July 4th Weekend

This was our July 4th--a wonderful chaos.

But first, a backlog of photos from the beginning of summer:

Will eating lunch at Connor's

Connor and Will in the pool

The boys take turns (!!) on the John Deere

What can I say? They really love holding hands.

The following photos are from this weekend:

Connor and Will at an impromptu cookout at Connor's house;

this is early in the evening.

Later, they sat side-by-side in high chairs and

Connor shrieked while Will laughed hysterically.

Then Connor tried to feed Will watermelon--

Will announced that "Connor cup fall down."

They might be a little loud for the grownups sometimes,

but they sure do get a kick out of each other.

We also did the pool with Bella and Joe Joe this weekend.

Will was really excited to hang with his big cousins,

and Finn had a nice time kickin' it (literally) in the baby pool.

In-House Entertainment

Ladies and gentlemen, the Noon Brothers:

They'll be here all night...every night!

Teeth for Finn!

Finn's bottom two teeth popped through sometime last week.

At five months old!

Suddenly, some questions are getting answered.

Like why Finn's sleep suddenly (and, we thought, randomly)

became more disrupted (instead of more consistent)

at four and a half months.

Will was seven and a half months before he saw

any tooth action at all, and...

I think the concept that these two boys are

COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE

is starting to sink in.

Will was sitting up independently at five months old,

and he wanted to stand and crawl at the expense of rolling.

Finn? Not yet mastering the art of the seated position,

but he made it across Will's bedroom today in

under a minute by repeatedly, gleefully rolling over.

And obviously this whole spoon obsession

makes a lot more sense to me now.

Will at 21 Months

He is full of raucous joy.

He treats his brother like a little prince.

(His brother thinks he's the best thing since pureed pears.)

"Mama. Close garage door,"

he reminds me as we pull out of the driveway.

"My name is...DADA!" he crows,

collapsing into a giggle fit.

(Sometimes his name is Mama, or Finn-Finn,

or Goo-Gah, or even "Dave.")

He loves a good adventure.

He likes to dress up and make me laugh.

*****

"Who's my love-love?" I ask him,

and when he's done being playful,

he answers me straight:

"Will...Mama's...love-love!"

Yes you are, baby boy.

"Percy, Too!"

Will is a trains, planes and automobiles kind of guy, so it was no surprise when he started talking about Thomas the Tank Engine nonstop. We found an event called Day Out with Thomas, hosted by Edaville USA, a very toddler-friendly amusement park about an hour south of us in Carver.

We started talking about our trip a couple of weeks ago, but yesterday it seemed to dawn on Will that his trip to see Thomas was imminent.

"See...Thomas...wake up!" he would say, and "Give...Thomas...big hug!"

We went to meet Thomas today, and let me tell you, he lived up to the hype! See for yourself:

All (two of you) who are interested in watching me and Will go on a flying elephant ride (hi, Mom and Dad) for a minute and twenty seconds, this one's for you!

Five-month-old Finn had a pretty nice time riding the trains, too:

When denied access to the Ferris wheel due to height restrictions, Will said he was "Really. Really. Sad," in a mournful voice. But overall, the mood was "So! Happy!"--that's what he spontaneously shouted as he clapped his hands and ran for the Merry-Go-Round. When we asked him if he was having fun with Thomas, Will would nod and say, "Yeah. Percy, too." Will even got to pose with Thomas, and he made sure to give his beloved a kiss before heading home.

True Bromance

The other day at lunch I was bouncing Finn while Will ate his food, and I "walked" the baby toward Will and chirped "Brother!" as their faces were about to meet. Both boys got a kick out of it, but I went to change Finn and forgot about it until a few minutes later when Will called from his high chair:

"MORE."

"More what?" I asked, expecting him to say pineapple or raisins or milk or even Mommy.

"More! Brother!"

So, Dave and I decided to give him as much brother as he could possibly want, and the boys took their first joint bath. I'm sure Mark and Bee will be happy to see that neither Will nor Finn is wearing a shirt this time!

As Finn's personality emerges, the boys are enjoying each other more and more every day. On Thursday, Will spontaneously kissed Finn over and over--I may be projecting, but it looked like he was starting to realize what an asset this little brother might turn out to be--a loyal subject for His Royal Highness, if you will.

I'm so lucky I get to be here to witness it all unfolding.

First Best Friends

Jenny was my first best friend; we met at three (me) and seven (her) months old, and we went to high school together, and then we headed to the Midwest for college and continued fairly regular visits. She might be the only person I can NOT talk to for months and still feel completely at ease with when we do get to catch up.

Last week, Jenny and Tim brought home their baby girl, Fiona May, and we got to meet her on Friday. She is perfect and beautiful, sleeping and eating like a champ--she shouldn't even be born for another month and she's already smiling:

Fiona 2 wks old/Finn 4 mos old

Hopefully Will, Finn and Fiona will continue the tradition of being each other's first best friends.

Congratulations, Sheehan Family!