Full Steam Ahead

We've moved past the walking stage to running - there's no rest for us poor parents now (and for the grandparents or sitter for that matter). Simon runs everywhere now, even if it's just to get to his toy two feet away. Apparently he is just starting to keep up to the other daycare kids in their races so at least we know what he is practicing for!

Goldilocks

Simon's latest these days is all about trying to find the perfect chair. He spends his days struggling to climb on each and every chair in search of the perfect one. Some are too big, some too hard, and some are just right. The look of triumph as he conquers each and every chair makes chasing after him and spotting the chair scaling worthwhile.

Last week when we got home from day care, he found his perfect chair. He actually bypassed a ball and went running to the new mini-adirondack chairs from Grandma and Grandpa. It gave him a whole new perspective to watch all the other kids from.

We're going to the zoo zoo zoo

We took advantage of a long weekend and visited our friends Sanjeev and Heidi and took in a trip to the Toronto zoo. The forecast for the weekend was rain, rain and more rain but we lucked out on Saturday with dry, yet very hot weather and squeezed in a quick trip to the zoo. As anyone with kids surely knows, it's difficult to plan schedules with other parents so that both sets of kids are well rested and happy. Our day was no exception. Heidi spent the morning at the walk-in clinic with Sophie while Sam went to swimming and by the time everyone had lunch, got dressed and lathered up with sunscreen, it was almost nap time. But not being deterred, we headed off to the zoo. Simon was his usual quiet, observant self and did not express much enthusiasm towards the display of animals. We managed to get around the African loop and that was it for the animals. We spent the rest of the time at the children's zoo going through the cave, digging for dinosaur bones and Simon's favourite part - the plastic door hangings - now that he was enthusiastic about.

Lynsey's Baby Shower

With a little more than a month to go before Lynsey's due date, we held a party to "Flood" Lynsey with gifts and best wishes for the new baby. The guest list was extensive and spoke a lot as to the number of friendships Lynsey has developed and maintained over the years. There were people from as far back as elementary school there! As per usual when it's a group of women getting together, there was lots of food and we spent the majority of our time eating. I managed to get a few games in while Lynsey opened gifts. She got a huge assortment of gifts - the most creative coming from her old co-workers at Unisys who all bought their favourite childhood book to create a library of sorts for the baby. Lynsey was incredibly touched by everyone's generosity and got through the day with only a few tears.

Mr. Independent

With his skills improving on a daily basis Simon is determined to do everything on his own. No longer is he interested in having you hold a bottle, spoon feed him, carry him or hold his hand. He would rather hold the bottle so he can sip (and spray :)) at his leisure. He definitely knows when he has had enough. Yogurt and applesauce are a whole new challenge as he desperately tries to use a spoon. Usually we strip him down to his diaper because by the end of it we have to take the pressure washer to him! He is so proud of himself and so bound not to accept anything you feed him that we kind of have to embrace the mess. He also wants to walk where he wants, when he wants and don't even think of trying to hold his hand - nobody is allowed to lead this child.

More Excerpts from Ursula

More fun tidbits from Simon's daycare journal.

"He was a bit more clingy than usual and had his first 'tantrum' with me when I told him he could not help me empty the dishwasher today"

"Had a bit of spit-up and decided to distribute it on his hair before I could wipe his mouth"

"Most of his lunch ended up in his hair (and on his shirt!), he'll need a spin in the delicate cycle tonight"

"The poor little chap is quite congested, especially if he is lying down. It's hard to breathe through your mouth and suck your thumb at the same time :) "

"He emptied all the baskets and bins available to him, sat in them and then took the toy stroller for a spin"

"The walkways were very busy today since it was walk to school day. Simon was very excited and waved to everybody!"

"He polished off his yogurt and then settled to do some art work. He's brilliant at holding a crayon but uses the wrong end to colour :) Works all the same and he made a colorful drawing. He got a bit carried away at the end and ripped his sheet of paper."

"He was a very busy boy getting into all drawers and cupboards on the main level and was very please when I let him empty the dryer (almost everything went into the basket)"

"I have lost count of BMs for today. Simon was indeed very 'busy'. I'd say he had three proper ones and a few 'misfires' :) "

"He likes to look for Philippe and then wants in his highchair for his 'second breakfast'"

"It's official, I am chopped liver, all he wants is Philippe in the morning"

10 feet tall

Simon has been our little sleeping beauty over the past week. With the exception of Friday he has napped 5 hours during the day and slept another 12-13 hours at night. It could be that it's the after effect of the flu and his little body is catching up or it could be that he is hitting another growth spurt and that we*ll wake up tomorrow and our little boy will be 10 feet tall :) The big mystery is why he never naps like this when I desperately need him to.

Peace of Mind

Mommy paranoia set in this evening after I woke up from my nap and Matt told me that Simon had had a fall while I was sleeping. My normally happy, upright boy was spending the majority of time crawling (a rarity these days) and when he did attempt to walk he was crying out in pain. Rather than wait through the night to see what the next day would bring, we packed him up and took him off to the ER at the Queensway Carleton to get some x-rays done. We lucked out big time in the waiting room which is normally a zoo and were ushered through within a half hour and seen almost immediately. Simon was all smiles and squirms as he wanted to get down and explore. After the x-rays gave us the all clear and the doctor reassured me that I had done the right thing, we packed back up and headed home to put Simon down to bed. I'm glad health care is "free" in Canada otherwise my paranoia could get very expensive

The Tulip Festival

A little bit of history....

The Canadian Tulip Festival has grown into the largest Tulip Festival in the world from a gift of International Friendship given six decades ago. In the fall of 1945, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands presented Ottawa with 100,000 tulip bulbs. The gift was given in appreciation of the safe haven that members of Holland's exiled royal family received during the Second World War in Ottawa and in recognition of the role which Canadian troops played in the liberation of the Netherlands.

We took Simon down to the tulip festival last year when Sue and Les were visiting and we figured it was the perfect repeat outing so we could get progression shots throughout the years. We thought that Brutus would enjoy it too and would give him a chance to be socialized more. Unfortunately we didn't anticipate the no dogs signs so we ended up pushing Brutus in the stroller and carrying Simon (we looked like those people!). Simon cooperated for a few photo opportunities but for the most part he was wandering aimlessly and looking in the opposite direction of the camera. We managed to find ducks on shore as well - too bad Simon was totally disinterested.

You want me to stand here?

A typical shot of our monkey now that he's on the move

Sitting like a big boy and proud of it!

These look much tastier then those dandelions I ate last week!





Mom, I'm so bored of this duck hunt.

sick, sick, sick

Sick, sick, sick. One for each of us in our little family. It started with Matt on the weekend and by Sunday, Simon was just not himself. He didn't nap and he was inconsolable by dinner time and was throwing his food left, right and centre while he was thrashing to get out of his chair. Monday morning, I woke up feeling rough but not as bad as Simon who woke up in a bed full of vomit. The rest of Monday, Simon seemed to be doing better but Tuesday at daycare he started out the other end and required 3 diaper changes by 8:30am and an emergency call to Nana B to go and pick him up. Wednesday was more of the same and Thursday he and I finally turned the corner. Thankfully, I only ended up with the fever and nausea portion of the flu and Matt with his super immune system recuperated pretty quickly to take care of both of us.