! Fun outings in the Chicago and silly interactions with Finn could be YOURS! Come and visit us :) We have a spare bed and a couch that pulls out into a bed now, so make the trip down to IL.

BONUS: For no extra charge we will give you a drive by tour of the Obama residence! 3 doors down from us! Thinking if we get some practice in now, we could be hired later on to do tours when the property becomes the "Former Residence of the President of the United States!" WOO HOO!

Vampire Baby

I think it is safe to say we are in the depths of teething hell.

Our never fussy, sweet, slow to cry, child is miserable.

We are, for really the first time since Finn came on the scene, losing sleep, (I KNOW WE'VE BEEN SO LUCKY....BUT IT STILL SUCKS)

The poor kid really has never cried or screamed much for his 9 months of life. So now the little sad thing is in pain, and not used to crying, so he coughs and rasps. It's pitiful.

See for yourself.

And this really is the saddest photo of Finnegan to date:

We are hanging in there....
Looking forward to all those little teeth forming a perfect politician movie start grin.

Another Day at Work - Last Week

Phew! Am I behind -

So my crazy week last week included another day of literacy outreach and shananigans with the Story Bus and kids all intereacting with the bus and it's Three Little Bears theme.

My job?

Face Painting!

It was awesome.

My Last Two Days at Work - Part 1

It's been a busy week at Open Books!
Lots of fun outreach in the literacy world.

Tuesday Open Books donated a brand new 6 seat Mac Mini computer lab to

The Blue Gargoyle: http://www.bluegargoyle.org/index.php , a great adult literacy center right in my neighborhood of Hyde Park!

Here are some of the pictures from the install!

Laying the carpet...

My new Marketing Intern Dustin working hard....

All together now! Let's see if they turn on.

They do - TA DA!!!

Hanging out in the new Blue Gargoyle Computer Lab

The Internet is a Random Place

And I love that about it.
There are a few sites I check religiously and I am always amazed at what is out there.
I know there are just WORLDS upon WORLDS to discover, and I am sure worlds that I will just continue to avoid.

BUT! One world that I have subscribed to wholeheartedly is the notion of finding random crap online.

This random crap often stirs up long dialogues, always until this point with myself. And I like that!

Exhibit A

Okay - Enter internal dialogue/rant -

"Really? Do we really need to make Pancakes & Sausage on a STICK, of the CHOCOLATE CHIP VARIETY?! Honestly. We know there is a problem with obesity, we watch shows like The Biggest Loser, but yet there is a market for this product?"

Sigh.
Whoa.

Goodbye Grandpa

My grandfather passed away last week, Thursday afternoon.

It is really quite a milestone for me as he was my last surviving grandparent.

I am sad, as I have lost both my Grandma and Grandpa Ekern within just a few months.

My grandma passing away from a tragic accident and my grandpa long battle with cancer.

Here are a few pictures of them with Finnegan, the only time my Grandma got a chance to meet him.

Two weekends ago, for our last visit with Grandpa, we had the special opportunity to attend an event to honor him for his 53 years of service driving school bus.

This party was thrown by moms, teachers, members of the community and most importantly his generations of kids that he took to school, happily and diligently.

Here are the photos from that party.

Here also is a wonderful article about my grandpa that ran in the Westby newspaper.

http://http://www.westbytimes.com/articles/2008/02/07/news/01story.txt