Finn turns T W O !

Our littlest guy turned two last month. It always makes me a little sad to think about how quickly the years go. And then I think about all the little details... feedings, diapers, long nights... and it feels like he's been here a looong time. Time is always a weird thing to think about.

Anyways... Finn Allen. This kid is so fun and so cute. His little voice right now just makes me want to eat him up.

- He talks a lot. Full sentences. Repeats everything. Says please and thank you without prompting a lot of the time. I mention this because the older kids still need reminders for those things, and why is it that my 2 year old sometimes does a better job at it? Who knows!

- He is not potty trained yet but will potty on the toilet when his siblings ask him to. This makes me laugh. This boy is out to please.

- He is fiercely independent. Months ago he stopped sitting in his little chair to eat... he can't be bothered. He wants to be at the table with everyone else. He hasn't used a stroller in months either. Why would he? No one else is in a stroller. I have to wrangle him in his carseat (although this has gotten better) because he wants to be in the back with his brothers. He is a tough cookie to take into stores because... you guessed it... why would he want to sit in the basket if no one else has to? I could go on and on. JUST LET HIM BE BIG LIKE HIS BIG BROTHERS AND SISTER!

- To piggyback off of the last bullet, he is also fiercely strong-willed. So much so that he is encroaching on his sister's reigning title of most strong-willed child. We have had some very tough moments this summer with him. Battling out the wills if you will. Unfortunately for him (actually fortunately for him), this mama of F O U R don't play. Been there done that buddy. I will win. I will hold out longer. I feel tough mentally but at the end of a showdown with him, I am still physically and emotionally exhausted. Zapped. But he is already gotten so much better just this month. I'd like to think he is very smart and knows it's better just to behave. :)

- Just like Jack was, Finn is o b s s e s s e d with horses. He loves him some Youtube bucking bronco videos. LOVES THEM. And very lucky for him, his room he shares upstairs with his brothers is FULL of horses, bulls, barns, stalls, trailers, and cowboys.

- He is the blondest of all our kids and gets daily comments on the white-ness of his hair.

- This kid was fearless this summer in the pool. Our very first pool day, I literally had to bear hug him to get him in his puddle jumper. I knew if he would practice being in the water with the puddle jumper on, he would love the independence it gave him. I was right. He swam all over the pool by himself all summer and loved jumping off the diving board... like all the big kids of course.

He is such a cutie, and we all love him to pieces. He's the baby of course and gets our full attention when he is doing something funny or cute. This has turned him into quite the ham.