G'n'R Out West

I was looking at a picture of Simon from when he was just 5 months old.  I almost didn’t recognize him.  His face has slimmed.  There is little hint of a baby left. 

Sleep:
Ah sleep!  I love it.  We all love it…except for Simon.  So very very sad.  Things were going fairly well pre-Cuba.   Post Cuba has been painful.  Although, the last week has been pretty good so we are cautiously optimistic.  The memories of the HOURS after HOURS of being up with a very angry Simon are still too fresh to feel relaxed about the situation.  It has been an exhausting month.

Napping also was good pre-Cuba and great during Cuba.  However, since returning, I have had some days where I’ve felt pretty defeated by the lack of sleeping and the over abundance of tired miserable toddler in our house. 

Eating:
He is a pretty good eater.  His new favorite is meatloaf.  We still struggle with getting a balanced meal in him.  Typically he only wants to eat whatever the preferred food is out on the table.  If we are having any bread at all at a meal it is all he will eat.  He gets most of his veggies in snack form.  Which works just fine for us.

I must make note of his ridiculousness in the food department.  If he sees food on the table that he is more interested in then what he is currently eating he flips out.  If you give him that food he will spit out whatever is in his mouth (in whatever state it is in) to make room for the more delicious alternative.

Getting Around:
He has become quite the skilled runner.  His climbing skills seemed to have gotten the back burner while he focuses on running (thank goodness for that).   

Hair:
Still pretty thin and light brown.  He could do with another haircut, but it was so traumatic last time – we are in no hurry at all to go back.

Eyes:
Light brown and holding.

Language:
He is certainly working on it.  Blabbering, blibbering and never stopping.  He has complete conversations at times.  Communication, on the other hand…that seems to be taking its time.  He doesn’t seem to use single syllable words so much as phrases, only you can’t always gather what he is getting at. 

We are still working on sign language and he does have a growing repertoire of signs.   He uses them sometimes and sometimes when he uses them we are even able to understand the context.  But often it is lost on us, despite his persistance and very exact and purposeful hand movements.  He is flabergasted and then destroyed that we don’t understand what he is telling us. 

He gets so frustrated.  Poor little guy.  We are being conscious of the communication barrier and focusing on using words and signs as often as possible – but sometimes we just forget. 

Personality:
Stubborn, stubborn stubborn.  So ridiculous.  It is often hard to distract him once he gets set on something.  He is also a bit cuddly and spends a good part of the earlier morning and pre-dinner time snuggled up on my hip as I manoeuvre around the kitchen getting things done. 

A funny thing he’s been working on figuring out is the ’kiss it better’ phenomenon.  A few weeks ago he ran over to me with hand extended, presumably looking for a kiss on his injured hand.  I kissed it.  Then, with a very confused look on his face he looked at his hand, then me, then back at his hand…then took off.  He did this a few more times, not really seeming to be completely certain of the purpose of the kiss.  However, as of last week he has it all figured out.  He now confidently runs over for kisses whenever he’s been hurt and the kisses magically fix whatever has gone wrong.  One more check in the developmental milestones – or at least a check in the box for understanding social norms and expectations.  Funny.

Stuff that happened this month:
- Simon went to Cuba and he has the scars to prove it
- Simon tried painting for the first time (hilarious fun)
- Simon realized how delicious chocolate is (he’s had it before, but the deliciousness just now sunk in)
- Simon started to love biking – he doesn’t even want you to hold the handle bars anymore…which makes it complicated as he is still too short to reach the peddles.

Simon sporting his grown up 7 teeth smile.  So big.

We got VERY spoiled this winter. My mum and her husband took themselves, their children and all their grandchildren to Cuba in early January. It was a blast.

Adelle was in cousin heaven. There were 6 older kids to follow around and 1 little 3 month old baby to dote over. It can’t get better than that. For the most part the cousins all got along so well. Adelle could hardly wait to see everybody each morning, and was desperately sad each night.

Simon loved Cuba as well. Partly because my brother was there to snuggle with but also because of the beach.  He could have spent hours and hours on the beach digging and never get tired. He wasn’t even really into eating sand (that often)…so it was relatively relaxing for us to have the kids on the beach. Apart from the beach the resort was a stressful place to have Simon, between all the tile flooring inside and the too-uneven-for-a-14-month-old brick sidewalks outside, Greg and I were on pins and needles desperately hoping to avoid a trip to the doctor in Cuba. Luckily for us, all bumps and bruises were pretty minor. He did sustain a few doozies on the first day which resulted in a nice lump complete with unibrow-esque bruise between his eyes as well as a minor split lip and chin cut.

