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

In the barn

Let’s get one thing straight, not all “fun days out” are the same.

Saturday mom plans a day for us way out in Siler City at the Celebrity Dairy farm. I was expecting to see Angelina Jolie or maybe Spiderman, but it appears they pulled the old bait and switch, because it was mostly just goats.

An “Open Barn” party had the potential of being fun, but it was kinda lame. After feeding the goats a handful of hay there wasn’t much left to do. We stared at some pigs sleeping and saw a far off llama.

I was thinking that mom and dad were going to force me to try goat cheese or wash my hands with goat soap or something, but none of that happened. The lunch offering was chile con tofu! I’m not kidding.

We killed about an hour there, mostly taking photos of me

I’m starting to think that this might be a weekly thing.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I made it through a full week without seeing some blood.  And unfortunately it’s always my own.

I thought today was going to be awesome.  We went to one of my favorite playgrounds, at Middle Creek Park.  And things were fantastic until…I decided to slide across the playground on my face.  Probably not the brightest idea I’ve ever had.  But sometimes my feet seem to go too fast for my short little legs.

But I got back up, like the trooper that I am, spit out a mouthful of sand, and kept right on going.
And you know what?  When your face is all scratched up, the sandbox bully’s seem to stay away.  Woohoo…more toys for me!

Today started like any other day. Woke up about 6:30, had an english muffin with Dad. Mom came down after her shower and we waved goodbye to Dad about 8:15. About 2 hours later, all hell broke lose.

While Mom was making the bed I decided to explore her closet. Now understand, I’m not a closet novice, I have treked through closetville many times without incident. But, like many others, I lost concentration for just a second.

Wham, down I went like 31 pounds of limp toddler.

I can’t tell you exactly what happened, but it hurt. I’m not sure if my tooth went through my lip, or if I just bit it, but I do know I was losing blood at a rate that hasn’t been seen since Rocky II.

Help Help! Someone Call 911 !

Mom picked me up and told me everything was going to be okay, but I wasn’t buying it.

We called Dad at work and asked him to come home. I think Mom was panicked.

Dad was home in about 20 minutes, by then blood had slowed from a gush to a slow seep. Dad suggested that Mom call the pediatrician and see what they suggested. Some sadist there thought a couple of stitches might be in order.

A few minutes later we were on our way to WakeMed Cary Emergency Room. Dad kept muttering about, “there goes three hours”.

When we got to the ER, we waited in the waiting room for a while with Jerry Springer blaring, and no toys.

Things actually moved along fairly quickly, we were in an exam room in about 30 minutes. That’s when they said something about “stitches” and disappeared. I was hoping that they forgot about us as we watched Tom & Jerry.

Nurse Ratched

No such luck, nurse Ratched and her evil sidekick returned with a cart filled with instruments obviously taken from Saddam Hussein’s  torture chambers.

First they quietly sneaked me onto a baby papoose board. Then they wrap me up with the velcro until I was completely immobilized. As I waited for the water boarding to begin, I felt the male nurse hold my head steady, someone slipped a paper thing over my head with just an opening for my mouth, then, I’m told, a gigantic needle came towards my big, sore, swollen lip.

About 3 seconds after my bloody, cut, painful lip was stuck, and injected twice with a needle the size of a Louisville Slugger, I feel the tug of dissolving thread being pulled through it. In case I haven’t mentioned this yet… OUCH!

After what seemed an eternity, the blood soaked paper thingy was removed and I could see my parents standing there. Yup, just standing there. Not trying to stop the torture, not calling 911, just standing and watching.

I feared they were about to sell me into some Asian slave trade or something, but apparently they had finally snapped out of their funk, and now were all lovey-dovey. They asked the nurse for a Popsicle for me, but I was so traumatized I couldn’t even eat it.

I rode home in a state of semi-conciousness, sucking my thumb, with my green popsicle running down my arm, until I finally gave up and closed my eyes. It had been a tough morning and the only way to deal with it was to take a 3 hour nap.

I don’t know if your mom ever tried to convince you that “playing in the snow” was fun, but mine tried that line on me recently.

Looking out the front door in Georgetown, MA

So, first we leave the 50 degree weather of beautiful central North Carolina and drive all night only to arrive in the snow covered, below freezing, God forsaken area known as Massachusetts. During our 4 or 5 days up there we saw even more snow fall. My Mom convinced Dad that “Finn would love going for a sled ride”. I had no idea what a “sled ride” was, but 30 minutes later, I was face down, boogers flowing down my face with a slightly bloody nose from my slip and fall.

Let me warn any other toddlers out there, DO NOT be swayed by your parents memories of how much they used to love playing outside in the snow. Of course they did, it was the stone age, what else were they going to do all day? Luckily we were soon on our way back to a more sane climate.

Then yesterday, the unthinkable happened. The dreaded snow weather had followed me like a US Marshall after a fugitive. Mom and Dad always brag about how they haven’t had to shovel since they moved to NC in 2003, well those days are over. 6 inches of snow fell over night!

You gotta be kidding me!

Snow started falling around midnight while I was sleeping, and by the time I woke up, there was already a couple of inches on the ground. I looked out the back door in shock and horror at the evil whiteness that had enveloped the yard.

It continued to snow and snow and snow all day!

When I heard my Mom on the phone with Mrs. Lewis next door asking if she had mittens I started to panic. I knew what she was up to. Mittens? That could only mean one thing – cold, wet and possibly a bloody nose again.

