Swinging on the Big Swing

It's hard to believe that Simon is so confident on the big swing now - he is always asking for big pushes and loves getting under-ducks.

The Carp Fair

An excert from Bill and Jacquie who took Simon to the Carp Fair:
On arrival, we were directed to a large field and we were prepared to walk, with Simon in stroller to the fairground. However, there was a small tractor, we will call him "Dan" with a wagon attached and we rode to the entrance of the parking lot where we saw a school bus which was taking on passengers and transporting folks to the front entrance of the fair. Since Simon loves tractors and school buses, we thought this would be a treat. Up he climbs and has a window seat with many of the riders making a comment of how happy he looked to be riding the school bus. At the fair he seemed to enjoy the sights but maybe not the sounds of the midway and the rides. He did enjoy watching the quarter horses lift their legs very high and trot very fast. He also enjoyed the larger horses pulling wagons. The highlight of this activity seemed to be watching the man pick up the horse poop with a shovel and wheelbarrow. On the way back to the car, we once again opted for the school bus. The driver had apparently made arrangements with her husband to meet her at an intersection in the country with her Tim Horton's coffee. Simon eagerly climbed on the bus and went directly to the back seat window and was delighted with his drive in the country, very fast, on the school bus. He fell asleep on the way home and told Mommy and Daddy, sleepily, that he did not see any cows, only horses.

Simon at 2.5 Years

I remember this winter when we were in Mexico, one of the couples that we were vacationing with had a 2.5 year old and they said the difference between 2 years and 2.5 years was huge. Now that we're there, I can totally see what they meant. Simon has grown leaps and bounds in the past 6 months. At two-and-a-half years old, Simon:

-is 90% potty trained. Pee accidents are almost non-existant, he even wakes up most mornings dry. Poop is a whole other ordeal though.
-has moved from the parallel play stage and is actually interacting with other children.
-still sucks his thumb and is obsessed with blankets - he needs to have a minimum of two with him at bedtime.
-loves, loves, loves construction machines. He can name all of the machines (as can we) and will correct you if you call it the wrong thing.
-can count to thirty and sing the alphabet.
-is starting to like a lot more variety in his vegetables - he now eats cucumber, carrots, peppers, celery, snap peas and pickled beets.
-goes to bed between 7:00pm and 8:00pm and is up promptly at 7:15am every single day but takes about an hour to get going.
-is Mr. Independent. We often hear, "myself" and his shoes are always on the wrong feet.
-drinks milk from a cup (with a straw) without coercion.
-has an extensive vocabularly and can carry on conversations however, they are often obsure and 75% of the time related to construction machines!
-is quite good at sharing and taking turns.
-has developed a fear of the dark and often runs to us saying that he is scared.
-has all of his teeth - just in time for us to start the teething process again with Miles.
-still takes an afternoon nap.
-reads the same 2 books at bedtime most nights and can easily fill in the blanks and knows if you skip a page. Actually, he can do this with most of his books.
-is super bossy in environments where he is comfortable i.e. at home, at daycare and his Grandparent's houses.
-is a total mimic. We have to be really careful now with what we say as Simon is starting to try out some inappropriate words at daycare. He called one of his friends a "pain in the butt" the other day.
-only has rare temper tantrums - not quite what I was expecting for the terribles twos but I have been warned that three is a more trying age.
-is sleeping in a twin bed in his new room.

Miles @ 2 Months

It's hard to believe that 2 months have already passed but yet at the same time, it feels like Miles has always been here. So many changes in the past few weeks, we're seeing more smiles and personality coming out. At 2 months, Miles:

-is a smiling machine, particularly in the morning and when he's about to nurse.
-still sleeps in his vibrating chair beside our bed. He sleeps so well in there, that we're afraid to rock the boat and move him to the crib.
-has outgrown his 0-3 month sleepers and is on the last few weeks of his 0-3 month onesies.
-loves the ceiling fan. Nanny and Granddad had to go out and replace their one after it burnt out (literally). They made sure to buy one with a slow speed and a remote control.
-loves to kick around on the floor.
-is Mr. Efficiency - he can polish off a meal in 5 minutes flat. A nice change from Simon who was a leisurely eater.
-is on his last pack of size 1 diapers. They still fit okay but we're not confident enough to committ to another pack!
-has a pretty well established nighttime routine. He likes to go to bed at the exact same time as Simon, which makes solo bedtime challenging and generally wakes once or twice a night. We're up for the day at 6:45am on weekdays and 8:00am on weekends (provided Simon cooperates).
-is a happy, content baby as long as he doesn't need to burp and is well rested.
-is only good for 1.5 hours maximum before he needs to go down for a nap.
-takes one monster nap during the day 3-5 hours!
-takes a bottle like a champ and wonders where the rest is.
-hates car rides. He often screams if we don't get him in there asleep and it's compounded by Simon screaming, "Miles needs a soother".
-is still swaddled at night.
-takes his first nap in the swing, second nap in my arms, long nap in the car seat or sometimes on the Boppy pillow.
-loves diaper changes.
-doesn't spit up nearly as much as Simon did.
-doesn't like to be upright. He always flings himself back to be in a more reclined position.
-still has blue eyes.
-weighs in at ___lbs. __oz., __ inches

The Last Long Weekend of Summer

AKA Simon's potty weekend. We have put it off long enough more for our convenience than anything but we figured one in diapers would be much easier (and cheaper) for us. Matt took Friday off to give us a good stretch and he volunteered to do the training.

Friday.....

Simon woke up and we started right away talking up the potty. We had him sit on the potty in the family room every 20 minutes or so for 30 seconds. He looked so uncomfortable and would just look at us until his time was up and go on his merry way. Matt and I both peed twice but Simon wasn't having any of it. Around 9:30, he peed on the floor in the kitchen. We had playgroup for the remainder of the morning so I put him back in a diaper. After nap, we started up again. After about two hours, I had about given up expecting any success when Simon started screaming, "it's working". We made a very big deal of it and let him help carry the potty to the bathroom to dump the pee in the toilet, wash his hands, get some smarties and a sticker. No other real successes on Friday but it was a start.

Saturday.....

We started out right away. Matt spent a few hours in the bathroom with Simon until he got uncomfortable and went in search of a seat. This is when we discovered the secret - Simon likes his privacy when he pees (go figure that he bangs on the door when we're in the washroom though - apparently privacy is not an option for us). After this discovery, we would sit him on the potty and he would pee no problem. Now it is just up to us to get the timing established. We had one accident at the park but Simon did try to sprint home, Matt just couldn't keep up.

Sunday.....

Simon woke up dry in the morning, from his nap and only peed on the floor once - in the bathroom because we didn't have the potty seat up at my parents. I think we're onto something.

Monday.....

Nothing but success today. Although a lot of onus is still on us, I'm confident that things will get easier from here.