Cheer Up Song for Granddad

We tried desperately to get Simon to sing Granddad is the champion during a Skype session before my Dad had surgery to no avail. Well I finally caught it on tape and I thought it would cheer Granddad up while he is is recovery.

Uh Uh Uh

Simon: "Miles, that's my puzzle. You can't play with it."
Miles: continues to grab for Simon's puzzle and frantically shoves the pieces in his mouth.
Simon: "uh, uh, uh"
Me: "Simon, Miles can play with the puzzle because you left it on the floor."
Simon: "No he can't. I said uh, uh, uh".

Miles @ 9 months

We're three-quarters of the way through the year and Miles is no longer content to be a cuddly, still baby. At 9 months, Miles:

-is army crawling everywhere. I need to get him fitted for a Swiffer suit!
-is still sleeping in the vibrating chair, in his crib but he falls asleep no problem on his own.
-is still wearing size 3 diapers and 6-12 month clothing
-puts everything in his mouth. He still hasn't trouble picking up his food but carpet lint is no problem!
-is working on some more teeth but nothing has popped through yet.
-is loving self-feeding, purees are definitely on their way out
-loves yogurt, cheese, meat, peas, Cheerios
-follows a pretty predictable daytime routine with 2 naps and wakes once most nights to feed
-is all about Daddy. He cries when he leaves the room without him.
-is in desperate need of a haircut
-is a major thumb sucker, just like his brother
-hates getting strapped into the carseat
-is starting to take tubs alone (or with Simon) in the big tub
-is able to transition from crawling to sitting
-loves to shake his head in a no gesture
-is starting to get on his brothers nerves now that he is mobile.

Babysitting

Bill and Tara were babysitting for us on Saturday night so we could partake in Debbie's 40th birthday celebration. I was building it up for Simon because he loves having a new audience.

Me: "Simon, Bill and Tara are going to babysit you tonight"
Simon: "I don't want to sit like a baby, I want to stand like a boy"

Cousins

Simon and Seamus are at the age that they are finally playing well together. They are also both in love with trucks, dirt and the great outdoors. Lynsey and I are happy with the occasional chance to sit down while they are keeping each other occupied! With Matt in the thick of year-end, Saturdays are all about keeping my sanity trying to keep both kids happy. Thankfully Lynsey was looking to do the same today because Miles slept all morning long. Here are some pictures of the boys.







And one from yesterday at playgroup with Shawn.

Simon and Miles

Simon at about 9 months:



Miles at almost 9 months:

News Flash

News flash for Simon - when your lights go out at 7:30pm, I kind of expect you to be asleep by 8:30pm. Of course it was hard to tell you this when I went into your room and you were singing:

"Simon is the champion, Simon is the champion. No time for losers because Simon is the champion."

This kid cracks me up daily. Urgh, he's at it again. I wish kids came with volume control.

Edited to add: Once I posted this I thought I'm such a bad parent for teaching my kid a song with the word loser in it. We've been talking a lot about winning and losing around here because I think it's important for Simon to know that he's not always going to win (and as parents, we no longer let him all the time). But loser is such a harsh word. So it's a good thing that the song has now morphed :) Yesterday, Miles was doing something champion worthy in the car because Simon would scream, "Yeah Miles, you do it" and then broke into, "Miles is the champion, Miles is the champion. On my nunuter (rhymes with computer), Miles is the champion." When I finished off the song with, "of the world", Simon decided it sounded better if it was, "of the cookie".

Fulton's

We made our annual trek up to Fulton's for our sugar bush breakfast and my maple flavoured cotton candy fix. This year, Grandma and Poppa were out of town so we needed to find some new companions. Lynsey, Shawn and Seamus joined us for the action. First off the pancake breakfast. Somehow I ended up on the side with 3 kids while the other 3 adults enjoyed a peaceful meal on the other side. I enjoyed mine mostly cold as I was working overtime to dole out puffs to Miles and to keep Seamus from falling off the bench! Simon and Seamus love spending time together and it's so fun to see Seamus watching Simon and learning. After breakfast, we headed out to go on a sleigh ride (the highlight for Simon, seeing the horses poop - he is such a boy), play in the park, eat some snow taffy and try not to freeze since after the recent bout with nice weather, we are no longer able to tolerate the cold temperatures. Miles couldn't handle all of the activity and passed out on the way to the car. Next year perhaps we'll get to leave the park and check out some of the trails through the production.







We captured this sweet moment between the boys on the way home. It's all laughter from both of them when they're holding hands.

Torticollis

At 6 months old, Miles was diagnosed with Torticollis which is basically a condition where the head is tilted toward one side and a result the chin is elevated and turned toward the opposite direction. Yesterday, we finally had our referral appointment at the Children's Hospital. Miles' case has largely corrected itself (I really only notice it from the back these days)and he is pretty low on the scale so that is good news. However, we still need to be more conscious of positioning him and objects so that he can strengthen his weak side (all stimulus should be on his left). He was such a happy baby during the assessment and was all smiles for the progress pictures, the assessment (which apparently never happens) and being the demo model. He was totally in his element with all eyes on him, showing off what we call his PlayBaby pose. We switched his positioning in the crib and plan to change the placement of his car seat as a starting point and we'll have to work on positioning Brutus to his left during meal times! Follow-up is in 8 weeks so hopefully there is a noticeable improvement by then.

Simon Funny

I haven't been great with capturing Simon's funnies lately but I can't resist with this one. The other day we were upstairs getting ready when I heard Simon say, "Mommy, I coming out of the closet". I glanced up and saw Simon coming out of the closet in my high heels.