Simon @ Eight Months

Simon’s eighth month was pretty eventful. He delved more into the world of Gerber baby food and transitioned to a more regular eating schedule. When he’s hungry, which seems to be a lot of the time, he does this wrist twist thing, complete with spirit fingers. It’s too cute. One thing that's not so cute is when he gets his feet up under his high chair and kicks it off when you're trying to feed him.

ANYWAY, because of all the eating, and subsequent growing, we had to move him to the next car seat. He finally outgrew his carrier – our trip to Chicago was his last time in it – so on Monday, July 13, he got to ride in his big, comfy seat. This move to the next car seat also allowed us to ditch the matching stroller and bust out the Jeep stroller, which we like SO MUCH BETTER.

While he hasn’t sprouted any more teeth to help with the food, lots of other things have been going on with the mouth. He has had a “dada” explosion and loves to blow raspberries. The scream pterodactyl scream subsided for a few weeks and then returned but along with it came a lot more babbling and gurgling. He sometimes sounds like the singing Gizmo from Gremlins when he gurgles! He is ticklish in the rib area on both sides and, if you get him at a good time, he’ll laugh really hard. He laughs a lot and is happy most of the time, especially in the morning even when he wakes up full of pee. Just like his brother, he seems to prefer rolling to crawling. If you put him on the floor, he is gone in a flash, especially if Harmon’s cars are anywhere in the general vicinity. And, speaking of Harmon, Simon is SO IN LOVE with his big brother. No matter what is going on, once he hears or sees Harmon he is locked on him. Seeing them like this is something so sweet that I can’t even come close to putting it into words!

He’s finally adjusted to school and is doing very well. He plays and talks and the word on the street is that he loves to body paint. And, one last note, as of eight months, his eyes are still blue, which CONTINUES to baffle us. We’ll see if there’s a change in month #9!

Guess we won’t have to worry about Harmon picking the cashews out of the bowl of mixed nuts at Christmas (who DOES that?)!

Not too long ago, I was bitching up a storm about kids and their damn peanut allergies. Harmon loves PBJ and I KNOW he’ll eat it but I can’t pack it in his lunch because some kids in his class are allergic. Well, all that bitching came back to haunt me when we were in Chicago on vacation.

My sister, Stacey, offered to watch the boys after work while Kevin and I shopped so we stopped to pick up something for Harmon to eat for dinner. We searched for old reliable – PBJ – but could only find CASHEW butter and jelly so we bought it. About 45 minutes into our shopping trip, I got a call from Stacey. She said Harmon didn’t like his sandwich so I told her to make sure he ate everything else and we would bring something back for him to eat when we returned. Problem solved. Just a few minutes later, Stacey called back again and calmly explained that Harmon is PUKED. She’s not sure WHY but she would love for us to get back to the hotel ASAP. We practically jog up Michigan Avenue all the while thinking WTF. When I open the door to our hotel room, I see Harmon sitting on the couch looking like a blowfish. His eyes are all puffy and swollen, his nose is running like a faucet and he’s having some trouble breathing. He’s already puked so the ONE BITE he took is out of him, thankfully. I had some Benadryl so I gave him some and then I TRIED to get him to calm down. He was crying so hard, probably because he had NO IDEA what the hell was going on. I held him for about an hour and he finally settled down and then got totally ravenous. Kevin ran out to get some dinner (so glad the Cheesecake Factory was less than a block away) and Harmon ate the whole time he was gone. He then ate what Kevin brought back too. By bedtime, his breathing was back to normal and most of the swelling had gone down. The next morning, he just looked a little puffy, like maybe he had just been crying.

He has had small reactions to food before (some face puffiness from scrambled eggs and a measle-looking rash on his chest from fish) but NOTHING like this. When we got back home, we went to see our pediatrician who promptly a) wrote us a prescription for an Epi-pen (YIKES) and b) referred us to a pediatric allergist. Our appointment is Aug, 19.

Since the great cashew incident of 2009, I’ve learned a lot about peanuts versus tree nuts. I’ve also replayed that night in my head many times. I’m glad he only had one bite and I’m glad Stacey and I didn’t decide to “play the heavy” and make him eat the rest of his sandwich (we often have to do that – he IS three, after all). I’m also glad he didn’t LIKE it – can you imagine? I think we all aged about 10 years that night, especially Stacey. Here’s hoping we don’t discover any other such allergies along the way.

