Ode to Finn

Ever since I wrote the post about Jack a little while back, I've been meaning to write one about Finn. I know he's mine, so I'm partial and all that, but Finn is just a cool kid. Every time we have a parent-teacher conference, we hear how bright Finn is, but I think the thing that we love the most about him is how curious he is about the world. I remember when we used to put Finn in his bouncer when he was a baby he would jump up and down a couple of times, but then he'd tilt his head back and look at the spring-mechanism and I swear it looked like he was trying to figure out how that gizmo worked.

Finn is also naturally very gentle and kind. We can see it now in the way he interacts with other kids, especially younger ones, but even when Finn was little, he was an unusually thoughtful kid. They had a guniea pig at his daycare that none of the other kids were allowed to handle, because they were too rough, but even at just a year-and-a-half, Finn would sit there very quietly with it in his lap and pet it gently. When Jack recently lost his birthday ballon and started crying, Finn immediately offered him his balloon, without any hesitation or provocation from us. I thought that was pretty impressive for a little guy, but when Jack sniffed and shook his head and said, "that's okay," Finn looked up at Jack's balloon and then let go of his and said, "Well...then my balloon will keep your balloon company."

Because Finn is so thoughtful and meticulous when it comes to his work, it sometimes surprises us what a little social butterfly he is. Finn can make friends anywhere, with anyone. I think it helps that he's not really a natural-born-leader, but he's just friendly and good-natured and able to get along with all kinds of different personalities. I took him to a party recently with a bunch of his old school friends and I was amazed at how often some kid or other would go running by me yelling, "Finn! Come here Finn! Finn, where are you!?"

The video is above is from a performance Finn's after-school enrichment program put together. I spoke to the teacher afterwards and when I told her I was Finn's Mom, her eyes got that familiar sparkle in them and she said, "Finn...man I love that kid."

Me too.

(This is Em, btw, but it could just as easily be Patrick.)

P.S.

The little sweet pea in the tu-tu next to him is Finn's best friend Hana, who is a great gymnast. Also...if you can't hear Finn, he says he likes to "explore" and he's free to be "happy and have fun."