Poor Simon…he only had 2 friends over for his birthday party…one was a year old and the other was Micayla, one of Adelle’s best friends.  We had to keep reminding the girls all night to include Simon in their games.  Luckily he didn’t notice, especially since Simon loves Micayla about as much as Adelle does!  To be fair, we had invited two other families over as well…but all the winter illnesses conspired against us that night.  And the plus side, Greg made Simon a really cool Lightening McQueen (or macream as Simon calls him) cake.

Sleep:
This year we moved Simon into his big boy bed.  He didn’t seem to miss his crib much, but protested about being left in bed each night.  Surprisingly it took him a long time to figure out that, unlike the crib, he could escape from the bed.  In the beginning he would wake up at night and we would go in and give him some help sleeping.  But then later, after he realized that he could get out of bed…he started getting out in the middle of the night to snuggle up with us.  It sometimes makes it hard to sleep because Simon is a BIG kicker…but he is the sweetest little snuggler.  Each night when he crawls in he asks to have his blanket tucked all around him, then he strokes our faces with his cute little hands and tells us that he loves us.  If we are not facing him then he insists that we turn and face him ‘you look at ME’ so that he can snuggle our faces.  It is pretty hard to want to put him back in his own bed when he has so much love to share at night! 

Simon still naps at daycare for half an hour, but when he is home during the days he usually only naps if we are in the car in the early afternoon.  And then he usually only naps for about 20 minutes. Last year in my update I wrote that Simon wakes up at 5:30 am. Luckily things have really changed in that department. Simon is usually in bed by 7:30 each night and it is rare that he wakes up before 6:30! Sometimes he even sleeps in. We are spoiled!

Eating:
Simon can be a picky eater.  And he is so slow!  The rest of us are all fast eaters so he is almost always the one we are waiting on.  In general he will eat everything, but it seems that almost everyday he chooses a random food and tells us it is disgusting and then refuses to eat it. It makes life a bit frustrating, especially knowing that he doesn’t actually hate that food. I have no clue why he gets picky like that…but he sure can be stubborn.

He still loves pancakes and still asks for them all the time. But he also really loves to eat “Daddy’s cereal” (Just Right). I think breakfast is definitely his favorite meal.

Language:
Simon speaks very clearly.  He has a few cute little words (pampakes - for pancakes and finky – for pinky finger), but for the most part he pronounces words correctly…sigh, he really is growing up.

Simon can get really shy around people, but when he feels comfortable it can be hard to keep him quiet.  He  used to just sit back and let Adelle talk, but now he is piping up more.  At supper time when Adelle usually shares her day with us, Simon now chirps in with his day.   Only he can’t always think of things to tell us.  So he often ends up getting our attention, saying a few nonsense words and then just giggling.  Or he makes stuff up as he talks to us. 

Sometimes I try to get a video of Simon talking, he has a sweet quiet voice…but as soon as he sees the camera he clams up!  Bugger.

Personality:
Simon is just like his dad.  He has a magical gift to make us all smile and I am unfortunately wrapped around his little finger.  It is both infuriating and nice.  He is just the sweetest little guy. And it is almost impossible to be angry at him, even when he is really misbehaving.

Earlier in the year he was really good at doing what Adelle wanted him to do.  But now he takes a lot of enjoyment out of bugging her.  It can be so frustrating.  Sometimes he does it because he is jealous of something she has, or because he is jealous of the time that Greg and I are spending with Adelle instead of him.  But other times he just does it because he can.  Most of the time Simon and Adelle play really well together.

This year he became gender educated.  I’m not sure if it is the teachers at his daycare, or just the kids.  but he officially loves contact sports (he lives and breathes hockey and football).  He told me the other day that he didn’t like one of the girls in daycare because she wore pink EVERY day. 

Teeth:
He has them all now…well most of them.  He has one good chip from a biking related injury. 

Bathroom:
Simon has been toilet trained for a while now.  It was relatively painless.  He just decided he was ready one day and then went for it. We still struggle a bit at night. He refuses to wear a diaper, So we still do a lot of middle of the night laundry in this house! We also struggled a bunch with poop. He was so scared to try it, and then he got constipated…but he is good now…but only after a few weeks on intense bribary.

