Bike ride stop at a park

During one of our July bike rides we stopped at a park for some water and Finn refused to get back into his bike seat until he got to play on the jungle gym.

Home again

Finn was glad to get home from the trip to Massachusetts so he can spend his evenings playing on the rooftop deck of our building. He climbs onto every chair out there and is so proud of himself. He also likes the increased air traffic now that he's back in Cincinnati and has lots of opportunity to show us his sign for airplane with acccompanying sound effect. He had fun in MA checkingo out the mailman's truck, but the constant sirens in the city are more familiar.

Meeting Lucy*

Back East for 4th of July, we had the pleasure of meeting little Lucy Bea for the first time at her grandparents' house. Lucy is the new daughter of my oldest friend from middle school, Liz. It was all moms, babies, and grandmas for the evening, as Lucy's dad and grandpa were in NYC for a big Red Sox/Yankees battle. Finn was surrounded by women that night, but as you can see in the photo below, he didn't mind.


The Lineup: Proud Grammanita wearing her "I Love Lucy" t-shirt, Lucy Bea (at the time, 10 weeks old), Liz (motherhood agrees with her!), Sarah, Meme, Finn (ready for bed with Cow-Dog and paci).


*This post was written by Sarah, despite the label below.

Surprise trip to Wisconsin

While Sarah and Finn were off in the Berkshires, I was supposed to be in Virginia. However, the Air Force decided that the second week of my tour would be in Florida. That meant that staying in Virginia for the Fourth of July weekend didn't make sense.

That weekend was also the weekend my aunt and uncle from Colorado were going to visit my parents in Wisconsin. My brother Lanny was going to have a high school graduation party there too.



I drove 16 hours in a day and half to get there from Virginia. It was great to see everyone be able to see Lanny again before he heads off to college.

Full showing of pictures are here.

Off for the 4th of July

I was scheduled for my reserve duty for the first two weeks of July and rather than sit around Langley again, Sarah and Finn went up to a family event in the Berkshires.

Finn was very well-behaved on the flight up to Massachsetts. Here is a very patient boy waiting in the airport terminal.


While separated from me, Uncle Josh served as a surrogate. The two got along very well the whole trip, Finn getting very pset if they had to be separated.

A boat-load of pictures of the events are here.

Yoga at Friendship park

I try to attend morning yoga at Friendship Park, but have only been able to make it once. It is a free class offered each week. I really like yoga. It makes me feel better and really helps usable strength as opposed to beefing up.

Finn waited patiently at the side of the park. When the class went over an hour, he finally stood up off of the booth and search for other things to do in the park.


He wandered around and looked at the river and the flowers. He didn't get anxious to leave or get back on the bikes and go home.


After the class was over, we took Finn down to the playground for him to play on the slide and run around the monkey bars. It's always (once) a great start to the morning.

Squirt bottle, best thing ever

Our bike rides are fun, but they can get very hot. to combat the heat, Sarah brought squirt bottle to mist us during the ride. I always thought that I got sweaty enough, but maybe not.


Finn quickly figured out that pulling the trigger shoots mist out and that's unlimited fun. He ended up unscrewing the cap and losing it so I wouldn't recommend this as I toy.

He loves the bike riding and even seems to like his helmet now. When we approach the bikes, he gives the sign for hat that we also use for helmet.

Adventureland: Airport

We had to go over to the airport to add him to some tickets we had as an infant-in-arms.

That phrase always make me think of men-at-arms and He-Man's Friend Man-at-Arms. Below is a picture of them that look similar to us packed into an airliner.

Anyway, I got WAY off topic.

Finn stood and watched the planes taxi in and out. He likes the airport as much as most places he goes and it's free. Maybe he likesthe zoo or the aquarium more, but life needs variety, and the airport gives that.

Keys and locks

This picture may look innocent enough. A boy perusing his parents literary collection for his favorite books: The way of the Sufi or Untimely Meditations. However, in the foreground is a set of keys in a lock on a trunk.

Those keys are Finn's set. He was always trying to take our keys, so we went to the hardware store to get some blanks as a toy. The guy laughed and hand over a few mistake he had made and said no charge. One more data point to say kids don't need toys.

What truly makes it post-worthy is that Finn picked up his keys, walked over to the trunk, put the key in, and tried to turn it. He has definitely learned about locks and keys from watching us and is imitating what we do. The rate at which he learns and tries new things never stops to amaze us.