We had perfect weather. It was just warm enough to enjoy the beach, but not so hot that you had to spend the entire trip escaping the heat in the water. We had a great mix of waves and calm ocean days AND the water was even warm enough for me to swim (shocking, I know).

Once we discovered the amazing beach at our resort it was hard to find us anywhere else. Clearly a favorite pastime each day. Of course the highlight for Adelle (and possibly for Simon) each day was the kids ‘minidisco’. Our kids just ate up all the dancing and singing. It was a great way to end each day.

We got to see Havana, and although our tour guide was a bit of a disappointment, Greg and I were glad for the opportunity to go to a city which we might have passed on. I’m a nervous traveller (especially with kids) and the thought of leaving the resort made me nervous – I don’t speak spanish, neither do our kids and we just know so little about the area. I have enough stress trying to keep my kids safe when we hit the crowds at the zoo…crowds in a foreign country are definitely well outside of my comfort zone.

A big thank you to my mum and Fred for a fabulous vacation and a great break from the freezing winter temperatures!  And of course, a thank you to all our family that watched our kids while Greg and I went on our first date since….well…I truely can’t remember since…

Fun with Grandma Sue

Adelle in the kid’s beach fort

There were just too many pictures to choose from…our link to flickr has all the rest of our pictures.

I know, I am due for a big update…but I’ve not found the time since the busy christmas season ended. However, this quick little tidbit seemed worth mentioning.

Adelle woke up this morning and got dressed. She put on pants and a sensible long-sleeved shirt. Since the end of August she has worn nothing but dancing dresses….usually sleevless or at most short-sleeved (it is a rare occasion she wears a ‘longsleever’)

I’m not sure why the change in heart – it seemed like a big thing to me, but nothing to her. I asked her why she didn’t want a dress to which she replied in a matter of a fact way ’it is cold and I want to feel cozy’. It has been at least 30 degrees colder this winter than it was today as we are in the midst of a warm spell. I’m curious to see if today was a minor deviation in her self-inflicted dress code or if she has turned over a new leaf.

So grown up…everywhere we go he isn’t the baby anymore.  He wants so badly just to hang out with the big kids now.  STOP growing up Simon, you are breaking my heart.

Sleep:
Now this is where the big news story of the month is.  Simon sleeps pretty much every night from 7:30 until 5ish.  At the beginning of the month we put an end to night-time feedings, well at least feedings pre-5am.  It was a rough go, but the last part of the month has been amazing.  From time to time he still gets up and we have a discussion about nursing, but he goes back to sleep faster each night and more and more often he doesn’t wake again. In fact, yesterday he made it until 7AM.  Of course I was up at 5 wondering where he was…but whatever. 

Napping has also improved by leaps and bounds.  He is now routinely having 1 nap a day, usually around 11 or 12 depending on when he woke up.  It usually lasts 1/2 an hour and sometimes as long as 45 min or an hour.  The best part is getting him down for naps takes only 15 or 20 min.  He usually wakes up at least once during his nap, but usually if you go in and lie him down and sit with him, he’ll quickly fall back asleep.  It is so nice when something gets easier.  YIPEE!!!!

Eating:
He eats whatever we are eating (as long as there is no milk in it).  He mostly just wants to eat bread, so I am always trying to think of ways to get some protein in his bread (humous sandwhiches, french toast…those are staples).  Veggies he often gets in between meals as you can’t always convince him to eat anything other than carbs.  That said, last week he was angry because I hadn’t put any broccolli on his tray, and he has now eaten more than a few brocolli only meals.  So he really does eat everything, you just have to catch him at the right time and on the right day to work on the ‘balanced’ part of his diet.

Getting Around:
Umm…yeah, as long as it is dangerous and off the ground, he’s working on it.  Every time I turn around I wonder why he looks so tall…then run over to find him balancing precariously on something unstable.  He is currently working on getting up on the chairs at the kitchen table, he hates that his sister can be up there, and he can’t.  I think her days of working on big kid stuff at the table are numbered.  Poor Adelle will have to go to her room soon if she wants to do big kid stuff in privacy. 

