Picking out a Pumpkin

We took Simon to the local pumpkin patch to pick out a few pumpkins for Halloween. The experience around these parts is limited to picking a pumpkin from a pile but at the very least, it provides a cute photo opportunity. Simon was mostly interesting in finding ways to run around to the parking lot, although we were able to keep him close once we secured a cart. The weather was much more Fall like this year so we didn't have to fake a fall shot like we did last year with Simon in a Fall jacket and bare feet! At the end of the trip, they gave Simon an apple and surprisingly he polished that thing off, I guess I no longer need to cut them into slices!

Evolution of the Kiss

When Simon first starting "kissing" it consisted of just opening up his mouth wide. He finally started putting together the open mouth and making contact with your face. I'm not quite sure I understand the saying, "only a mother could love" because a slug trail was just gross. Matt and I always turned to have him kiss our cheek because we are not mouth kissers and Simon caught onto that so the next stage of the kiss evolution was Simon turning his cheek to us when we asked for a kiss. I was a bit sad not to get those sloppy kisses anymore but it didn't last long. Simon has finally figured out how to pucker up and leave a minimal amount of residue behind. He gives the best kisses!

Haircut Hell

Simon has the most gorgeous thick hair and it grows like a weed. I guess I could let it just grow long but I love the little boy haircut. Too bad my little boy won't sit still for a nice style. We went to the kids salon today again in hopes that the fun environment would entice Simon to sit still. We started off with the scissors and Matt and I pinning Simon down so she could safely cut but with the screaming, howling and wriggling that ensued, we quickly had to change our plans to a buzz cut on '3'. He still looks cute but I miss his little boy style. At least with it so short we won't have to go through that torture again soon. After the haircut was over, it was like nothing had happened. Simon merrily rearranged the chairs, vacuumed, played with a train, etc. until we had to drag him out screaming. A fun time had by all!

P.S. We left a nice tip for the poor woman who had to help wrangle our toddler while wielding a clipper and getting kicked the whole time!

Big Boy Room

With Simon climbing out of his crib, we're thinking that we might have to transition him to a regular bed sometime in the forseeable future. With the twin bed, comes a new room since we're planning on keeping the nursery as is for any future children. My focus in the last few weeks has been searching for items to decorate said room. My Mum bought the bedding for us a few months ago. It's a basic blue plaid, stripes, patchwork. The perfect neutral backdrop for any theme. I have the furniture that I bought a few years back at a garage sale (a solid wood dressor, night table, desk, chair, mirror and headboard for $200!) that my Mum is going to paint off white for us. Then comes the accessories. So far, I have a baseball mirror, soccer ball clock, soccer ball overhead light and a soccer ball night table lamp. I have been searching endlessly online and found a series of prints that I love, a fun locker that fits with the sports theme, a striped paint effect that will fit the theme perfectly, sports themed bean bag chairs. I'm also coming up with lots of other projects/ideas - a score board, a basketball hoop over a laundry hamper, a baseball bat hat hanger, a framed Pittsburgh vintage jersey (I think this one may be a bit too expensive for a kids room though), amd I'm trying to figure out how to work a hockey net into all of this! Here's some pictures of my finds/inspiration so far:

Getting Your Money's Worth

The whole concept of getting your money's worth changes when you have kids. The prospect of a whiny child means that you schedule events around nap times and driving a hour to only spend two totally makes sense as does paying admission and only spending an hour or two. This concept also applies to restaurants. Ordering a kid's meal that gets eaten, even if it's only a small bit, seems worth it because at least they ate. To Matt's dismay, this concept doesn't apply to clothing!

Milk and Cookies

We signed Simon up for Kindermusik in addition to his gymnastics class for the Fall semester. Simon went to the first session with Nanna B. and spent the majority of the class cosied up with Nanna and sucking his thumb. My Mum said that the only way she knew that he was listening was that he would "jump" when they said too. He did perk up on the way out and waved to all of the residents that had come to watch. This week, I went along with my Mum so that we could bring Simon's Great Granny along. My Mum sat with Geraldine and animated the session while I sat on the floor with Simon and attempted to get him to follow along with the actions. For the most part he was only interested in getting and returning the instruments and he smiled somewhat when we did some dancing. He does definitely have preferences when it comes to the instruments so we'll be ordering a wave drum when Christmas rolls around.

Farewell Sue and Les

We had a fun two weeks visiting with Sue and Les on their now annual trip to Canada. We spent most of the week eating - at our place, Debbie's place, John's Place, Mum and Dad's. Interspersed in the eating, we spent a lot of time looking at houses to prepare for Sue and Les's possible immigration to Canada. Finally we spent a lot of time being entertained by the antics of the four Barker grandchildren. We can't wait for Sue and Les to be closer, we need more babysitters around with all of the competition :)

Simon @ 18 months

It's hard to believe that Simon is half way to his second birthday. Since Simon start walking, time seems to have sped up. Perhaps it's because we're always moving at a fast pace keeping him out of danger! Simon is changing from day to day, it's amazing to see all of the new things he is learning. It's been awhile since I posted a monthly update so I thought I would post an overview. At 18 months, Simon:

-is all about going vertical - climbing out of his crib, scaling his bus, the outside of the stairs, kitchen chairs to get to the higher cabinets.....
-loves to dance around in circles on his toes
-is all about balls and balloons
-loves to bounce on his zebra
-is still napping twice a day
-loves to dive onto soft surfaces (our bed, Brutus' bed, the couch)
-refuses to give up his bottles
-is happiest when outside
-no longer sits still for haircuts or nail trimming
-is a little dare devil - in addition to all of the climbing, he also likes to stand on his push toys and uses his cars like a scooter/skateboard
-has the tiniest waist - his pants are forever falling down - his belly is still pretty round though :)
-wears 12-18 month pants, 18-24 month tops, size 7 shoes and size 4 diapers
-pats the seat next to him to get you to sit beside him
-loves to read books over and over - and he must be sitting on you when you read to him
-has all of his teeth through with the exception of his 2-year molars
-is a super easy, happy baby
-is still struggling with eating vegetables that aren't green

2028 watch out

Simon started his toddler gymnastics class. It's for toddlers 18 months to 3 years and Simon is the youngest one there. The class is really beyond him, the exercises are geared more to kids who have some understanding of instructions while Simon does what Simon Says :) We spent the first 45 minutes of the class getting Simon to follow the obstacle courses, most of which featured skills that he didn't care to master like hanging from the bars, swinging on a rope. Even with Matt and I supervising him, he still managed to fall on his head! The last 15 minutes were a hit though. The gymnastics studio has a large tumble track trampoline - probably about 15 meters long. Simon was like a demon when we let him loose on it, Matt and I had to sprint beside him trying to keep up so that we could stop him from turning and running back towards the next kid coming. We were exhausted by the end of the class. Next time we need to remember to bring water for us as well.

Gearing up for Winter

It seems kind of silly to be gearing up for winter when we're still technically in the midst of summer. However, last year, when we realized Simon's hand-me down snowsuit wouldn't make it through the season (in November) we quickly realized that selection for these things is limited. So this year, we hit the stores early and picked up Simon's snowsuit and boots to guarantee we could get the style and size that we needed. Simon is too cute walking around in his new gear and was more than happy to do a fashion show for us - for a mental picture, he walks like he's wearing downhill ski boots.