G'n'R Out West

I feel like I wrote Simon’s nine month post just yesterday…too fast, I tell you, too fast.  He is changing by leaps and bounds these days, it is amazing.

Sleep:
He is an ok sleeper (I had written a ‘good’ sleeper in here…but at Greg’s insistance, it got downgraded).  He is up twice to nurse at night, and sometimes a little more often to hang out with his dad…sometimes he likes to sleep with us.  The second waking is a bit of a fight.  He is usually up around 5am and although clearly in need of some more sleep he fights to fall back asleep. I suspect it is just because by the time he is done eating he can often hear Greg getting ready for work.  I can usually get him back to sleep, but it often takes me well over an hour.  Then we have a nice little sleep in…until Adelle gets up anyway!

Napping…I don’t know.  He sleeps around 20 minutes 2x a day.  He gets almost 12 hours at night though, so I think he is getting all he needs.  It can be a bit frustrating, especially for Adelle as in order to get Simon to sleep I need to really focus on him.  If he doesn’t nap, he is a real gremlin.  He always wakes up upset from his naps but usually cheers up quickly if he is ready to wake up.  Unless he is in a wrap on me, then he wakes up all cute and snuggly.  Just glad to be close by, I  guess.  Best if he sleeps in the wrap…everybody is happier that way (except my back, my back is definitely less happy).

Eating:
He is a good eater.  He will tolerate cereal mush at breakfast, but other than that he is a finger food kid.   Usually he eats a fair bit and doesn’t seem to be too picky.  Although, he does have a clear preference for certain foods (fruit, especially melon and berries are at the top of his list).  He would really like to have his own bowl and utensils.  But it gets pretty messy.  He does get them from time to time, but we try to minimize it just so that clean up time is reasonable!

Getting Around:
He is walking more and more every day.  He still crawls lots, but seems to prefer walking.  He still prefers if you walk with him, but if you won’t he isn’t about to stand still!  From time to time he gets in a falling down funk.  It really frustrates him.  I think his main problem is that he isn’t all that into walking…he seems to prefer running. 

Hair:
It is starting to get a little scraggly.  It is a really light brown and still very thin. 

Eyes:
Greeny-brown depending on the light.

Language:
He recognizes the milk sign, he does it sometimes, I’m not totally convinced he knows what he is doing.  I think he knows a few other signs.  We don’t seem to be very consistent at doing them, so it isn’t surprising he isn’t learning them.  

We’ve been working on teaching him ‘uh oh’, just because it is fun.  He is really really trying…but he has a mental block on it.  It is really cute when he tries.  He really wants to please, but he usually only says ‘uh’ and it sounds more like a grunt then a word. 

He makes a very consistant noise that sounds a lot like ‘A-Delle’.  He certainly recognizes her name, and looses his mind when he gets to see her in the morning.

Personality:
Simon has started LOVING animals (and balloons actually).  He goes wild when he sees either.   There is lots of limb flailing and yelling.  He is pretty transparent.  Other kids and babies are big favorites as well.  Now that he knows how to walk he can often be found toddling off in the direction of another baby or kid, arms outstretched.  If I don’t get there fast enough it usually ends in carnage as he has no personal space boundaries.  Of course he also loves cars, it is a very bad idea to open the driver’s side door of a car with Simon in your arms – unless you intend to let him drive.  If you close the door without letting him drive, you will pay for your error in judgement.  

Simon has also very recently started pointing at the things he loves, like dogs, balloons, kids and cars.

Stuff that happened this month:
- he started walking
- he learned to climb up the stairs
- he now has 3+ teeth - the top right middle, bottom two middle and a few others are really trying hard to come out

Today I watched Simon figure something out (don’t you just love it when that happens!).  He was taking his typical few steps from chair to table, starting to lose his balance when instead of sitting down, he put out an arm, regained balance and kept on walking.  You could see it in his face, he was amazed.  I guess it had never occurred to him that he could try to stay balanced.

