I have this problem ...

 ... I can never choose just one photo.

I was really worried that Finn wouldn't get to wear his stack of 3 months sleepers.

But since our new little house is in the corner of a forrest and I've been painting 

- with all the windows open -

Out they came and they fit great! 

And with room to grow a bit. 

If only he would just slow down a little.

This sweet sleeper was a gift from the Martins.

Yes, I am supposed to be packing, but I'm tired. Finn has been an angel this week. 

We spent Monday and Tuesday in Kalken packing (although you can hardly tell) 

and then Wednesday and Thursday painting, his room is done!! 

The Stuffs that Dreams are Made of

Today we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. 

Although maybe not in a so traditional way. 

We indulged ourselves with a sleep-in. If you can call it that. Up at 5 to feed a boy we went back to his own cradle until 7, when he joined us for a chat before dropping off for a couple more hours. 

So we did too.

When we all finally crawled out it was to feed the boy again and pack the car. 

Off to our new home to work, clean and paint.

I'm afraid we haven't shown you much .. but here are just a few more photos. 

I'm hoping to have more time after the move to give you a proper tour.

my little man enjoying a nap in the garden under his walnut tree

my two men taking time out to relax ... in our "meadow"

anniversary dinner in our new home with the love of my life and our little man

The stuff that dreams are made of, don't you think?

As I write this, I can hear Finn and his papa having a chat in the next room. 

My heart swells and feels so full. 

What a dream of a day!

A Whale of a Time

Can you see that string of slobber?? 

And it smeared all over his face!!

This is our life right now ;)

And we couldn't be happier.

This was my attempt at getting a cute pic of his Whale outfit from Cousin Anna ... 

no momma, my hands are more important. 

But haha Finn, momma was ready with the camera when you fell asleep. 

xox

A Wrastle with Elle

More action ... Finn is a busy fellow these days.

 

He loves to wrestle with Elle

.. the sweetest softest Elephant ever ..

was a gift from the Moores.

I'm never quite sure who's winning there is often 

rather a lot of grunts and groans coming from their corner.

Weights & Measures

The midwife / nursing consultant came today. It's a nice service .. all part of living in Belgium (wink!) and I like Benedicte. It's good to just check in and make sure what we're doing is right and throw any questions we might have at her.  She's been on holiday so we haven't seen her, since well before the chicken pox. And because of those doctors visits we've been tracking Finn's growth pretty consistently.

But HOLY MOLY!!!

He was on measured two weeks ago at his post-pox appointment.

I wasn't expecting much .. haha, surprise on you momma!

In two weeks, Finn had grown another 2 cm / 3/4" 

and now tips the scale at exactly 5500g / 12 pounds!

a pic of all three of us, but of course we only have eyes for Finn

We had more good news for the day too!

Papa picked up the keys to our new home tonight.

We are moving to a beautiful, peaceful farm just ten minutes outside of Gent.

Here's a pic we took when we visited the first time.

I think Finn knew it was right all along.

Oh, Mount Rainier

This is definitely a sight I miss. Axel too. In fact any mountain would be welcome. We live in a very flat countryside here and we miss mountains. Last year we stayed in a B&B, one of the rooms looked out toward Mount x (sorry I can't remember the name of it) ... I just about exploded in laughter! It was a high, not even an ant hill or a mole hill, almost just a bit of dirt kicked together. What a bummer.

One of the houses we looked was very near to the Vlaamse Ardennen. Gorgeous, rolling countryside. But no mountains. Axel's been lucky to travel to Switzerland a few times over the last couple of years. 

But this Northwest girl? Nope, not a mountain in sight. Unless you count momma's ironing pile. It's the only reference we hear to Mount Rainier in this house, because from floor to summit, it climbs faster than even Mount Rainier. Oh well, someday I will even manage to conquer that.

So why this sudden interest in Mount Rainier, so early on a Sunday Morning. Well you can guess my excitement when I woke up and found that my son had already been there! With Godfather Jacob!

Flat Finn's first Mt. Rainier adventure.