Other stuff:
- Simon is really scared of lobsters when they are alive…but he sure can eat them like a real Nova Scotian.
- Simon was determined to learn to ride a bike this year.  And he did.  We tried to convince him not to try because we thought he was a big too small for Adelle’s bike, but sure enough he proved us all wrong and right away was riding the bike more often then Adelle did!  At first when Simon started to bike he would bike very very slowly.  So slow in fact that he seemed to defy gravity. But then he started to enjoy the speed.  Now when he bikes I cringe every time he gets on that bike and especially when he hits the corners, which he usually leans into and takes at a 45 deg angle.
- Simon swims with unwavering confidence.  He just jumps right in, knowing it will all work out.  He does try to kick and is able to move his arms to help…but still has no concept of needing to breath.  He just swims with blind faith that we will pick him up to let him breath at an appropriate time. 
- This year Simon discovered the heating vent.  And then he put everything he could find down it.  One night I went into his room to find his foam football half gone and with bite marks in it.  At first I was nervous that he had  managed to eat it.  But no, it turns out he bit off tiny pieces and then shoved them down the heating vent.  Good times.  Most of Adelle’s strawberry shortcake accessories are also in the vent along with a few of Simon’s cars…and maybe some other things we don’t even know about. 
- Simon hates it when I call him cute.  He’ll say ‘Mama, don’t say cute! I not cute! I Simon!’
- Simon recently told us that when he grows up he wants to be: a football team, a hockey team and wear gloves as big as his dad’s.
- Simon can be very observant:
- > when Greg was asking me question after question to tease me when I was trying to explain fireworks to our curious kids, Simon turned to him and said: ‘Dad you not a kid’. 
- > Mummy – if you have no body, then you can’t move.  You are dead’.
- >If you have no head then you can’t eat.
- Simon can be accident prone.  This year he:
- > badly bruised his cheek at daycare and ended up with a bit of a concussion…he kept telling me that his hair was hurting.  So sad.
- > he chipped his tooth biking on the stairs
- > he fell out of bed, landed on the heating vent, and got a bloody nose and lip. 

Sweetest Little Boy I know

Last night about 10 minutes before bedtime Simon went pee on the potty, ran upstairs put on underpants and announced he was a big boy.  We asked if he wanted to start wearing underpants the next day and sleep in a diaper that night…he was insulted by the suggestion. 

He was dry last night, dry today…it has been almost 24 hours….  Only time will tell how this story will end.

I’ve heard of this sort of thing happening in other families…I never thought it could happen to my family.

In the end Adelle was so excited about school that we decided that I would be able to take her.  There were tears when I had to leave her at school…but the tears were all mine!  This girl was full of attitude and ready to take on the world.

Simon and I weren`t quite sure what to do with each other after Adelle left. We are both so used to having her tell us what to do! In the end Simon asked if we could go back to the school and pick her up. I told him that we coudln`t get her until school was over. He told me that it was ok, we could just go in and get her. Simon and I ended up waiting on the steps for about 25 minutes.

On Adelle`s second day of school…we missed her, but I was better prepared and Simon and I had a great time together. We never get time just the two of us…and it was so fun.

We were camping with some friends and took the kids up to this great hike that starts near the tree line so you get great views with very little effort.

Adelle did some complaining early on…as did her brother. But we were hiking for close to 4 hours and both of the kids walked the whole way. We couldn`t have been more proud of them. Of course, the hike offered a lot of special surprises. First of all it was an interpretive numbered hike. We didn`t have the booklet that told us what to look for at the numbers…but for kids…apparently just finding the numbers is exciting enough.

We hiked on very rocky terrain offering many rocks for Simon to examine. And he loved each one he found.

At the top of a hike we found a waterfall…and while examining the rocks under the waterfall we quickly realized that we were walking on hundreds and hundreds of fossils. After the waterfall and the fossils…we found snow.

Shortly after we played on the snow…the mountain sheep came over to reclaim it. They even knocked over the snowman that we made.

At the end of the hike, Adelle told me that the fossils were the very best part of the whole hike (a kid after my own heart).

All in all an amazing day. Adelle told me that she wanted to hike that hike every day.  Simon, wasn`t as impressed by the hike…but he is 2 afterall!

Our girl, mountain model

This year we spent her birthday in Fernie visiting with some friends.  Adelle requested cat cupcakes.  She saw them in her Chirp magazine and then gave me very specific instructions.  I think they turned out pretty good…if I do say so myself!  At any rate, my girl liked them and that’s all that matters.

And for her final birthday event…it was pink cupcakes with purple icing and sprinkles for daycare. I love to spoil my girl with birthday parties!

There haven’t been many obvious milestones this year…mostly just a slow and steady progression. Adelle is very interested in writing. She writes her name quite well and will often ask how to spell other things. She learned how to add this year and just a few days before her birthday she figured out how to subtract.