Unfortunately, since I can’t form sentences yet, I couldn’t explain my displeasure and the next thing I know, I’m being stuffed into a snowsuit.

I was then dragged outside in the snow to sit on a sled that was cold and wet. I’m still not sure how anyone calls this “fun”

Riding on the sled between Mom’s legs wasn’t bad, especially since Dad was pulling us. Then Mom decided to let me have all of that “fun” alone. Umm, no, that wasn’t going to happen. WHAAAAAA!

We walked back to the house where Dad and I threw snowballs at Mom, hopefully she got the hint

So today we rang in the New Year with a little New Year’s Day cake.  And for those of you who didn’t notice, I’m a big fan.  Especially of the frosting part.
Here’s a little sample:

We spent most of the day just hanging out…me, mom and dad.
Did a little playing…a little napping….then watched Madagascar 2.

Oh, and uncle Brad came over and brought us some pizza from Mellow Mushroom, which totally rocked.
Pizza and cake – it doesn’t get much better than that!

Christmas can be a stressful time for a toddler. There is a lot of projection that happens this time of year, a lot of “when I was a kid” talk that swirls around.

This Christmas was a time for a bit of Grandparent stress.

See…my maternal grandparents are down from Massachusetts to visit with me and my cousins, who live right down the road.  And since they wanted to be able to see all 3 of us opening our presents in our own houses on Christmas morning, mom came up with the idea of me celebrating Christmas in our house on Christmas Eve instead.  That way they wouldn’t have to worry about being in two places at once.  Problem solved!

So Grammy and Grampy stayed over our house on Christmas Eve eve, and at about 7am on the 24th I went downstairs to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in the time honored tradition of hording mass produced foreign plastic toys.

It was glorious. Toys as far as the eye could see and they were all mine! MINE!

Grown-ups like the speed that an 18 month old tackles Christmas at, slow and steady. I haven’t yet mastered ripping open gift after gift, so they get to help me “appreciate” each one.

Santa dropped off a boatload of goodies. Lots of  Little People, blocks, cell phone, clothes (ugh), cars and trucks, arts and crafts and even a chocolate thing on a stick that I found in the bottom of my stocking.

And on the “real” Chrismas morning, we got up and drove over to my cousins house and had Christmas Part II. More stuff, more fun, more love…and MORE YUMMY SNACKS!

Check out all the photos from both Christmas’ on mom’s flickr page.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 10, and am looking forward to next year.

For anyone who may have missed the opportunity to feel the warmth of giving and would like to send me something, I am interested in the 17.5% share in the Red Sox the NY Times is selling.

I’m not sure how my mom does this, or if other moms also have this power, but it’s really annoying.

I had totally sneaked under the table and was about to start tearing up the wipes box, when all of a sudden, I hear a voice… the voice of mom. I can’t even see her eyes, but somehow she can see me. Then worst of all, she knows I’m up to something!

Don’t even ask what happens after the camera shuts off.

Click on EJ's face to see the rest of the Thanksgiving pics!

List of attendees:

Auntie Linda & Uncle Tommy
EJ & Caitlin
Auntie Brett, Uncle Jamie, Cali & McKenna
Mom & Dad & Me
Pigeon & Tina
Kevin, Sandy, Sydney & Megan
Brad
Elissa

What a fun day.  Lots of cookies, which I managed to sneak from anyone that fell prey to my pathetic puppy dog looks.  Lots of laps around the house, through the kitchen, dining room and living room.  And lots of exploring.

Lunch consisted of turkey, green beans, brussel sprouts, mashed taters, stuffing, and gravy.  I only tried the turkey and the green beans, but mom tried everything and said that it was the best Thanksgiving meal she’d had in recent memory.  We can’t wait to go back and have leftovers!

Signing off until next time!
FSB

Yesterday, me, mom, auntie Brett, Cali & McKenna all went to the Museum of Life & Sciences in Durham.

All I can say is WOW!!!  Talk about sensory overload.  There was so much to look at and touch I didn’t know where to start.  I probably could’ve spent all day in the gift shop, right when we came in, but luckily mom and auntie Brett dragged me outta there!

The kiddie play area was really fun and I got to put balls in the track and watch them run around the room.  I also tried out the kiddie sized skee-ball and that was pretty cool too, until that is, I flipped over the wall and landed in the ball pit.  That wasn’t so much fun and I needed a quick break to suck my thumb and regain the rest of my dignity.  But I quickly got back into the game, made some new friends and played with the lock display.   The more practice I get, the easier the front door will be!!!

Next up on the tour was the giant spinning wheel.  We got to put wooden discs on it and watch them spin all over the place.  Totally cool!  I think mom got a video of me putting the discs on the wheel…so go check it out.  Playing on the spin-ey thing

One of my favorite spots in the museum though was the globe area…..they were hanging from the ceiling, and on stands on the floor.  I was pointing at them like a madman, but no one seemed to be as excited as me.  They just don’t know what they’re missing.  Globes are Awesome!

The fiber optic display was pretty neat too.  I pulled out all these cords that were lit up with different colored lights.  And then I plugged them all back in again.  I wonder if I can get grampy to install one of these displays in my bedroom….

Wow, that was enough for one day.  We’ll have to go back on another day to check out all the stuff they had outside.  I was too pooped to do it all in one day.

Later dudes.
FSB

Hello world! Yup, it’s me, Finnegan Buckley, the cutest baby around. I’ll be posting cool stuff about my life for anyone who cares to follow (that means you Grammy and Grampy).