The Life & Times of Finnegan Buckley The terribly exciting and ever expanding world of me, myself

My friends Noah and Truman came over today.  First we went to the pool for a while.  Did some swimming, played with some pool toys, then took a break for lunch.  Today, Mom had PB&J’s, pretzels, yogurt covered raisins (YUCK!) and fruit snacks (YUM!) on the menu.  But to tell you the truth, I was almost too tired to chew.  Yeah, yeah, I know….you can stop laughing now.

We were all shivering by that point but who wants to get out of the pool to warm up when we’re having so much fun?!  That’s just craziness.

We took one more dip in the pool after lunch and then we climbed back into the wagon caravan and headed back home.  This is where the fun really began.  Mom backed the fire truck out of the garage and we got to drive it up and down the street.  Well….Noah got to drive it.  I just got to be a passenger.  But I have to say, for someone who’s never driven before, he did a darn tootin’ job.  He only had a few near misses.  Pretty good job for a 5 yr. old if you ask me.

So that was the highlight of my day.  After we put out some fires I took a nice long nap.  When I woke up I ran out to do some errands with Mom, then we picked up Dad and went off to Crabtree Mall, where we had a quick dinner in the foodcourt and then did some more errands.  Mom and Dad are looking for a new phone plan so they were checking out their options.  All I know is that I got to play in the kiddie area for a while and then smell all the candles in Yankee Candle.

When we got home Mom made me sit on the potty again.  Nothing came out this time though.  But at least I got a candy corn out of the deal.  Yeah for me.

Mom tricked me and took me to the doctor’s office today.  She said we were going to play with the trains.  So, maybe she wasn’t lying, but she did omit some important information.  But at least I got some fruit snacks and a lollipop out of the deal.

Here’s My Stats:

Weight: 31 lbs 6 oz – 85th percentile

Height: 36 1/2″ – 92nd percentile

Head Circ: 51.5 cm (not sure why they do this one in cm?) – 97th percentile

So, apparently I have a big head, and I take after EJ.  I prefer to think that I just have some really large brains stuffed in there.

The doctor said that I looked good to go.  She loved my singing prowess and said that I make great eye contact.  (Note: I know the ladies love that!)

Mom asked her why I wasn’t trying to talk more but she reassured Mom and said that some boys just like to take their time.
Ain’t that the truth!  You can’t rush greatness, right?  All in good time I say.  I figure, if I space it out….do it nice n’ slow….throw one thing at a time at then, then Mom and Dad get REALLY excited when I finally do something.  And you know what that means? More treats!  Now tell me who’s the smart one here…

So tonight when I was getting out of the tubby, I started to feel like I might have to go.  Wink wink.

I think Dad caught on pretty quickly because he grabbed me and sat me down on the big boy potty.  The one that I see him going on all the time.  And bing bang boom, out comes a poopy.  Daddy started jumping up and down and clapping like he had just won the lottery.  I didn’t really know what the big deal was but he seemed to think it was most excellent.  He even ran in the other bathroom and dragged Mommy out of the shower to come look.  We pretended that she was going to see something really horrible.  But we tricked her.  It was something totally awesome.  Poop!

So we all stood there for a few minutes gazing with amazement and the wonder that we were beholding.  Mommy couldn’t stop kissing me and giving me high 5′s.  She even wanted to take a picture of it but Daddy said that might be a little too gross.  And trust me, Daddy knows gross.  If he thinks it’s gross, then it must be.  So unfortunately for all you folks, no picture to see here.

Instead, I flushed the toilet and waved bye bye to the poopy.  See ya later dude!

Thursday afternoon me, Mom, Cali & McKenna all went to the Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh.  Grammy & Grampy got me a membership there for my birthday so that we can go as often as we want.  I have a feeling that Mom is going to be taking me there at least once a week.

First we stopped at the play area and packed up the delivery truck.  There were a couple of girls there that were trying to help out, but geez….don’t let anyone tell you that girls are good packers.  Right Grampy?  Once they got off the conveyor belt I pretty much had to do the whole thing myself.

From there we were on to the train table.  This is my favorite spot.  It’s mostly guys that hang out there.  No smelly girls to ruin everything.

We also got to dress up like pirates.  Unfortunately there were no volunteers to walk the plank.  Maybe next time.  Argh!

