All he wants for Christmas …

So, I’m guessing that all Harmon wants for Christmas is his two front teeth! These teeth have been loose for a while. He had his dentist appointment in mid-September and they were loose then! I think he finally just got tired of TRYING to eat with them in there. He was eating apples, carrots, anything hard to get them out and it wasn’t working so he turned to his Papa.

The first one (front right), which came out when the boys were at my parents’ house (while we were at the Nebraska @ U-M game) took some work. I was stunned when my Mom texted me and told me that Harmon let my Dad have three attempts at removing it. And I guess the third time was a charm because here he was:

He continued to work the other one and passed on my offer to help. I think he was just waiting to see his Papa again. So, again, back at my parents’ house (this time so we could go to the OSU @ U-M game) and, again, another text and another tooth gone (front left). This time, though, just one attempt, and now he looks like this:

Typically, the tooth fairy leaves $1 in his tooth pillow but, for the two front teeth, she paid a little more. He got $5 per tooth! He was very excited to get it and very excited to spend what he calls his “money dollar!” Actually, both he and Simon say “money dollar” - so cute!

THREE

Simon is three today. He was so excited to be three and he talked about it for weeks. He actually thought he was three back when we had the boys’ joint birthday party (understandable). That’s Simon, though, always rushing things, always wanting to be older and bigger.

He was due on Dec. 13 and my c-section was scheduled for Dec. 5. Simon had his own schedule, though, so he kicked his way out almost three weeks early on Nov. 25. When I was pregnant with Simon, the mere thought of Starbucks made me sick to my stomach. But, near the end, it started to sound a LITTLE better so, after my appointment on Nov. 25, Kevin stopped and got me a small frappuccino. I’ll always wonder if that shot of coffee powered him to kick his way out.

And, three years later, the kicking hasn’t stopped. He’ll lay in bed with you and ALWAYS kick and push off on you. And, just as he was in utero, he is always moving. Flipping, running, jumping. The jumping is actually the most hilarious thing. If you look at his legs, he has actual muscle definition in his calves and quads. I would put my money on him in the long jump in the preschool Olympics!

When I think about Simon, so many adjectives come to mind. While there’s nothing simple about him, he, quite simply, just has this spirit about him. We were at the dentist back in September and he was being a little crazy. The lady in the waiting room said to us on the way out “He is so sweet and full of life. He’s going to be the kind of person that EVERYONE wants to be around.” That made us feel so good! It also made is ease up on him a bit - we don’t want to kill that spirit.

When I look at Simon, I wonder how I ever doubted my ability to love another child. I remember being worried about that when I was pregnant with him. But, he’s IMPOSSIBLE not to love and IMPOSSIBLE to stay mad at. He’s so disarming. When he knows he’s in trouble, he’ll walk up to you, give you and hug and tell you how much he loves you. I know it’s borderline manipulation too but still! He’s smart and funny and random and kind and caring and appreciative and extreme … I could go on for days with the adjectives and they all would apply.

I think, though, that my favorite things about Simon are his spirit, the way he looks at his older brother and the way that, when he wants you, he’ll come up to you and give your leg the biggest hug.

I know there’s no such thing as the perfect SECOND child but, if there was, he or she would be like Simon. I can’t imagine one second of my life without that blue-eyed boy!

Joint well-child exams

Well, we learned this year that having the boys’ well-child exams at the same time was … well … a bad idea. Too much going on, they got each other all jacked up and we were lucky to even get their stats much less talk about any REAL issues. Simon is doing just fine but our doctor would like Harmon to see an otolaryngologist as he’s a huge snorer/mouth breather and has one insanely large tonsil that just doesn’t want to shrink. It’s also time for an eye exam. So we’ll take care of those appointments AFTER the holidays.

And, here are those stats:

Harmon weighs in at 53.35 pounds and measures 48.43 inches tall. Aw, he’s just over four feet tall already!

And, Simon, good Lord. He weighs 38.14 pounds and measures 40.35 inches tall - both in the 95th percentile. Good to know he’s growing into his massive feet.

In short, some pretty healthy boys and we’ll take it.

Mario Party

The boys can’t get enough Mario so their birthday party theme was too easy this year. I found lots of Mario stuff on amazon.com and BOOM we were all set.

Kevin’s parents came to town and my whole family made it over for their party. We got food from Camelia’s Mexican Grill and it was AWESOME! We couldn’t get enough and there were tons of leftovers and I had Spanish rice for DAYS!

After everyone stuffed themselves with Mexican food, we went to the basement to open way too many presents. It was like Christmas! Everyone overdid it, as usual. The boys are SO spoiled! They got so many nice things and I can’t mention one or two without mentioning them all!