She is really interested in drawing and colouring. Her drawings are really maturing. She draws a lot of animals and ladybugs and has a special love for rainbows. Most of her animals are recognizable which is pretty cool.

She loves to dance, she is always dancing. But her favorite pass time is playing make believe games with Simon.  They can spend a good hour off in some imaginary world.  Usually they are animals, usually dogs, but they do pretend to be cats, mice and occasionally people.   She is also a little obsessed at the moment with Zhu Zhu pets (freaky little hamster toys for people reading this without preschool children).  She also went through a strawberry shortcake phase this year and an obsession with Pet Shop toys.  But make belive is what she has always spent the most time doing.

Sleep
Seems funny to still bother with this heading, but upon reading up from last year there does seem to be a change. When Adelle turned 4 she was still waking up a fair bit in the night. Which meant I still had some nice little snuggles with her last years…this year I hardly ever get those snuggles. It truly is hard to see them grow up. Each step towards independence is both exciting and so sad for me. When Adelle turned 4 she still slept with a diaper on and at least once a week she leaked right through it. No longer! She is 100% diaper free. 

Food
Adelle still has a great appetite and we are so lucky. She goes through fussy periods, but for the most part she’ll eat anything.

Personality
Adelle loves to help out.  She loves to teach her brother new things and she loves to take care of him (for the most part he loves her attention…and other times he does everything in his power to get away from her). 

Adelle would still prefer to be home all day…but she tolerates daycare and has made some great friends.  She has about 3 really good girlfriends and one special boy friend.  Adelle and Brody both adore each other and she is greeted at daycare by him each morning with a huge hug.  At Christmas this year she told us that she was going to split her heart in 4.  One part for me, one for Greg, another for Simon and the last part for Brody.  It was a very cute declaration of her love.

This  year we started to give her an allowance.  At first it burned a hole in her pocket, she made one frivolous purchase, then started saving for a ZhuZhu pet.  But her birthday arrived before her 1$ a week could get her one and now she is happy with what she has.  She hasn`t asked about spending money since.  She still remembers to ask for it each week, and her new focus is on trading in her coins for `paper` money.  Along with the allowance came chores.  She is pretty good at cooperating in that department…but it is a challenge for us to find the time to enforce the chores. 

Adelle officially became a swimmer this year.  She has always struggled with having confidence in the water, but she does love to be in the water.  This year she really excelled and actually started swimming.  She made it to Crocodile swimming level.  She took it a few times, then finally passed it…but we made the mistake of telling her that in the next level they teach you how to do somersaults in the water and she is now terrified of advancing.  So she continues to be enrolled in Crocodile.  We are perfectly happy to keep her in the same lesson as she continues to get more confident and she has lots of fun in her lessons. 

Finally in what Greg would consider the biggest news of the year – Adelle is an official bike rider.  The run bikes were great, but biking is even better.  She doesn`t LOVE to bike, but she does still spend a fair bit of time biking and she`s gotten quite good at it.  Greg and I have our eyes on family bike rides.  I`m not 100% confident in her braking skills, so I prefer to be on foot when she bikes, but soon enough we`ll be there!

Our Beautiful Girl

On the day before her birthday party we were making at cake with her.  She asked Greg to make her 6 cat paw-prints to decorate the cake.  After Greg had completed 2 she got really quiet and I looked over at her and then I experienced a kind of magic that perhaps only a pair of really nerdy parents can appreciate.

She counted out and extended 6 fingers.  Then she counted two of those fingers again while folding them back down.  Finally, while touching her nose to each remaining finger, she counted the 4 remaining fingers.

She then proudly announced that Greg had 4 more paw prints to make.

Child genius.

I love having children so much, but one of my very favorite things about having children is when I get to watch them figure something out.  It isn’t often that I’ve had the privilege of catching that moment, but when I have - it is so clear that it seems like I can even see the new synapses forming in their little brains!  I am so lucky.

On the plus side Adelle had a totally amazing time doing gymnastics.  The instructors did a great job of making her feel special and of making sure all the kids had a great time.  They were also really great with discipline and all the kids managed to have fun while still following all the rules!

We started preparing on Saturday by making the cake.  Adelle insisted on a cake that had cat prints going across it…and she wanted to help us make it.  I think we did pretty good considering we had two little helpers!  On a side note…it was this cake that inspired our little girl to subtract for the first time (but I’ll save that story for another post).

On Sunday morning we got everything together for the party and then we got ourselves ready. Adelle insisted on having her hair curled for the event. Like any good younger sibling…Simon requested the same!

I think this look sums up the success of Adelle’s party! Geesh…I love that kid.