Look at our little beach bum! We are back from a fun family vacation! We spent the last week in Ocean Isle Beach, NC, with my parents, Amy, Andy, Graham, Rowan and Greta.  We all had a blast together enjoying the beach, family meals, date night, lazy mornings, naps and the like! There was even a photo shoot on the beach; photos to be added soon.

Griffin is really becoming interested and aware of everything that is going on around him. He is often distracted while eating and wants to look around to see what the noise is or who is talking. When he hears something he looks up or around in the direction the noise is coming from. He almost always will return a smile if given one. He is getting great at picking up and putting down his pacifier, taking it out of his mouth and putting it back in, and he certainly loves to chew on it. Sometimes he will “hold” his bottle for a short while and he certainly can guide it to his mouth! He is drooling like crazy and when he becomes tired he often pipes up rather loudly and puts out some very loud screeches and screams. More so because he can than because he is upset, though it is definitely a sign of his tiredness. This week he also learned how to pull down a toy on his carseat (see the video below). He is sleeping pretty well, though not always consistent  🙂 He regularly sleeps 7-8 hours at night and is taking usually two really good naps a day and a couple of other shorter naps.  While on vacation he progressively got up earlier each day….first 7 am, then 6:30, then 5:30, then 3:30 am….I wasn’t so excited about that! He is so sweet when you walk in once he is awake and talking in the morning. See the video below, brightest smile every. He was a champ every day and had a great time, often taking a short nap, at the beach. He loved the water – we sat him down in it several times and let him play. It was the perfect temperature!

We owe many thanks to Kevin’s dad, Jim, who stayed at our house and watched the girls for us while we were gone. They were certainly well cared for and enjoyed being able to stay in their own house while we were gone. You can see how excited Griffin was to see him when we got home 🙂

Check out the videos here:

Griffin figures out his pull toy

Griffin has the giggles

Good morning!

 

Finn continues to be enamored with his hands and feet! He is now constantly putting his foot into his mouth. He seems to favor his right leg, in particular, though he at times uses both of his hands to grab at both of his feet. This is a look at what he frequently does in his carseat. There are also a few others from the week.

He is very coordinated and loves to grab at your face when you get near him.  He is also quite good at reaching anything overhead. He has always loved his monkey and he also loves this musical toy. He has even pushed the button several times himself to either skip to the next song or to begin playing the music!

I love to put out both of my hands in front of him – he will put each of his hands on my hands, like we are ready to play patty cake! He also loves to blow bubbles or “talk” to you by spitting and sputtering with his lips.

 

He is consistently taking 2-3 hour naps during the day. The 6-9 pm time frame is commonly his awake and at times fussy period of the day. He regularly crashes for the evening anywhere from 9-11 pm and will sleep for usually 6 hours, so it is around 7-8 hours between feedings as he usually eats an hour or so before he goes to bed. Things are going pretty well, and I’m hoping to solidify a decent schedule before long!

We took our first official family “vacation” to Chicago this weekend from Thursday to Sunday. We headed to our favorite city for a fun weekend filled with a couple of concerts (Robert Plant on Friday and Company of Thieves on Saturday) at the Taste of Chicago. It was a trip that brought along many firsts! We left at 6 pm on Thursday, so it was a late travel night, but Finn did great in the car. We stopped once along the way and rolled into our hotel at midnight (1 am Columbus time). Finn slept awesome each night in our room – he continues to be a champ sleeper during the night. We were across the street from Grant Park, where the Taste is held, so we were able to walk over in about 5 minutes.

 

Can’t go to Chicago without a stop at Corner Bakery!

Our hotel is the building to the right of the light post!

Here is a view of our hotel from the Taste, and then a view from our hotel overlooking Grant Park.  It was beautiful weather all weekend long!

Daddy loves the Billy Goat – though we didn’t have any cheezborgers at the Taste, we visited the Navy Pier location instead. 

Robert Plant, featured concert on Friday!

 

 

First family concert! Finn had in earplugs, and slept through the entire opening act!

 

Saturday we took a cab to the North part of Michigan Avenue as it was a fairly lengthy walk and we needed to get to the Taste in time for the concert!  Here is Finn in his first cab.

We did quite a bit of walking after our initial cab ride. After our stop at Garret’s popcorn (I’m waiting in line below), we walked to Navy Pier, about a half hour trip. We took a family ride on the ferris wheel.  See what a difference a year makes? The first photo of Kevin and me is from July of 2012.

 

 

 

After the Ferris Wheel we ate a quick bite at the Billy Goat at Navy Pier before heading to the Company of Thieves Concert!

Finn loves to arch backwards and look at things behind himself, here is a perfect example!

Among the other firsts:

First trip to a big city – Chicago, our favorite city!

First elevator ride (other than a hospital!) we were on the 25^th floor of the hotel!

First trip in a cab – up Michigan Avenue to head to Crate and Barrel

First (and second!) concert – Robert Plant, then Company of Thieves, both at the Taste of Chicago

First time wearing ear plugs – he did great with these, we used the silicone ones that are shapeable. They definitely worked quite well and he wasn’t bothered by them at all.

First time in a Ferris Wheel – we went all together at Navy Pier.

First time to Indiana

First time to Illinois

First time to Garret’s popcorn! We waited in line for ½ hour for the amazing stuff.  It’s tradition!

First time away from the puppies!  Tricia watched the girls while we were gone. As always, they were excited for our return:)   Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of them this week!

And here are some final shots of this past week and our weekend away!