Now he takes lots of steps between falls or furniture, so we’ve decided to call it – SIMON IS WALKING.
 

Adelle started ballet this week.  Her buddy Corra (and her family) came over for lunch and a playdate, and then it was finally time for ’Unparented Ballet’.   The house was practically vibrating with anticipation. 
 

It is a closed door class, so we haven’t the foggiest what went on in there, but their teacher is great (we had her as a supply one week last year) and all three girls were on cloud nine upon emerging from the room.

So fun.  They even have a recital this year…that could be very entertaining!

Simon now routinely takes multiple steps between people or furniture.  If he isn’t paying much attention then he is quite stable…but if he is excited he usually leans too far forward and inevitably has to be caught…or falls.  He has also recently started squatting from standing, so his balance is really coming along…he’s almost there.  How fun!

Adelle told Greg on Thursday that she missed him when he was at work, just like she missed her preschool teachers.  The child has been to preschool once, and only for 45 minutes and she is already certain that it is the best thing that has ever happened to her.  I find it all very amusing.  Thankfully she gets to go again tomorrow…we’ve been counting the sleeps since last Wednesday.

Adelle has been looking forward to preschool for MONTHS!   Last night she stayed up until 10pm…this morning she was up at 6:30, barely able to control her bubbling over enthusiasm. 

She was ready for school by 8:00 am and was sitting at the door with her shoes and backpack on.  Uninterested in another fight, I agreed to take her to preschool almost an hour early! 

Adelle has been talking about all the wonderful things about growing up for quite some time: preschool, driving, booster seats instead of carseats.  Unbeknownst to us she thought all these things were happening on the same day.  She was quite disappointed when I told her that I would be driving her to school (as she was excited about driving herself)…it was almost a deal breaker to find out she was still in a car seat.  Luckily the lure of preschool reminded her that today was still special and she quickly recovered and jumped into her seat.

She waited VERY patiently on the bench just in front of the preschool for 45 min.  Every now and again getting up to peak in on the teachers and her brand new classroom.  As soon as the teacher called her she marched into class and didn’t even turn back once.  She went on all day about how wonderful her class was.  Sucess…what fun growing up can be.

Simon and I also enjoyed preschool.  It was the first day (and so they kept the kids only 45 minutes).  But it was still enough time for Simon and I to walk to the grocery store, do all the groceries, walk back from the grocery store, peak in on the kids, nurse and we had time to spare.  It is amazing what can be accomplished without a three year old in tow!

Yesterday Adelle drew a picture and it looked like this:

Today she drew a picture that looks like this.

Both pictures are of people.  Amazing.

She always tells us what her pictures are of.  The ones this morning were 1) Adelle as a baby, 2) Me giving birth (apparently the picture was anatomically correct), 3) Greg sleeping.  Funny stuff.  It was interesting.  Before I even said anything to her about the picture she pointed out to me that the circle was for the head.  Not only had she made the connection of attaching specific shapes to her pictures…but she was able to verbalize to me that she had done this.  Very interesting. 

What a difference a day makes.

Simon is a regular grown up kid now.  He loves the park.  They have a big tunnel at one of the parks we go to, and Simon, LOVES to crawl through it.  What a smarty pants.
 

Simon has been cruising the furniture for quite some time.  Today he found the laundry basket and discovered it was his ticket to freedom!  He was so focused.   He really stuck to it.  I think he walked for about 10 minutes or so.  Towards the end he was getting very frustrated whenever the laundry basket would hit the wall.  It was as little tragic.

We’ve had a great weekend.  It was spent quietly trying to catch up on our life.  Summer is always such a busy time and it was nice to have a weekend at home.  I managed to sneak out to the mountains  with a friend of mine (usually Greg is the one who gets this honour)…and our baby boys.  Adelle had a great time with her dad on a special dad and daughter day, while I had the freedom of a hike without a three year old.  It wasn’t a long hike, but it was so wonderful to be in the mountains on a hike and not being forced to practice my patience while gently trying to keep Adelle engaged in the hike…or at least moving forward!