Simon @ 34 months

Almost 3 going on almost 6. Simon, no doubt, thinks he's Harmon's age. At times, we feel like he was never really a baby. Since he's been mobile, he's only wanted to do what his brother does. We've tried to slow things down but it just doesn't work.

This past month, though, has been faster than usual. We've been using the high chair less and less over the summer and, finally, we decided to boot it out of the kitchen. He's been just fine at the table at home and, most of the time, he's fine at the table when we're out. In those cases, though, the mere MENTION of getting a high chair usually shapes him up pretty quick.

At school, he moved to a new room - the Lightning Bug room. This is a room where they learn A LOT of independence and they actually start leaving the building to go on field trips. They are learning the fine art of "holding the rope" in preparation for these big outings.

And, speaking of school, Simon now gets a lot of one-on-one time with Mom and Dad while Harmon is at kindergarten. Tuesdays and Fridays have a whole new look and we're finally starting to get used to spending time with just him. One thing we've noticed, he's perfectly well behaved and there's almost no screaming when he's alone. And while we thought he would really miss his "Babo," he's only really mentioned him a couple of times. I think he's digging the attention.

He no longer lets me rock him so, right after we read 3-4 books, he climbs in his bed and we tuck him in. We had to stay with Harmon (mostly to ensure he didn't get up and start playing), but we don't have to do that with Simon. He usually settles himself down and gets off to dreamland within a few minutes. He doesn't sleep late much anymore, though, and I think it's because his toddler bed is getting much too small. If he moves down at night, even a bit, he bumps his feet on the railings so we don't think he's sleeping all that well. To deal with this, October will be the month when we move him into his full-size bed. We got a bed that converts from a crib to a full and we're going to make the move. He has been napping in Harmon's bed to get used to it and he is VERY excited about the whole deal. He just can't stop talking about it!

The biggest news, though, is the stellar potty skills he has. He's been in underwear during the day (pull-up at night) and has been accident-free for almost two weeks now. Over the long Labor Day weekend, I told him I would give him two M&Ms if he told me when he had to go potty (and then went potty) and I feel like this was the turning point for him. Part of the time, though, he forgets to get his M&Ms! He's excited about this, excited about the underwear and, at school yesterday, he decided he wanted to pee standing up! This has been the last step in the process in OUR training so, quite frankly, we were stunned by this news. I know there will be setbacks but he is doing awesome and, if you allow me to compare, he's ahead of Harmon's pace.

He's doing wonderfully and we just wish he would slow down and let US enjoy it ... at least a LITTLE bit.