Ah, this pic really made me well up and realise that I am missing so many things from "home." Mountains, of course! Evergreen trees, long twisty drives and so many very good friends. I love that Jacob writes "first," because I am sure it will not be his last. I am already looking forward to him introducing Finn to this beautiful mountain. I envision a few camping trips in their future!

I have no doubt that this gorgeous but rather typical pic of Mount Rainier is the inspiration behind our desire to nurture a wild flower meadow at our new home. 

More about that soon!

(p.s. The house in Herzele fell through. But our new house is surrounded by forest and I think there might be some evergreens in there 

... are you holding your breath with me?) 

Dapper Finn

Our funny little man. So sweet. So dapper in his gifted duds. We received a variety packet of (American) football onesies from momma's cousins, Cindy & Troy. They are the perfect size right now and match just about everything. The very dapper shorts are from our friends, the Eijbersen's .. haha, as in the D&E variety because there are so many of them! 

I couldn't pick just one photo to share so I had to show them all ...

( if you click on the collage you can see a larger version )

And to top it off, a "matching" video.

I even cut the first entire minute where  he just stared at the camera. 

Then fwoop, all of a sudden that little whoop you hear at the beginning of the film.

As you can see, this boy keeps us entertained.

Thank you all for the lovely gifts 

.. we'll keep the photos of Finn enjoying them coming ..

xox

Growth Spurt

weight

4770 grams / 10-1/2 lbs

a gain of 1550 grams / 3 lbs, 6-2/3 oz in 6 weeks

length

57 cm / 22-7/16 in

he has grown 8,4 cm / 3-1/3 in 6 weeks

head circumference

40,5 cm / 16 in

an expansion of 3,5 cm / 1-3/8 in 6 weeks

(Measurements from doctors appointments on 11 June and 25 July 2013)

The amazingly cute outfit was a
gift from my cousins Cindy & Troy Jaeger!

After 4 ...

... comes 5, but momma is still trying to figure out where the last month went.
It seems we just took last month's pictures and here we are at it again.
We're just going to blame it on those darned chicken pox
(thankfully there is just the slightest evidence of their occurrence in these pictures).

Taking pictures of Finn is getting more and more interesting. 

He naps through the best light and wiggles through the best poses
so we just take it as it comes. 

Hoping to capture his personality and growth a little at a time.

He's the funniest little man. Who in spite of a huge growth spurth in the last 6 weeks is still so little. He is just about to grow out of most of his 0-3 month clothes. His little neck still isn't strong enough to hold up his big head but he will carry on the longest conversation usually in one to two word expressions. Although yesterday we were surprised by a very long sentence ... he had a lot to say! He is full of the funniest grunts when trying to motate himself around a little which he can, and does .. usually out from under his covers. His expressions are numerous, various and extremely appropriate to the situation leaving momma and papa in fits of laughter.

 

He is an extremely smily baby when rested and yet pictures are not the easiest since he gets quite interested in the camera. It often takes several hand to entertain, re-arrange and shoot.

He has become a very busy boy indeed.
Often arms and legs are waving and stamping.
You can see some of the action in these shots,
one day I'll get around to adding some videos.
They are rather hilarious.

 

 And when he's trying to figure how to get himself into or out of a situation
there is a lot of this.

 

I can spend hours mesmerized by those eyes,
and that sweet and innocent face ...

















Oh my, look how he has grown and changed ...

The Pox

Surely this was something we hadn't planned on dealing with yet ...

So first a lovely pic of our boy ...

Chicken Pox, Day 1 ... you'd never know

And no, we have no idea where he caught them. We've barely been out. And not many people have been around. Who knows ... and really it doesn't matter. But still .. 4-1/2 months is sooo early but especially so for a premie whose immune system isn't as strong as a full-term baby.

Friday with Oma Didi - Chicken Pox, Day 2

Day 3

It started Thursday afternoon when I noticed a blister on his head. A friend said it looked like a sweat blister. Hmmm, ok ... Another on Friday and I still wondered. Oma Didi who popped by said the same, a "sweat blister." Saturday a few more including some on his face and torso and he slept almost the entire day.

Day 4 

Sunday morning, yeh, definitely a fever and more pox but he was in a good mood. Still, we decided it was time to call the house doctor who confirmed my suspicion. I'm telling you .. *always* listen to your momma's instincts!!

