G'n'R Out West

He fell asleep AGAIN.  All the other babies coo and giggle and splash…or yell and scream.  Not Simon.  He spent the first 1/2 hour just looking around taking it all in.  Then one yawn, a few minutes later another, a few head  bobs and he was out.  I can’t help but be surprised.  What a little cutie.

Six months came too soon.  Seems like yesterday he was just a wee little one and now he is pushing 20 lbs.  It is ridiculous.

Sleep:
Yep, yep, same old, same old.  Fabulous sleeper.  He gets up about every 2-3 hours for a little snack, but he hardly bothers anyone and immediately falls back to sleep.  It would be nice if I could convince him to sleep in longer stretches, but he is so unimposing it is hard to complain. 

He is starting to do more napping.  He sure does prefer to be all wrapped up and carried for his naps, but he is getting a bit better at sleeping alone at nap time.  When we were in Ottawa he had some amazing naps.

Eating:
We haven’t quite ventured into the world of solids, but he can hardly wait.  He is ready, we are ready…hopefully it will be lots of fun.  I’m pretty excited about the whole thing. 

He has never had a bottle, although he is really really into glasses and has enjoyed a sip or two of water from time to time.  I could probably pump some milk and Greg could get him to take enough from a cup or sippy cup to give me a nice little break…hmmm…that sounds really fun.

Hair:
Very light, getting longer but not very thick yet.          

Eyes:
Seem to have stabilized a bit, and are looking similar to Adelle’s hazel.

Getting Around:
To date, our little man has rolled over a total of 3 times.  He isn’t much into lying down (front or back) while awake.  So he doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to practice.  He has mastered sitting though.  Just in the past week he has really become stable enough to leave him unattended.  Of course he still falls over, but more often than not that is because his good friend Adelle is assisting him with something!

Personality:
Such an easy easy going little dude.  Of course that is easy for me to say, since I am his very most favorite person.  He has been known to give others a bit of a hard time, but when I take him all his worries seem to melt away.  It is a pretty big ego boost for me.  It is nice to be so appreciated. 

He is all smiles and happy grunts in the morning.  He is often full of big laughs in the evenings.  Apart from the occasional grunt and all the giggling he keeps pretty quiet.   He loves to smile and loves to reach out and touch other people, especially thier faces. 

He tolerates a lot of rough housing from his sister.  It can be hard to convince her to be gentle with him, when he seems to enjoy her the most when she is being the most aggressive.  I guess most babies with a toddler sized sibling get tough quick. 

• Stuff that happened this month:
  - He met his auntie amy, lily, chi-chi and uncle hugh…finally!!
  - He drank water from a glass
  - He fell in the creek…hopefully the next time he falls in water, it won’t be my fault!
  - He met his girlfriend Lydia

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Simon had his first solid food today.   We figured since he has low iron and red meat has high levels of easily absorb-able iron that it would be the perfect first meal.  In addition to this reasoning we are in Alberta and so what would be a more fitting first meal for our baby?  

Anyway, I think it got mixed reviews.  My interpretation of his reaction was that he was VERY excited to have been included, at long last, in the eating rituals that he watches each day, but he was very dissapointed in the meal.  At any rate, I think we can all agree he gets an A+ for trying so hard to like it.

We just got back from 2 fun filled weeks in Ontario.  The first week was just the kids and I and then Greg joined us for the second week.   We did all right without Greg, but he was certainly missed and we were all very excited when he did finally join us.

For the most part we just spent time with family.  It was sad to miss out on seeing some friends, but family time is precious when you live so far away.  Both my sister and my brother are living in Ottawa at the moment.  It was amazing to spend 2 whole weeks there and feel so involved in the details of their lives.  My brother even bought a house while we were there, so we had the opportunity to do a drive by to check it out.  It will be fun to go back to Ottawa after he has moved in and spend a few nights with him.  His cats will be tormented by Adelle all day AND all night…it shouldn’t take too long before he regrets inviting us to stay with him!!!!

My sister and her family are currently living with my dad in the co-op where we grew up.  We spent lots of time there and it was so beautiful to watch our kids play where we used to play.  Some things are different, but some things just never change. 

Adelle has never been more filthy then when she was hanging out in the co-op.  Just as it should be.  She was SO HAPPY all week just playing outside with her cousins.  She and Chi-Chi can get into it every now and again, and again, and again…but that’s just part of growing up.

My dad has one neighbour that we don’t like.  Well, to be honest, the kids like him…but most of us adults do not.   Adelle just couldn’t get close enough, and the snake was really not afraid of us.  I was just glad she didn’t fall off the front stoop and land on the snake…I don’t think it would have been pleased.

One afternoon we met up at the splash park.  In typical Adelle fashion it took just moments for her to be soaking wet and filthy.   Shortly after ensuring she was completely soaked from head to toe Adelle chose to sit down in the sand…and then proceeded to eat it.  Sigh.  Sometimes we are so alike, and sometimes we are so different. 

Simon really enjoyed all the kids.  He spent a lot of time just laughing and laughing and laughing.  We are also fairly certain he told his first joke on this trip.  He was hamming it up with the kids, chewing on my dad’s hand.  After a few seconds he’s stop, wait for the laughs to die down then start back up. I tried to catch it on video…but of course having the camera around ruined the moment.  At any rate he was a big hit with all the cousins and he just ADORED them.

At the end of our trip we headed off to Kingston for John and Angela’s wedding at Angela’s family farm.  We also were lucky enough to spend some time with our friends Kevin and Alison at Kevin’s parents home just outside of Kingston.  It was just lovely.  Aaron and Adelle could not have gotten along any better.   For the most part it was a great visit with them.  However, I am not sure if Aaron is my friend anymore.  In an attempt to prevent my daughter for falling in the creek I managed to take down myself, Simon (who was in the sling) and poor innocent Aaron.  It was sad sad times!  We all got nicely wet and my poor little boy got a few scratches on his head.  I don’t think Aaron was hurt, but I was so traumatized by the incident myself that I’m not sure Kevin and Alison would have had the heart to tell me if he had been.

Adelle had a total blast at all the wedding and at all the wedding related activities.  John and Angela did all sorts of great things at their wedding to make the kids feel included.  Adelle met a number of new friends and it was just wonderful to see her having fun with kids outside and on the farm….ah…more dirt!

Adelle didn’t quite make it through the entire vacation unscathed.  In an unfortunate shovelling accident Greg managed to hit her in the nose.  At first it didn’t look so bad, but on second though we took her in to the doctor, they took some xrays (found nothing) and then glued her cut up.  So far it looks great, but i think there is a chance she might have a little scar.  Greg felt terrible, of course, but after my creek incident I think I’m the one that really feels like the worst parent in this house!

I think this video speaks for itself.

Simon is really into laughing these days. It is easiest to get him to laugh in the evenings. It makes for some memorable dinners.

On another note, Simon is also lazy. I took him to a parent and baby aquafit class today (while Adelle was in swim lessons) and he fell asleep. What kind of a baby falls alseep in the water…I wish I’d had a camera!