Valleyview Animal Farm

We have been having absolutely perfect spring days and that warm weather brings with it a whole bunch of new outdoor activities. We're fortunate to live very close to the Valleyview Animal Farm - a working farm that caters to kids. It has animals to feed, more animals to look at from afar, a duck pond, playground equipment galore and a tram ride. Nana B. treated all of her grandkids (and me and John) to an afternoon out at the farm. First stop was to feed the animals - thankfully the kids love this so it makes the smell somewhat tolerable. Mostly it was a bunch of greedy goats but there were lots of other animals for Simon to get acquainted with including a bunch of little baby goats, sheep, ducks and rabbits. He walked around with Nana B. while I kept the food flowing for Braedon and Emjae. Simon was most interested in the rooster - probably because he was making the most noise! After that we walked past the duck pond, where Emjae suffered her second encounter with a foot of muck and then onto the playground equipment. Simon loved walking around barefoot and tried out the slide, the teeter tooter and some stationary animals. We raced back for the 2:00pm tram ride. Braedon picked our last row seats and we held on tight as we already felt like we were falling off before we even started round. It was a great day out in the sun and we'll definitely be back here many times this summer.

Simon's Doctor's Appointment

Well not two weeks after going in for Simon's one year check-up we were back at the doctor's office again. This time for an ever present rash on Simon's back. We had been treating it with a prescription cream to no avail and the chlorine from Simon's swimming lessons kept aggravating it and it has flared up to a red, scaly mess. Simon was cheerful as usual and moving at lighting speed from one end of the office to another (I can't believe that I found it stressful to come with a non-mobile infant!). Turns out that Simon's rash is excema and easily treatable with a hydra-cortisone cream. I also changed out his body wash since my switch to the Johnson and Johnson stuff seemed to coincide with when our problems began.

Making a Mess in the Kitchen

Simon must have been watching his Daddy closely during his weekend pancake making sessions since he seems to have the process down pat. He had to improvise and leave the flour all over the floor versus the counter due to his height limitations :) Mental note for next time - do not let Simon play in the flour when he has a runny nose. Flour + snot = a glue like paste.

Excerpts from Ursula

It's been awhile since I have posted on Simon's happenings at daycare. We love reading what he gets up to while we're at work and it's even better since Ursula is such a comedic writer. Here's some excerpts from Simon's journal.

"In the basement Simon bravely fought a serpent and then a dragon (not the medieval kind but the Swedish kind from Ikea. The more we laughed, the more he wrestled."

"Up till now Simon was watching from the sidelines, sucking his thumb but today he actually followed them, grabbed toys and stood of sat in the middle of them and played with the same things. Mind you he was a bit of a Godzilla, tipping the little people garage over and stepping on cars.:

"He really likes the two book baskets downstairs and when he is done emptying them, he settles down to read and sometimes we make it past page 2."

"We had a chance to sit down at the piano and play, Simon's quite the little Beethoven, he's got this really serious look on his face as he's bashing out the notes,"

"Upstairs, Simon found the last elusive egg from the Easter egg hunt yesterday. He was quite happy to play with the plastic egg after I had removed the chocolate inside."

"The bigger kids were making floor puzzles and Simon took them apart, he was delighted and the kids were not."

"After lunch we had a long story and a bit more play, interrupted by a major poo courtesy of Simon. It was a seven wipes alarm!"

"After lunch we were back downstairs. Simon tried to climb the little people garage king kong fasion and very busy emptying bins, baskets and drawers."

Crank it up Maestro

An impromptu trip over to John and Maureen's was a goldmine for Simon. We relieved them of their baby piano and Simon could not be happier. Even without the batteries, it was a great source of entertainment for him since it's the perfect height to climb onto. Now that we got the batteries in, he is happily bashing away at it like a rock star pianist. Judging by his current appreciation for musical instruments, we will not be playing Guitar Hero with him anytime soon.

Parents and Tots Part II

Simon is now in the second level of swimming and he's still really enjoying the water - or at least we think he is, the majority of time he shows no reaction and just happily sucks his thumb. He's now at the point where he can jump (a.k.a fall) into your arms from the side of the pool. He goes down the slide - although he prefers to do this with Daddy who guides him down (I just let him go and he bumped his head on the way down). Matt is the one who takes him most Wednesdays and thank godness for that since it's a workout just getting undressed/dressed and in/out of the pool. I was beat for the remainder of the evening when I was on swimming duty. The only downside to swimming in a public pool is the amount of chlorine in there. Simon has developed some irritation and we're going to have to find something to put on his legs to help protect his sensitive skin.

I Scream, You Scream, Simon Screams for Ice Cream

Ice cream is unquestionably Simon's favourite food. Although he's always hanging around begging for our food, he breaks out more than just his puppy dog eyes when he wants a bite of your ice cream. He actually screams for ice cream! Even though we find it comical (now at least), we thought that ice cream might just provide the incentive to teach Simon a bit of sign language. We showed Simon the more sign and boy did he catch on quick. Once he realized that it was an effective way to get what he wanted, he didn't stop until the cone was gone. We'll have to keep practicing this one.

Walk Like a Penguin (sung to the tune "Walk like an Egyptian")

Well we've moved on from steps here and there to full on walking. Simon now has the confidence to walk the length of the room and back - the only caveat is that he falls at any transition point. How does a 2mm difference in flooring level throw him off you ask. Well his walking style is derived from a penguin (it must be the influence of his Daddy talking about them all of the time!). His feet barely leave the ground as he shuffles along. I miss seeing the little butt in the air from the crawl, but the look of joy on his face while he's mastering his new skill is priceless.

Spring has Sprung

After an almost record breaking winter with snow, snow and more snow, spring has finally sprung! Now this isn't to say that the snow has melted, because with the amount we have, that will be awhile yet, but we have had some glorious, warm days and we're finally able to walk around the neighborhood without having to worry about losing Brutus in the snow :) Simon is loving all of the time outdoors. He spends the whole walk pointing - at birds, at airplanes, at clouds. Brutus is loving getting out and is the perfect stroller dog. He walks right beside the stroller, doesn't pull, doesn't stop to sniff everything and keeps up a decent pace so that I get some benefit out of the walk too.

One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed

Well he's not quite at the point where he's jumping on the bed but he is all about going vertical these days. He loves climbing the stairs, climbing on furniture, climbing onto the fireplace surround at my parents, climbing the chairs in the waiting room at the doctor's office, climbing his bus. In the beginning he only knew how to control himself in one direction - UP! - so we ended up with numerous bumps, scratches, bruises and bloody lips. With much urging, Simon now understands the art of getting down in a controlled manner. He now turns around and backs off things versus his previous technique of diving headfirst.