The Peas & Carrots pit was pretty fun.  It’s much easier to move around when you have someone to climb on, that’s for sure.  And it gave Mom and opportunity to snap a few pics.  Hey Grammy – did you notice that I’m wearing the bug outfit you bought me this past spring?  I finally grew into the shorts!

How cool do I look?

Look what Grammy and Grampy sent me for my Birthday/Christmas!!!!!!!!!  I don’t care if this is all I get for the next 5 Christmas’s combined…it’s that AWESOME!!

Not only does it squirt water, but it has a megaphone so that I can pull up outside all the neighbors houses and announce my arrival.  Or maybe see if anyone inside needs help with anything.  Or maybe see if they’ve got any good snacks they’d like to share.

Now I’ve just got to figure out how to drive it.  But for now it’s just as cool to sit in the driveway and toot the horn.

Can you please unwrap this a little faster Dad?

Me & Noah sailing our boats

Lots of museum trips the past couple of weeks.  If you can call them museums that is.  More like glorified playgrounds if you ask me.  So maybe I’m learning while I’m playing?  Yeah, that’s it.

Last week I met up with my friends Noah and Truman at the Museum of Life & Sciences in Durham….we checked out all the indoor exhibits, played in the weather station, watched a crash test dummy get clobbered in the crash test machine (Way Cool!), saw some ants building an ant farm, and then played in the toddler area for a few minutes – until I had an ultimate wipe out!  Geez louise aren’t these play areas supposed to be safe?!
All I did was lean over a wall to reach a ball and the next thing I knew I was on my back staring at the ceiling.  Oh god…the humiliation of it all.  And of course I had to sport a nice road rash on my face for the rest of the day.  Oh well, at least it scared off all the kids.  I think they just figured I was a bad ass and they steered clear of me.  Makes me even more handsome, if you ask me.

Next up, the outdoor play areas.  Took a quick run through the playground, made a pit stop at the drums and cowbells, then onto the good stuff – the sand pit with the giant dump trucks!  Seriously…I could’ve sat there all day.  There was A LOT of sand to move around.  But so much to do, so little time.  We can’t sit here all day, there are animals to look at, sailboats to sail and trains to explore.  Let’s move em’ out!

After checking out the barnyard animals we went through the butterfly and insect house.  After that, snack time!!!

By the time we finished all our exploring it was way past nap time.  We were all too pooped to continue.  The rest had to wait until the next visit.  But luckily mom took me back the following week to explore the areas that we had missed the first time.  Saw some bears, some wolves, and even some crazy lemur thingys.

Hangin' with my peeps

So, BIG day today.  Auntie Brett came and got me and we went to her pool again.  I love going to her pool because Cali and Mackie are there and they’re lots more fun to play with than Mom.  We got to swim all morning, hang out by the pool and eat some snacks, and then go back in and swim some more.

That was, until Mom came to pick me up at noon.  She said it was time for lunch and a nap, and to tell you the truth, I was almost in a coma by the time she showed up so I was ready to go.  I didn’t even have any energy left for a half-hearted protest.  So off we went.   Ahhh…nap time….zzzzzz

After what seemed like 10 minutes of napping (although mom told me it was pushing close to 3 1/2 hrs) Cali came and woke me up.  Not Happy!  Just…Need…5…More…Minutes…zzzzzzzz

But when we got downstairs and out into the yard I saw all the balloons, all my friends, lots of food, and big presents stacked everywhere.  And did I mention food?  I didn’t know where to run first, so I ran straight for the balloons and POP!  Oops.

So we did lots of running around, popped some more balloons, and then it was time for presents.  Yeehaw.  I’ve never seen so many presents in one place at one time.   So much cool stuff.  I got a huge working crane that picks up and moves boulders.  An awesome new bike helmet with flames on it!  Oh, and a train!  Choo choo…  I even got a bubble machine.  It was just like being on the Lawrence Welk show.

But mom totally saved the best for last.  Check out the gigundo cupcake cake that she made.  And the dog cupcakes!

Big wheelin' it!

As Saturday’s go, this one was right up there with some of the best.  First Mom & Dad took me to Target, where I got to play in the toy aisle for a while.  I suspect that they were really scoping out toys for my upcoming birthday, but I pretended not to notice.  I tried on a few really cool batting helmets…tested out some awesome cups that campers use, which twist up and down (So Cool!)…and emptied out the bin full of balls a few times.  And of course I visited with my beloved dump truck.  My favorite thing is getting a running start and then letting it go, and watching it race out into the aisle.  I love seeing how many shoppers I can trip and/or scare the crap out of.

