He got more into it later ...

From the SECOND Harmon was born, all I could think about was sports. I longed for him to love sports as much as Kevin and I do. We’ve involved him in lots so far - soccer, swimming, t-ball, football and basketball - and, this summer, it really started to pay off. He loved t-ball and thanked me for signing him up as we drove back home from each of his games. And, he was FIRED up to try flag football and basketball again. More importantly, though, he started to GET IT. He watched Tigers’ games with me and would ask about the players, read their names and numbers, and watch where they hit the ball and where they played in the field. He got so excited for home runs and great plays! Although he can read the names of MOST Tigers players on the roster, the EASIEST name for him was Don Kelly so he quickly became his favorite player. He would ask me if Don Kelly was playing and when he was batting. When the Tigers lost in the ALCS (I’m still sad), he seemed sad when I told him they wouldn’t play in the World Series. He did, however, say “well, Mommy, they can try again next year,” which is how I wish I could think of it!

It’s just like, all of a sudden, something clicked. He DID end up watching some of that World Series (since Kevin is a Cardinals “fan”) and he was NOT cheering for Texas, after they beat the Tigers. He’s also picking up more Michigan football too. We’re not big NFL people so most of his exposure is to college football. Sadly, he plays a lot of NBA Jam on Kevin’s iPad so he’s learning a lot more about basketball. We’ll try to steer him to college hoops instead of the NBA, which probably won’t be hard since they’re locked out (does anyone even notice). He’ll be 6 in just a few days and he’s finally into it! While I hate to rush things, I’m so happy this time is here.

Another year of flag football

Harmon played flag football again this year and, with a season under his belt, it went much better. He had more fun (last year, there were a couple of meltdowns), enjoyed his teammates and really started to pick up some football concepts. The highlight of the season was a great catch and run ALMOST to the end zone. He was taken down just short - like Roy Roundtree! I should mention, however, that he ran the WRONG WAY! Ah, what can you do! On the last day of his season, the YMCA staff had cider and donuts for them and each player got a medal and a team photo! He was very proud and held onto his team photo the rest of the night. All in all, a good season and now on to basketball!

Simon @ 35 months

Today, Simon is one month shy of being three. Where did the last three years go?!?! While he did come second, I maintain he has a third teacher in Harmon and much better parents. I’m better simply because I haven’t been pregnant from ages 2 to 3 like I was with Harmon. I remember TRYING to play with Harmon while Simon was roundhouse kicking me and I’m going to say that Simon has a much better deal going on at this age.

This month, there were two pretty big events. First, we woke up one day and realized that Simon basically potty-trained himself. Sure he’s been sitting on the potty since he was just about 1 ½ but the rest has really been him. BOTH boys were great going #2 on the potty but #1 took some work, especially with Harmon. I remember thinking some days that Harmon was NEVER going to get it. But, with Simon, he just did it. He even got to the point recently where he wanted to pee standing up all the time. We told him we would try but wouldn’t go full-on until he got better at aiming! He’s rarely had an accident of any kind and he hasn’t required a lot of bribing either. Maybe a few M&Ms here or there. Harmon loved stickers and would do anything for one. Simon doesn’t really want to deal. He would just rather get it over with and get back to what he was doing - no bribe necessary. He is still in a pull-up at night and probably will be for a bit longer but, for the most part, we’re starting to wonder just what we’ll do one day WITHOUT A DIAPER BAG!!!

The second event was basically the death of “Babo.” Since Simon was old enough to talk, he called Harmon “Babo” - short for big brother. This month, though, he just started calling him Harmon. It was like he woke up one morning and decided it was going to be Harmon from now on, no more “Babo.” And he’s not reverted back at all. Everything is Harmon this, Harmon that. We’ll sometimes slip up and say “Babo” and he looks at us like we’re crazy. All good things must come to an end ...

Bowling

A few weeks ago, Kevin was insistent that he wanted to plan a Saturday for us. This was music to my ears as this job typically falls to me. He told us nothing, other than what time to be ready and, at that time, we headed out. We had some errands to run first so we did that and then ended up … at the bowling alley. I can’t tell you how excited the boys were!

Kevin had gone recently for a work outing and thought the boys would have fun and he was right! Sure, we put up the bumpers and Simon used a ramp and Harmon basically dented our lane with his bowling ball but it was so much fun! Kevin beat me by just a couple of points - something I wasn’t real happy about - and Harmon came in dead last (he didn’t have the help of the ramp) - something he wasn’t happy about. I wonder where he gets his competitiveness?!?!

After bowling, we grabbed lunch at home and then headed to the Franklin Cider Mill - the cider mill I grew up going to (and my favorite). The boys got their donuts on and I drank way too much cider. We then hit up a few parks on the way home too, just to complete the day. It was a good day, a fun day, and it made me think that maybe, just maybe, Kevin should plan things more often!