Hair:
It is still filling in.  It is a very light brown. 

Eyes:
I think they will be brown.  Like his father.

Language:
He says ‘hi’, ‘bye’(pronounced ‘die’), ‘dog’, ‘cat’, ‘MA!’ (yep he screams it).  He mimics some words we say when we say them.  At times he talks a fair bit, you can hardly shut him up if he is pretending to talk on the phone…not sure where he gets that from! 

His favorite word is ‘no’.  He is usually saying it to his sister, and it is often followed by a nice big push.  Adelle had better watch out!  Hands may not be for hitting…but that message hasn’t gotten through to Simon, and I suspect it will be a while before he figures it out.

He FINALLY picked up on the sign for milk and eating.  We are in ‘reinforcement’ mode, so he has gone from nursing 4 or 5 times during the day, to fairly constant nursing some days.  He is really enjoying his new found power in communication…and we are enjoying a temporary lull in the super frustrated screaming fits (our little dude has a temper).

 Personality:
He is goofy a lot of the time.  He loves tickling.  He tickles us, and also tickles himself…or tries to.  He loves to dance and sing.  Many many times a day he plays Adelle’s ukelele, or asks that we play it. 

He is currently very frustrated with communicating and with all the rules we put in place to ensure we limit the number of concusions he’ll get before he turns 2.  He can be so focused though, so it really is hard to distract him away from something once he gets his mind set on it. 

He loves to go out (although he isn’t totally sold on the snowsuit!).  He loves to put on shoes and get ready to leave the house. 

Stuff that happened this month:
- he finally got another tooth on the bottom, now 4 on top and 3 on the bottom  

Playing on the couch is his new favorite pass time….another bruise just waiting to happen…sigh.

Yikes, Christmas come and gone already.  It always happens that way.  Christmas was loads of fun this year as Adelle was really REALLY excited about it.  Early in the season she had her doubts about Santa Claus…but after meeting him on a number of occasions she really warmed up to him.  On Christmas Eve she was so excited to see him that she was even tickling him!  Yes, that is right, Santa made an appearance at our Christmas Eve supper with friends.  It is the second year he has come, but this year the kids were that much older and that much more excited.  Simon, of course, was terrified. 

ON Christmas morning, we managed to convince Simon to open 2 gifts…then he lost interest…well, truth be told he was never really interested at all…we just tricked him.  Thank goodness for Adelle, she NEVER lost interest in the gift opening.

It was quieter then we are used to (as more often than not we are trucking around eastern Canada), and a bit lonely without our families.  Thankfully our friends Glenn and Disa came down to spend the holiday with us.  Adelle was thrilled to have ’sleepover’ guests and we were grateful to spend the holiday with loved ones.  Glenn also took some time to help us with our computer issues…and now our little computer has a bit more muscle…and might actually keep chugging for a few more years.  Thanks Glenn!

Adelle had her preschool Christmas Party this week. She was so incredibly excited for it. They did a little recital at the start, she’d been practicing for quite some time so we had lots of hints about the content. I find thewhole thing extra adorable as Adelle’s current life aspiration is to grow up to be something she calls a ‘music shower’. A music shower is a person who dances and sings on stage. At our local amusement park a dance troupe consisting of a bunch of highschool students put on a lipsink and dance show a number of times every day. Adelle is one of their biggest fans, and we spend A LOT of time pretending to be ‘music showers’ right here in our own living room. Or at least the living room is our winter venue. In the summer we primarily put on shows on the front step. Pretty cute stuff.

This one isn’t short – so it is only for the real die-hard Adelle fans.

This video was taken after yet another exhaustive effort trying to get Simon to eat.  Sometimes you can get him to open his mouth.  My favorite is when he carefully removes a handful of mush from  his mouth and throws it as far as he can.  He will eat carbs until the end of time…but he isn’t always interested in other foods.  Apparently, it is all in the presentation…  If only we were all as awesome as his big sister.

Simon has learned to smile for the camera…it makes him look a little evil.  I find it ridiculously adorable.  Which I am sure just reinforces it and we may never have a natural look caught on film again!
 

