Finlay

Hello - and welcome to my page! I was born on July 1st, 2007 in Morgantown WV. I am old now! You can find more details about the first week of my life here and lots of pictures of me here.

Some recent developments:

November 9th, 2009 The crib has transformed into what I am told is a "big boy bed" - still looks a lot like a crib to me, but I can now get out when I want which is a big breakthrough. I'm looking forward to tiptoeing down the hall in the middle of the night and waking everyone up!

September 2nd, 2009 My first day at preschool today - I started in Callum's old class - a few tears at first, but I got into things more and didn't want to leave by the end of the day. It's good to be around lots of kids my age!

September 1st, 2009 Not to be outdone by Callum on his new bike, I have started pedalling my big wheel around - it's great to have someone to look up to!

August 30th, 2009 After a failed attempt to wear big-boy pants the other day, I've decided a slower approach and just see if I can sit on the potty without getting antsy. Getting ridiculous amounts of praise for just sitting down. No pee yet though.

July 1st, 2009 I'm 2 years old today! How the time has flown. Enjoying being at Green Bank this summer - my third time here. First time it was a bit dark inside Mum's belly. Second time I was scooting around but this summer I am all over the place and having no end of fun with Callum, Cady, Henry, Caleb, Avery, Max and Willy.

March 15th, 2009 I astounded them all today by being the first to reply to the question "who is going to put you to bed tonight, Callum" - to which I boldly claimed "me!".

March 14th, 2009 I helped Mum and Dad out in the garden today clearing up leaves and digging small holes.

March 10th, 2009 I have dispensed with the baby chair for mealtimes and now join the rest of the gang at the table!

February 28th, 2009 I am getting a few stock phrases and often get egged along by the rest of the family into saying "I do" which is my latest favourite. I'm getting a lot quicker on my feet and race around the house often leading laps around the ground floor, closely persued by Mum, Dad and Callum.

February 1st, 2009 I am (finally) starting to show an interest in books. Today I requested "The zoo" for a dozen encores with "gen!" and the "Little Polar Bear" book is making a comeback at bathtime after languishing for a couple of years. Everyone else but me in the household seems to know this great literary art off by heart!

February 9th, 2009 I invented a great game tonight - it is called "jumping off the couch onto the floor"... it's so much fun!

January 31st, 2009 I apparently uttered "please Daddy" during mealtime today and got a big reaction from that. I can now call for people from a distance... e.g. Mummy from the bottom of the stairs and Daddy from my room.

January 18th, 2009 I'm chattering away like mad with all sorts of mumbo jumbo at the moment, much to everyone's amusement. I've also given up one of my two daytime naps lately and now have my afternoon constitutional around the same time of Callum - a big improvement for all!

January 10th, 2009 I'm on the mend again and am in good spirits. I'm starting to repeat everything said to me - new words are popping out at will. Today I managed to sit still long enough to have my nails clipped. Dad thought he'd never see the day...

January 7th, 2009 After a few rough days, it's back to the Doctors for yet more antibiotics and steroids. It's no fun being sick!

January 4th, 2009 Back to Morgantown, but... oh no... I'm coming down with a cold again and that cough is back... I'm feeling very sick and have an early night.

December 29th, 2008 Back in Oreland again! A much better trip over this time - we made the decision to drive in the day which was a lot better, and there was no snow. I'm having fun charging around after my older cousins and pointing to the new baby!

December 25th, 2008 Christmas Day! It's fun ripping up paper and playing with boxes - I never saw so many toys in my life! Where to begin? The vibrating hedgehogs are my favorite!

December 23rd, 2008 Back home today - but what a long time it took to get here. Seemed like the day would never end! At one point I realized you could run up and down the aisles and made a fleeting appearance in business class before being dragged screaming and kicking back to my seat. Spent hours looking out the window at the clouds and being paced up and down the plane. We were all glad to get off.

December 21st, 2008 I stayed at home with Mum while Callum and the rest of the gang went to see something called a Pantomime. This happened last year too! Why can't I go? Apparently it requires that you sit on a seat for 2 hours without moving much - hmmm... on second thoughts maybe I'm better staying at home after all.

December 17th, 2008 Arrived in England again - I am told I have been here before, but have no idea what they are talking about. Grandma looks familiar - think I have seen her on the computer in our office - how did she end up here? She has lots of nice toys to play with and my cousins are making sure I am never bored so we're having a good time.

