Finnegan's first Rosh Hashanah

My first attempt at challah bread--surprisingly it didn't turn out all that badly.
This is Finnegan's personal round loaf of challah. Apparently you are supposed to have a round loaf of it for Rosh Hashanah. The people at PJ Libraries are definitely getting their money's worth as they are teaching both Finnegan and me about Jewish culture! :)

This is Finnegan and Jon having a special Rosh Hashanah dancing moment--as far as I can tell this isn't a proper tradition, but it may need to become one in our house. Finnegan loves being danced, waltzed especially, all around the house. Giggles generally ensue.

We didn't have apples and honey for the new year because a) Finnegan can't have honey yet and b) Finnegan hates apples (unless they are being eaten by mama or daddy in which case he wants to bite and drool on them). Finnegan did make a few new year's cards and they are quite cute. Here is what he was up to earlier in the day:

"Oh Mama, I see you're putting away the bowls and your back is turned for 15 seconds. Let's see what I can do."
"You don't mind if I throw dishes on the floor, do you? I think it's faster than putting them back into the cabinet and besides, I need to make room for my copy of The Hungry Caterpillar (see bottom rack of dishwasher)."
"What, why are you looking at me like that? I'm just trying to help. Who knew I could climb up on the dishwasher door and then jiggle the top shelf like some type of monkey?"

Here, there, and everywhere!

Finnegan is quite the explorer these days and he is interested in anything and everything. One very important part of his day is going to our stairs with ugly blue carpet and picking out the carpet fibers to try to eat them. When we first moved in we made the mistake of allowing one of our cats to scratch the stairs because we thought the carpet was ugly anyway. Unfortunately, she favored (and still does) the bottom stair and so, at any given time, Finnegan enjoys picking fibers off of the stair. He is very sneaky about turning his back on you in the living room and first waving his hand in the air as though he is only going to play with it before stealthily (and casually at the same time!) trying to pop it into his mouth.

Today was day three of my new "job" and I must say I am loving it. The finances, the wonderment of others, etc they matter so very little. I am doing the best possible thing I can think of in the world and everyday I am paid in smiles, giggles, and my personal favorite, snuggles of his head against my shoulder and his cheek smooshed against mine.