Piggy Tails!

Virtual Birthday Party

Last night after dinner, Finley and I gathered round the laptop to Skype with Grammy and Grandad for his birthday.  We watched Grandad blow out all his candles and we all had some cake.  We had my grandma's Black Midnight Cake and Grammy and Grandad enjoyed white cake with chocolate chips, Grandad's favorite.  The cutest part is when I said "Happy Birthday", Finley said "To You", looks like all those birthday parties have taught her the Happy Birthday song.  Or at least part of it.

Happy Birthday, Grandad!

One year ago

Happy Barkday, Izzy!

Izzy's second birthday party was puppy dog themed.  All the kids got brown puppy dog noses and a set of colorful puppy dug ears.  I don't think any of the toddlers would wear their ears.  Finley's lasted for about five seconds, then she ripped one of the ears right off.  I didn't get a chance to grab too many pictures because we were playing and having such a doggone good time.  There was no cake or pizza at this party and Finley loved it all the same.  She had her first ever Rice Krispie Treat experience and she just loved them.  She polished off two dog bone treats and then went begging in true puppy dog fashion to the other moms, hoping to get a morsel or two more. 

We have another birthday party on Sunday.  Finley is getting spoiled with all this birthday party fun, she has such a great time and especially loves getting all the neat little party favors.  She has a brand new puppy dog toy that even came with a puppy dog outfit for him to wear.  She carried him all around Hobby Lobby yesterday, giving him a nice puppy dog walk.

The Calm Before the Storm

Finley was so excited for her second dance class.  All talk of "baway" shoes and she was ready.  I had to wake her up at 9 am to get her to class on time.  Waking a sleeping toddler is never a good thing, but she seemed alright through breakfast and on the way to class.  We got there and she walked straight over to Ms. Brenda to get her stamps.  She was ready.  One of the other moms asked if she had been in school or daycare before, since she was so good.

Then, all the moms headed out of the class and the crying, screaming tortured little girls let out their furor.  All five of them.  All at once.  All the moms could recognize their little ones' screams and it was absolute torture.  After ten minutes, it was obvious that no one was going to calm down anytime soon.  Finley had worked herself up into a tizzy, it was heartbreaking.  She just wanted to go bye-bye.

I sort of got her calmed down and we completed her class "Mommy and Me" style.  But I was the one mommy who couldn't calm her baby down.  Finley was still upset and didn't want any part of class.  So I dance around like a fool, with feather boas and all.  And Finley stood in the corner, looking as sad and pathetic as I have ever seen her.  Her teacher talked to me after class and said that she had done so well last week, she thought she was just feeding off the anxiety of the other little girls.  Next week, we are doing half mommy time and half alone time, hopefully things will improve.

As soon as we got into the car, Finley asked to go back to "baway" class.  The trauma had ended just as class had.  At least we are *hopefully* set for a happier time next week.

It's a Romper

Finley and I have been working really hard on learning all the different types of clothing.  Of course, she knows "dresses" best, since she and I normally wear one every single day.  But we sort the laundry together and learn all about shirts, shorts, socks, which is daddy's, which is mommy's and all that fun sort of information.  Last night, Grandma came over to watch Finley while Clifton and I went out to dinner at the amazing Stella Sola.  Grandma complimented Finley's outfit and she replied back with "Romper!"  I guess all the clothing lessons are paying off.

Now Finley needs to take her knowledge and share it with her Daddy.  Clifton was befuddled how to get the romper off to change her diaper.  Rompers can be a bit confusing.  In the adult romper trend, I decided to try one on with Auntie Hodder.  I didn't look nearly as cute as Miss Finley does in her romper, so the romper had to stay on the store's rack.  I will leave the romper wearing to Finley and Heather.

What Makes Finley Smile?

ICE CREAM!

Playdate with Max and Sarah

Thank goodness we have two strollers to play with, Sarah and Finley are both huge fans.  Unfortunately, they both seemed to want whichever stroller the other one was playing with.  Same goes for any and all stuffed animals, dolls and toys.  Sharing is not Finley's strong suit.  Max was having a blast with the number puzzle.  He can count from 1 to 20, it is really amazing. 

We stayed in all day today, mainly because it was so hot outside.  Finley Skyped with Grammy and Grandad in the morning, which she always really enjoys.  She loves to show them her flashcard skills.  She is really good with her large cards, she knows them all.  The smaller cards have 50+ per deck, so I think she is a bit overwhelmed by them, but we are getting there.  It is astounding how much her vocabulary is growing.  She is so much fun to take to the grocery store, she points out all the things she knows as we cruise the aisles. 

Happy Birthday, Ava Kate!

We had a great birthday party at Ava Kate's house.  She had her teacher from Fundamentally Music come over to lead all the kids in song.  Finley loved eating the cupcakes, fruit skewers and nuggets from Chick-fil-a.  Even though it wasn't her birthday standard...cake and pizza.

Finley loved listening to the music and playing with the instruments.

Just like Gymboree and Little Gym, Finley loved the bubble part of the party the best.

Finley was the last to finish eating, but if you have been reading this blog for any amount of time now, you already knew that. I was very proud of her for being so neat with her hot pink cupcake.