We called mainly because we'd never dealt with a fever for Finn and also to find out if there is anything to watch for. Since it was Sunday we got the "dokter van wacht" the doctor on call but he was nice, funny and very reassuring. It's just something to get through.

Monday Finn was increasingly clingy and needed to be with Axel or I constantly. He was eating fine, but mostly sleeping ... in our arms.

But then this happened. The kid was covered. His fever was also persisting so we called our family doctor who suggested we come in that evening. By the time we went, Finn looked like this. The poor poor kid. As our family doctor called his children's doctor (who answered the phone while on vacation) said .. the poor kid was "bomb full."

The two doctors spoke at length and agreed on an action plan. First a few prescriptions and we were to take Finn to see one of the team of children's doctors at the hospital on Monday.

Day 5 

That night we got set up for me to sleep in the rocking chair with him if needed. In our bedroom with the air conditioning running because as luck would have it we were about to head into a heat wave.

At 1am I woke Axel because Finn's temp had pushed even higher and I felt we should head to the ER for advise. Thank goodness, as it had gone up even more in the half hour we were underway and I had noticed some swelling in his upper arm as we drove along. In the ER we noticed it was also in his face and funnily even his ears were chubby looking.

The ER doctor on call said we hadn't come to soon, and thankfully not too late. But waiting until morning would have been pushing it. Finn had an infection under his skin that would need to be treated by intravenous antibiotics. And so we were admitted. Momma and Finn into a mother and child room ...

The next few days were a bit of a blur as I stayed close by his bed, feeding him and snuggling whenever I could. Thankfully he only lost his appetite for about 3 feedings when the fever was at it's highest. And yes, it got worse and climbed to a frightful 39,8 before breaking. This stupid heat wave didn't help (I say "this" because it continues and we are well into week 2 already). Snuggling with momma only made things worse but eventually I found out that by putting him on his tummy to sleep in the crib meant I could lay an ice pack on his back and he would sleep for longer lengths. A few sessions of this and the fever broke but then fluctuated up and down for another day before subsiding.

Stay calm was our motto but I have to admit, this was scarier than anything we had been through in the NICU. Thankfully he was again looked after by the fantastic team of children's doctors at Maria Middelares. And most of the nurses were good except for one frightful one that had the night shift the entire time we were there.

We were oh so glad to be released after 3 nights, on Friday, and Axel picked us up after work.

This is our little trooper after our first sleep at home ... snuggling with momma Saturday morning.

Fever free, just looking frightfully spotty.

Chicken Pox, Day 10

Happy Happy

I think this has to be my favorite series of photos to date.

They were taken on Sunday morning, a week after the chicken pox started to take a turn for the worse. He was so happy to hang out in his seat and see his mobile. He was smiling, wiggling like crazy and showing off for the camera.

In the first picture I imagine him saying 

"Ok, mom, wait .. I need to get ready."

Then he starts. First a foot, then a hand ...

"But wait .. there's more. 

I can do all four at once!!! 

Did you see that? 

Ta Daaaa!!!"

And I love the complete bemusement, wonder and awe on his face in these photos. 

 So good for the soul to see him so happy again after such a miserable week.

And I love the complete bemusement, wonder and awe on his face in these photos.

So good for the soul to see him so happy again after such a miserable week.

( photos shown in the order they were taken, only one was edited out as his eyes were closed )

Flat and Polka Dotted FiNN Sitings

After jumping on a jet plane to Trinidad, Flat FiNN has been sited making some fabulous vacation memories.

Finn was a bit apprehensive about the monsoon ... apparently it was raining hard enough to cancel a cricket match. Hmm, not sure if we should tell Jacob that they cancel cricket matches if there's too much sun ;)

All that rain drove Finn inside so it's drinky time! Finn fancies a virgin daiquiri.

And we were all happy to see Finn enjoying his day at the beach ... "officially a beach bum" it is. Rather that than covered in red itchy spots and hooked up to antibiotics.

It is just as well, because his poor little his counterpart has been in hospital making a whole other kind of memories and ticking "chickenpox" off the list. This week deserves it's own chapter so I'll just leave you with this picture as a placeholder for now.

