Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Weekend in Review #9

This post is about my long weekend that was the one before last (September 16-20).  Things got crazy and I'm just not able to go back.  I'm not sure how much I'll remember, but better to write some things down about that awesome weekend than nothing at all... right?


I got off work on September 15th and picked up Dan and Simon and we headed out to celebrate.  Dan got a new job offer and it was about time.  We went to Flying Saucer for dinner and it was delightful.  We had beer, good food and Simon was adorable as always.



Friday I picked up my sister with Simon and we went to lunch at King and I.  We haven't been in awhile and it was so so good.  Afterwards we headed back to her house and we painted the highchair and then Simon and I headed back home.  I can't remember if we did anything that night or not.
This kid loves playing with the dog kennels


Saturday, I don't remember much either, we spent the day at home and I think I did some shopping maybe...


Sunday after Simon's nap both of us left and met my mom and we went to pick up my brother.  He came into town for a visit that coincided with Simon's birthday party.  We had lunch at Crushed Red and then took a trip to the party store.  We hung out at my mom's for awhile while Simon played and we watched some old home videos and then we headed back home.


Monday was a vacation day for me.  We dropped Simon off at the sitters and then Dan and I had breakfast at Breakfast and Burger.  I liked my meal.  Afterwards we stopped by the library to get a couple of books for Dan.  Then I dropped him off and went by the party store to order balloons.  Then I headed over to my mom's and picked up my brother and sister so we could help Lindsey get a new phone.  Afterwards we picked up Dan and checked out 4 Hands.  Then we went over to Flying Saucer and had (late) lunch.  We dropped them back off at mom's and then went and picked up Simon and had a nice quiet evening at home.


Tuesday aka SIMON'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!  I got up with him and we ate breakfast and took monthly photos... which was a big PITA, but oh well they are done now.  Then I put Simon down for a nap.  I got a few things done around the house (this statement goes for pretty much any day for the last couple of weeks... party prep yo)  After he woke up my mom, Lindsey and Keith came to pick us up.  We spent Simon's birthday at the zoo.  We saw the polar bear actually swimming.  We touched some stingrays and sharks.  One stingray even swam up and splashed Simon... he didn't like that so much.  We had lunch and then saw the sea lions.  Then we got to go behind the scenes at the primate house and feed grapes to lemurs.  Lindsey told us all about all the animals.  It's like getting all this behind the scenes knowledge.  Then we checked out the orangutans and gorillas and chimps.  We rode the train and finished at the children's zoo.  It was super hot that day, but so fun to spend it all together.
Love this photo from the children's zoo

Do I really have to wear this hat?

Uncle Keith helping out

Lunch!

Phil statue is usually surrounded by people, we were able to grab a photo

Baby Ginger
Train Ride

Playing in the children's zoo

Monday, September 26, 2016

Simon: Tweleve Months!







Weight: Not sure, his 12 month appointment is next Friday




Height:  Again, not sure, will find out soon.




Medical Issues:  This month brought Simon's first sickness.  I think he might have caught something from my cousin's kid.  Luckily for Simon he only really got a runny nose.  Of course it effected sleep and we had to consistently use the nose sucker thing which he dislikes (hey I would too), but it could have been so much worse.  I got hit by the cold much harder and was out of work for two days and I still have a cough from it.  My voice also was quite effected... so thank goodness Simon didn't get the full brunt of it.  I did end up calling the doctor, not because I thought he needed to go in, but hoping they could give me some advice to help with his runny nose.  Other than that, dude has been very healthy.  The minor things would be dry scalp and some diaper rash... which we really haven't experienced up until this point (have I ever mentioned how easy of a baby Simon is?)




