Finn's Blog

We have moved Finn's blog to a new site.  If you'd like the address, send an email to:
staceymimnaugh@gmail.com
or
jeremymailloux@gmail.com

Love,
J, S & F

Well, Finn is now 6 months old.  Can you believe it?  We sure can’t!  Where does the time go? 

He has been very busy lately and he really does not sit still.  Put him down on his back, he flips to his front, put him down on this front, he scoots around, grabbing at whatever he can.  Getting him dressed or changing a diaper is a whole new challenge. 

 

Finn is working on crawling.  He gets up on all four’s and rocks back and forth, he gets into “child’s pose” and pumps his legs, he scoots around anytime he is able, and is very good at moving backwards.  It is pretty funny to watch him, he is constantly disappearing behind furniture or frustrated because instead of moving towards the toy he is working so hard to get to, he is moving away from it. 

 

Finn is also making lots of new noises…BBB and GGG and other sounds I can’t possibly try to explain here!  We are having a good time talking with him and we’re looking forward to really understanding what he’s trying to tell us.

 

In other exciting news, Finn had his first food yesterday.  

It was a small piece of avocado mashed up witbreast milk.  Jeremy had the honors of feeding Finn.  He took the first finger full with curiosity, and he was a good sport with the second finger full, but when we tried a third, he twisted his face up and shut his mouth.  He really doesn’t seem all that interested in food yet, but we’ll see what happens next time. 

 

With this great fall weather, we have been out for a few hikes recently.

On Saturday we went for a hike in the Wendell State Forest.  Finn loved it!  He especially loves the crunching of leaves underfoot.  Whenever we wade through a pile of leaves, he bounces up and down on Jeremy’s back, excited at the sound and the rippling of colors under our feet. 

Having a child truly gives you the opportunity to see the world with new eyes. 

Well first off, shame on us for not posting in sooooo long!  We have been busy soaking up the summer weather that finally arrived in mid August and enjoying the cool evenings that whisper fall is coming.  Finn has been a very busy little guy…where to begin!

 

FINN MEETS JIMPA, AUNT SANTA, AUNTIE ANNTIE, AL, MICHELE & ERIC

The last week of August was so wonderful.  Finn was able to meet a few of his relatives from Michigan, and what a great visit we had. 

We all spent a beautiful day together at the Lake with lots of good food, sunshine, boat rides and Jeremy and Grandpa Mike’s cannonball contest.

The next day, we went with Jimpa, Auntie Anntie,  and Grandpa Mike to Boston and Finn took his first boat ride on a Swan boat in the Boston Public Gardens.  It was a great afternoon. 

 

ROLLING MAD MAN

Finn has rolling down.  He rolls all over the place.  In fact, last week he rolled himself right off the bed!  Finn’s first fall was pretty scary for Mom, but Finn seemed to recover quickly and is no worse for the wear.  This little guy still loves to go for walks with Mom and Dad in the carrier, but if we aren’t walking, he wants to be on his blanket, with his toys, rolling around.  His favorites right now include his carrot from Aunt Jill & Uncle Billy, Turny-Burny, his little sheep and his big red bear.  This weeks newcomer is Sophie the Giraffe.  Finn loves Sophie!   She squeeks, has spots, is easy to hold on to, and has lots of parts that feel good on sore gums – horns, ears and hooves.   We won’t be surprised if Finn cuts his first tooth very soon.

 

We are sure that crawling is in the not too distant future.  Finn is wiggling those arms and legs when he is on his belly and continues to “plow” forward when he is able to dig his toes in and push himself towards whatever object his heart desires.  A little crawling boy will be a whole new adventure!

 

DR.’S APPOINTMENT

Today Mom, Dad and Finn went for Finn’s latest well baby visit.  Everything looks good!  He is growing right along the 50^th percentile for height and weight. He is 16 lbs and 26 inches long – but it is hard to measure a little boy who immediately tries to roll over the moment you place him on his back!