Sand Box

We were remembering how much Finn loved the beach during our trip to Myrtle Beach. Of course we can't create an entire beach in downtown Cincinnati, but Finn is small and he may just like a sandbox. By sand box I mean a box of sand. It turns out he does.


This little trick works wonders and is yet another example or howtoys aren't needed. to make a sandbox, all you needed is an empty box and a bag of sand. Toys inculde old measuring cups, an icecube tray, and a funnel.

Of course it comes with danger. There is the constant threat of spilled sand and a sandy shoe. But with prudent prevent measres like a tarp laid down underneath, plaing can be more fun that clean-up of common condo areas.

Firefighter Finn

One night we went up to the Mt. Adams United Dairy Farmers for a sundae. As we approached, Finn got excited and made the siren noise. There was a firetruck parked right outside the store.

He walked right up and stared at the dials and gauges. Soon the fireman came over to explain what each thing does.



Cincinnati has a great firefighting tradition. My favorite reference for any fact, Wikipedia.com, says:

"On April 1, 1853, the Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) Fire Department became the first full-time paid professional fire department in the United States, and the first in the world to use steam fire engines."

In addition to that "so-called" fact, Cincinnati is the home of the Cincinnati Fire Museum. We need to go over there some time.


The fireman also showed Finn his helmet and nozzle. Finn paid extreme attention through the whole lecture, and was fairly upset when we had to go. Maybe he'll be like his cousin Mark who was a volunteer firefighter.

Popsicle

We made popsicles for Finn. Well, if you make them, they are frozen juice which is definitely not a popsicle. We made the rookie mistake of using grape juice and then became paralyzed with fear. Howeve after an episode in the pool, we thought that it would be safe to let him run around outside with a drip-sicle.



He loved them which is clear from the picture. What is also clear is that his belly is directly over his mouth. The drips of grape juice prove that.

What wasn't obvious is that grape juice stains concrete. After his frozen treat Sarah ran around with a spray bottle of Clorox to erase the evidence of the pops. We still haven't given him his second pop from the tray.

Hof Brau Haus Newport

After a long bike ride, we stopped at the Hof Brau Haus for a sausage and beer. We thought Finn might enjoy a touch of this birthplace right here in Cincinnati (or at least across the river).

He loves slow-cooked or processed meat like ham, pulled pork, and brats. I think that everyone loves fries. I mean grease, potato, salt dip, dip, dipped into sweet ketchup, what isn't to like?


When acting like a German, it is not enough to just have a hot dog. You must have a beer with it. Finn had to learn to drink from a real glass and not a sippy cup nor a straw to do it, but he figured it out.


Plus, nothing ends along bike ride better than a relaxing meal and a beer to cool off at lunch. Perhaps Finn would like to learn to play to tuba and join their "oomp-ah" band. That's a respectable profession.

Mr. Chirpy

The return of the cicadas came again this year. It's not the huge explosion that the 17 year cycle bugs were, but there were plenty of them flying around in the older parts of town. Here is one of our red-eyed friends that is on Sarah.

Another decided to land on me.


Finn didn't make a big deal out of the bug, just pointing it out to us as something new. It was just another thing in his world that he hadn't seen before. We forget what it is like to see things that are truly novel, but we shouldn't. It makes life a little more interesting.

Finn spins

Finn dances in a mode similar to the chicken dance combined with spinning in circles. This video shows one of the first times that he started spinning around in a circle.

This is evidence that people are not born with an understanding of spinning leads to dizziness.

No babies were hurt in the making of this film.

Once more into the zoo

We have made several return visits to the zoo. One was during the free zoo day. While it was still interesting, it was way too crowded.


The highlight was the bear fight we saw. The two black bears were playing by standing on their hind legs and batting each other in the head. It was impressive and engaging as you can see by our faces.

Backyard pool

Finn and Elena enjoyed the summer weather outside in our inflatable pool. You can see how exciting he gets both with her and the pool. After spending 30 minutes blowing up the pool and filling it with water, th kids jumped in and started splashing.


Elena was surprised at the size of Finn's belly. We caught her staring.


She needed to test to see if it was real by using the poke test.


The pool party was a lot of fun and we've had many trips back out to the pool. The pool is a perfect toy. It is deflatable for easy storage, it gets the boy outside, and holds his attention for an hour.

Jill, Rich, and Ben visit

Jill, Rich and Ben came out to Cincinnati to watch their beloved Red Sox play our beloved Reds. Ben got to play with Finn's old toys, which immediately made them way cooler than they were the day before.


Finn became jealous of Ben using his jumper. They both wanted to play with the slot machine part of the jumper. Eventually Finn spun the chair around to face Ben the other way so he could have solo control.