And, to all those allergic to peanuts, I am so sorry! I feel you!

Was Harmon blown away by the Windy City?

Hard to say; after all, he is just three-and-a-half. But, our first family vacation as a foursome was a lot of fun for me and Aimee and the boys. We drove to Chicago July 6 and came back to Ann Arbor July 10. In between, we saw fish and sharks and dinosaur bones and the White Sox and Navy Pier and the inside of more train cars than Aimee ever wants to see again.

Monday, July 6
We left Ann Arbor about 10:30 a.m. and rolled into Chicago just after 3 p.m. We checked into the Hilton Suites/Magnificent Mile, ditched the car for the week, and had a little bit of downtime before heading out to dinner with Aunt Stacey and soon-to-be Uncle Marc. It was there on the 26th floor of the Hilton that Harmon saw it for the first time: yes, for 5 days, he was simply transfixed on the parking ramp attached to the adjacent John Hancock Center. Every morning, he had his breakfast near the window so he could watch the cars circle for hours. We packed the stroller and boys and headed out to Gino’s East for a dinner of, what else, Chicago-style pizza. We peeked a little at the stores on Michigan Avenue, and even went into the Disney Store to look for more cars from Harmon’s obsession: the movie, “Cars.” We took it easy for the rest of the night and, true to our intentions of being rested and ready to go when the boys beckoned, were in bed by 10:30 p.m. most nights.

Tuesday, July 7
On our first full day in Chicago, Harmon and I walked a few blocks to Water Tower Place to get a few breakfast items, including, as Harmon told a few people in the hotel elevator, “We need to get a poppy for Mommy.” This was our morning ritual during our time in Chicago and Harmon loved it because he got to ride the escalators up and down every morning. He also liked going up and down in the elevators and showed he is well on his way to being our little gentleman, as he always held the doors for people getting on and off.

Our first trip took us to the Shedd Aquarium. We took the redline from the Chicago/State Street station to the Roosevelt stop and walked a few blocks to the museum campus. Once we got to the entrance, we realized the best thing we ever did for the trip happened when Aimee purchased the City Pass, which allows you to enter several tourist points for one price. While we did have to stand in line for a half-hour or so, it was nothing compared to the snake of a line down the front steps and the adjoining sidewalk.

Once inside, we took in all of the galleries and then went below to see the penguins, beluga whales and sharks. Harmon paid a little attention; he might have liked it more if we had been able to see the water show that is put on several times a day, but it was full twice while we were there. We did purchase starfish stuffed animals for the boys. Harmon named his “Blueberry,” called it “his grandson,” and told us many times in the subsequent days that “Blueberry misses me so much; I am going to go home and give him a hug.” You can’t make this stuff up.

We headed back to the train so Harmon and Simon could rest for a few hours before we headed to U.S. Cellular Field to see the White Sox-Indians game. We hopped the redline back down to the Southside and purchased the cheapest tickets we could find ($23, but still better than going to the city’s other dump of a baseball stadium). After walking up seemingly 30 ramps (because we had Simon in the stroller), we reached the 500 level, which could affectionately be called the nosebleed pavilion. We knew we would not be able to see much of the game, but we sat for a few innings before the boys were ready to head back uptown. It is funny that we were 250 miles from home, but because Harmon was wearing his Michigan sweatshirt, he got politely “trash-talked” by an Indians fan. See, even during baseball season, Ohio fans/residents are obsessed with Michigan 24/7. It was all in good fun. Another train ride and short walk put us back in the hotel and in bed for the night.

Wednesday, July 8
The start of the day brought another train ride and trip back to the museum campus and the Field Museum. Not the greatest place for kids, but we did enjoy looking at “Sue,” the huge dinosaur skeleton on display in the main gallery. We walked around a few of the other galleries, including one we thought would be on the planets; instead it was plants. I guess it shows how tired we were that day. We thought about heading to the nearby Adler Planetarium, but it was raining and Harmon did not seem to be in the mood for more galleries. We headed back to the hotel for a little R&R before Aunt Stacey came to watch the boys while we did a little shopping.