 

Today, Dad started another school year.  Sadly, our easy mornings filled with lots of cuddles, and the hope that we all might get “just one more hour” of sleep are over for a while.  But the cool nights and gorgeous autumn days have us planning weekends filled with hikes and harvest festivals.  We will try to be better about updating more regularly!

Finn’s first trip to the beach!

 This past weekend Finn had his first trip to Maine!  For three days we stayed with Uncle Brian and Aunt Kathy in Harpswell, right on the water.  It was a great vacation and a lot of fun. 

Perhaps the most exciting part was Finn’s first trip to the beach.  His first dip in the ocean was perhaps more fun for Mom and Dad than it was for Finn – the Atlantic can be pretty cold!  Finn was a good sport though.  Although he wasn’t a huge fan of being dipped in the water, he loved the feel of the sand on his feet as the tide went out, and he was transfixed by the waves.

 Of course, he was pretty cute in his new LL Bean beach wear and sunglasses. What a cool kid!

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Rolling Around

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Finn and Dad in the lake

Finn and his Ugly Doll

Family Reunion

At 4 ½ months, Finn is a blast! He is grunting and gurgling and shrieking and cooing away!  There are lots of smiles and happy noises in the house right now.  This little boy is starting to scoot forward when put on his belly and he is rolling all over the place.  

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Finn has also found his feet and has started sucking his thumb when he gets upset – mainly when we put him in his car seat.  Although, the ugly doll we bought him in Maine has seemingly improved his mood when in the car. 

Finn met a lot of his Italian relatives at the Piermarini family reunion last weekend, his Uncle Tony and Aunt Donna from Virginia on Sunday, and we are looking forward to our visit with the Michigan Mimnaughs next week!  It has been a very busy month so far!

 

Prior to this weekend, we knew one thing, we had to get away.  It was a big weekend here with Finn’s 16 week birthday upon us, so we went west.  We reserved a pass from the local library to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MOCA) in North Adams.  The added bonus on a humid, 86 degree day is that MASS MOCA is a large, air conditioned building! 

We packed up the car, picked up the pass, went to the Co-Op for snacks and hit the road.  It was a beautiful drive along the river down Rt. 2.  Finn screamed (with excitement, of course ;) ) from Greenfield to Charlemont.  Once at MASS MOCA though, he returned to his cute cooing self, and put on the charm.  We had a blast, and broke for snacks a few times.  It really is a wondrous place, especially at Finn’s developmental stage.  Contrasts and colors abound!  Stacey caught an interesting part of a

painting that seemed to describe parenting somewhat.  In the midst of a flow chart of words were the two phrases “I am not sure of anything” and “But I have a lot of hope for something.” Apt, don’t you thiAfter viewing all of the new exhibits (there are some pictures on Jeremy’s Facebook page) we returned to the scene of the line.  Some of you may remember that we visited MASS MOCA just before Finn

joined us and took a picture next to a very pregnant looking line painting by the artist Sol Lewitt.  We joked then that we would bring Finn back to pose with the painting when he graduates from high school, as the exhibit will run for twenty-five years.  Well, there is no time like the present.  Here he is in the first installment.

After our visit to the museum we drove up to the top of Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts.  We wandered around, and snacked, before winding our way back down the mountain and to home.

We believe Finn has his first favorite toy.  It is a sheep with a cloth body and knotted hands from Germany.  He is able to grab onto it and stuff it in his mouth.  He LOVES it! 

One other note of interest, Jeremy had a dream this week in which you could feed Finn quarters in order to get him to sleep.  Each quarter bought one half hour.  The dream was filled with a certain anxiety as Jeremy was running low on quarters!  That should tell you something about our sleep patterns.  Finn is actually a really good sleeper, (and happy as can be much of the time) but he is beginning to teeth, and so… That is all for now, hope you enjoy the pictures.

A lot has happened in the last 2 ½ weeks.  Where to begin?....

