Cranky Pants

Simon was a cranky boy today - thankfully he slept through most of it. He was awake for a feed at 6:00am and then to Matt's great joy, he immediately went back to sleep until almost 9:00am. Just over 1 hour later, he was back in bed where he stayed (with the exception of about 25 very cranky minutes) until 1:00pm. He was awake again for an hour and a half and then back to bed, up for an hour, bed for an hour, up for an hour and then in bed for the night (or so we thought). Now he is fussing like crazy and we're hoping that he doesn't think that it's morning!

Grandma and Grandpa come over for a visit and in between Simon's naps and intermittent crankiness, they probably only got 45 good minutes out of him! Here's some photos of the boy today.

Canada Day Playgroup

My group of Mom friends decided to have a theme playgroup this week to celebrated Canada Day (sounds nerdy but really we just need some variety for our photo sessions!). We all dressed the babies up in Canada gear and Sasha, the host, even had Canada Day theme/coloured treats. We had a Canada flag which we laid the babies out on, and then we all went nuts with our cameras like we were the paparazzi. I managed to get some cute pics of Simon and his baby friends.

Random Pictures of Simon

Monkey Man




Napping with Daddy



Baby Temper



Simon in his crib

Simon's Nursery

I've been meaning to post some pictures for a long time but I never managed to have everything tidy all at once. Well now that we have a cleaning lady, I can manage the tidying/putting clothes away while she worries about the vacuuming!

This is the only room in our house that is "done" - pictures on the walls, painted it's final colour, accessorized perfectly.

Matt's First Father's Day

Matt had his first Father's Day celebration today. Simon started off the morning later than usual - 7:15 am versus the usual 5:45 am and the bonus for Matt is that it wasn't poop day. Simon gave Matt his card which he picked up on our Westboro shopping trip and gave him golf balls, and three rounds of golf (and the time off of Daddy duty to play them). After a brunch with my Dad and the rest of the Barker clan, Matt took off for his first round of golf with some of the other neighborhood Dads at Irish Hills while Simon and I went swimming in a friends pool. Matt returned to his boy a little browner and a little toasted! We then finished off the day at Bill's where he is testing out his domestic side by preparing a Father's Day dinner for Bill Sr. and Matt. Matt also got another gift from Simon through Grandma - a Home Depot play BBQ which he will be using along side Matt in a few years.

Here's some pictures of Matt and his boys on Father's Day - unfortunately Simon took all the spare change from under the cushions so Gus and Brutus didn't get their "daddy" anything this year.

Simon @ 3 months

* is starting to have a more predictable routine with longer stretches of time between feedings and naps
* is sleeping through most nights from 7:30pm to 5:45 am
* is finally napping in his crib thanks to Matt who has a lot more patience and initiative - now I don't have an excuse not to do housework
* loves to listen to my pathetic attempts at singing the same 5 songs over and over (Ba Ba Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Down By the Bay)
* is such a happy, smiley baby in the morning and after naps - unless he's starving!
* is starting to full on laugh (mostly for his Daddy and Granddad) which inevitably leads to a bout of hiccups
* still has the cutest hairstyle that is totally uncontrollable - it sticks straight up at the back and will not be tamed
* is barely just squeezing into his size 2 diapers - he will be in the next size as soon as we go through the current stash that we have
* sucks on his hand like a mad man and makes so much noise doing it - he has also found his thumb
* still has a pretty bad baby temper when he has to stop eating and burp - it's hilarious and I definitely need to capture it in a photo before he stops doing it
* loves looking at the cute baby in the mirror when we're in the car :)
* has chunky "soccer" legs and a chubby belly - wiping is becoming an art form when we're changing diapers
* poops every other day, usually in the morning after being on the swing - I have made up a song about poop day and am very thankful when it coincides with Matt being off work!
* is tipping the scales at 15 lbs. 12 oz. although he has finally starting to slow down his gains
* wears 3-6 month clothing
* has been in the pool for the first time and enjoyed it enough to fall asleep
* is still swaddled with the Miracle Blanket at night - this this has been a godsend and well worth the ridiculous price
* loves being naked - we try to give him a half hour of naked time a night and he just smiles and squirms around enjoying the air to his bum
* is starting to hold onto objects and show a little interest in toys other than his play arch
* loves being pulled from laying, to sitting, to standing and back again
* loves being outside and can stare and chat with the clouds in the sky for minutes (eternity in baby time)
* is generally awake for a maximum of two hours consecutively and then he needs a nap otherwise he's totally cranky
* screams bloody murder for his baths ever since Mommy was on bath duty and he took a mouthful of water in
* is a total ladies man - he knows how to charm the Mom's and the babies but who could resist such a cutie!

Well-Baby Clinics

Simon graduated from the city of Ottawa well-baby clinics today. Basically they provided a chance to have him weighed weekly to ensure he was gaining the appropriate amount, plus, they provided an opportunity to meet up with other Mom's who have babies the same age. Simon gained weight like a champion and is finally starting to slow to a more manageable growth pattern. Here's his stats from the weekly clinic weigh-ins:

April 3rd, 2007 - 10 lbs. 6 oz.
April 17th, 2007 - 11 lbs. 13.5 oz.
April 24th, 2007 - 12 lbs. 3.5 oz.
May 1st, 2007 - 13 lbs. 0.5 oz.
May 8th, 2007 - 13 lbs. 9.5 oz.
May 15th, 2007 - 14 lbs
May 21st, 2007 - 14 lbs. 11.5 oz.
May 28th, 2007 - 15 lbs. 3 oz.
June 5th, 2007 - 15 lbs. 8 oz.
June 12th, 2007 - 15 lbs. 12 oz.

Poolside with Simon

Today Simon and I hung out around the pool of a friend. It was Simon's first time water other than the tub and thankfully for us it was heated. He looked adorable in his swim trunks - sans hat (bad Mommy!). He was a little reluctant at first - probably because he remembered his bath from the other night with me where he slipped and took in a mouthful of water. But he chilled out and enjoyed it as long as the water didn't touch his bare belly. In fact, after awhile he relaxed so much that he actually fell asleep. We plan to make this a regular event so Simon should be an old pro by the time he starts swim lessons with Matt next month.

Simon is Going to be Famous

My little cutie is going to be in a scrapbooking magazine compliments of one of my friends Jennifer Hottinger-Sloan. She took some photos of Simon around Easter which I will post if I can find them and then she created a gorgeous very atypical baby layout. It will be published in the Fall edition of Canadian Scrapbooker. Obviously this is a very limited distribution magazine so I'll try to grab a few copies when it comes out and I think that I'll be able to post the layout then as well. I'm sure Simon will be just as adorable in print as he is in real life.

Here's a few shots that Jennifer took - one of which is the photo that will be in the layout.

More to add to the diaper bag

Simon is now grabbing and holding toys. He still doesn't really know what to do with them and I doubt he'd miss them if I didn't keep forcing them into his hand but once they're there he loves to hold them and wave them in the air. So now, my diaper bag has become even bigger because in addition to the diapering supplies, extra clothes and my wallet, I now have a few little toys to keep Simon (more me) entertained. It's nice to have something new to add to our routine because we had a pretty limited amount of activities in our baby circuit before.