Monday, April 10, 2017

Simon - 18 Months

I am soooo late with these posts, but I have to at the very least write this one.







Simon is a year and a half old now!  The time is flying by but I also really enjoy every new stage with my boy.  The baby stuff was fun, but the toddler stuff is even more fun.




Simon getting his first National Park stamp at Shiloh



Simon went to the doctor last Friday (about a week and a half after he turned 18 months).  Dude is 23lbs and almost 33 inches tall.  This puts him completely average... or as the doctor puts it... perfect.  But seriously the kid has been hugging that 50th percentile line for a long time.  His weight is slightly below and his height is slightly above... but really this kiddo is average. 






Simon is doing everything developmentally he should be except he's not really using words yet.  I started to get worried about it a few weeks ago.  The thing about Simon is he talks a lot.  He'll have whole conversations with you with hand motions, inflections, everything... except he's not saying real words.  He only consistently says momma variations, and sometimes Dada ones... but that's all, at least that's all I understand.  I've been bombarding him with words, repeating things multiple times before giving/doing things in hopes he will pick it up.  For instance I'll say up about 3 times before I'll actually pick him up.  He understands us very well, just isn't really saying words back.  I've been really trying to listen for them and maybe he is trying more.  The doctor said he should probably have a light switch moment when he starts saying a lot of words.  If we don't see an exponential amount of word growth in the next three months that we should think about getting him assessed for a speech delay, but right now since everything else developmentally is there he's not concerned... so we'll see how the next few months go.





In brighter news, Simon loves to play with toys, give us books to read, run around, and BE OUTSIDE EXPLORING.  Kid seriously loves being outside and always throws a fit if we don't go outside after work (when the dogs do) or when we have to come back inside.  He would spend all of his time out there.












Simon loves the animals, and really isn't scared of any animals.  I think he loves Daddy dog the most.  He'll sit on him, "pet" him, touch him all that jazz.  Daddy doesn't always love all of that, but just walks away when he isn't in the mood.  We are working on 'gentle' and 'pets' with Simon.  Bella loves to give Simon kisses and take advantage of meal time with Simon.  Simon knows how fun it is to feed the animals.

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Simon has picked up the art of dance this month too... which really involves flapping his arms around, but it's pretty adorable.  He's also really started to climb on the furniture too.


Simon does pretty well at meal time sometimes eating a ton and other times not really interested in eating at all.  He likes all the common kids foods but especially loves the sweeter things including fruit.  He mostly drinks milk but sometimes water too.

Sad he's not going outside





Mr. Simon went on his first road trip this month for my mom's birthday.  We went to Memphis and Nashville.  While we were never in the car for that long at one time (a few hours) he did SO WELL.  I don't want to just sit here and brag on him, but really I couldn't imagine it going as well as it did.  He got somewhat fussy when we went back in the car at times and nap schedule was all thrown off, but he handled it like a champ.  How did we get so lucky??

Simon experiencing "snow"




Sleep is good, he sleeps through the night very well... but in bigger news we made the switch from two naps a day to one.  It's been going pretty well!  His sleep schedule is wakes up 7:30-8, takes a nap around noon-2ish and then in bed around 8.  I like to keep him somewhat flexible with sleep, but it would be nice if he'd sleep in untraditional places at times.








Kiddo loves to imitate us.  He will do things we do like pretend to feed the dogs or fill up his humidifier.  He also knows where things go, or where things are (where's your bed, where's your jeep).  He'll also go to his highchair when we mention meal time or his towel or the bathtub when it's bath time.






Simon still has a bit of a shy streak.  It takes him a bit to warm up to unfamiliar places or people, but once he does he's all good.  A lot of times when we go somewhere new he starts to get worried we are going to leave, but once he figures out we're there together he's ok.  And even if we are leaving him somewhere he snaps out of it once we're gone pretty quickly... or so people tell me anyway.




Simon is such a joy... while we do have some fussy/crabby/tantrum moments he seems to move on pretty quickly or it's solved by food, a nap or Tylenol.  I'm not sure how we ended up with this easy kid, but we did and we are so lucky for it.  He's just such a perfect addition to our family.  Honestly, he makes our family a family.

Friday, February 24, 2017

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.