G'n'R Out West

Simon can use his hands!  Hooray! 

Yesterday Adelle gave Simon a toy and he brought it up to his mouth, and kept it there…sort of.  His hands are still only being used in fist format, but he is most certainly using them.
 

So fun.

In other news, my dad is visiting.  He can be very helpful at times…but he has been known to sleep on the job.
 

However, my dad is known for his patience with kids and sat through and extended hair combing session.  If you look closely at this picture you can see how my dad really feels about having his hair brushed by a 2 year old!

Our little Simon is such a dream.  In addition to the ‘hardly ever cries’ thing, he also has never gone pee or poo with his diaper off since day 2 with us.

I have become rather relaxed about diaper changes.  I knew the day would come when I would get burned for my laissez-faire diaper change attitude.  Well, I got lucky, sort of.

Today Simon needed a diaper change.  I had just cleaned up his old diaper when Adelle INSISTED on putting on the new one.  Being a mum of a toddler, I pick and choose the battles I want to fight.  So I decided to let her have a go, as she has reminded me on numerous occasions ‘big sisters know how’.  Well, she got the diaper and was poised to take action when the next thing I knew she was covered head to toe in pee.

It was possibly one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  Adelle did not share my perspective.  Needless to say, there were a few tears shed. 

Poor thing.  Adelle and I both learned a lesson today!

Simon seems like he is just growing up so fast some times.  I miss his little infant stage already.

Lately things have been really fun with him.  Adelle has always been a very attentive big sister.  And while she understands the word gentle, at times she has a hard time remembering how to be gentle.  Until very recently every time Adelle came around Simon, his eyes would open up about 3 x larger than normal.  He certainly tolerated her…but you could tell he was nervous.

Well it has all changed.  The last few days they have really been loving it each other.  I’ll look over at them, and he is always smiling at her…even if she appears to be harming him!  It is just too cute. 

Simon has gotten into toys lately.  He hasn’t figured out touching them yet, but darn does that little man love to look at them.  This week I pulled out the little playmat we had for Adelle.  I hadn’t thought to bring it out before now since Adelle had always been terrified of it.  Simon on the other hand lied on his back (by himself) for an entire hour admiring the little dangling toys.  At one point Adelle was ‘helping’ him play and the thing collapsed on him, a toy landing right in his mouth…I don’t think he could have been more pleased with his good fortune!

The last few days our little guy has had a cold.  He is all sick eyed and snotty and just sad looking.  He still hardly cries, which makes it that much more heartbreaking to watch him.  I hope he gets better soon.

Adelle seems to be growing up at record pace. 

We have her signed up for a few classes and I find it all so overwhelming but fun.  It is incredible how far she has come since we first met her just 2 1/2 years ago.

We signed her up for an unparented swim class.  We were worried about how she would handle it…but once she met her instructor she didn’t even turn back to look at us.  She concentrates so hard in class it is hard not to sit there watching her while beaming with pride.

On Saturday mornings she attends a ballet class.  This she takes very seriously.  Watching her get her feet into first position is pretty much enough to make you fall over in laughter.  She bends right down and uses her hands to get her toes pointed out while keeping her heals together. 

She spends lots of time practicing at home, however, at home she is the teacher and the rest of us are her students. 

Yep, good times….unfortunately, Greg was in Cold Lake when all this happened and had to drive home unexpectedly…in a rental vehicle he picked up in Lloydminster…ooops. 

I went from an uncomfortable blocked duct to cold chills, a fever and a throbbing headache in just a few hours.  It was creepy fast.  We spent the better part of the first afternoon on the couch watching tv, wondering if this was the flu or mastitis.  Adelle mostly watched tv but also roamed around the basement…I am still finding things she ‘put away’ while we were down there and I was too sick to do anything apart from ensure she wasn’t eating poison.   

My sister convinced me to call our midwife…even though we are technically no longer her client.   She, as usual turned me from a blubbering idiot into somebody with a plan.

I tried to fight it off with nursing and rest but ended up on antibiotics…despite all the pampering Greg and Adelle provided for me.  Greg made me great food and Adelle insisted on spoon feeding me all the medication.   I wasn’t able to unplug the duct and Kimberly recommended therapeutic ultrasound.  Once Greg was actually able to find somebody willing to treat me, it worked like a charm!!!

I am very happy now, although, I am having more breastfeeding issues and am planning on making an appointment with the breastfeeding clinic first thing Monday morning! 

With Simon I feel like I am in a constant battle to get nursing to work.  It is a little tiring.  However, he is a silly easy baby.  So at least I am well rested for the battles I do face. 

We weighed Simon tonight at a friend’s house and with diaper and clothes he was 14.5lbs.  Obviously he isn’t suffering too much!  He is currently wearing 3-6 months clothes and they fit perfectly.  I think it is likely they will be getting too tight by the time he hits 3 months.  What a little chunker!

Adelle is starting to think about not wearing a diaper!  Yipee!!!  I don’t really mind diaper changes that much, but changing two kids bums can get a little old some days, so I certainly wouldn’t complain if we got that number down to one kid.

A few weeks ago we were visiting Adelle’s little friend Paityn.  Paityn has been diaper free for quite some time.  Adelle and Paityn played a bunch by themselves on our visit…and I’m not sure what they talked about, but when we got home Adelle announced to me that she wanted to wear underwear too.  She had never shown an interest before so we took her very seriously.

We made a family trip after supper to get the coveted merchandise.  We showed Adelle all her options and much to my chagrin she picked out a pack of 3 Dora underpants.  She picked Dora, despite the fact that I did my best sell on Spiderman and also a set of plain flower ones (there aren’t many options for interesting underpants out there…it was a little disappointing for me).

Adelle was very excited to have her new underpants.  She had three pairs, so most days she had three accidents and then we were back into diapers.  She would pee on the potty from time to time, but she really didn’t have it figured out.

Then the weekend my brother came to visit something started happening.  She still had a number of accidents, but she started looking upset when she did pee herself.  She also started holding it in after just a tiny accident and making it to the potty for the rest. 

Last weekend I made her take her underpants off and put a diaper on so we could go to ballet class.  She got really upset.  I explained to her that she was just learning to use the potty and so she had to wear a diaper when we went out.  To which she responded ‘I don’t want to be learning anymore’….hmmmm…interesting I don’t want her to be learning anymore either!!! 

Anyway, we are still working on it, but she now owns about 10 pairs of underpants, as she recently told me she was ready to stop wearing diapers at all at home.  She has the original 3 Dora, 3 spiderman, and 5 princess ones from Disney. 

She will actually go to the potty without being asked.  We routinely ask her about every 1/2 hour if she has to go…she never goes when we ask (damn all those stubborn genes she inherited!). 

For the record, the princess ones drive me crazy.  It irritates me that she picked princess…but even over that they aren’t appropriate for a little girl.  The style is something that I would expect a teenager to wear, not a toddler, they are constantly giving her wedgies…  If I had been able to take them out of the package and inspect them she would never have been given them as an option. Disney brand is in my bad books.

Ok, rant over.  In other Adelle news she and Greg had a shower the other day, and Greg had a Beyonce song in his head.  Adelle now runs around the house singing ‘all the single ladies, all the single ladies’ over and over again…thanks Greg!

Simon is as sweet as ever.  He is a little gurgle monster.  Evenings have become a little more fussy, but other than that he is doing great!