Finn had a doctor’s appointment on July 8^th.  He weighed in at 13 ¼ lbs and just shy of 24 inches.  The doctor was really impressed with how strong this little guy is, especially his head control.  We don’t like to brag, but what can we say! Finn is in the 50^th percentile for weight and 75^th for height.  The doctor thinks he’s just going to be a long, lean baby for a while.  You actually wouldn’t know he is considered “thin” for his height looking at his fantastic thighs and adorable cheeks. 

 

Finn has been up to lots of exciting things lately.  Most notably, he can now ride facing out to the world in the Baby Bjorn.  This has opened up a whole new world to the little guy on our (almost) daily walks.  He has also started rolling from his back to his front.  Actually, he has only done this a few times, more often than not, he gets stuck half way over – staring at whatever toy he was aiming for with the roll to begin with.  Luckily, he knows how to roll back on to his back and start the process over.  He is getting pretty good at rocking in order to gain momentum.  Speaking of new skills, he is also able to focus on an object he wants, grab at it with his hands – with a pretty good success rate – and then move said object towards his mouth.  This is coming in handy, since we believe he is in the early stages of teething. 

 

This past Saturday, Finn attended his very first wedding.  He wore the tuxedo that Uncle Kyle bought him, and was a big hit with all the guests.   

 

Here are a few pictures,  Enjoy!

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so.  This kid continues to amaze and delight us!  His latest thing is grunting.  He grunts at everything, all the time.  It is quite cute to have this adorable, smiley little boy grunting.  Enjoy!~

Finn just rolled over for the first time.  Literally, 2 minutes ago.  We put him down on his blanket for "tummy time" and he just looked up at us, and rolled over!  He rolled to his right twice and then to his left once.  This on the heels of his first laugh on Saturday and figuring out how to keep his right index finger in his mouth consistently yesterday. 

Having a child is the best thing in the whole world. 

Here are the videos.  Watch out, as Johanna discovered, he is a deadly aim with the drool.

Finn is getting big.. he has wonderful chubby little thighs and more than one chin depending on the angle.  Dad is finally home for the summer - sort of - and this week has been filled with long (hot) walks and other travels.  Finn is smiling so much and is more talkative each day.  There is nothing better in the whole world than your child looking into your eyes, cooing, smiling and kicking their legs wildly. 

Our first Father's Day was spent in Lunenburg with Grampa Mailloux, Grampa Mimnaugh and Great Noonoo.  It was wonderful to have everyone together.
 
In other news, we think Finn might be at the very early stages of teething.  At almost 12 weeks it is early for teething, but we think our boy is mature for his age ;).  He is wildly trying to keep his hands, our hands, clothes, blankets or pacifiers in his mouth.  And he is a little crabby, not his usual ray of sunshine self.  Today we went to Northampton and bought his first teether - it is shaped like an apple, unfortunately he can't really keep it in his mouth yet. Finn is also spending much more time on his tummy, looking extremely cute and then grunting when he is tired of holding his head up.  So we practice each day and hopefully he will learn to roll over in the next month or two.


Bath Time!  One of the cutest events are our house - hands down!  As the weather gets warmer and the days and nights stickier, bath time has increased.  Luckily for us, Finn loves getting a bath.  He lays on his little bath support in his little bath tub and smiles and kicks his feet in the water.  The biggest challenge is washing his hands and rinsing them off before he runs them by his mouth!
 
And best of all, here are two videos of our little man talking!
 

This last two weeks were filled with Finn talking - cooing and gurgling and squeaking the most wonderful sounds - as well as lots and lots of smiles.  Last week we had dinner with some friends and Finn met baby Pheobe (an older woman at 4 mos!) and they really hit it off with Andrea on the yoga ball. 

Finn also had his two month check up this week and is doing well.  He is 23 7/8 inches and 11 pounds, 12 ounces - at his last check up on April 22 he was 21 inches and 7 pounds, 11 ounces.  We can't believe how big he is getting!  We are having a lot of fun with this little guy, and luckily it doesn't take much to entertain him.   
Here are some pics from the last two week