Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Happy Birthday Daddy, from your favourite hockey fans. Simon even let me spike his hair up just for you (and the promise of cake!).

It's a Zoo Around Here

No we haven't added any animals but we have had to cage our almost 3 year old. Well not technically cage, but we've had to change his knob to one that locks from the outside. Sounds (and feels) cruel but it's for everyone's safety. Today Simon could have blown up the house because he went downstairs in stealth mode and turned on the gas on the stove. Thankfully he didn't go one further and turn to ignite. We have also had to add a keyed lock to the master bathroom. The other day while I was dealing with Miles' needs, I heard water running. I booted it up to the bathroom and found Simon in the tub with only the hot water running - yikes. Thankfully, I acted fast otherwise I would have been dealing with some scalding. Three looks like it's going to be a whole lot more terrible than two!

Miles @ 7 Months

Yikes, we're more than halfway to a year! This has been a pretty busy month for Miles. At 7 months, Miles:

-is eating pureed fruits and vegetables like a pro. His favourites are carrots, pears and squash.
-can sit on his own, he just doesn't. He is my casual baby and would prefer to be semi-reclined.
-loves taking a bath with his brother and since he won't sit on his own, one of us too. He is a wriggling ball of chub as soon as he sees the water.
-is wearing size 3 diapers and 6-12 month clothing
-is a super smiley baby. He is so social and will stare at people until he makes eye contact and then breaks into the biggest smile.
-still has undiscernable eye colour - it's always greyish but it has a blue or green tint depending on the day/outfit
-still sleeps in a vibrating chair and is not likely to give it up since he is in a never ending cold/congestion cycle
-has started getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, then he propels himself backward using "the worm" technique
-likes to go to bed early. We're pushing it to get him to 6:15pm some nights.
-is still enamored with Sophie the Giraffe
-loves to be out and about
-has his first tooth - on his bottom left
-has moved into a convertible carseat - we were hoping to get through the winter in the bucket but the handle stopped going up and down.
-loves to watch his big brother and Brutus - Brutus always hangs out just out of arm reach and shares toys.
-rolls around like crazy, he's never in the same spot you put him in. He only seems to roll right though so he's always getting stuck.
-takes a nap after being awake for 2-3 hours, except in the morning where he can barely make it through an hour most days.
-loves his aquarium in the crib. We put it on at night and he sits up, babbles to it and judging by the greasy hand prints all over it, spends a lot of time trying to touch the fish.
-still such a sweet, happy little boy

Simon Says

..... ..... what do you see.
I see a mean face looking at me.

As said by Simon after I let him know that I wasn't a substitute for a kleenex.

Gramma Lay (December 8, 1917 - January 19, 2010)

LAY, Geraldine Mary Peacefully at Granite Ridge on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at the age of 92. Beloved wife of the late Jack Lay. Loving mother of Geoffrey (Brenda) Lay of Maple Ridge, BC, and Jacquelyn (Bill Fuller) of Kanata. Proud grandmother of Kim Statham, Justin Lay (Danielle), Jared Lay (Jennifer), Bill Fuller (Tara Nabi), and Matthew Fuller (Vanessa), and great-grandmother of Brianna, Chelsea, and Grayson Statham, Ella, Logan, and Brody Lay, and Simon and Miles Fuller. "Muggs" will be sadly missed by Canon Stanley Hanes of Lindsay, ON. Friends may call at the Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes, 403 Richmond Road (at Roosevelt), on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 from 7 to 9p.m. Funeral service will be held at McPhail Memorial Baptist Church, 249 Bronson Ave. on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:30a.m. Interment at Capital Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers donations to the Canadian Baptist Ministries Haitian Relief Fund ( www.cbmin.org ) would be appreciated. Condolences, tributes or donations may be made at www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com

Simon Says, The Latest

Simon had joined Matt at work on Christmas Eve for a party. Matt was surface listening as usual so when Simon said, "now don't say ouch Daddy", Matt didn't flinch. That is until Simon took the staple remover to his finger and took a chunk out.
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Simon was practicing his counting skills in the car a few nights ago and this is what it came out as 22, 23, 24, 25, stay on the stairs Simon, 26... can you tell he hears this frequently during time outs :)
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Simon is also picking up a lot of our sayings and using them against us. We're now hearing these ones quite a bit.

