Finnley's birthday

 

It's been almost a MONTH since Finnley turned 4--  I'm such a slacker!  We had a nice little celebration at home, but I think his favorite part of the day was going to the Treehouse (an indoor play place) with just Mom and Dad.  I even did some running around and crawling through tunnels with him.  We had a great time!

 

As I was wrapping presents, I realized that his biggest present wouldn't fit in any of the boxes I had, and that I was running low on wrapping paper!  So instead of stuffing it into a garbage bag (no judgement here if you've done this), I decided to put together a little photo scavenger hunt for Finn.  I wandered around the house taking pictures of various objects and places, printed them, then went back and put the photos in the places I'd taken pictures of.  The final photo lead him to where his present was hidden. 

 

He caught on right away and had lots of fun running back and forth through the house finding the next clue.  Of course they were scattered, so if one was at the back of the house the next one would be at the front of the house, then to the back again, etc.  That made it more fun and lasted longer!

 Then of course, it was time for cupcakes!

 

Finn really raked it in this year and added a LOT more Imaginext stuff to the collection.

 

After the festivities the kids set up a bunch of the toys and had a great time playing with it all.

 

This birthday felt like a "big" birthday for Finnley.  It seemed to me that going from 3 to 4 was like finally crossing a finish line that we've been approaching since his last birthday.  With all of the changes that have happened (new baby, big move, etc.) and the struggles that he and I had, I think last year was a rough one for him.  This birthday feels like a new start. 

 

Here are a few things that I want to remember about him at this age.

 

Finn has changed quite a bit over the last few months.  He's mellowed out a lot, is better able to control his emotions, his frequent meltdowns and tantrums have all but disappeared and he is much more kind.  He's so very affectionate and tells me, "Mommy, I love you," about a dozen times a day.

 

Some of his favorite things to do right now are to play spy kids, play with Legos and his Imaginext toys, play computer games on PBSkids.org and Nickjr.com, and watch TV shows like Power Rangers (gag!).

 

He's excited about starting preschool in the fall, but when I signed him up in February and asked him if he'd like to start right away he said, "No. I'm too young."  :) 

 

He's really good at playing by himself when the kids are at school, but also likes playing with baby Rowan because he's now able to play more and rough house a little bit.  Finnley loves letting Rowan "attack" him while he lays on the floor and gets beat on.

He pronounces marshmallows "smarshsmellows" and gloves "glubs".
 

Finnley is a good sport about running errands with me and loves when we go "treasure hunting" at the thrift stores.  While I scour the racks and shelves, he scours the floor for things like coins and beads and buttons and other odds and ends, and usually comes away with dirty knees and a pocket full of stuff.

 

He and Hakan share a room and bunk beds, but often he will sneak into our room at night and sleep between Aaron and I.  He's a cuddly little kid, that's for sure. 

 

Finnley is SUPER friendly and will talk to anyone like he knows them.  This of course makes me nervous (and a little nuts sometimes) because he treats even strangers like friends.  Also, you never know WHAT is going to come out of his mouth.

 Recently we were dropping off my car at the dealership to get worked on and a mechanic came up and started chatting with us.  I was busy trying to get the car seats pulled out while Finnley went on and on about everything he could think of to this guy.  Suddenly I heard him say, "I didn't like when Jesus got whipped.  There was blood and it was sad."  ????  Then I remembered that I was watching a short video online about the Atonement for a lesson I was going to teach at church and the kids watched it with me.  I talked about it with them and we all agreed that the part where Jesus is scourged was particularly difficult to watch.  I had no idea that he was still thinking about it weeks later, or that he would suddenly spout off about it at some random moment to this random guy! I was just hoping the mechanic didn't understand what he said.  :/

 

Lately Finnley has started taking me on "dates".  He'll take me by the hand and lead me upstairs to my room.  Usually he has some toys and we just sit on the bed and play.  Just the two of us.  It's nice to have a little time here and there where I can focus on just him, doing what he wants to do.

 

He loves the song "Book of Mormon Stories" and walks around singing the parts he knows a lot.     

 

9 times out of 10 he'll put his shoes on the wrong feet, so I finally drew arrows inside the soles of the shoes he wears most.  I told him that to get them on right the arrows need to point to each other.  That did the trick!  But if he wears a pair with no arrows, he's clueless.  :)

 

Finnley has not yet come to terms with the fact that he has 2 names.  We've tried many, MANY times to explain that his first name is Finnley and his middle name is Aaron, just like his Dad.  But each time he insists (loudly and heatedly) that his name is NOT Aaron, just Finnley!!  There's no reasoning with him or convincing him.  You'd think we were trying to tell him that he's a robot or something.  He is adamant that what we say just is not so. It really cracks me up.

 

I sure do love my Finnley.  He is a darling, precious, hilarious little boy.