Pretty Playful

Twinkle Toes

Finley started her Creative Movements class yesterday and she did great.  I was not able to be in the class with her, but her teacher said she did great!  She was in the class with her friends Samantha, Lia and Ava Kate.  They were all so incredibly adorable in their ballet shoes.  Finley absolutely loved the class, she asked to wear her "Baway" shoes all day long.  Such a pretty ballerina!

Let Me Get Those Dishes For You

Finley enjoyed a banana for breakfast this morning.  I was still sitting at our breakfast bar, finishing my Instant Breakfast and I heard Finley open the dishwasher.  Next thing I know, she is loading up her dish into the machine and trying to close it.  She is such a good helper!  It is amazing how much she picks up on.  Now we just have to teach her how to organize the dishwasher.  I am probably not the best person for that, as I tend to cram way too many dishes in every load and nothing really ends up entirely clean.  I am still waiting for a house that has two dishwashers, it is really what I need.  One for the clean, one for the dirty, no need to ever unload.

Dancing Feet

Finley starts her "Creative Movement" class tomorrow morning and I am so excited for her.  We went to try on ballet shoes yesterday and found the perfect fit.  We are still on the lookout for tights, they have all been too big at the dance supply stores, but her regular tights have lines at the hip, so they don't work either.

She is just the cutest thing ever in her little ballet shoes.  I hope she enjoys the class.  Everyone is invited to her recital in May!  I cannot believe she is old enough to be in a recital.  The four other kids in our class are all friends, so I am sure they will all be happy to practice together during playdates....yeah right!

They are the perfect fit!  Finley got those little nylon footie things to wear while she tried on the ballet shoes and she was so good about it, such a little lady.  We had to try on several different pairs, since there were so many options, and she was happy through the whole endeavor. 

Pump It Up

Our friend Samantha's second birthday party was this past weekend at Pump It Up.  Finley was super clingy and scared the first half of the party.  She only wanted to be carried around, she didn't even want to "walk walk walk"."  All the kids, the loud inflatable and the crazy music intimidated Finley.  She would climb halfway up the slide, slowly gaining her confidence, would realize how high she was and would cry "down".  So back down we trekked.  It was fine by me, I wasn't too keen on going down the slide either. Once we found a bouncer full of friends, Jahan, Samantha and Leah, we were set to go.  The bouncer was full of balls and the kids loved throwing them around.  At one point, it began to deflate sending all the kids and parents into a sinkhole.  It was frightening for a moment or two. We were lucky enough not to be caught in the sinkhole, but everyone else in the bouncer was.  The looks of everyone as they went down were priceless.  Now that everyone is ok, it is fun to look back and laugh.
Finley is a birthday party super fan.  You ask her to go to a birthday party and she says "Pizza" and "Cake".  Notice how everyone is long gone from the table and Finley is there, still enjoying her cupcake.  She is the last to leave the party.

Wacky Girl

This past week, Finley has insisted on wearing her pink bib around the house, nearly all day long.  She won't wear any of her fun Keith Haring's bibs, only her old pink one.  This also applies for all meals, only the pink bib will do.  For the longest time, the pink bib had been tucked away in my PurseIn in my bag.  I recently brought it out to swap out with one of the other bibs and Finley made her preference known.

I was downstairs in our hall closet that holds a lot of our holiday stuff and wrapping paper, we had a birthday gift to wrap and Finley wanted to 'help'.  She spied the orange pumpkin she used for trick-or-treating and had to have it.  She collected all sorts of fun stuff in the bucket, but it was mainly used to contain her snack trap and her sippy cup.  Any thing that makes it easier for Finley to eat and drink is a good thing for her.



* As a total sidenote to any moms out there, the PurseIn is a savior.  I can use all my own purses, I never am stuck carrying a diaper bag.  Bonus points because I can just pull the PurseIn out of my purse and put it into Clifton's diaper bag whenever he is going out with Finley. 

Come on, Mom!

So sorry for the lack of posting the last couple of days, I have been sick with a really high fever and upset stomach.  It has been no fun.  Especially for Finley.  We have been stuck in the house, unless we were at the doctor's office.  She was really upset that I couldn't play with her like I normally do.  I am feeling much better after a much needed Z-Pack.  And Finley was so much happier this morning that we could actually play together and I could manage to make her a breakfast beyond giving her a muffin and fruit.  Thank goodness I had made a batch of the banana oatmeal muffins on Tuesday night, we only have one left.  I think she ate one nearly every meal.

I think I spent nearly the whole morning picking up and cleaning the house.  It is amazing how much of a mess a toddler can make when there is no one picking up after her.  I must have swept up at least a cup of Goldfish Cracker crumbs.  The best part is the new carpet is here, so we can roll it out tonight and have the whole house back to normal...except that now Clifton isn't feeling the best and has a doctor appointment this after.  When will the sickness end?

Waking up on the wrong side of the crib...

Yesterday, when Finley woke up from her nap she was in one foul mood.  I still have no clue what was wrong.  Nothing I tried made her happy.  She was unhappy in her crib, out of her crib, with a snack, with a drink, with her toys...it was ridiculous.  She was so upset and I felt so bad for her, but I was so confused as to what was really wrong.  After awhile, it became the tiniest bit funny.  She was a complete mess.  At one point, she was laying face down just crying "no!"

A granola bar finally seemed to calm the situation.

And finally she was back to being my sweet, happy, little girl.