We hopped back on the train to Lincoln Park so Aimee could shop at the Patagonia store. We had just made it back into the city when Stacey called to say that it seemed like Harmon was allergic to his dinner. We had bought him a cashew butter and jelly sandwich to take the place of his favorite meal (PB&J), and the interaction was not a good one. We ran back to the hotel and found our firstborn looking like a blowfish with puffy eyes and hives. We gave him some Benadryl and he calmed down pretty quickly, but there were some anxious moments. We felt so bad for Stacey; obviously it was not her fault, but it had to be scary to see her nephew have an allergic reaction. We had missed dinner, so we ordered takeout from the nearby Cheesecake Factory. All in all, a good way to end a crazy day.

Thursday, July 9
Our last full day in Chicago was the mostly leisurely, but also involved the most walking. We stopped at a few stores, including Niketown. The merchandise was awesome, as always, but it was also depressing. Right as you walk in the door, you are hit with Terrelle Pryor and Juice Williams jerseys. It is then that you are reminded that Michigan dumped Nike for Adidas and their riches, so there was not a single piece of maize and blue clothing to be found. Ugh! After that uplifting experience, we then had the worst meal of our lives at ESPNZone. We then walked about a half-mile to Navy Pier, where we had to get after some Garrett Popcorn and walked to the end of the pier. Harmon was a little fussy, so I faked that I had thrown his “Sally” car from the movie into the drink. He bought it, no pun intended, hook-line-and-sinker, and it wasn’t until the next day that we had him convinced that Sally swam all the way back to our hotel to find him again. He still believes it.

After Navy Pier, we wanted to see one last attraction: Millennium Park. It has the coolest fountain that features the faces of Chicago residents spitting water on the shallow pond below. Aimee and Harmon took a cab to the park, while Simon and I hoofed it to the park, as Harmon was getting tired after our long walks. Harmon really dug it there, even when I dragged him under the spout and he got soaked. We jumped the train back north (our final train ride, during which we realized that Harmon was now naming the next stops), and after Aimee and boys were safely just a few blocks from the hotel, I headed back out to P.F. Chang’s for takeout. Great call by Aimee, especially since I owed her one after our lunch tasted like ass. After a brief stop in the hotel pool, which included Simon's first swim, the boys took it easy, Harmon assumed his perch in front of the window to the study the parking ramp next door, and we began to pack for home.

Friday, July 10
We were all packed and ready to leave, and thought about going to the top of the John Hancock Center, but the weather was cloudy and the visibility would have been poor. So, we decided to check out, fetch the car and begin our trek back to Ann Arbor. We did drive north and by Wrigley Field. The Cubs were playing the Cardinals in about two hours, and there were a ton of Redbird fans there. It was entertaining to see all the lowly Cub fans who have successfully embarked on their second century chasing that elusive next World Series. Harmon summed the trip up perfectly as we urged him to take a look at the stadium as we drove by: “I am not concerned with that; I am concerned with the train station.” We thought about going to see Northwestern University, but it started to rain and so we decided to just head back. After some fun on the I-90-94 parking lot, we were in Indiana and headed east.

Overall, it was a great trip and the boys, while worn out, seemed to enjoy what we had planned. The good: Food, “Blueberry” and Millennium Fountain. The bad: Cashew allergies, Cub fans and Simon’s newfound pterodactyl scream (loud and piercing!). The ugly: The end of our first family vacation; ESPNZone lunch, and my still-throbbing deep bone bruise from trying to jump one of the subway turnstiles.

Thanks to Aimee for planning such a great trip. She is always so thoughtful in trying to plan fun things for the boys!

P.S. – Our vacation coincided with the week that Simon went to three meals a day. Let’s just say that No. 2 is an absolute eating machine, and if you are late getting his “ba-ba” or vegetables or fruit into his grill, he will let you know about it. Overall, he was very well-behaved on the trip, and it had to be hard for him to be sitting in the stroller all the time.

Late seven-month update

The night of Simon’s six-month appointment, we started with the baby food and fed him some vegetables. We chose squash first, only because Harmon liked it, but Simon wasn’t so into it. He liked it the first night – probably because it was something different – but he didn’t really dig it after that. We then moved on to (in this order) carrots, sweet potatoes, peas and green beans. Next was the fruit, which, surprise, went much better. He had, in this order: peaches, bananas, prunes, pears and applesauce. He’s now ready to start with the Stage 2 foods and to move to three meals a day consisting of two servings each of cereal, fruits and vegetables.