December 15th, 2008 There's a really cool chess set at the Hotel we are staying in. I got us into a bit of grief today by smuggling one of the pieces back to our room and not telling anyone! Fortunately the piece turned up and we were forgiven.

December 14th, 2008 Found Mum again! Dad gets a break from carrying me around for a bit while Mum takes over and takes me for a walk in Amsterdam - it's a nice city, but I get a bit fed up toward the end and everyone can hear us from two blocks away. Had fun racing around the Museum later on.

December 13th, 2008 Today we flew a long way! On the plane to Chicago I fell asleep for a bit, but woke up just as Dad was trying to pick all our toys and leave the plane after we landed. It was rather an ungraceful exit, but we soon recovered and had fun racing around another airport again. Got on another plane and had an argument with Callum about jungle animals! Eventually fell asleep on Dad's chest - seems like everybody except me has a seat on this flight.

December 12th, 2008 Apparently we're off to find Mum. They're telling me that the plane is broken so instead we have fun playing in a hotel room, making a mess at a fancy restaurant and racing all around the airport.

December 9th, 2008 My Mummy has gone off on a plane! Dad is now in charge for a few days so it's cookies all around.

December 1st, 2008 Noel's cage has been replaced by a big green tree with lots of tinsel! Very pretty! I have a lot of fun racing around with small pieces and trying to pull the shiny decorations off - much to the annoyance of everyone else.

November 25th, 2008 A rough ride back to Oreland for Thanksgiving. It was very snowy weather and it took us 3 hours to go 50 miles over the mountains and another 3 hours to get to Philadelphia. I was very upset and cried for most of the way back. All arrived in the end, with some of the more senior members of the family at the end of their tethers!

November 14th, 2008 I'm on the verge of greatness with my vocab. Can do a whole repertoire of animal sounds and am trying to copy every word that is said to me. Some of my favourites are "rascal", "cracker", "good", "no", "green". The animal sounds always get the biggest laughs thought - especially the monkey and the horse. It's even been claimed that I am starting to recognize letters, though I personally think that is a load of baloney. Heady days indeed.

October 31st, 2008 My second Halloween! I stayed on the porch with Dad and handed out candy to all the kids. Managed to suck about 10 lollipops in the process - I was a zebra!

October 20th, 2008 Mum has finally seen my signing in action! I can "say" please, thankyou, finished, sleepy, hungry, play, change pretty well. Now I'm finally able to get my important points across! Nobody has taught me the sign for chocolate yet and I am forced to try and raid the fridge when nobody is looking.

October 8th, 2008 My vocab continues to build. I can now say "Cacker" "DogDog" "Gool" and many others. I also have a secret sign language that only Dad can interpret. I don't have the heart to tell him that I'm just copying what he does - it seems to keep him happy, so why burst his bubble eh?

October 1st, 2008 I seem to have the walking down pat now - apart from the odd topple over. My favourite thing to do is to try and chase Callum around - not quite up to speed yet, but I'm not far off.

September 12th, 2008 Walking is starting to come more and more common these days - I can often be seen staggering around the house, very reminiscent of my father after too many beers. But I'm getting there! Callum is my hero!

September 2nd, 2008 We started family swim class today - a lot of fun to learn new signs and how to splash around. My signs are coming along too - although I seem to be learning a few unorthodox ones at home.

September 1st, 2008 I listened to my first concert today - the Wheeling Sympony played down at the Waterfront for Labor Day. A good time was had by all. I enjoyed clapping and conducting and trying to crawl down a steep hill.... relentlously!

August 21st, 2008 I took my first doddery steps today. Just a pace or two but I seem to get ridiculous amounts of praise for it from Mum and Dad. I'm now dubbed "the famous walking baby" by Callum.

August 6th-8th, 2008 I've had a great time at Great Wolf Lodge in PA the last few days. The days have been spent at the water park going on slides and rides and playing with my cousins. Nights have been spent staying up late and getting up very early. I can't wait for the next trip here when I'll be walking and able to go on all the cool rides that Callum was doing. Still, the lazy river ride with Mum was lots of fun - I really enjoyed just splashing around in the water and getting lots of attention.

