Trot, Trot to Boston

Here's Will (22m) doing his rendition of the trot-trot song. (Is this a regional thing? In case it is, I typed the lyrics below the video.)

Trot, trot to Boston,

Trot, trot to Lynn.

Watch out, [name--in this case, "Gogo"]

Or you might fall IN!

Mobile: Not Just a City in Alabama

A month ago, Finn began to lurch awkwardly around. He could thrust himself backward using his arms, and he could rise on feet and hands and then FLOP! He could roll across a room--but he was not yet crawling, and for that I vowed to be thankful until the day it wasn't true anymore.

It's not true anymore. His flops became more coordinated, and he developed an army crawl that allowed him to slow-mo, and as of today the kid can CRAWL. I-see-what-I-want-and-now-I'll-go-get-it, full-on forward motion, crawl.

I am exhausted just watching him, since I can only imagine (in terror) what having two mobile kids will bring to my already-overflowing table. At the same time, of course, I'm grudgingly admiring. And then there's the "How is Finn almost seven months already?" time-lapse alarm going off in my brain.

Nonetheless, congratulations, Finny! I hope you'll always be as determined to get what you want as you are today. (Just not at three in the morning anymore, if you can help it, mmkay?)

The Three T's

Teeth.

Traveling.

The Coxsackie virus.

(I know, that last one's not technically a "T.")

The trifecta of new teeth, new self-propulsion abilities, and new challenges to Finn's immune system has slowly and then suddenly crept up on my younger son for the last three weeks. It hit a peak (valley?) this weekend when the virus denied us our planned trip to New Jersey and the incoming teeth and attempts at crawling denied us our sleep--any sleep--on Friday night.

I think the tooth pain is now ebbing, but the determination to crawl (and he really can crawl--mostly backwards on his belly, but sometimes forward and all the way up past his knees onto his FEET) is still waking him up twice a night and roughly every 25 minutes of a nap in the crib.*

As for the virus, the fever's gone but who knows what softer symptoms the kid continues to cope with.

I know this is a theme lately, but Will was so different. His first tooth came weeks AFTER he started to crawl, in his eighth month; we don't have a clue how to handle the disruption of tandem teething and crawling. Oh well, here's to things looking up next week.

*I find that nothing really interrupts his sleep when he's napping in the Ergo, which is probably because of how swaddled-ish he is, and that's wonderful but COME ON KID, you are almost six months old. It is time for some consistent napping!**

**To which Will says: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. You fool.

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.