The day of the game, everyone dressed up in support of their team and headed down to the park.


At the game, it was a classic father-son (and mom) day out. The kids were very well-behaved and both eventually fell dead asleep.


When they left, Ben had to use Finn's old car seat. Finn became jealous once again and crawled around and played in the car seat that his legs and arms hung out of.


It was a great visit and the Reds won the game we attended. That sent half of us back with smiles. Getting to see friends we hadn't seen in six months sent the other half back with smiles.

Bubbles

It was very difficult to find a single bottle of bubble soap. Every store wants to sell a six pack of bottles or an automatic blower. Where is the red bottle and stick hoop?

Unable to find what we wanted, I mixed some water and dish soap in an old plastic dish and made hoop out of some twist ties. Viola! It works.


If Finn is super excited about something, he learns to say the words very quickly. Bubbles came almost immediately.

We eventually found an 89-cent bottle of bubbles, which is good. The tist ties weren't the best bubble maker in the world, but Finn never noticed.

Ohio River tests its banks

June was full of rain for most of the US. The result was that the Ohio River was running much higher than normal. The river boats that normally have 60 feet of clearance above thier stacks were squeezing under the bridges.


The park was unaffected. Finn is now tall enough to grab the monkey bars while running underneath. He climbs up the bar ladders rather nibly. Well, at least the first rung or two. It becomes a little scary after that.


Since June, it has been significantly dryer and the rivers have returned to normal levels. The park is nicer with the lower water. The serpantine wall is exposed, the water is marginally less muddy, and more large barges make it upstream. A barge passing always makes it a good trip to the park.

Using utensiles

While I as off in Germany, Finn decided to become civilized by regularly using a fork and/or spoon. Here he is eating breakfast with a fork. Since then he has perfected the art of stabbing pieces of food with miniture trident.



Before he always like the biggest pieces, those pieces that he could pick up and gnaw chucks off of. Now he likes his food cut into small squares to stab.


He's officially surpassed a monkey in intelligence. He uses simple tools and has a language. That's a big step.

Biggest news from Germany

I'm pretty sure that our friend Rich from Dayton won't read this. He said that reading blogs to know what your friends are doing is a waste of time. So I am free to say whatever I want.

We rode the U-bahn together to the conference from our hotel each day. We laughed at the nice posters of the current hot German rock stars.



The biggest Rich new of all was post-conference. He met up with his girlfriend and came back with a wife! Unbeknownst to anyone of us, he and Christine, went down to Italy and took their vows after running from consulate to embassy to ensure that they could "get this thing legal" as he explained in a voicemail to me.

I suppose that was why he was often confused and distant during our trips and dinners. I thought that it was Rich being Rich, much like Boston Red Sox fans have grown to expect Manny being Manny.


Amazing, that Austrian rock star is still working, even if it is just selling his movie rights.

I don't have copies of the wedding pictures with me, otherwise you would see the most happy couple in the world in one of the most beautiful places in the world. We're so happy for you two and congratulations again!

Real time update: Post-op foot

Now that we have all the information from the doctor and the results of the surgery, I can better depict what happened and give a prognosis.

As she landed a side leap, Sarah's weight landed on a rolled ankle, pulling the tendon violently. The force ripped the end of the bone off of the outside-most (5th) long bone (metatarsal) in the foot. The bone fragment was then pulled by the tendon about an inch toward the heal, cutting all the soft tissue as it passed. The bruising is the result of that cutting and tearing. The toes are bruised from the pooled blood spreading throughout the foot.
The doctor said that the incision occurred right below a nerve running along the outside of the foot. He warned that it cold result in numbness and pain due to the swelling from the surgery. That warning was accurate. Tingling numbness is alternating with pain, typically coinciding with the end of the Vicodin's effectiveness.

All the time, the foot must stay above heart level. That means 24-hours of laying down per day. That doesn't mesh well with Sarah's general life-style and is rather taxing mentally. The physical repair was to insert pins through the floating bone curling the ends around the edges. The other ends of the pins were drilled through the bone and secured in place with wire wrappings around the bone.

In another 10 days when the swelling subsides a hard cast will go on and stay on for another month. No weight can be put on the foot for at least until the hard cast comes off in mid-September. The doc also warned that failing to follow his instructions may result in a less than fully functional foot.