Sleep:  We've ridden quite the roller coaster this month in regards to sleep.  At the beginning of the month Simon was still waking at night and would want some bottle before going back to sleep.  There was a point after talking with Dan's sister that I was ready to do some sleep training with him.  And we started that, then the cold happened and it just wasn't the right time.  I think during the cold he was also teething so there were a couple of nights that were just terrible... he was crying non-stop for what felt like an hour and normal things we do at night were just not working.  I even picked him up and rocked him once or twice which I never do (we stopped picking him up at night a few months back).  It was a rough go and I decided that after the cold passed we would go back to the sleep training.  And here's another testament of how easy Simon is... we haven't had to do sleep training.  After the cold we left the bottle out but stopped using it.  Then I didn't even get a bottle out before bedtime.  We'd go replace his paci but that's it and that ended up only being once a night.  Over the weekend we cut off the arms of one of his sleep sacks (one Dan's aunt made, not the nice ones) and he's done really well arms out too.  Last night (which I know technically should go in a 13 month post if I continue this) he slept THE ENTIRE NIGHT.  I just can't believe this kid. 




Clothes/Diapers (size):  He's in size 3 diapers and clothes mostly range from 9m to 12m.  It's surprising what we can fit him in sometimes.




Diet:  Simon loves to eat.  I stopped buying baby food and we are on all "table" foods.  Things we feed him often include eggs, yogurt, applesauce, cheese, crackers, puffs, pickles, toast, cottage cheese, fruits, veggies, cereal, meats, etc.  We still have breast milk and in the last few days we've started adding whole milk to it to start that transition.  So far that's going well too.  He loves drinking out of his sippy.  We give him water a lot, but sometimes Motts for Tots juice which is already watered down and I add even more water to it.




Baby Gear Love:  Toys are a favorite right now, anything that Simon can spin, but we also play with things that roll, stack, put into a container... although lets face it his favorite things aren't toys at all, but remotes, phones, pulling things off the TV shelf, dropping things on the floor, and all that fun stuff.  I'm not sure I've mentioned it but the Born Free bottles have been great.  The Zipadee has worked wonderfully.  We finally have a sippy that works well - it's Gerber.  I'm a bit in a I love everything mood at the moment.




Milestones/Firsts:  Simon isn't walking yet, but is very comfortable crawling and pulling up and moving around next to furniture.  He will walk well with his walk behind toy.  He has 6 teeth - 3 on top and 3 on bottom.  He likes to crunch food with his teeth.  We've taught him the stacking rings and waves a lot.  He will kind of give high fives.  He will point to my nose when I show him where to point and ask where is mommy's nose?  First sickness of course.  Simon babbles a bunch too.  First trip to the pool with the family (me, Dan, Amanda, Lou, Vail, Amy and Tanner).




Likes:  Eating, his parents, animals, toys, moving constantly, checking to see if gravity works, playing with doors, exploring, splashing, blowing, putting his mouth on things


Dislikes:  Sitting still, being tired, stopping him from doing something he wants to do, being left alone in a room




Things I Don't Want to Forget:  Simon walking with his push toy is awesome.  He rarely falls and sometimes it looks like he will but then he catches himself.  I wonder when he'll start actually walking?


Simon lately has been doing this cute thing on his actual birthday he had his binky in the stroller with him and it would be in front of him on the tray and he'd close his eyes and feel for it.  Then yesterday with a new toy he got he was doing the same thing, closing his eyes and reaching into the toy to pull something out.


He's ticklish and his little laugh is so adorable.  Behind his ears and along his sides is where he's most ticklish. 


He's a bit nervous around new people to start off, but tends to warm up pretty well.  Still loves me and Dan though.  He will give us hugs and put his mouth on us too.  He won't sleep on us though.  He'll fall asleep at bedtime that way, but won't just get comfortable and nap on us.


Simon is happiest right after he's full from a meal.  He'll get super cute and talkative.  He will also start to throw his food on the floor... He doesn't mind his face being wiped and will sometimes play with the highchair (from the ground) rolling it back and forth.


Dan will play jumping with him and also sit him on the back part of the couch and let him lean forward and catch him.  Dan will call him Ding Dong, Munchkie, and Baby Baba.  Simon will also crawl down the length of our couch and mostly doesn't fall off (he hasn't fallen off but he's gotten close we always stand there with him).  Simon is also creeping.


