It’s been over a year since Finlaggan added some spice to our lives. Too much spice to do much other than upload occasional photos to Flickr. And since I’m work-avoiding, I’ll start an irregular series of posts of old photos that we dumped unceremoniously on Flickr¹.

First up, Finlaggan’s first vacation! To San Diego! Just 2 hours down the 405! With an excess of exclamation marks!

All dressed up to go to San Diego! Cute octopus suit from Aunty C/Uncle V. Being the cheapskates that we are, we hadn’t gotten Fin many nice clothes for the early months since, as all parents know, they get covered in spit-up, pee and poop. But one nice suit per size range means the kid gets to look cute in some of his photos.

First outdoor push-up! His real first push-up was probably at home or in the insalubrious location of my office. It’s only been a year, but that memory has already been pruned away by my highly efficient hippocampal-cortical roomba.

Napping by the lotus-less pond. This baby wrap was by far my favourite way to carry young Finlaggan. It can apparently be used even now, but I can’t bring myself to try it. He’s heavy!

First taste of modern art sculptures! I’d decided that Fin was going to love modern art, circa 20th century. I’m sure that in spite of all my best effort to educate him, he’s going to prefer my least favourite period of Ridiculous Rococo.²

Naked baby³!

Less naked baby Yoda!

Post-first full-sized bath experience in a hotel room⁴!

First push-up in a hotel room! That muslin blanket underneath him was by far the best of all the receiving blankets we received. Although they were all multi-functional and really useful (yes, all 8 of them!), this one was especially good for the changeable Southern California weather (cool to hot, hot, hot). And no, you can’t buy it anywhere⁵. PoPo made it specially for him.

First taste of beer at Gordon Biersch! No, not really⁶. But I do recommend the microbreweries of San Diego. They know their beer down there!

First public transport experience on the trams of San Diego! The tram-riders of San Diego were really accommodating to us, offering their seats and tolerating his grumbling whenever we were stationary.

Napping in downtown San Diego. As yet unimpressed by my breakfast of waffles, quite unlike his love for waffles now! Also, that hat. So cute. Guess who knitted it? Me, that’s who. Many people mistook him for a girl in that hat. I like to think that will help him grow up to have a better understanding of gender identity and confusion, and be a more tolerant person. Yes.

First taste of bagpipes and Highland Flings! A little taste of Scotland in Southern California. And no, our trip was not planned to coincide with this⁷.

First viewing of an ugly fish at the Scripps Aquarium in La Jolla. This reminds me that we need to head back there (or to Long Beach) to see more ugly fish. Is it too early to explain that the fish he finds so tasty looks so ugly?

On the 405 back to LA. This was the calmest he’s ever been on long car rides.

More photos of Fin’s exploration of San Diego on Flickr.

¹ I might even find the enthusiasm to upload even more photos of Fin. So do find somewhere else to be on the Interwebs to avoid the baby photo overload! This is purely for the sake of helping me recognise my son when old-age forgetfulness sets in. And for his grandparents, who never get sick of seeing his cheeky face.

² Does reverse psychology work on kids? If I want Fin to be just like me, should I push him to do the things I dislike just so that he can rebel and end up liking what I like?

³ He’s probably not completely naked in this photo. If you have ever had to change a baby boy’s nappy, you’d know that it’s a BAD idea to leave the nappy off. Especially on the bed or anywhere with un-washable upholstery.

⁴ Did not even occur to me to take photos of Fin’s first full bath. My memory is fuzzy, but I may have been in the bath with him, hence the lack of photos.

⁵ While you can buy this exact style and size of blanket, you can drop a pretty penny (or 4000 of them) for the ubiquitous a+a version. But there’s something special about asking Grandmother to hem a bunch of muslin cloths.

⁶ Kids! Don’t drink and drive! In fact, don’t drink (alcohol) until you’re 18 (in the EU) or 21 (in the US). Or at all if you lack alcohol dehydrogenase.

⁷ Yes, bagpipes in San Diego. Yes, I am a bagpipe magnet. No, I do not particularly enjoy the drone of bagpipes. But nevertheless, it is part of Fin’s heritage. And why is Tartan Day in the US in April instead of on St Andrew’s Day, which would be more appropriate?