From there we went over to REI to get mom a new tire for her bike.  When we were on a ride last week we ended up with a flat and mom had to push the bike all the way back home with me on the back.  Didn’t bother me one bit but mom looked a little sweaty by the time we got home.  Well….on the bright side…at least she still got a workout.

From there it was back home for lunch.  My most favorite – PB&J!  And for a special treat today, some chocolate toffee pistachios that someone had sent my dad in the mail.  Soooo good!  Not as good as mom’s brownies, but good nonetheless.

After that me and dad took a little nap.  Dad likes to pretend that he’s just helping me to sleep longer but we all know the truth…dad just likes to nap with me.  I’m the perfect excuse for him to take a nap on a Saturday afternoon.  Otherwise mom would have him building an addition on the house or something.

So after our nap is where the day really starts to get good.  We went to pickup up a kiddie pool from a neighbor.  It was a big green turtle and it had a cover so that the gross bugs don’t land in it.  When we got it home mom scrubbed it out real good and then dad filled it up with water right away.  The anticipation was so overwhelming that I just had to dive right in.  No waiting for it to fill  up.  Splash!  Wow, diapers really hold a lot of water.

Then Auntie Caitlin showed up for dinner.  We played in the driveway for a little while and did some coloring with chalk.  I tried to let my inner artiste’ come out and color all over Auntie Cait but she wasn’t having any of it.  Hmph.

After dinner we decided to go to the Real pool.  Woopee!  The pool is my favorite.  Especially now that I can say ‘pool.’  Now I can demand it whenever the mood hits me.  So off we went in the red wagon, loaded up with pool toys.  When we got there I had the whole pool to myself since it was so late in the day.  Double woopee!  We splashed around for about an hour.  Or, correction, I splashed around for about an hour.  Mom, Dad and Auntie Caitlin all watched from the sidelines in their pool chairs.  It was still a blast though.

About halfway through the lifeguard came in and tested the water with some scientific looking little tubes.  Mom and Dad were joking with him about how the water is probably worse in the far corner of the big pool, where all the drinkers hang out, than it is in the kiddie pool.  And I have to agree on that one.

So now it’s time to pack up and go home.  Booooo.  Booooo.

But we get all our stuff in the wagon and Dad comes over to haul me out, and he sees something suspicious floating in the pool.  Duh duh duh duh!!!  Help!  Get me out!  Somebody save me!  Everyone, run for your lives!  The way they were looking around I knew it had to be something really really terrible.  Aahhh!

Mom and Dad and Auntie Caitlin then do some whispering among themselves…what to do…what to do….

Mom finally walks over to the lifeguard who, by now, is sitting pleasantly in his lifeguard chair.  She exchanges some words with him, something to the effect of “you may need to test the water in the kiddie pool again.”  And then I hear the lifeguard say “Uh oh, you mean Code Brown?!”  She nods and then skulks away.  As she walks by me she mumbles something about being too embarrased to ever go to the pool again.

Oh god, no!  Say it isn’t so!  Not sure what that is, but it sounds REALLY bad.

But off we go, back home.  Apparently no one’s been harmed so we’re free to go on our merry way.

We get home, mom doesn’t even wait until we’re in the house, she strips me naked in the driveway and starts rinsing me off.  Hmmm…very strange.  Not sure what to make of it.  But I let her finish up.  She’s gotta do what she’s gotta do, right?  So when she’s all done and she goes over and dumps everything in the trash can.  I take that opportunity to relieve myself on the driveway….I’m feeling artistic again so I try to right my name.  I think I got it too!

I hear mom yelp, which of course, shuts off the flow immediately.  Sigh….mom, you just don’t understand boys.  But apparently Auntie Caitlin does.  I heard her tell Mom and Dad on the walk home that apparently it’s really comfortable to ‘Code Brown’ in a pool.

Still trying to figure out how she would know that….

Pre-Op Room

So Monday was not my most favorite day.  It started in the early morning hours…I was rudely yanked out of my bed at 5:30 am and thrown into the car.  No diaper change…no clothes…not even a pair of shoes.

I thought, woohoo, big adventures await.  The possibilities were running through my brain – the beach, the aquarium, the zoo, or maybe even another plane ride to god only knows where.  But no.  We pulled into the hospital parking lot.  Uh oh, this can’t be good news.