So right now the help from the grandmas is coming in very handy since Sarah can't take care of Finn while forced to stay on the couch. Nancy was able to extend her stay a week, and mom will come back down next week. After that we'll scrape together help to watch Finn. Nancy is trying to come back down again and I will take a couple weeks of sick time from work.

It'll be better a couples months from now when things are back to relative normal. But we're a little intimidated until then.

Beach went off to Germany..again

Some longer readers may remember when this blog was entitled "Strangers in a Deutschland" because we lived in Germany. I returned back in the early days of June for a turbine engine conference in Berlin.


Finn escorted me to th airport. Here we are in the elevator riding down to the car. If you're wondering why is he unusually tall, he is standing on the suitcase.

Germany is as crazy as ever. They have wacky things on TV. The strangest thing this time was the 24-hour talking French toast channel. I took a picture of it because it was so bizarre. If anyone can explain this, please let me know. If you don't I'll continue to think that the Germans are the Alabamans of Europe.

Getting the hang of eating corn

Finn's more recent attempts at eating corn on the cob have progressed nicely. You may remember the first attempt, while succesful, involved eating the cob from one end.



As you can see, he now eats corn the more common way. He can also get most of the kernals off the cob without help. These kids are awesome with how much they learn so quickly.

Airplane toys

Finn had been very interested in airplanes. He points out each one that flies overhead and makes the sign while imitating the sound of the engines. We figured that it had been a while since he had gotten a new toy, so we strapped on his back-pack and set off looking for one.

We went up to King Arthur's Court Toys hoping to find that old Playmobile plane set. We didn't find that, but did find a small Delta 747 with flashing engines and whirring noises. The best part is that it is self propelled, but goes at two speeds. After a short slow speed roll, it quickly speeds up rotating the nose up like it will actually take-off.



He liked the toy so much that he only paused for a second to point out the turtle in the window as we left. I imagine that the noise it makes will haunt us later, but you can't avoid noisy toys anymore.

Reds game with friends

We had some tickets to the Reds and when with our friends, Kelly and Chris, and their son Ben. Finn is getting the hang of the whole baseball thing. Yo sit around and watch the other team score against Reds' pitching and shove food in your mouth.


We saw Griffey Jr. smash his 599th home run. Unfortunately we missed his 600th. We're so far behind, he's hit 607 at the time of writing this post, and who knows how many by the time it shows up on the blog. (We've been pre-writing them and releasing them one per day if you hadn't noticed. The goal is to eventually catch up to real-time.)


After the game we had dinner at Rock Bottom and played on Fountain Square. Finn love the water and splashing in the fountain.


After the big day, Finn felt lucky to see the Reds win so we went to be before things went bad. You can't press your luck too far.

Finn to Robby Knievel, "Watch out for me"

Evel Knievel's son, Robby, recently took the motorcyce jumping reigns from his father by jumping over 24 truck in Cincinnati a couple month back. Finn was inspired.


Of course, Finn doesn't have his learner's permit so he can't actually beat Robby's feat yet. It doesn't mean at he can't start training.

Finn climbed up on Firefighter Tad and showed his balancing skills. Though you can't tell in this picture, he was going about 25 mph across the floor. The tricky part was steering.


We're working on sponsorship. It would be nice if he could start pulling in some cash for us. If this ontinues, we'll make him wear his bike helmet all the time. That's the key to popularity, wearing a helmet. Chicks dig safety.

House chores

Finn has mastered sweeping and vacuuming and has moved on to more complex tasks that take him to new elevations. He is rising off the floor to help his mom do more chores.

Doing the dishes is a lot like bath time. There's water, toys and lots of splashing.


He pulls the chairs over to the edge of the table or counter and climbs up to get to the workspace. Sometimes Sarah moves the chair over for him and gives him specific things to pay with.

Breakfast is commonly French toast. Here Finn adds the milk to the egg miixture in preparation for the grill.


Playing with cooking tools is also a fun game. We showed him how putting a spoon in the bottle opener would play the Wisconsin fight song. That was a favorite game for a long time. It's another example of toys being seconded by everyday items like a spoon.


He must really like us to try and copy everything we do. He thinks anything we do is super-cool. I know that will change at some point, but it's great right now.

Backpack

We got Finn a leash. It connects to his backpack. For some reason, this backpack is the greatest thing to him. He loves wearing it and running. We put a juice cup in to so that he can bear some of his own load. That makes it even better for him.

He loves it so much he even learn to say 'backpack' in one day. Well he says "Bah-pah". Hey, close enough.



Getting a good picture of him wearing it is a challenge since he immediately sets off at full speed. I suppose that is why it comes with a leash.