Short, fat tree

...but we were excited to get a Noble fir for the first time. :) Here it is with only the lights.


Then I added the ornaments. Finn is doing pretty well with the tree. There are a couple of ornaments that he's allowed to play with. Plus, there's one that has a button he can push to make Winnie the Pooh talk - so that's super fun! :)

We put lights on the house last week sometime. It's always tricky figuring out where to start & how to best use all of the lights. I think we figured it out, but we wish that we would've put lights along the very top of the roof too. Maybe we'll fix it...and maybe we won't.

This is the face that Kenton generally makes at some point during the house decorating process:

lemony goodness

Here's a video of Finley's reaction after tasting a lemon. Some people thought we were being mean, but he liked it! (Or at least, he was having fun.) He wanted to taste it over & over again. :)

mama's eyes

I think he has his mama's eyes. :)

morning hair

Finn is officially walking! He started about a week ago. He walks everywhere. He can even lift up to standing without any help - which makes him so proud! He gets really excited when he's walking & really seems to enjoy himself! :) I can't believe we have a walking boy. It's weird for me... He's not nursing anymore + he's walking = he's not a baby anymore. :( But this is definitely a fun stage. He's starting to talk more. He says "Hi" to everyone (we make friends wherever we go!). We're pretty sure he calls me "Baba" instead of Mama. He also says "goggie" for doggie.

We live near the Eugene airport & hear planes fairly often. Whenever they fly overhead, Finn waves his hand in the air like an airplane & makes an "airplane" noise. :) He waves bye-bye to everyone & night-night (to Daddy). And if I'm really lucky, he gives me kisses. He likes to tickle toes, but he's still learning to be gentle. His favorite thing in the world to do is to turn on the X-box by pushing the "X" in the middle of the controller. It lights up green & a second later the console turns on. Very exciting stuff!

Anyway, I felt like I needed to make notes of all the things Finley is doing at 13 months. Hopefully we'll get our Christmas tree tonight & I'll get to post some holiday photos of our house. I feel like this year I am busier than I have ever been before. Working on projects, shopping, cleaning, working, thinking about sending a Christmas card... Harder to get everything done now that there's a little boy following me everywhere. :) But worth every second!

doing it himself

This morning was the first time that Finn really wanted to use the spoon by himself! I had never really let him try, so I let him go for it. He did really well for a couple of spoonfuls. We were really surprised! He was using his left hand & I was curious, so I switched the spoon to his right hand. Then he became uninterested in the spoon. He wanted to eat with his hands... :)

Then he just skipped straight to licking the bowl clean. Daddy & I were amused!

He was so proud of himself!

So fun.

So fun to get a package delivered...even if it was full of gifts for Finn. :) Kris, Samantha & Charis sent some birthday gifts for Finn. When we woke up from his nap, Kenton helped him open the box. He really is interested in taking things out of containers right now, so he was excited to find his presents! :)

Here is his first reaction to a scarf that Sam knit. :) He ripped it off pretty quickly.

After Mama modeled it for him, he was way more interested! I'm not sure if he's really worn a scarf before, so he must have been confused...

His favorite was the touchy, feely puzzle.

It apparently tasted good too!

Thanks guys! So cool of you to think of Finn even though we're so many miles away! He's having so much fun with the new toys. And the book was a hit...at least for me & Kenton. Finn doesn't really get it yet! Though he did think my fart sound effects were pretty funny. ;)

Nothing better..

...than seeing friends! We had a fun weekend visiting with family & friends. Kenton organized a "Rock Band" party in honor of his new game. Everyone got a kick out of playing drums, guitar or bass along with their favorite (or maybe a random) rock song. Others belted out the lyrics with the microphone. Everyone had a chance to be a star...it was a good time!


On Sunday, I got to see my friend Angela! She & her husband recently returned from a 2 year mission in China. I hadn't seen her since she'd returned & what better occasion than her baby shower! So fun. It is always so great to get caught up with friends. I also visited with several of my friends' moms, so that was a treat. Here's a shot of Angela's cute belly; I can't wait to see pictures of their baby boy, Rooke.


As soon as I get some pictures from my sisters (*hint hint*), I'll post about Finn's baby dedication at church on Sunday. Griffin got dedicated during the 1st service & Finn's was during the 2nd service. Big weekend!

yummm...

Today we celebrated Griffin's 1st Birthday! He was walking all over the place & in such a good mood.

Gretchen decorated a beautiful monkey cake & Griffin loved it! Yumm...chocolate! It's so good to be one!