After opening presents for what seemed like AGES, we headed back upstairs for cupcakes and ice cream. Once again, the Cupcake Station in Ann Arbor did a bang-up job on the cupcakes in the form on Mario, Luigi, Toad, Donkey Kong and Yoshi! The boys were excited to blow out their candles and tear into them. And, in general, I think they were excited to once again celebrate their birthdays together. I know we all were so happy to see them sitting there on the bar stools together. It’s so hard to believe they are 6 and 3!

SIX

There’s something about the age six. Five was fine, we dealt with that OK, but six?!?! Maybe it’s because it’s closer to 10 than 1. That’s all I got, right now anyway.

Harmon is six. He is in kindergarten after a redshirt year and I’m so glad we waited. NOW, we don’t have to wonder if we made the right decision - we know. We know because he loves his school and he loves his friends and he has adjusted to everything so wonderfully.

At six, Harmon still loves to read but has discovered … video games, specifically those played on his Daddy’s iPad and Wii. He would play with both of these devices for HOURS if we let him so we set lots of limits. And, we’re going to try to hold off on the handheld games for as long as possible.

At six, Harmon is learning a lot about Mom and Dad’s favorite sports. He’s pretty versed in baseball and football and, sadly, is learning about basketball from the NBA Jam app for the iPad. God, I hope he doesn’t want to go to an NBA game - those things are awful.

At six, he’s still very snuggly and loving, especially when he wakes up or is ready for bed at night. He’s always one to give you a hug at any odd time and it’s awesome!

At six, he’s starting to look like a hockey player. The tooth fairy has visited twice and I see two more visits in the very near future. I sure hope his adult teeth grow in like Daddy’s instead of Mommy’s.

At six, he is his brother’s hero. Simon wants to be all that Harmon is and Harmon has a hard time understanding it. While he indeed loves his little brother, they have this SERIOUS competitive thing going on lately. Kevin tells me it’s my fault and it probably is. With them together, everything is about who can be first. I wish they understood that being first is going to get one (or both) of them hurt but, hey, why listen to us.

At six, he continues to test limits, continues to see just how much he can get away with. On some days, he can be so good (like when he’s with just one of us) and then, on others, oh boy. At least we know ALL of it goes back to simply listening and doing what we ask of him.

At six, he always has a story to tell and he draws us a picture in school each and every day. We try to let him tell his story and we keep all those pictures because we want to enjoy six ... before it turns to seven.

Parent/teacher conference

Harmon loves kindergarten! He is excited every day and he can’t wait to see his friends. And, most importantly, he tells me his favorite part is “all the hard work.” I hope that’s true and I hope that is the case in grade school, middle school, high school, undergrad and grad school!

Even though he loves it, I was still a little nervous for his first parent/teacher conference yesterday. I knew I was getting good feedback from him and I was crossing my fingers that I would get similar feedback from his teacher.

Full disclosure, I’m kind of a freak about education. To me, it’s THE most important thing and I have very high expectations. I am borderline unreasonable and it’s hard to check myself sometimes (that’s what Kevin and my Mom are for). So, when we got Harmon’s report card ahead of his conference, my FIRST question was “why aren’t ALL these Es (excellents) and 1s (as opposed to 2s and 3s)?” To be honest, MOST of them were but … yeah … I have a problem.

Anyway, when I went to the conference, the teacher started by asking me if I had any questions and I blurted out that same thing (in a very self-deprecating way). She laughed and said, well, if it makes you feel any better, out of 34 kids in kindergarten, Harmon is easily in the top three. Yes, that DOES make me feel better, thank you! Furthermore, she said, if Harmon would just SLOW DOWN and LISTEN, that report card probably would be all Es and 1s. Ah, listening. Good to know it’s not just a problem at home, I think. It’s not that he’s not paying attention. It’s that he’s just SO excited about the projects that he can’t wait to get started. He’s also excited about being with his friends everyday, mostly because he only went to preschool two days each week. She assured me he’s doing very well and she loves having him in her class and, most importantly, that his lack of all Es and 1s on his very first report card won’t keep him from getting into Harvard one day!

First official school picture

Harmon is all official in the annals of St. Francis now and he's rocking the flannel. Ah, yes!

Halloween 2011

Mario Kart is kind of a big deal in this house. It’s the ONE thing they both love to do together and the ONE thing they both get so excited about. So, it was no surprise that they wanted to go as Mario and Luigi for Halloween.

On Halloween weekend, we surprised them with a trip to the Detroit Zoo Boo so they could give their costumes a dry run (minus the mustaches). They were so excited and had a great time! And, it really got them ready for Halloween!

On Halloween night, they inhaled their dinner so they could get right out there. And, as agreed, the sported the mustaches.

They were a hit at every house and brought home quite a haul! We had some candy, watched the Great Pumpkin and stayed up a little later than usual.

Once they were in bed, we talked about yet ANOTHER Halloween that came and went. Having November birthdays, Halloween was their last first holiday so, once it’s over, another year us upon us. I wish those Halloweens would quit coming quite so fast!