Finnegan is one today and I don’t know where the year went. Is that how it goes with the second? Or is that just life now? Well, whatever the reason, we are all so much better for knowing him. Finnkol, little bug, baby brother.

Our little fellow is flirtatious and ever so busy. He smiles with his eyes, rendering any recipient incapable of denying him anything thereafter. His eye colour still hasn’t settled and they shift from hazel to green to blue depending on the light or the shade he’s wearing. I can tell he feels very secure because he often tries to launch his body off stairs and furniture, trusting (I assume) that he will be saved prior to impact (so far so good…knock on wood). He is a real carnivore and loves to feed our dog Ruby, who sits dutifully under his high chair during meals. Another favourite food of his is spaghetti, which he noisily slurps. His latest skill is opening cupboards. He now knows where we keep the crackers, which just so happens to be in the least securable kitchen cabinet. The crumbs, I tells ya!

Finn isn’t quite walking, but he’s artfully mastered crawling over the past 5 months and loves to climb the stairs as many times as we can handle. He will hold your fingers and practise his walk or scale furniture with agility and speed. Sometimes he’ll notice something under the couch or beneath a table and sprawl flat on his belly to check it out. Picture it. Yes it is as adorable as you imagine. He’s now very interested in offering up food and toys to share and thinks it’s hilarious when you take the proffered item. Sometimes it’s just a tease and he pulls his hand back before you can take whatever he’s holding and that tickles him too. He likes to “cheers” with his drink.

Another recently acquired skill is pointing his finger to direct where he’d like to go. Oh the power! The day he figured it out, he directed me up two flights of stairs to his Gaga. This has evolved into pointing out anything that he finds particularly interesting. Sometimes he’ll notice something above him and throw his head back so far, it’s in defiance of gravity that he doesn’t topple backwards like a penguin.

Leni and Finn are starting to play more together for longer stretches. She makes him laugh more than anyone else. His laughter is very distinct, almost gruff. Ah ah ah. Finn makes another very distinctive noise other than his scruffy chuckle. Typically when he’s complaining. A friend described it as a baby wookie. We now have Leni saying, “laugh it up, Fuzzball,” any time he makes this signature purr. My Dad has commented on several occasions that he’s also the only person he’s ever met to inhale words.

It’s been a tough fall and early winter with relentless colds moving through the house. You can always tell our little fella is on the mend because a light shines around him when he’s back to himself. This is a fact.

He has this adorable habit of resting his head to the side when he’s in his highchair. He’s learned that he can get people to mimic him when he does this and gets endless amusement from it. He’s also a fan of peekaboo, as babies do. He’ll cover his head in a blanket, scarf, curtain and then giggle like crazy at the big reveal.

He’s very chatty these days too. We’re still not entirely sure what he is communicating a lot of the time. There was one day recently where I came into the room and Jose was holding him. He reached out to me and very clearly said, “Mama.” Swoon. Just the other day, he was looking through some mini board books and I’m fairly certain he said “look” as he pointed to a page and repeated “good” after me. This time around, I have enough wisdom to trust that I’m not imagining it.

But man, it really just moves at hyper speed, you know? I don’t remember all this development stuff happening so fast with Leni, but a quick scan of her baby book confirms that it did. It just feels different this time around, I suppose. Blurrier. Busier.

Leni has developed into a very attentive and loving big sister to wee Finn. She is so mindful of keeping smaller toys from him and is surprisingly patient with the more physical ways he expresses himself. Off hand, hair pulling comes to mind. It can definitely be challenging for her when he’s getting a lot of attention, as babies do. Those are the moments my first baby emerges from her “big girl” shell asking for “carry” or wanting her blankie. I’m reminded in those moments just how young she is still despite her budding independence. I just went through our photos over the past year and the Leni who met Finn the morning after his birth was just a babe herself, signature chubby cheeks and all.

I often tell Leni how lucky I feel that I get to be her and Finn’s mummy and without missing a beat she’ll say, “I’m so lucky to be your Leni.” And that just says it all really.