Papparazzi

My friend Alec says he’s never seen children photographed quite as much as ours. And, to drive home his point, we have more than 3,800 photos on our Flickr page. So, when the time comes to get “official” photos of the boys, you would think it would be no big deal. But, it is! Harmon is actually easy. You tell him to smile, he does, click, great pic. And, together, they’re usually pretty good. Sometimes, though, Harmon will get Simon going and then we’ll have to intervene and start all over. So, the wild card here is Simon. He’s either “all in” or “all out.”

Well, my sister, Stacey, kindly agreed to chase them around again this year for their official 6YO and 3YO photos, with an assist from Nana. We chose Island Park in Ann Arbor as the backdrop simply because of THIS PICTURE. I know it was October, not January but still … ANYWAY, I think they turned out great and here’s a sampling:

All this picture taking got Harmon ready for this first official school photo just a few days later. I hope those turned out just as well!

Elusive monkey bars

When I was in grade school, I fell - back first - from the very top of the spiderweb monkey bars. Although there are some memories that are fuzzy after my car accident years ago, THAT memory is not one of them. I still can remember the fall as well as how much it hurt AND how I could not breath.

Well, Harmon decided to follow in my footsteps today. He attempted to swing across the monkey bars … and didn’t quite make it. The teachers relayed to Kevin that, aside from not being breath for a short time, he was just fine. No scratches, marks, bumps or bruises. I’m guessing he might steer clear of those monkey bars for a while, though. I’m also guessing he’ll remember THAT fall when he’s in his 30s!

Big boy bed for Simon!

Simon never liked his pack and play. We tried to keep him in our room in that thing for the first few weeks and he was miserable. He simply hated it. So, around 8 weeks or so, we moved him into his crib and he SLEPT LIKE A BABY (haha)!

We converted that crib to a toddler bed when he turned 2 and he slept just fine in that as well, until recently. We started noticing around Labor Day that he was VERY restless and he kept waking up early almost every day. He is a big kid so we thought maybe he just didn’t have enough room in his bed anymore.

We originally planned to move him to his full bed around his birthday but, as always, he had other plans. We had ordered his mattress and box spring back in August (to be delivered Oct. 14) so we decided to try to get everything done before then. We sent the boys to spend the night with Nana and Papa and while they were gone we cleaned, painted and rearranged Simon’s room. We had it all prepped and ready to go and just a few minutes after the delivery guys left, we unveiled it to him and got this reaction:

So far, he loves it! He is sleeping great again and using every square inch of that bed while doing so. He’s such a big boy now!

PBJ v. PBH

I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The more peanut butter, the better and, if it's CRUNCHY peanut butter, wow! I also like me some strawberry (grape is my second choice) jelly to go with it. When Harmon was just a little over 2, we gave him PBJ for the first time and, now, almost 4 years later, he is perfectly happy to have a PBJ every single day.

Now, Simon, not so much. We tried it a few times when he was a little over 2 and he was not into it at all. But, one day, Kevin, being a peanut butter and HONEY kind of guy, decided to make Simon one of THOSE sandwiches instead. And, now, a few months later, HE would gladly eat one of those every single day. It's kind of funny that they each took after one of us with the whole peanut butter accoutrement!

Simon's first trip to the Big House

Unlike his brother’s FIRST trip or his game just a week ago, Simon’s first game was COLD and against Minnesota - not a good combo! Just plain cold. He was bundled in three layers and then added his fleece and Michigan hat. Just like he did with me and Harmon a week earlier, Kevin dropped us at the corner of Main and Stadium and we entered at that gate.

Simon was shocked by all the people but was focused on his mission - food. Just like big brother, he wanted a hot dog so that’s what we got (and also a soft - I use that word loosely - pretzel). He ate and watched and was mesmerized by the scoreboards. He listened to the band and cheered a very lazy “The Victors!” While I think he had fun, he didn’t seem to have as much fun as Harmon did at the same age. I assume he’ll get more into it as he gets older. Towards the end of the half, he got really antsy so we decided to leave. Because it was so cold, we decided to meet Kevin on one of the side streets near the stadium instead of walking around and taking pictures. It was an OK debut for Simon - Michigan got the win - and, if nothing else, I hope he’ll want to go again next year.

More L and SW combinations

It's well documented that Ls are hard for Simon and, while Ss and Ws are fine alone, the combo really throws him. For documentation purposes, here are a few more words to add to his list:

Fweatshirt - Sweatshirt
Fwings - Swings
Wiberty - Liberty (our Jeep Liberty, specifically)
Wowwipop - Lollipop

I'm sure he'll love hearing about this when he gets older ...