All 9 of Griffin's cousins were at his party, plus his 1 big brother! Along with lots of aunts, uncles, grandparents & great-grand parents. It was kinda hard to get all of the kiddos looking at the camera at the same time. Sadie is just peeking out from behind Cohen. :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Yumm...stuffing & candied yams! My favorites! Along with pumpkin pie...& mashed potatoes & gravy. Our little family was actually just recovering from a stomach bug. No fun! So eating was a little bit tough. But we did enjoy our first real meal after being sick. Unfortunately, Kenton's mom got the bug just in time for the big day. So, she stayed home & we ate dinner at Kenton's grandparent's house with his dad & brother, Brian. We love having his family in town! It so great to see them so often. Plus, we get to celebrate all of the holidays with them too!

Finn liked the turkey, stuffing, & sweet potatoes, of course! He really enjoyed the little tastes I gave him of pumpkin pie! Yumm!


A semi-blurry family shot...I think everyone is looking in the general direction of the camera. We had 3 cameras on timers taking pictures at the same time. So it was a little tricky figuring
out which one to look at first. :)

Erik came down from Seattle & everyone was able to be together for the Hecht family Thanksgiving dinner, though we did miss Celeste. My stomach wasn't ready for round 2, but we enjoyed leftovers with my parents & Erik today. We actually had leftovers with Kenton's mom for lunch too! Spreading out the holiday celebration...

Sunday

playing blocks with the big kids

Tristan, Finn & Kaiden - 2nd cousins

We went to a brunch at Mike & Leslie's house on Sunday afternoon with all of the family. Sabrina & Tor opened presents then too. It was really neat to see all of the 2nd cousins playing together. Tristan & Kaiden let Finn knock over their towers & were really sweet with him. Tristan didn't even get upset when Finn started taking his stickers off of his book shelf. His patience with Finn really amazed us. I hope we can make more opportunities for them to play together.

After the brunch, we drove to Berkeley to visit Tom & Lauren (Kenton's friend from High School & my college roomie - we all went to OSU together & lived in the same dorm.) They have a new dog named Neko who was super friendly & loved Finn. She liked to lick his fingers & he didn't mind at all. He would just laugh & smile so big! It was great (as usual) to visit with our friends.

Lauren & Finn reading books

Tom & Neko

Sabrina & Tor's Wedding

Such a pretty, autumn wedding.

The toast. Sabrina's sister Melanie was the Matron of Honor & is giving the toast here. Sabrina's brother, Mike & his wife Leslie were in the wedding too, plus Tor's sister.

Sabrina's beautiful dress! They were getting ready for their first dance.

This is Finn's Great Aunt Kate holding Riley (his 2nd cousin). She's almost 7 months & crawling all over too! She looks very serious here (we also think that she looks like our friend Sandy). :)

Finn showed off for everyone by taking 17 steps! That was by far the most he had walked. He was really motivated by the stairs...which is why I am holding his hand in this picture. He was so proud of himself & really seemed excited to be walking! He's really getting better, everyday...scary!

pre-wedding fun

Here are some pictures from our trip to Sacramento & Berkeley. I'll try & post them in come kind of order & group the pictures together by days or events. We had a lot of fun & are very happy to be out of the car. That was a long long drive...for all of us. :)


Finn's first taste of an In-N-Out cheeseburger. Not impressed. I don't know whose kid this is...cause we were so, super excited to see that our hotel was on the same street as an In-N-Out. Unfortunately, we only ate there once...

We took a little walk around our hotel. There was a little path that led to a creek & supposedly a waterfall. I was in flip-flops & there were pokey bushes, so I never actually saw the waterfall. But we took cute pictures!

Eight Teeth! (One is still hiding a bit)

Grandma Outi, Pappa Kevin, Great Aunt Sharon, Great Aunt Jennifer, Great Grandmother Marylee (Bampa-as Kenton named her when he was a kid), Great Papa Lew, Great Uncle Bill (Jennifer's husband), Kenton, Finn & I (taking the picture) went to eat at Island Burgers before the wedding. Finn did pretty well & was good entertainment for all of his great aunts/uncles/grandparents. :)

Finn was not excited about the pool at the hotel. We hadn't been swimming since this summer, but he loved it then. We were surprised that he was so sad; I guess it was a little cold. He was "ok" when I got in with him, but was still concerned.

going to California

Only 1 dahlia bloomed this year...but it was pretty!

Tomorrow after I am done with work, we're going to drive down to the Sacramento area for Kenton's cousin's (Sabrina's) wedding. We'll be getting down there late tomorrow night, but the wedding is an evening wedding so we'll have some time to relax before the event. Then on Sunday, we're going to visit Tom & Lauren (Kenton's friend from high school & Katrina's roommate from OSU) in Berkeley! Yay! We have a lot of friends that live in the Bay area & it's always hard to travel in that area without seeing everyone. But, it's going to be a super quick trip & there's just not enough time.