As we were working our way through the foods, all kinds of other things were happening. On June 3, he spoke his first word – dada. It happened on a Wednesday so, when I called my Mom to check on him, I got to hear it over the phone. My Mom claims he also said mama but I’m not so sure. I’ve heard dada many times since then but have not heard mama. I hope he’ll say it for me soon!

He’s awesome with the rolling-over thing – belly to back and back to belly. We’ve found him many times on his back in his crib when we get him in the morning. Harmon was a huge roller (in lieu of crawling) so I’m wondering if Simon will be the same way. He does, however, have more leg movement than Harmon did so maybe he won’t wait until 10 months to crawl.

Now that we’ve been through a little more than half a year with Simon, we were thinking about the differences between him and Harmon. Besides the obvious – like Simon being pasty white with blue eyes (at least so far) – Simon is hungry all the time! He is ravenous, no matter what. It’s like he knows he has to play catch-up or something. Maybe because of this hunger, you cannot take a drink of anything while holding him because he’ll have his hands all over it. Harmon was never the least bit interested in sitting up but Simon prefers to sit up as often as he can. He especially loves to sit up in his stroller on the porch and watch his big brother take batting practice every night. Simon has one small character flaw and that is that he HATES to be alone. On bad days, he’ll cry if you break eye contact with him. Mostly, though, he requires that SOMEONE be in the room with him at all times. If not, he’ll cry and, when Simon cries, he quickly produces real tears. It’s very sad. Fortunately for us, though, this is pretty much the only time he cries because, overall, he is the happiest baby we’ve ever seen. He wakes up smiling, smiles most of the day and goes to bed smiling too! While Harmon was happy, Simon is happier.

Late six-month update (complete with stats)

At Simon’s six-month check-up, he weighed in at 19 pounds and 7 ounces and he measured 27 ½ inches long. While that put him only four ounces and 1 ½ inches off Harmon’s pace, I need to point out that Simon’s appointment was almost two weeks later than Harmon’s. So, Simon had the advantage of extra bottles and oatmeal cereal!

The whole sleeping situation improved during this month. In mid-May, Simon started going to bed at the same time as Harmon – 9 p.m. We started noticing he would pass out for a long nap every night between 8-9 p.m. We then would have to wake him up for his last feeding and he would rarely finish it. So, one night, we fed him his last bottle around 9 p.m. and then he passed out. It’s worked ever since.

Although he was passing out, he was waking up often. Our theory was that he was pretty much tired of being swaddled. So, we ditched the swaddle and, on Tuesday, May 26, we put him to bed on his belly for the first time. He loves to sleep like this even though he pees up his stomach almost every morning! I think we’ll take the extra time and extra sleep and just deal with the extra laundry.

Harmon quote bag

Below are some pretty funny things that have come out of Harmon's mouth recently! 3-year-olds are such characters!

"That kid is a ball baby!" - after seeing some little boy eat it on the pavement outside of Noodles & Company.

"Edwina, the dinosaur that stinks!" - his title for this book.

On the way home from work/daycare, he saw a police car and a tow truck down a side street and screamed out, "shenanigans!"

Upon seeing Kevin with his St. Louis Cardinals' shirt on: "Daddy, you have parrots on your shirt!"


"Who's that man? I don't like that monster!" - his take on Ronald McDonald.

When he was REALLY bored one night (and after previous trips with Kevin to Comcast to get a functional cable box), he asked: "Daddy, can we go to cable box store!"

Father’s Day and baseball

On Father’s Day, we went to our first Tigers’ game of the season, which also happened to be Simon’s first Tigers’ game ever. We bought cheap seats and met up with our friends Brian and June and their adorable daughter, Zoey - who is just two months younger than Simon. They totally hit it off and Simon seemed to like hanging with another baby! I also think Zoey may have taught Simon a little about jumping because he’s been jumping like crazy ever since! Later that night, Kevin joked about that being their “first date” and he advised Simon to “wait at least three days” before calling her! Not to be forgotten, Harmon had a good time too. He enjoyed his hot dog and HUGE box of popcorn and he had a blast running the bases for the first time. He was SO CUTE! Despite seeing only three innings of the game (which was another Verlander win), we had a great time and we hope to hook up with Brian, June and Zoey again real soon!

*photo courtesy of Brian and June!