My Aunt Helene and Uncle Hugh were in town this week, they gave the kids these neat little bath toys that stick to the walls of the tub.  There are farm animals as well as a little girl with about 15 outfits you can stick onto her.  It is pretty cool.  Adelle has INSISTED on a bath at least once a day since she got them…we had to negotiate with her - down from 2 baths a day.  The bath toys are clearly a hit – if you are reading this Aunt Helene…thank you!

Adelle has been taking a ballet and tap class since September.  She adores it.  The class is behind closed doors, so we’ve never known what goes on in there.  This week we found out as family were allowed into the class.  It was hilarious to watch.  Adelle is just in love with the world of dance.  Her teacher is quite exceptional with kids…I could certainly learn a few things from her!

We’ve had a busy month.  Greg’s parents were here for 2 whole weeks and the kids got two extra adults to entertain them…they were so happy…and now they are so sad that they are gone.

The last few days of the month have been pretty difficult because Simon has been sick.  Luckily we had his birthday party before his actual birthday and before he got sick.  We had planned on having birthday blueberry pie on his actual birthday, but he is a bit of a wreck, so we’ve cancelled all birthday celebrations.  His initiation to the beloved blueberry pie will have to wait.

Sleep:
Um…whats that?  I forget.  For the most part he is still up a few times at night.  Towards the end of the month we had made some progress…and one night he even slept from 7pm until 6:30 am.  I was feeling VERY hopeful, but then he got sick.  Who knows what will happen when he gets better.  I’m pretty sure he’ll just jump right back on the bandwagon and start sleeping through the night.  I see no reason why that won’t happen immediately and consistently.  We all know, when something good happens just once in the sleep department it is always indicative of a trend.

Naps are no fun.  He is getting big and there just doesn’t seem to be enough room on my lap to rock him to sleep.  It is really hard for him to get comfortable there.  But he also won’t fall asleep on his own.  So you have to rock him…but the second you lean over to put him down he is up and ready to go.  For the most part, the only place he will nap easily is in the car or in the jogging stroller (other strollers will not do).  Whatever, soon he’ll be 2 and he won’t need a nap.  Then I will be released from napping guilt and stress.

Eating:
He eats pretty much everything we eat.  This month we had some good news about his iron.  Things are starting to look up.  If all continues to go well, in just a few months he will be consuming milk products.  He still loves bread and if he sees anybody else eating bread it is hard to get him to eat anything but bread…irritating.

He isn’t keen on mush, but will eat the iron fortified breakfast cereal, and he does enjoy a puree soup every now and again. 

Getting Around:
He is walking, he is running and he is climbing on EVERYTHING!  Everytime I turn around he is climbing on something.  He is a little dare devil.  The good news is that he appears to have some natural talent.  So although he still seems to fall often when walking and running, he rarely falls when climbing. 

He is perpetually covered in face bruises.  Apparently, putting your hands out to break your fall is a developmental milestone, our little guy has yet to achieve.  He usually breaks his falls with his face.

Hair:
Simon had his first haircut.  It was a very traumatic experience for all involved.  I suspect we won’t be heading back there anytime soon.  I loved the long scruffy look he had before, but I must say, he looks so grown up with the new short hair, that I think he might just look even cuter. 

Eyes:
I think they are officially brown.

Language:
He is useless on signs (or we were useless at teaching them).   He gets very easily frustrated…so it would be nice if we could learn to communicate more efficiently.  He has, however, mastered the wave, and is constantly waving to people. 

He is still working on new words.  I think I hear him say a new one every now and again, but it can be hard to be sure.  For the most part he seems to imitate phrases.  It isn’t very repeatable, but you often hear him repeat what you have said specifically. 

He has been working a bit on sounds and can ‘grrr’, ‘meow’, and ‘moo’.  He has also learned the word ‘no’, but so far he just seems to like to say it without there being much real reason behind it.

Personality:
He has really started to get silly.  He makes us laugh all the time now.  He is also very michevious…and my goodness does he have a temper.  Before this month, I’d say he was really easy going.  Now, not so much.  He just gets fixated on things and it is really hard to distract him. 

He is really into cleaning, sweeping, dusting, mopping and vacuuming (he loves the vacuum).   There have been countless tantrums around cleaning devices.

When he isn’t cleaning, he spends lots of time singing and dancing.  He mostly bops to the music slowly while wagging his finger back and forth.  He’ll dance to anything from classical music, to hip hop to random strums of the guitar.  He will even play his own music with a spoon on any hard surface, or using Adelle’s ukulele.  He is deeply moved by music.

