Simon - 17 Months

One more month and Mr. Simon will be a year and a half old... crazypants!

What has Simon been up to the last month?  Well, the last month has been sickness crazy in our house.  It all started with me getting a stomach bug, Simon got a milder version of it, only throwing up once, but Dan and I both got it full force.  Then Simon's nose was runny, and we ended up having to take him to the pediatrician... turns out he had an ear infection - his first!

Nebulizer!

Then a couple of weeks later we had an incredibly rough night of sleep... Simon could not get comfortable... the most he slept that night was two hours.  I could not sooth him, I tried all  my old tricks, rocking him, singing to him, bringing him to our bed - he just fussed and whined.  The scarier part was his breathing was so quick.  I debated all night about calling the exchange and/or taking him to the ER, but I didn't end up doing that.  In the morning Dan got up and I laid down for an hour or so before he went to work.  Dan called and made an appointment and I took him in.  I was concerned it could be something like RSV.  Luckily he tested negative for both RSV and the flu.  He did have some wheezing and both his oxygen level and breathes per minute were within the 'normal' range, but not in the good part of the normal range.  In the end they decided to give him breathing treatments with the nebulizer.  This made all the difference!  We kept up with the treatments at home over the next week.  He went back into the pedi and looked all better.  The very first treatment in the doctor's office was a bit painful as he fought me and I basically had to pin down his arms, thankfully every one after that Simon did great with and would just sit there while it happened.  We battled a runny nose and a cough all month, but things are getting back to normal... finally.

Whew... enough sickness talk!  All throughout the sickness he still remains a pretty happy dude... although he gets cranky when tired he usually is laughing and smiling.

The weather has been unseasonably warm so we've been spending a lot of time outside.  He loves exploring the yard, playing with balls, going 'jeeping', climbing around and watching the dogs.

Due to all the sickness he has turned into quite the picky eater which is pretty annoying.  A lot of the normal things he'd eat (mac and cheese, grilled cheese, toast, etc) he would refuse.  He only wanted the sweet things - yogurt, applesauce, and fruit!  Simon loves fruit, I'd say bananas are his favorite.  Sometimes even bringing out the fake banana will get him upset.  And although I've fought it with Dan (and will continue to) Simon loves chocolate milk, he will drink it so fast.  Simon does always want to be eating what we are... and hounds us for bites... which we give.

Loves climbing into that chair by himself and then climbing down between the air gaps

Simon loves the animals.  He laughs so hard when Bella gives him kisses, he will lay his head on Daddy and we've been working on being gentle and petting Daddy.  He loves watching Quina and wants to touch her so bad and he's mesmerized by the cats.

The not-so-great things... because we know there's some, kid isn't perfect haha.  He likes to throw things, toys, his sippy, etc.  And throw it hard.  He also throws fits sometimes when we have to go inside or if he's having too much fun at the sitter's and doesn't want to leave.  He really likes to explore the kitchen and has started getting into the container with the dog food.  He also likes to get into the container we keep Quina's food in as well.

Working on a Valentine for mommy and daddy at daycare

Simon has been so sweet lately opting to lay on my lap, or lay his head down on me.  He also gives us the best hugs and biggest smiles when he see us.  I don't think Simon really have a preference for Dan or me... he loves us both and at times he likes one of us more than the other.  With how our schedules are now he is able to get alone time with each of us which I think helps keep the preference pretty equal.

Simon doesn't really say words yet... mom and dad (I think he says mom more) but past that nothing.  We are waiting for it all to click.  He will speak in his own language to you quite a bit and will get so animated with his hands while talking like he has big things to say.

His shyness is fading some which is great.  Sometimes he still is stuck to us b/c he's shy, but he warms up a lot quicker.  It's a lot easier to leave him with a sitter when we have to.

Simon still takes a binky... he loves that thing, but we don't really give it to him during the day (except at naps).  If he finds one though, he goes right in his mouth.  Simon also has this really weird habit of taking off his socks and chewing on them... weirdo!  He also really likes playing with his shoes, and if he doesn't have any on he'll bring us some to put on him.

He also knows certain things signal an action... for instance when he's hungry, but we haven't fed him yet he will go to his highchair and start pulling/pushing it.  He's brought us his sleep sack when he's tired and he's also brought us his towel when we aren't getting him in the bath quick enough.  He hates diaper changes and wouldn't mind walking around without pants most days.

Another observation - he's skinny... not unhealthy or malnourished, but he's a skinny kid.  When I see other kids his age they always have some junk in the trunk, but Simon has such a tiny butt!  With all the times at the doctor recently I've seen his weight a bunch and it's always around 22lbs.  Maybe he'll take after my skinniness... and he's bound to be tall... right?

With cousin Macy

Simon will show us his tummy and when we ask him how big he is (you know to do the 'sooo big') he claps instead.

We love this kid so very much.  He such a blessing to have around.