"Does that sound like a deal"
"You're not the boss"
"Daddy pooped on the potty, I'm going to go get him a special treat"

Miles @ 6 Months

How can some days feel endlessly long yet as a whole, time passes so fast? Our baby is 6 months old already! We have been blessed with such a happy baby who at 6 months:

-weighs in at lbs. oz., inches long
-stills naps after being awake for 1-2 hours, if we're lucky we get a 2.5-3 hour nap in the afternoon, if we're really lucky Simon's nap overlaps Miles'
-goes to bed between 6:00pm and 7:30pm, wakes once to feed most nights and is up for the day between 7:00am and 9:00am
-is nicknamed sMiles (I know super original)but he is very generous with them
-has started to eat fruits and vegetables and so far loves carrots and pears
-refuses to sit and flings himself back into a reclined position
-rolls from back to front and front to back
-wears size 3 diapers
-wears size 6-12 month clothing
-is a thumb sucker like his brother
-loves to squack and screech and spit and babble
-loves to hang out in the exersaucer which generally results in a change in outfit (be it from poop or drool or spit-up)
-loves to chew on "Sophie" the giraffe which also requires a change in outfit (can you tell that I just did 6 loads of laundry and it's fresh in my mind!)
-loves to hang out in the Moby facing outwards






Edited to add - apparently we need to add a few more stripes to Miles' wardrobe!

First Day of Preschool

Today marked Simon's first day of preschool! With all of the other little ones at daycare going to preschool/regular school, Simon was feeling a little left out so we enrolled him mid-year in one of the local preschools. He has been talking about going non-stop and wearing his new backpack since he got it at Christmas. Even my crabby mood today didn't phase Simon - lesson to me, prepare the night before. I spent the morning racing about looking for a pair of mitts, writing Simon's name on everything and getting Miles ready to go. Total chaos but well worth it because Simon had a great day. He started painting 2 minutes after arriving, played outside (with his mismatched mitts), and came home smiling and asking about his next preschool day. I meant to get pictures of this milestone but I barely made it out of the door sane without adding a camera to my worries!

Edited to Add a Picture and a synopsis of the day sent by the preschool!

We were all happy to be back at school. We played and danced with the scarves. We enjoyed the different toys. We played outside in the snow.

Christmas Letter 2009

What happened to November 2009? The end of this year has passed so quickly. I bought Christmas cards in early October hoping to get a head start and here we are in the second week of December and I am wishing I had bought Valentine’s Day cards instead. Needless to say 2009 has been a busy year for the Fuller clan. Here are some of the highlights of this year.

We started off 2009 announcing the upcoming birth of our second child. In March we found out we were expecting a second boy and on July 7th, we welcomed Miles Xavier Fuller into our family. Miles was a peanut at 7lbs. 9oz. compared to his big brother and came into the world at a lighting fast speed. He has fit into our family so well and it’s hard to imagine life before him. July is now a busy month for birthdays with three of the Barker grandchildren celebrating. Miles has the honour of sharing his birthday with his cousin Braedon.

Simon has changed so much in the past year. We started off the year with a toddler of few words and now we have a never-ending stream of chatter and full conversations, always at full volume! He went from being dependent on us for everything to wanting to do it, “all by myself”. Every task is now a balancing act between letting Simon do things himself, doing it for him or having him help. Time and mess are usually the determining factors. We have lucked out so far, the two’s have been trying but not totally terrible.

Miles has also changed so much since July. We went from a sleeps all-day newborn, to an alert and active baby who loves to be along for the ride on our family adventures. He has turned into quite the little chub with round cheeks so big that he still looks a little like a bobble head. It’s hard to believe that he’s almost 3 lbs. less than Simon at this age, no wonder I always have a sore back. He is such a joy and it helps that he is a decent sleeper.

I have captured all of our comings and goings over the past year in our blog: www.weinerwonderland.blogspot.com so I’ll save you the details here. Check out our Christmas festivities over the next few weeks. We can’t wait to see the excited faces of our two boys as we celebrate our first Christmas as a family of four.

Sincerely,
Vanessa, Matthew, Simon and Miles

Granddad's Christmas Party

This year's Christmas party was held at the local bowling alley. I had no idea what to expect ... first problem was that it coincided with Simon's naptime and the second problem was that a 2 year old and a heavy bowling ball seemed like a bad combination. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. We only had a minor meltdown getting shoes but once Simon started bowling, there was no turning back. He must have thrown 300 balls in the hour we were there. 6 balls going down the lane at a time seemed to be the norm. Here's a video of Simon towards the end when he had mastered his technique.