Honestly ... we'd rather be in Trinidad with you Jacob.

xox 

Have a great time! and let us know where to find Flat FiNN on the next leg of his journey.

Flat FiNN

I really wish we had thought about this before Laura left on her South American adventures, but she's still there and hopefully she will be able to print her Flat FiNN somewhere along the way and snap a few pictures before she heads home.

Flat FiNN is Trinidad bound ... and started out on his first adventure this morning 

with Godfather Jacob and his girlfriend Thu.

Finn's early mornin' cuppa joe at Miami int'l. 

I can't wait to see what's next on his itinerary!

Next month Flat FiNN travels to Hungary with godfather Leonhard 

and in September to Switzerland and Italy with godmother Sylvia ...

4 months - 4 kilos

At 4 months and 1 week, look who weights 9 pounds (4100g)!!!

Look how he's grown!

I really need to tell you about all he can do and does .. but for now I'll share a few sweet sleepy moments.

Papa is restoring an old playpen so Finn has a place to sleep and play downstairs. It's not done, but that doesn't mean we're waiting ..

And momma is not against hiring helpers if it means the pacifier stays in just a few more minutes so she can clean, cook, shower, sew ...

Finn loves visits with his godmother Sylvia and her mom "Auntie Linda" - look - they even dress as twins sometimes. We've been to Schellebelle several times while Sylvia is laid up after a knee surgery. But this lovely picture with Linda was taken at our house.

( published 5 July 2013 )

The Significance ... of 3

Finn is three months old today!

3

THREE

I can't help thinking about the significance of this number

Finn was 3 months early

and now he's already 3 months old

my how time flies

we are a family of 3

how we have dreamed of this moment for so long

but most of all ... I think of his three.

he and his brothers are three

Lars, Thor and Finn

three is also how many times he urped while momma was taking photos

and the number of times he's managed to suck his thumb

there are so many more threes in our lives but these came to mind first

three is also supposed to be the number of hours between Finn's feedings ...
haha, he's confused and thinks it should be two
or sometimes just one ...

I will never look at a 3 in quite the same way again

and I leave you with more pictures of Finn 
on the day he turned 3 months old, 
just click here, and scroll to the right

( published 29 May 2013 )

TODAY

Today was Finn's due date.
Today is Finn's due date.  

40 weeks gestation, for most people this means 40 weeks of pregnancy.

But Finn is here. He has been here.

For  nearly 12 weeks ... 

It's hard to imagine what our lives would have been like if he'd come later.
If he had come now.

We know this little man. 

He is a part of us. 

We have been by his side for 96 days.
And almost as many nights.

He is developing the sweetest personality.

He has a cheeky character that make us giggle.

He is wiggly.

And very smiley.

He listens. He loves to listen when we're talking.

And he would sooo like to be able to get his thumb in his mouth.

He watches his mobile and follows it as it slowly turns.

He makes distinct noises for specific things.

"gleh" when he's done eating 

"mah" when he wants to eat

He can "kick" himself into position to tell me he wants to eat .. very useful when I'm watching the clock and he's listening to his belly.

There is so much more .. so much that's it's hard to capture and remember every moment.
But we're doing our best.

He has already grown leaps and bounds.

He has overcome so much.

I am one lucky momma.

Who can't wait to watch this sweet little babe grow into a young man. 

But not too soon. 

First we'll just enjoy the "extra time" we got with him.

Because I'm one lucky momma.

Who is so very much in love with this little man.

Thanks to Esther, Freddy, Lise & Hanne for the so very cute top
... it is hard to believe he's growing into "real" clothes already!

*****

So how much has he grown?
Well coincidentally yesterday was his first appointment with his children's doctor.



weight
2820 grams / 6 lbs, 3-1/2 oz
a gain of 1515 grams / 3 lbs, 5-1/2 oz since birth

length
47,2 cm / 18.58 in
he has grown 7,7 cm / 3 in since birth



head circumference
35,5 cm / 14 in
an expansion of 8,3 cm / 3-1/4 in since birth

On Thursday, 23 May, Finn will be 12 weeks old.