Finn

When I got to Cottage to pick up Finn on Wednesday he was … well … either break dancing or exercising, depending on who you talk to. You be the judge.

I took Finn to my old stomping grounds at Hamilton Park this morning so he could ride on their huge concrete area. Before today, he’d only ridden up and down the sidewalk, which means getting off and on the bike in order to turn around. This morning he was in heaven as he rode and rode and rode and barely got off the bike.

He also tried some new tricks like standing up on his pedals and putting his feet up like in this photo.

I expected some falls but he was fine. And then he passed out on the ride home. Perfect!

It’s no joke that the second kid does everything sooner than the first one. Ezra just started riding his bike without training wheels a couple of months ago, and today Finn ditched his own training wheels because he wanted to be able to go where Ezra can go — namely on the weedy dirt … er … grass in our backyard.

And so, here he is!

He had a big day of riding — several trips outside with a few breaks in between for snacks and rests, not to mention a couple of scraped knees. On one trip out, he decided he needed sunglasses.

Pretty cute.

I did manage to get one decent video. Note: he’s not the first bike rider you see; he’ll come into view after a few seconds.

By the time the end of the day rolled around, he was one exhausted little boy. He got to pick the place for a special celebratory dinner; he picked Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles. I wasn’t quite sure he would make it all the way through the meal.

But he did.

While Finn was finishing up his dinner and I was doing the dishes, he said, “Mommy, I wish that I was you.” Feeling particularly exhausted after a day of carpooling, laundry and a major toy clean-out, I needed clarification. “You wish you were me?” I asked.

“Yep,” he said, “Because then I could help the whole family.”

Wow. What a love.

For one hair-obsessed four-year-old, it was. Finn has been begging for haircutting toys ever since he saw Chaz Dean’s infomerical a few months ago. Last week I finally found a Melissa & Doug hair stylist costume, complete with hair dryer, comb, scissors and a mirror. It was delivered today and he’s in heaven.

The outfit comes with a name tag. He chose his stylist name: Finland. Let me explain. The other day in the car, the boys and I were listening to music on the iPod and a Better Than Ezra song came on. I asked Ezra if he knew who it was, and he said, “Better Than Ezra?” He was very excited, but Finn (nap-free again) was devastated that there isn’t a band named Better Than Finn. So I said, “Finn, you are named after a whole country!” Ezra said, “Yeah, Finn. It’s Finland!” Finn wasn’t having it at the time but apparently he’s happy about it now.

Anyway, I got to be his first customer. Ezra was next up.

And I better make sure to schedule the first available play date with Ruby because Finn is dying to cut her hair.

It’s Finn’s turn to rule the [pre-]school this year as part of the Rainforest class. He is excited beyond belief that school has started (and believe me, he’s not the only one).

Here are the boys after our celebratory scoop of ice cream at Buster’s on Finn’s first day last week.

Here are a couple of shots I took last week when I parent-teacher. (See, Emily, I’m using the new jargon!)

And today for his show and tell item he brought the paper mache helmet that he and Bruce made over the weekend. It was an attention-getter.

Shortly after I returned from my walk this morning, Finn came downstairs. At first, our conversation was pleasant as I got him breakfast and made myself a cup of iced coffee (it’s already almost 80 degrees at 6:30 in the morning). Pretty soon, though, things turned loud as is par for the course with Finn lately. He started yelling about not wanting the cereal he had picked out and then had a tirade about a street sweeper. So I told him that it was only 6:30 in the morning and I wasn’t really interested in being yelled at yet.

He seemed to be thinking a bit as I got him a second kind of cereal. When I set the bowl down, he actually said, “Thank you, Mommy.” I kissed him on the head and went back to making Ezra’s lunch. Then he said, “Mommy, even when I yell at you, you still love me.” “Yes, I do,” I said. “And even when I’m dead, you’ll still love me,” he added. “Yes,” I said, feeling a little uneasy. “And even when you’re dead, I’ll still love you,” he said.

Finn has taken to riding Ezra’s scooter lately and he’s getting pretty good. Of course, it gives me a heart attack every time he gets on the thing, but that’s beside the point.

He wanted to do a video of him doing his “tricks” so here you go. In true Finn form, there’s lots of explaining and a couple of tricks mixed in.

Here’s my conversation with Finn on the way home from Cottage today.

Finn: When we get home I want to go in the little pool.

Me: OK. I think we need a rest, though, because we’re getting haircuts at 4:00 and we have to go up and feed the chickens after that. It’s going to be a long afternoon.

Finn: It’s OK, I don’t need a nap. I can stay up that long.

Five minutes later …

These orange cherry tomatoes are divine.

Finn finished up his second year of Cottage last week and is now officially done with the Oak Tree class. As usual, there was a last day potluck — here are Finn and Charlie enjoying some snacks. Mostly Finn just liked the orange cups and plates.

He had made a book with pictures from the year and here he is showing it to Teacher Ana.

And to Teacher Art.

He was very proud.

Here’s some of the group getting ready for the end of the year ceremony.

On to Rainforest!

Captain America.

I worked at Cottage yesterday and took this video during music time. I don’t know what the actual name of the song is, but Finn sings it at home all the time and calls it the Pirate Song. Clearly, it’s a class favorite.

Last night at bedtime there was some discussion about vampires. I was a little worried that, this being bedtime, the vampire talk might cause nightmares, so I wanted to make sure the boys understood that vampires aren’t real. Here’s the conversation I had with Finn after he shared his not-so-extensive knowledge on the subject.

Me: You know something else about vampires?

Finn: What?

Me: They’re not real.

Finn: Yes, they are. I saw a van-pire.

Me: You did? Where?

Finn: When I came out of my Batcave.

I couldn’t help cracking up, and then neither could he, and I figured we’d be OK in the nightmare department. And we were.

Finn and I made some vanilla scones this morning. I made the first batch (triangles) and he made the second:

I particularly like the plane, which is a pancake mold but worked just fine for our purposes. He loved making shapes and kept insisting that his weren’t scones — they were cookies. And he is a cookie cooker.

He went on to work with the leftover dough until it was all over the counter, ladder and floor. But he had a good time, and what’s a little cleanup?