approaching one year....

I can't believe it... Finnegan is almost a 1 year old... that is toddler age... kid age... not baby age.... where did my baby go?

Finn is on the brink of walking - testing the waters constantly. He can crawl upstairs faster than you can say, "hey kid, did I ever tell you the story of....". He loves to stop at the landing ang poke his hands through the bars - alerting whoever is down there that he is in fact taller than them.

His sleep has been waning with an increase in teething, making it difficult to gauge whether he is fighting sleep or in pain. Our rituals used to get him to bed have gotten longer and longer. We just got through a sleepless 2 weeks when he finally slept in until 6:30 this morning and napped like a champ - phew. He is a different baby when rested - he has focus and can self-entertain for longer periods of time. When sleep deprived, he loves to tug on your hair and put his little finger in your ear when you are desperately trying to get him to go to sleep. He did the funniest thing yesterday when I was desperately trying to get him to nap:

I was exhausted and had had to put him in the crib screaming for a minute just to recollect a bit - I came back in and held him in my arms. He looked at me straight in the eyes and kind of studied my face for a bit. I kept repeating the mantra "It's time to go to sleep now Finn, ok?" ... again and again. He just kept smiling back at me and babbling, "ba ba ba ba ba". The last time I said my mantra, he looked at me, babbled and then made a hand gesture as if holding a talking puppet.... kind of mocking me.... it was actually hilarious.

Not sure what to do for a 1-yr old birthday yet but I need to get crackin soon......