I've noticed toward the end of the month that Simon is more focused on stuff like we can roll things back and forth and he will stay focused for longer.  Of course it's not really a long time, but relatively speaking.


Simon likes to play fetch with himself he will bounce or throw a toy a bit and go after it and do it again. He also like to slide and bang toys on the hardwood. He loves playing with the dogs kennels as well.


Simon will shake his head no but not yes. We will try to show him yes but then he shakes no. We love this kid so so much!


Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Weekend in Review - #8

Last weekend was a short, measly 2 day weekend... the good news is that the next 5 weekends are all longer than 2 days so that's pretty awesome.


Last week I was sick... ugh, I called into work both Wednesday and Thursday and decided to go to work on Friday.  I had mostly a head cold where it is hard to concentrate because your head feels so full... ugh.  The unfortunate thing is that head cold moved south to my throat over the weekend... now it's Tuesday and I don't have much of a voice and a nice, lovely cough... luckily I sound worse than I feel.  I just hope this cold gets kicked in the butt soon because I have a lot to look forward to in the next week.


Friday night after work I picked up Simon and we headed home.  We decided to go out for some dinner and tried Tap Haus on Telegraph.  I had passed by it a couple of months ago and since Dan likes beer I had been wanting to try it.  We brought Simon along (I read online that it was kid friendly, but really it's more of a bar, like they didn't have highchairs, they were sweet to Simon but highchairs would be nice).  The good: they have a great beer selection with like 40 taps including half local beers.  I had an UCBC Schnickelfritz and a Strawberry Blonde.  The not so good: The food wasn't great, they have a small menu, we got the pretzels with beer cheese (good cheese, the pretzels were cut up and fried - they tasted like funnel cake to me), fries with a curry ketchup (guess I don't really care for curry) and horseradish aioli (don't really care for horseradish either) and the wings (the best of the bunch).  I'm not sure if I'd go back there or not, but I did like the feel of the place, so maybe just for drinks.  After that we stopped by Schnucks and headed home.  We watched TV and I made some cookies from a mix.


Saturday I woke up feeling not great.  I got up with Simon and we played and then made breakfast.  I made French toast... I think Simon enjoyed it.  He went down for a nap and so did I.  We got up and Dan made a fancy lunch (salmon with fancy rice and pasta salad).  Then he went down for an afternoon nap... and again, so did I.  When Simon got up from his nap we took a little trip to Bed Bath and Beyond (I really needed new oven mitts) and then we went to Watson Trails Park because I've been wanting to try out a new swing - Expression Swing.  Simon really loved it and it was fun, but the park was crowded.  We walked around a bit since that's a park I went to often as a kid/teenager and I wanted to see what had changed.  We headed back home and had a low key night involving Qdoba for Dan, BK for me and watching That 70's Show (Dan has been watching it on a loop lately)
Nice surprise when I was expecting him to bring home fast food

Fun swing


Sunday was my morning to sleep in (woohoo) although Dan always ends up waking me up anyway which is super annoying.  The big part of Sunday was we went to Target and bought so much, but I was able to save like $40 on my bill via Cartwheel, deal, and gift cards I had from previous deals.  I'm always proud of myself with those kind of savings.  We spend the afternoon being lazy.
Selfie with Simon

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Weekend in Review - #7

I've been looking forward to this weekend for awhile... not because I had anything planned (because I didn't) but because it was a 4-day weekend and I needed it!  Sometimes when you anticipate something you can get disappointed, but since I was only looking forward to being off for 4 days this weekend well exceeded my expectations and was a wonderful weekend.


