Oh what fun it is....

To ride on a one pulled Daddy sle-ed!

This morning we woke up to a heavy snowstorm and almost a foot of snow on the ground. Pat decided to forgo his long commute to stay safely home with us. And we rejoiced. Once Coen went down for his morning nap the rest of us went outside to play.

And Fintan tested the limits of his snow apparel
again

And again,

And again,
and found them good. He would have stayed out there all day if we'd let him. Luna tested the limits of her snow apparel, too.

Winny, on the other hand, begged prettily for me to keep her warm.

After playing for over an hour we came inside and had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch (Coen had a tasty mix of sweet potatoes and peas) . Then we topped it all off with generous helpings of snow ice cream.

Yummy! What a day.

Love. It is, it is

I keep waiting....

For someone to comment about how my baby apparently owns only one garment. I'm starting to wonder if that's not the case myself!

Coen is ALL boy

I like to sing to the boys while they eat their meals, just to keep us all entertained. This morning Fintan was a bit surly so I was trying to lighten the mood by singing him a song he usually finds funny. Today he didn't find it at all amusing. But look who did:

Odds and ends and happy stuff

I love watching my toddler eat an apple

The randomly placed bites
make me smile

This is classic Coen with his tongue out. Does it get any cuter?

Fintan gazes lovingly at his baby brother

"Is your breftast good, Coen?"

Fintan took this photo himself (watch out, Lalove...)
As seen through the monitor: Coen fell asleep by himself!
Sledding

Just for me. I love watching babies grab their little feet

Coen can now get on his hands and knees and rock. He may actually crawl (unlike his brother)! Also, you can hear Fintan say how happy and cute Coen is. I love it.

Coen can also sit, but he will only do it in front of this toy.

He'd rather be rolling or standing. He's practically a full grown boy now!

I needed him

From Fintan at breakfast this morning:

"Hi, Coen! Good morning, Coen!"

"Coen's so tiny. He's so cute. He's so sweet."

"I love Coen. I needed him."


(Fintan has never said "I needed him" before. Eyes prickled and tears sprung. My day is made.)

Baa baa black tails

Fintan, singing a few moments ago:

"Baa baa black tails ring, making spirits bright...."

Sniff

A conversation earlier today:

"I'm sniffing Coen."
"What does Coen smell like?"
"Peaches and cream."
"What does Fintan smell like?"
"Peaches and cream."
"What does Mommy smell like?"
"Peaches and cream."
"And what does Daddy smell like?"
"Skunks."

Sanibel is for the boys (who chase birds)

I'm gonna miss this place

Oh boy, do I have a couple of beach babes. My boys loved Sanibel. Especially Fintan. The first words out of his mouth when we reached our condo were, "I want to build a sand castle!" But then there were too many miles of open sea and tide-pools to explore to ever sit still long enough to build sand castles. Fintan ran, without hesitation, straight into the ocean. He splashed and waded and collected things and then demanded things that his cousins collected. He dug in the sand with shovels. He swam in the pool and played "shuffle board" and "tennis". He rode bikes with his daddy and visited his cousins at their condos to play with their toys. And whenever he stopped playing, he ate. He ate from his own plate, my plate, his daddy's plate, and then for good measure he'd top it off with whatever was left on his cousins' plates. He also slept. Both boys slept. There were no miracles, but still they shocked me with their flexibility. Hooray!

Coen also had a fabulous time. He enjoyed watching all of the action, taking naps in his stroller on the beach while Daddy took him on long walks, hanging out in his cousin Logan's jumperoo at the condo, and basically just chillin'. He was a dream baby. Pat and I were even able to go out on our own one night while the boys' cousin, Caroline, babysat. And we also went out another night with Pat's sibs and their spouses while Pat's parents stayed with the boys, and their cousin Logan, at the condo. Both times the boys slept well. Although Caroline did say that Fintan started crying at one point when she watched them. She went in to check on him and he said something she couldn't understand, at first, so he slowed it way down for her: "I----want---my---crab!" She quickly found his crab ("it's oder dere" he told her) and, with crab clutched in hand, he went right to sleep.

The weather was beautiful and warm. Everyone was healthy the entire time. All in all it was a dream vacation. And I am so grateful.

Where to start...

Smiling at Nick

Just after holding hands with Sean

Finding anything good?

Mine

Hangin' with LoganAfter finishing his cousin's food it was time to visit the loo

My baby and me

Mr. Independent

Um, can you please explain to him that this is my jumperoo?

Chillin'

Bathin'

Armed and dangerous
The cousins

Our little famThe whole big fam

Beach transfer

My three boys (sweet but poor quality)


Tennis...sort of

Seagulls, you will be mine

Christmas 2008

These pictures tell the story well enough so I won't clutter this post up with a lot of words.

We had a wonderful Christmas.

Fintan flashback

Since I didn't have a blog when Fintan was a baby I'm going to flash back to his major milestones when Coen's are accomplished. Here are a few pictures of Fintan's earliest solid meals. His first food was sweet potatoes. What a chubber!

Yummola

On Christmas Eve Coen had his first meal: acorn squash. Fintan fed him his first bite.

Since then he's had peas, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas and avocados in that order.

He even had his first mile-high meal.

Not bad for a little guy on his first week of solid foods. And--like his brother before him--the boy loves to eat!

Six months and growing...

Coen had his six month well-visit this morning. The boy is enormous. He is 18 lbs. 15.5 oz. and 28 inches tall. Fintan was 18 lbs. 11 oz. and 26 1/2 inches at his six month appointment. Here are my two little bigguns this morning before we left for the appointment:

For his parents

After losing a child it must be hard even to look your spouse in the eye, don't you think? And how tired must Dante's parents be? After a year driving hours back and forth to the hospital each week, or even each day, for blood, platelets, tests and treatments. After spending their holidays, and many weeks and months before that, in tiny box-shaped room on uncomfortable hospital pull-out beds to give your dying son and his older siblings the best Christmas you can manage under the circumstances? Then to have to make the drive home after Dante died with an empty car seat in the back seat? It's just too much to even imagine enduring.

His parents have handled themselves with more grace than I could muster with even a splinter in my foot. His dad posted a message today, about the last moments of his son's life that were inspiring as well as heartbreaking (if anyone would like the link to read it, please email me and I will be happy to share it).

Now the group we created to support Dante and his family are pooling our funds together one more time to try to give his parents time away, somewhere far away, to reconnect and rest. I'm not soliciting money, but I though that some of you who have been impacted by their story might like to contribute to the cause. If ever I dip one toe into their shoes in my imagination (where it is very hard for me to go) I know that this could be the single most important gift we ever give them.

If anyone would like to contribute, the Paypal address is "helpfordante@live.com". Thank you.

On glorious wings

Dante earned his angel wings this morning at 8:33 a.m. In my heart I see him now up in a blue sky, with a strong little body and wide, laughing eyes, flying kites with his big brother John.

We all will miss you so, sweet boy.

Please keep his Mama and Daddy in your thoughts and prayers today. Their grief must be unbearable.