July 29th-August 2nd, 2008 Mum and Dad left me and Callum in Oreland while they headed to Puerto Rico. It was a good result for us as we got to have fun with the McLaughlins and got spoiled rotten for a few days. Highlights were getting carried around for five days straight, apparently saying bananas and getting licks from Henry the puggle.

July 21st, 2008 I hit the 20lb mark today on the scales - finally I can face forward on the car seat. All those pediasures are starting to kick in.

July 20th, 2008 I'm doing the odd unassisted stand these days and generally getting into anything and everything. My favourite pastime is doing whatever Callum is doing and getting him into trouble for not sharing his toys. I hear the words "NO FINLAY JACK, THAT'S NOT FOR YOU" quite a lot at the moment.

July 6th, 2008 Today I climbed the stairs for the first time! There's no stopping me now. I'm crawling as fast as I can after my brother everywhere he goes and am getting the hang of this standing up business. Though no real unassisted stands just yet...

July 3rd, 2008 I am getting another round of teeth and am fighting going to bed! After a year of being easy to put to bed, I've decided to stamp my authority on this house by wailing for extended periods in the evening and grinding my teeth. I am really tired and could do with a good night's sleep. Hopefully I'll be back on track soon.

July 1st, 2008 I am one year old! Today we had some of Mum and Dad's students over to the house to celbrate and last weekend we had a great party! You can see some pics of that here. So two cakes in three days! I like cake!

June 27th, 2008 I've been fighting a cold all week, and determined to be well for my birthday party this weekend!

June 15th, 2008 I'm pulling myself up more and more these days and will soon be cruising around. I'm obsessed with the rail in the bath and trying to stand. People are starting to place bets on when I'll be taking my first steps.

June 9th, 2008 I've discovered the peekaboo game now and will randomly pick up a blanket and start playing it with any passer by. My talking is coming along, too. I can say a few things like "Yesh" and "Wat dat?"

May 29th, 2008 Today I pulled myself up in the bath and stood on my two bandy legs momentarily. Dad is hoping that I won't start walking in the next 10 days while he is away.

May 10th, 2008 Today I waved!

May 9th, 2008 My crawling is now fully established and I can quickly race away from any spot in the room. All bets are off now and they'd better keep watching me as I'm getting into everything and anything. I'm starting to discover the 3rd dimension too and pull myself up off the floor! Callum's toys on the table are no longer safe!

May 4th, 2008 I actually crawled forward in a meaningful way (i.e. without going backwards) today. I've been told this is a great advance! It's easy for them to say!

April 28th, 2008 Today I clapped for the first time and I havn't stopped since. I'm eating everything in site at the moment, too, despite only having two teeth! It's amazing what you can do with those gums and a bit of determination.

April 24th, 2008 We still can't get to the bottom of why I keep getting this awful cough. Next month I've got a visit to an allergy specialist planned - hopefully they'll find out something. Apart from all the coughing, I am happy and healthy.

April 20th, 2008 I can now get back to a sitting position after rolling around on the floor. This is starting to come in very handy. My crawling is coming along - I can now go backwards. Currently working on trying to go forwards and can be found rocking on my knees in an effort to push forward. Any day now... so everyone keeps telling me!

March 6th, 2008 I'm getting a lot more mobile these days. Not crawling just yet, but I am able to cover quite a bit of ground by rolling around. I can also sit up unassisted - a major breakthrough and much appreciated by Mum and Dad at bathtime.

February 15th, 2008 I'm over the worst of my latest cold and can be found rolling around the floor at will and trying to start crawling. I no longer complain when put down on my tummy and am starting to want to explore the world around me. At mealtimes I also have fun stealing food from Callum's plate - much to his dismay!

February 10th, 2008 Having a relapse with my coughing and spluttering this weekend, but the big news here is that my first tooth is poking through on the lower jaw! It won't be long before I can grab Callum's food from his plate and start eating it.

February 4th, 2008 I've got a good belly laugh going these days and am very ticklish. I'm enjoying watching Callum run around and around the room while sitting in my saucer.

February 1st, 2008 It's been a rough week, but I'm over my bout of pneumonia (just a mild case) I've been very chipper throughout and am now back to 100%.

January 27th, 2008 Callum is not the only baby that can talk these days - I can be heard chipping in with a few goos and gaas of my own, along with plenty of ba ba baas. At the moment I'm fighting another winter cold - not much fun, but I'm putting a brave face on it and continuing to smile!

