Finn Henry George Muffels

Finn arrived in our lives on November 12, 2013 at 10:53 am, weighing 6 lbs 9 oz and 53 cm long.

He arrived by c-section 5.5 weeks before his official due date (Dec. 19).  He was immediately taken to the special care nursery and was put on the CPAP machine to help with his breathing.  We were told that he may need to be moved to McMaster Children's Hospital.  Thankfully they were able to remove the CPAP during his first night and they determined that he was doing well enough to stay at the Guelph hospital.  We weren't able to hold him until the following afternoon, which felt like a really long time to wait.  For the first few days we were only allowed to hold him twice a day because it took a lot of his energy to be held and cuddled by us.  He was taken off the IV after two days and out of the incubator after four days.  He continued to be fed from the feeding tube until a couple of days before going home.  We were lucky that he did not have any setbacks while in the hospital, so he gradually got stronger and was feeding from the breast and ready to go home after 2.5 weeks.  We finally welcomed him home on Nov. 28.

Autumn Farm Visit

A few pictures from our trip to Springridge Farm a few weeks ago.  It was a beautiful day and Cohen enjoyed playing on the tractors, the giant slides, huge sandbox and, of course, the animals. 

Cohen LOVED this tractor, he kept going back to it.  I think he was on this tractor at least 4 times (and this wasn't the only tractor that he got to play on)

I had a hard time getting a good picture of Cohen with the pumpkins.  It was at the end of our visit and he was ready for his nap.  This was the best shot I could get, and the only reason I got any pictures of him was the gigantic jack-o-lantern cookie that he's eating.   Hoping for a better pumpkin patch picture next year :)

Trick-or-Treat

Continuing with our tradition of the last couple of years, we spent Halloween with cousins Serena, Ayla and Maeve.  Cohen loved trick-or-treating and stayed out as long as Serena this year (over an hour!).  We had a costume change after taking pictures and before going out (I was afraid he wouldn't wear his costume this year....despite preparing him and playing with the costume at home for two weeks).  It was a rainy night, so he had to wear a rain coat anyway and Aunt Brenda lent him a pirate hat and sword, which solved the problem! This year we let him have some of the treats that he collected and not only did he love them, but his sugar rush kept him up pretty late.  It was a fun night for everyone and thanks to Aunt Brenda for hosting us again!

Serena the witch

Ayla the monster

Cohen the dragon, enjoying a Skittle

Cohen the pirate, saying "trick-or-treat" and getting some candy...he caught on pretty quickly!

First "Selfie"

Taken with mommy's phone.

Happy Halloweeen

 A few pictures of my scary skeletons from Halloween morning.

This is the only picture I got during the pumpkin carving.  Cohen lost interest early in the process and I ended up doing all the work.  He still proudly refers to it as "my pumpkin"

Milton Fall Fair

We had a wonderful visit to the Milton Fall Fair a few weeks ago.  Cohen loved most of it, but was a bit frightened by the loud noises of the tractor pull.  He loved seeing the animals and had a particularly good time running around in the bike obstacle course (because there were no bikes small enough for him) with his buddy Aidan.  He was also interested in the classic cars (typical boy!).

Petting a baby kangaroo with Daddy.

Running along the teeter-totter with buddy Aidan

Playing in the corn box (yup, it's exactly what it looks like....a sandbox filled with corn kernels)

Riding on the choo-choo with Aidan

Stacking Wood

This year Cohen was big enough to help with one of our "favorite" annual chores at the cottage - stacking wood for the winter.  He was so proud of himself for participating and took his responsibilities very seriously.

Up the steps with his "log"

It's really more like a strip of bark....

Across the deck.  No time to stop and smile for the camera.

Into the porch and onto the pile of firewood.

And back down the stairs for another piece.