Simon - 16 months

I haven't posted in forever... sometimes life gets in the way of posting about life... So here I am trying to catch up.  There's no way I'm going to remember what Simon was doing a month ago for his 15 month post... so I'm just going to talk about what he's up to now... and anything else I can remember to document for all eternity. 

Simon is just such a joy to have around.  He's happy so much of the time.  In the car we will hear him laughing to himself sometimes.  Dan wonders why he does that, and I'm like hey, he's LAUGHING in his car seat some babies you can't take anywhere without them crying... let's not knock the laughing!  Simon will laugh at himself at other random times... just walking around.  I'm glad he finds himself amusing!

Simon has gotten sweeter lately.  He will give us big ol' hugs.  He will also rest his head on us.  I've gotten in the habit of saying aww when he does sweet things like that.

After Christmas I redid Simon's room a bit by taking down the pack and play and finally clearing out all his baby toys.  He was still playing with them at times (b/c everything is interesting to him at some point) but really he had enough age appropriate that it was time for the baby toys to go.  I was able to move the books down to his level and he loves going in and picking one out and bringing it to us to read.  Now, he doesn't really want to sit still for the whole book, but it's progress!

Other toys he likes to play with are mega blocks, bristle blocks, Little People toys, balls, basketball hoop, play kitchen (at Grandma's), stacking blocks, play food, cell phones... anything really.  He also really enjoys watching Blippi on TV.  He knows how to turn the TV on and what to do with the remote.

He is a wonderful sleeper these days.  Sleeping through the night most nights where we don't even have to get up at all.  Sometimes I'll hear him fussing and you just wait a couple of minutes and he finds his binky and all is good again.  The only times we really do have to get up is when his binky falls out of his crib and he needs it.  Since Dan changed his schedule and doesn't get home until 7 we've pushed back Simon's bedtime.  He usually goes to sleep between 7:30-8pm and will sleep until 7:30am on average.

Simon has been sick this last week or so... actually the whole house has been a little sick in one way or another.  We think he had a touch of the stomach bug... Dan and I both got it back, but Simon seemed to have a milder version.  Then he got a cold with a runny nose.  Long story short, I ended up having to take him to the pedi and he had an ear infection - his first!  He's been on antibiotics since and hopefully gets better soon.  Luckily still sleeping at night pretty well.

A couple of weeks ago I would have said Simon is a great eater.  He will eat most things and while some things he won't.  Veggies were a bit of a fight, but we were making progress, and he's try meat and things... but since he got sick he has been SO picky... pretty much only wanting to eat sweet stuff like fruit, applesauce, yogurt, raisins and bread.  I'm hoping the pickiness will go away soon because I'm not sure I can handle it.  He's been refusing things he really did like, for instance scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, deli turkey... So frustrating! I'd say his favorite food is fruit, especially bananas and berries.  In other news about eating Simon likes to feed himself and we've been working on using a fork.  It's been going pretty well.

Since I haven't written in two months we have a walker on our hands!  Shortly after the last post he started to take some steps and over the course of a week or so he just took off started with more crawling than walking and in no time he hardly ever crawls anymore.

Simon will point to his belly when we ask where his tummy is. When we ask him - Simon, how big are you? Instead of doing 'so big' like we've tried to teach him, he starts clapping haha.

Simon likes to carry around 'heavy' items.  He also will carry his corn popper around instead of rolling it.  He'll carry it with his arms over his head.  Now that he's walking he likes to walk back and forth between his room and the living room.  I used to follow him in there each time, but now I let him play in there alone because I figure independent play is important to learn.

Simon loves the animals even if all the animals don't love him as much in return.  They are all good with him though.  Simon loves being around other kids - his cousins, his bff at daycare.  I see a shift in his personality as he will want to show off a bit.

Simon can help us dress him and lately he's hated diaper changes... such a fight some days.

Simon's talking is just a riot... he says things with such authority sometimes it's adorable.  I can't wait until he starts saying 'real' words as right now it's just mama and dada... and it's not like he uses them all that often.

I'll talk about Christmas, since I missed that.  It was so much fun having Simon at Christmas... we had about 4 days in a row of Christmas celebrations so near the end Simon was getting crankier faster... doesn't help he doesn't like to nap at other people's places.  It was so much fun having him around and walking this year.  He had a lot of fun and enjoyed all his presents and it was just so much fun!  We got him a power wheel which was ridiculous, but fun!  I can't wait until next year!

Simon is pretty well behaved in most situations, especially out in public.  It's relatively easy to keep him entertained and how many times people have asked me if he's sleepy... nope just not a crazy person in public... at home though, when he's doing something he shouldn't be and we stop him he gets upset and cries.  One thing is he likes to get into the kitchen cabinets... I let him some days while I'm doing dishes or something in the kitchen, which is probably my fault for letting him b/c then he thinks he can do it other times.  Other things he likes to do when he shouldn't - mess with the TV, mess with the animals while they are in their kennels, and mess with other things he shouldn't.

Simon really is such a joy to have in our lives.  We got a very easy little guy and he's just so much fun to watch learn and explore!