January 18th, 2008 Gave Dad a big kiss today when he picked me up from Martha's. I'm joining in a lot more with the playtime activities now and trying to grab things.

January 10th, 2008 There's no stopping me on the solid foods these days, I love pretty much everything provided it has been suitably pulverize before going onto the spoon. Had some prunes today which made for an interesting nappy change a few hours later on!

January 5th, 2008 I'm developing a real belly laugh these days and love being tickled and cuddled.

January 2nd, 2008 Back home in Morgantown. It's good to be back into my old routine. I slept pretty well during the trip but was able to milk things a bit (pun intended) while sleeping in the same room as Mum during our last few weeks of living out of a suitcase.

December 27th My return flight to the US went well despite having to sit on Mum's lap for most of the way. Those US airways people goofed up again and told us the flight was full. We only found an empty seat right next to Mum just after we checked our car seat. Grrrr!

December 25th My first Christmas is spent in Darlington at Grandma's house. I've had a great time rolling around watching Callum opening his presents and occasionally getting things handed in my direction. I'll be all over this wrapping paper next year for sure. They're not going to know what's hit them.

December 20th Really enjoying my first trip to England, with big smiles everywhere I go. I caught a bit of a cold at the beginning of the trip whihc I can't quite shake but I'm not letting that dampen my mood.

December 13th My first transatlantic flight and trip to another country! I slept pretty much the whole way on the plane to Gatwick tonight and was the talk of my fellow passengers with lots of oos and aas. Haven't these people seen a baby recently? Good grief!

December 10th Had my first solid food today. Well, perhaps solid is not quite the best description for rice cereal and breastmilk but I am told it is a great milestone.

October 31st My first Halloween. I dressed up as a penguin and watched the proceedings during a balmy night on our front porch with all the kids coming for their candy. In a few years I'll be in on that racket!

October 5th Today I rolled over for real. I'm getting much more active and alert these days and able to scoot around on my back a bit too. I think my brother will be in for a shock once I really start moving.

September 30th I've got this sleeping-at-night thing down now and am officially the family's best sleeper. I've taken to sucking my thumb lately too and can often be found calmly watching the world go by. I'm also starting to develop a giggle as well as the big smiles.

September 18th I'm now more or less sleeping through the night. I go down at about 7:30 pm and go through until about 6 am, much to the delight of Mum.

August 24th I gave my first smile today! I like looking at the toys hanging over the boppy bobbing back and forth. Also gave Grandma a big smile. Bedtimes are getting a bit better these days, too. Now that I'm in my new bed, I'm going down at a reasonable hour and sleeping a bit longer too. My record sleep without milk is now somewhere between 4-5 hours.

August 18th Tonight I left Mum and Dad's room and moved into Callum's old room. I spent a very peaceful night in Callum's old cot... much nicer than the pack and play I was in in Mum and Dad's room.

August 17th Today I rolled over for the first time! I was waiting for my bath on the mat - one minute I was on my back and the next I was on my front. I'm starting to push my head up during 'tummy time' too - all this milk is making me big and strong.

August 11th This week my cousins Victoria and Jason are visiting. I've been getting a lot of attention from Victoria who is carrying me around the house keeping an eye on me and making sure I am safe.

August 7th I'm now almost 10 lb! My weigh in today at the docs was 9 lb 14 oz. Maybe soon my belly will be big enough for me to sleep more than 2 hours at a time each night. Oh, my social security number arrived today also... time to start applying for those passports.

July 27th I'm starting to get more awake during the day now and enjoy sitting in the boppy and looking around. Bedtime is about 8:30 pm, and I've even been known to sleep 3 hours at a stretch!

July 21st I had my first trip in the new double stroller today... a walk into Morgantown with Callum, Mummy and Daddy. Apparently we went to the Blue Moose and even called in at the Family Dollar! I slept through the whole thing but it was fun to get some fresh air.

July 20th I'm thriving on the milk these days and currently weigh in at 8.5 lbs. I have several chins on display and lots of healthy rolls of fat for Callum to pinch.

July 14th My stump fell out today leaving behind a perfectly formed belly button. However, I've got no more excuses for skipping bath time any more and tonight I joined in the fun.

July 1st I am born!! At 9:57 pm at Mon General Hostpital. I weigh 6 lbs 9.5 oz and am healthy and happy.