He can be shy from time to time, but he often develops very trusting relationships with men.  My brother is probably his favorite man, but there are many others that he seems to love deeply.  He will often just approach random men and ask to be picked up.

Stuff that happened this month:
- he had his first hair cut
- he started clapping
- he slept through the night once (unfortunately, his sister was up a bunch and his dad was sick), so apart from Simon, nobody really benefited from the event
- he got sick for the first time and it was really sad

He wouldn’t eat the nicely cut little rib pieces we gave him.  But he sure did polish this bone until it was shiny.

So, my mum bought Simon this shirt recently…

I thought it was a little funny for a 1 year old… Even Simon’s pediatrician commented on it. I asked my mum what she was thinking when she bought it. As it turns out there appears to be a bit of a disconnect between her generation and mine. I asked my mum to google ‘Wingman’ and told her I thought there would be few entries relating to the flying of airplanes. She was VERY surprised at the result of her internet query. Needless to say, we’ve had a few laughs.

In other news. I’m not sure if anybody is paying any attention to the outfits our daughter is wearing but she hasn’t worn pants in months. She always wears a dress (or dancing dress as she calls them) with a skirt underneath and tights or leg warmers. If pressed you can get her to wear pants under the dress and skirt, but she will only comply if you have an express reason (frigid outdoor temperatures at ths zoo), and she insists on removing them as soon as said purpose has been served. She prefers short sleeves or no sleeves. Anyway, another preschool mum told me that her daughter came home last week and told her that she was pretty sure Adelle didn’t even own any pants. How did I get a child who wears nothing but dresses?

Greg and Simon have been sick this week. It is pretty sad and miserable around our house at the moment. Just to add interest to our life Adelle has decided that she wants to learn how to wear underpants to bed at night. So no more diapers. Out of 5 days, she’s had 2 dry nights. Usually around 5 am we get the call and have to change the sheets, it is pretty awesome. To date she has unwavering confidence in her ability to learn. I wish I had the same confidence that I will have the patience to change her sheets in the middle of the night and do an extra load of laundry every day until this adventure is over.

So much to tell…so little time.

Greg’s parents have been visiting these last few weeks…and the kids are on cloud nine.  Adelle has been building forts in the basement every morning with Grandpa and Simon has had all kinds of extra attention…and the occasional extra shoulder to cuddle on…

Having Greg’s parents around has also made my life a lot easier…since there is always somebody to play with the kids, clean up the house, make dinner…it is a pretty sweet deal.

Both Adelle and Simon have had some good news recently.  Adelle had an appointment at the allergist this week.  The entire experience was less than fun thanks to a surly staff…but the long and the short of it is that Adelle has no allergies to seeds and nuts.  So we are on our way to slowly re-introducing and everything is lovely so far.  The doctor thinks her reaction was a virus, which we are a little skeptical of given that every medical professional that saw her on the day of the big event seemed quite certain it was allergies.  I plan on following up with our doctor and we aren’t in any hurry to get rid of the epi-pens, but I think we are all sleeping a little easier.

Simon had an appointment with the pediatrician and things are looking up.  His iron stores are still low, but his hemoglobin is on the rise.  It is on the side of low, but close enough to normal that the doctor is happy.  We saw a new doctor this time as ours in on mat leave.  We have very different ideas about parenting, and I found that frustrating, but I feel good about the iron situation.  She thought it would be a good idea to start to re-introduce processed milk and see what happens.  However, she thought it was best to hold off on any dairy for Simon or large quantities of dairy for me until much closer to our next appointment in three months.  She just wants to play it safe, and I am ok with that.

Simon also got his first haircut.  It was moderately terrifying, so I’m not sure we’ll be back anytime soon.  The new look doesn’t show up that well on camera since his hair is so fair, but trust me, its cute.

We had a little first birthday party for a big guy today.  A few friends came over.  Simon mostly hung back (choosing to hang out with some of the men folk who attended).  Adelle on the other hand was very happy to have friends over and an audience of people to entertain.

Greg made his now famous soy chocolate raspberry cake.  He made it for my birthday this summer, and again today.  It was a huge hit…although, I think Simon was fairly indifferent.  He certainly sat in his chair for a long time eating it, but he never got that excited.  Maybe he was just really processing the intense chocolate flavour?