Thursday I worked, but after work I headed to the zoo to go to the Employee Appreciation Zoo-B-Que as my sister's plus one.  They put on such a great party for their employees.  All the attractions were open and they had great food from Kenrick's, beer and wine, and other activities.  Plus the weather was perfect.  We even both rode the mechanical bull - and didn't last very long.  I have a beautiful bruise on my leg from it as well.
I like otters, so I'm riding an otter, even though I'm bigger than the silly otter




Friday I got to sleep in a bit and then got up.  Hung out with Simon and then he took a nap.  After his nap we headed down to Ste. Genevieve to go to the Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary.  They have 4 tigers and a lion.  The animal's back stories are super sad, but they have a happy home now.  We were the only ones on the tour which made it pretty conversational.  It was nice to learn about the tigers and get to see them up close... even if they were being pretty lazy.
See the tiger we bought Simon at the tiger place?


After our visit there we went to Crown Valley Brewery and Distillery and had some lunch.  The beer was tasty (I had a peach wheat and blackberry cider) but the food was just ok.  Then we headed back home.  The rest of the night was just casual.


On Saturday morning I got up with Simon and we headed over to meet my mom.  We went out to breakfast (Bread Company) and then I helped her move her love seat out to the curb.  Then I headed back home in time to get Simon down for his morning nap.  After his nap we all got ready and headed to the pool.  Susan and her kids were there and also Amy and Tanner and Amanda, Lou and Vail.  The pool was nice - a bit chilly, but it was fun being there all together.  We headed back home and Dan put Simon down for a nap while I went and grabbed lunch.  We ate lunch together and then I went back over to my mom's and we got a pedicure together.




I headed back home and we all headed over to Amanda and Lou's for dinner.  The kids are so cute together interacting.  Simon would get pretty upset when we'd let Vail play with his toys.  We had yummy food and had a great night.


Sunday was a more laid back day than jam packed Saturday.  The only thing we really did was go to the grocery store.  Dan smoked pork and made candied bacon.  We ate late, because that's Dan's M-O.  We watched some TV together.


Monday was also a more laid back day.  After Simon's morning nap we went to Amanda and Lou's parish picnic.  It was really hot, so we only stayed for about an hour, but it was nice to see everyone again and we shared some fried fish.
Goofball


This weekend we stayed busy and it was nice.  It was great to spend so much time with Simon, although he has a cold right now with a really runny nose.  Sleep has not been going well the past couple of nights... hopefully he gets better poor dude.  

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Weekend in Review #6

Just realized I never recapped last weekend so before my long weekend begins I'll try to remember what happened last weekend.


I worked last Friday and then picked Simon up from the sitter.  We headed home and I think the night was mostly just casual and nothing very exciting happened.


Saturday the first part of the day was pretty normal.  I got to sleep in a bit and then we did our normal thing.  After Simon's afternoon nap we went over to my aunt and uncle's house where they were celebrating my Grandpa's birthday.  We hung out with family and everyone enjoy Simon (because how could you not?!?)


After we wrapped up that we headed home.  Simon ate dinner and we ordered pizza.  We watched a movie together... the second Maze Runner movie.  Dan picked it and it was a pretty annoying pick since it's the second in the series and I did not see the first movie so that was hard to follow.  Then it's are of at least a trilogy so it doesn't even really end at the end of the movie not to mention just a lot going on there...  Dan did Dan very well and got up to go to bed with 30 minutes left of the movie.


Sunday I got up with Simon and then we headed over to my mom's house for awhile.  We picked her up and went to breakfast at Bread Company.  Simon enjoyed that!  Then we went to Home Depot to get something for a project and headed back to her house.  We tried to put Simon down for a nap and that didn't go over well at all... Mom and I worked on a project and Simon ended up playing in the walker.
Simon's selfie game has stepped up


We cleaned up and Laclede Gas ended up digging up her yard for now the third time... We checked out the hole and then headed back home for Simon's afternoon nap.  Dan was planning on dinner so we hung out for awhile and Simon went down for his nap.  I ran to the grocery store.  Dan cooked dinner (chicken, mashed potatoes and corn).  I made a small cake.
Hole!
Simon next to the pile of dirt... this may be one of the first time his feet touched grass... he wasn't so sure about it...

Love this picture!

Good times!