After about 20 minutes of playing in the waiting room we were whisked into the pre-op area and lots of people in PJ’s kept coming in and out of our little room.  Some even had really funny looking hats on.  And they gave me a wicked cool nightie that left my backside exposed (finally! My boys get a little air!), and an AWESOME pair of bright yellow socks that gave me big bird feet.  The nurses were actually pretty cool and they took me exploring while we were waiting (waiting for what, I have no idea, but I’m sure it’s probably something pretty awesome!)  We got to check out some really cool equipment that had lots of buttons…a bunch of people lying down on their beds (I bet they’re going to the same slumber party as me!)…and a TON of people wandering around in their PJ’s.

At the end of the hallway we went in to a room where they asked me if I wanted to sit on the bed and take a look at the mask that the big guy was holding.  He said it smelled like bubblegum so I figured, how bad could it be?  I took a humongous breath and…Hmph…what?

Next thing I know someone is calling out my name – and it wasn’t my mom, mind you – and I’m laying on a bed with a tube coming out of my arm.  Aaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  GET ME OUT OF HERE!  This is the worst slumber party I’ve ever been too.  I am SO not coming back here ever again.  If any of you come near me I’m going to go all ninja on you.  I know karate!  And don’t even think of trying to butter me up with that orange popsicle.  Just leave it on the nightstand and be on your way.  And don’t let the curtain hit you in the arse on the way out!

After what seemed like a lifetime, my mom and dad came around the corner to save me.  It’s about time folks!  A lil’ help here!  Geez.

To be fair though, my mom looked like she was about to hurl her cookies all over the recovery room.  At least I got to sleep through the whole thing.  And now I’ve got a cool scar that I can show off to all the girlies when I’m in high school.

Friday was not just another day in the life of Finnegan Buckley.  Oh no.  It was a day that I’ll always remember.  The day I had my first Icee (or Slushee, as my mom calls it).  It’s almost as good as your first real kiss – not that I would know…YET!

Mom was going a little stir crazy that day…we’d had one too many rainy days around these here parts and she decided that we’d go to Tar-zhay to play.  The playground hadn’t dried out yet, so that wasn’t an option, unfortunately. 

So things started out per u-zhu-al….got a few groceries…worked our way through the toy section…oh wait, we should probably chat about this for a few moments, cuz it was great too. 

Part 1 is the car aisle.  It’s usually crammed with 2 yr old boys pressing every button on every car they can reach, and this day was no different.  It took about 20 minutes to work our way through every car they had…even the scary ones that sounded like they could eat me. 

Then it was off to the ball section.  This is where the skies parted and the sun shone down on me…it’s like God himself was directing me to play in this aisle.  He said “Finnegan my son…ye shall partake of these round objects, they are fun to bounce.”  I told mom this but she didn’t believe me, and after she grew tired of chasing balls around the store we were off to our third aisle….sand toys!  Big giant dump trucks with monster wheels, perfect for driving through the sand.  And if you don’t believe me, check out what these boys at the playground were doing with smaller, wimpy, dump trucks!

I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, so I digress….Icee’s…right!

So after about 90 minutes of that, we go through the checkout aisle, pay for our groceries, and off we go towards the exit door. 
But wait…we’re slowing down by the little food section near the door…I seize upon this opportunity…mom must be having a weak moment….I start pointing wildly at everything I can see and making mad monkey noises.  Both fingers are pointing, in every direction.  At the drinks, at the pretzels..even at the kids standing in line.  Anything.  Something.  Please, oh please oh please.  Somebody do something.

And then a miracle happens.  I hear my mom ordering a kid-sized Icee.  She tells me that I was so good today and that she’s going to get me a special treat.  I just wish my dad was here to document this on film cuz it sounds as if it’s a very special moment and I want this moment saved forever.  For all eternity.  So that I can relive it again and again and again.

So here it is at last.  A Cherry Orange Icee.  I don’t even know how to describe it except to say that it was the most sweet, slightly fizzy, freezing cold, orange-y, slightly cherryish tasting thing I’d ever had.  And mom let me hold the cup by myself and drink out of the straw.  Ok, so maybe I was still sitting in the carriage, but hey, baby steps.  Don’t knock a guy while he’s experiencing frozen goodness in a cup.

Now, if only I hadn’t dropped the dang thing the day would’ve been PERFECT!