part 2 of the mind road block...

finley turned 2 at the end of june...yep...that long ago.  i have been trying to coordinate my time, mind, and pictures enough to finally write a post about that very special occassion...but...it hasn't happened. 
she did turn 2 though. 
against my best efforts at trying to keep the babiest baby a baby she has sprouted her own wings and decided to grow. 
each day comes with varying levels of how okay with that i am. 
here are the finley highlights...

1. she consistently refers to herself as finley roo...she will answer to roo, fin, finnie, princess baby, and of course finley.  roo has been an aptly coined name accidentally given to her by an oncall doctor when she was in her first few months of life.  we received a bill in the mail for 5$ for the patient named FINLEY ROO...we laughed at first but after realizing how much this little one is prone to love the care style of her marsupial brethren we realized that it is actually quite fitting.  roo it is. 
2. she is consistently petite.  she was my smallest baby at 8lbs 4oz and she has maintained that curve throughout her years.  she finished off her second year of life weighing 23lbs(15%) and measuring 31.75(8%) inches.
3. her head is enormous.  19.75inches (97%).  her head is wider than her shoulders and her hips.  i am actually amazed that she can carry it around...thankfully, her insanely thick hair acts as camouflage to the true enormity of her head. 
4. she eats nothing but carbs.  i try, but she consistently gravitates toward sweets and carbs.  my other children would always choose fruit over almost anything else.  finley will eat fruit if nothing else is available.  which is what i have started to do for her.  she will eat 1 or 2 bites of a carrot.  she doesn't eat much meat...but she does better with meat over fruits or veggies. 
5. she is starting to talk more and more.  she repeats anything that she hears and has quite a large vocabulary to come up with her own observations. for example, she just told me, "there is no princess in it" when she found a polly pocket dress sans polly pocket. 
6. despite the fact that she is quite verbal at home she is still my most shy child when it comes to "outsiders".  most people that are not close to her would be surprised to know that she can talk at all much less say all that she can say. 
7. she is not afraid to let her opinion be known.  she has gotten quite feisty in her old age.  i attribute that to the fact that she has been treated like a living doll for almost 2 years and decided that she was not going to be told what to do and say all of the time.  she has been known to scratch and squeal if someone doesn't listen to her objections to being lifted or pushed around. 
8. ironically, being my most shy child she garnishes the most attention.  people are mesmerized by her small frame and thick hair.  everyone wants to talk to her and smile at her but she is usually so very wary of people trying to pick her up or hold her that she normally doesn't reciprocate.  she will usually talk to people as long as there is no threat of them holding her. 
9. her shyness must not be mistaken for timidity.  she is my most daring child and is more than likely my one that i suspect for future injuries.  she loves to climb and jump.  she will jump in a pool without hesitation and doesn't care if she goes under.  she wants to fly down the driveway on a bike as fast as the big kids.  she is willing to try things first before both of her brothers and is usually the one that i have to worry about when it comes to falling off of playground equipment. 
10. she doesn't like fireworks.  at all.
11. she loves to sing and dance.  and even though she is very shy, she would go on a stage in front of hundreds of people without a second thought to sing and dance.  her favorites are, "you are my sunshine", "don't bite your friends", "hold still...wiggle wiggle wiggle stop!".  and she is basically the best booty shaker of any baby i have ever known. 
12. she is a momma's and daddy's girl.  she has no desire to go anywhere or stay anywhere with anyone else.  she is happy to go anywhere as long as we are staying.  if we are not...she is happy to not stay.  a fact that she makes known.
13. she is my worst sleeper.  i blame kyle and myself for this fully and completely and i am also not sure if we would have/could have done anything differently.  thankfully she is our fourth and (fingers crossed) last baby so we won't have to deal with the repercussions that would come from that...but i also know that we need to fix these sleep habits quickly with her.  she wants to fall asleep upstairs with us and then at some point in the night...usually between 2:30-5:30 she comes to our room and finishes out the night.  the fact that it is not that difficult to indulge her only makes it more difficult to not indulge her.  she is becoming increasingly difficult to please which will make kyle and i quench the brattiness much easier. 
14. she is pretty much potty trained.  i say pretty much because honestly i have not done much with it.  i am not sure how much that has to do with the fact that with 4 children issues like potty training become so much less of a big deal or the fact that i was burnt out on proper potty training.  but we took it easy.  she wears panties all day and sleeps in diapers.  most mornings she wakes up dry. 
15. she is not a morning person.  she doesn't want to talk to anyone or smile at anyone until she has had at least half of her breakfast.  delightful. 
16. she still loves to snuggle and be held like a baby.  when she gets tired, she still pushes all of my hair out of her way and puts her cheek against my skin and starts to "pinch" the skin on my chest, arm, or hand. 
17. i love that she will fall asleep on me any time, any where.  she is really an awesome fourth child and can go along with whatever i need because she always manages to get what she needs.  if we are at the pool or park during nap, she just sleeps.  she's pretty great in that way. 
18. she is still the favorite to all of the siblings.  calvary often includes only her in his drawings, harper comes to her rescue whenever i try to parent her, and oliver jack longs to be found in her good graces. 
19. her names for her sibilings: harper= harpo, calvary= bubba, oliver jack= jackie
20. she is the perfectly content with her role as the baby and she makes our family feel wonderfully complete.