Nearly all of the Henry side of Kenton's family will be at the wedding & some of them haven't met Finn yet. So it'll be a fun to visit with all of the family. I'll be sure to post some pictures when we get back.

just for laughs...

Carolyn pointed out to us just how funny this picture is... I didn't really look at it before because we weren't planning on ordering Christmas cards. But when we looked back at it & saw the angel blowing the horn, with the words "Rejoice," we couldn't stop laughing. Kenton laughed so hard that he was in tears...Finn's face is priceless! :)

Finn's photo shoot

Here are some of my favorite shots from Finn's 1 year portraits. He was pretty squirmy & uncooperative...so I was surprised that they (JC Penney Portrait Studio) got some pretty cute shots. Kinda helps that he's such a cute kid, right? :)

Finn's first birthday candle

We'd been practicing blowing out candles for about a month before Finn's birthday. Every time he would see a candle, he would start blowing & pointing in that direction. So when we lit his birthday candle & started singing "Happy Birthday," Finn was ready! He blew at the candle through the whole song. When the song was over & the candle was brought closer, he blew it out in one try!

4 generations

Finn met his great-grandfather (Papa John) today (it was my first time meeting him too). We're hoping that the common trait skips a generation so that Finn can enjoy a full head of hair past the age of 20! We'll see... :) Doesn't look like there's much hope. It was neat to see Papa John holding Finn & enjoying his 1 year old energy.

one more thing:

I made these pages to display at Finn's party, & (of course) to add to my scrapbook. A photo from each month of his first year of life. I really want to do something like this for him, every year. Just wanted to share it, in honor of my son's first birthday. Sorry this picture is crooked & kind of fuzzy.


P.S. ******* Happy Birthday Cohen!*******

12 month check-up

Finn & I just got home from his 12 month check-up with Dr. Miller. He weighs 22 lbs. 6 oz (50th percentile) & is 31 1/4 inches long (95th percentile). We were happy to see his weight percentile go up from 15th at his 9 month check-up. He loves that solid food! He got 3 shots today & will be going back to get a follow-up flu shot in a month, plus 2 others that he was supposed to get today. Just figured it'd be nice to spread out the "ouchies" as much as possible. He didn't cry for the first shot - just furrowed his brow. But he cried for the second poke & screamed for the third. He calmed down soon enough.

He was definitely showing off the nurse & doctor - jumping, squawking, babbling, crawling at lightening speed...took 2 steps! (Earlier today he walked from Kevin & Outi's love seat to their ottoman: 4 steps, I think.) He even said "bubble" for Dr. Miller, after he'd asked if Finn could say any words that he would understand. :)

His check-up went well & the doctor said we're doing well! Now, we're going to start whole milk. So many new things to try now that he's one!

happy birthday dear Finley...

First ride in his front-facing (Big Boy) car seat. He looks so little! Needless to say, he likes facing the front!

First birthday - he opened so many neat gifts!

First birthday candle! He blew it out in one try! He was also trying to blow it out the whole time we were singing "Happy Birthday."

First taste of frosting, cupcake & ice cream! Yumm! He took tiny tastes until I set the cupcake down on his tray. Then he grabbed it & tried to put the whole thing in his mouth! He was a little unsure of the cold ice cream at first, but was so sad when it was all gone.

Such a fun first birthday party. All of our family (who lives in town) was there & Finn's friends Ethan & Macey brought their parents too. :) He was so spoiled with such fun toys. I can't wait to break into them tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who helped make his day so special!

I have a 1 year old!

Yay for being a big kid...

& for climbing & playing & getting into everything. Everyday is fun! There are challenges. But we're experiencing new discoveries with Finn & we're enjoying the adventure!

Finn had fun rocking back & forth in his car seat. He climbed right in (after bath time) while I was trying to get him dressed. We usually take our time during this process...partly because it's fun to play & partly because he's so squirmy & fast, so it's hard to keep him in one place long enough to get his clothes on him. :)

We're going to be shopping for a big kid car seat this week! I can't wait to see his reaction to being able to ride in the car in a front-facing car seat!

I often bring Finn out to the garage (our laundry room) to get clothes out of the drier. After I fill the basket with clothes, I plop him on top & carry the whole load back inside. Today he didn't want to get out & kept trying to crawl back on top of the clothes. :)

I love seeing new expressions in different photos. He's growing & changing so much, all the time.

This toy converts from a "walker" to a "rider." Finn got a kick out of having "O's" in the little tray. He could snack & scoot at the same time...except he hasn't really figured out how to scoot yet. He'll get it figured out soon enough.