The other side (Simon's surgery)

Aimee and I are both very fortunate to work for the U-M Health System, and in our respective roles we support its mission. But today, we saw the other side of the curtain as we took our baby, Simon, to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital for his first surgery.

When he was 3 months, Simon developed a blemish on his left cheek. It eventually hardened, and both his pediatrician and a U-M plastic surgeon thought it might be some kind of cyst. So, today, June 4, 2010, our baby boy went under the knife. Now, we both know that hundreds of children come to Mott every day for things much, much worse than the removal of a cyst. But for as parent, any trip to the hospital is a frightening experience. At the end of the day, the surgery was a success, Simon came through it like a champ, and he is sleeping comfortably in his crib as I type this.

So, onto the day's events. We were told to report to Mott at 7:30 a.m. After about a half-hour, Simon was ready to go back and begin pre-op. Much of the pre-op involved getting his weight (29 pounds, BTW), blood pressure and other vitals, and keeping an 18-month-old amused and distracted at the same time. He was a good boy, for the most part, as a bevy of nurses, anesthesiologists, and other hospital team members came in to perform their pre-op checklist.

Things really got serious when one of the nurses suggested giving Simon a sedative to calm him and get him ready to go back in the OR. Now, he wasn't being bad, but they said it simply calms kids and gets them prepped for the IV, etc. It was then that we knew our little newt would be snatched away soon. Sure, enough, as Aimee held him, in just a few minutes he was loopy and looking like a punch-drunk boxer. Then, the anesthesiologist came to take him and with one simple sentence diffused our sadness as he took Simon in his arms. He said, quietly, "I will treat him just like he was my own." Through a little tears, as well as some relief that things were finally underway, we made our way to the waiting room.

As we waited downstairs in Mott, they, like other hospitals, have a screen where parents can follow the surgery progress of their children. They said it would probably be a 30-45-minute procedure and, sure enough, the screen showed him in recovery not long after we went downstairs. But, both Aimee and I will admit to a little uneasiness as he was in recovery for a long time, seemingly a half-hour or so. You begin to think terrible things the longer you wait, like "what if he isn't waking up," or "what if something went wrong in the surgery." Another family who went into the OR at the same time were called up 15 minutes before we were, and that added thoughts to our wandering minds. But, we perished any lingering bad thoughts a few minutes later when we were paged and on our way to the recovery room.

Once there, we saw our little angel still hooked up to an IV with the smallest little bandage on his cheek and still very much out of it. But, he was awake and we were relieved to see his face. However, any thoughts that this would be a quiet little recovery were quickly put to rest when Simon became agitated at just about everything. He was bound and determined to get his IV out, and he was going to take it himself. Finally, one of the nurses took it out and she, and a few of her fellow nurses, spent the better half of the next half-hour trying to calm poor Simey down. He was screaming, crying and thrashing, and although he calmed down a few times, generally he wanted to be anywhere but the third floor of Mott Hospital. Finally, Dr. Kasten came by to talk with us. He said the procedure went well, but that the mass was not what he thought it was originally. Still, he was not worried about it, and we will find out at our follow-up visit what pathology says.

Simon was quickly discharged and I am sure the recovery unit sounded like crickets after we left. The nurses told us his appetite would probably be slow in coming back; an hour later, he was taking down a grilled-cheese sandwich, banana and some goldfish snacks. Our boys don't really subscribe to the norm when it comes to what they should be doing at their age or in their condition.

We let him play in relative peace for a few hours, while Harmon stayed at his Nana and Papa's house -- where he had spent Thursday night. Although he was playful and talkative, we knew he must be tired and, sure enough, he slept from 2-5 p.m. Mommy and Daddy stole some winks, too. At the end of the day, we met Aimee's parents to collect our firstborn and came back home. The boys got to bed a little late, but all told things are back to a nice normal here.

In the end, all went as planned and Simon is on his way to a full recovery. His face looks worse than it really is because of the bandage (see photo), but he has been in no pain and is sleeping peacefully. None of this would be possible, we know full well, without the great people at Mott. As I said earlier, we work indirectly for many of these great people on a daily basis, but until today we had never seen their faces. They put us at ease, calmed our fears and, most importantly, took care of our son.

I am sure we will go down in the files as another routine surgery in another routine day. But for us, we will never forget today's trip to Mott and for what our colleagues did for Simon. You might say that it is their job. I say no one does it better!

Perfection?

I noticed it in the top of the 6th inning. Mario Impemba mentioned that Armando Galarraga had retired 18 in a row and it finally hit me – this could be something special. I immediately thought about a great play that Inge made in the 5th inning (perfection doesn’t happen without help) and then thought about the movie, “For Love of the Game,” where the veteran Tigers pitcher throws a perfect game. The fact that I even THOUGHT about a perfect game made me nervous. I didn’t even want to mention to Kevin what was going on for fear that the words I spoke would somehow make their way 40 miles east from our house in Ann Arbor to Comerica Park and jinx the whole damn thing. I checked Facebook, Twitter and even MGoBlog and everyone was speaking in code about it. Everyone knew what was going on but no one wanted to say it.

I love baseball so, to me, a perfect game is the highest achievement in sports. To retire 27 straight batters without a walk, a hit, an error – it’s an amazing feat. It’s a feat that gives me chills when I think about it and it doesn’t even matter who is doing it. BUT, on this night, it was a Tigers pitcher doing it, Galarraga doing it.

Galarraga was recalled from Toledo on May 16. I was out for a run that Sunday and decided to listen to the pre-game show during my run. Dan Dickerson was talking about Galarraga getting the start against the Red Sox. He mentioned that Galarraga was upset about being left off the 25-man roster and claimed he was a Major League pitcher. Tigers manager Jim Leyland told him if that was the case he was going to have to prove it. He proved it that day as he beat the Red Sox 5-1. His next start wasn’t so good as he lost 6-4, giving up all 6 runs, to the Dodgers. His next start, his next chance to prove it – last night.

OK, so, from the 6th inning on last night, I paced and paced and paced. I paced for the rest of the 6th inning as well as the entire 7th and 8th innings. All this pacing while we’re supposed to be getting the boys ready for bed – one day, they’ll understand! And that brings us to the 9th inning. And, with the first batter, I thought the whole damn thing was over but Austin Jackson made an amazing catch in deep left center field. The second batter, an easy groundout to shortstop. 26 straight outs and one to go for perfection.

Here it is!

And … it’s all gone. Just like that. All gone.

Everyone in the world, including umpire Jim Joyce, knows it was a terrible call. HOW do you miss this?


I can't stop thinking about Galarraga's reaction. He starts to raise him arms and smile and then ... UGH. He misses out on being the 21st pitcher in MLB history and the first Tigers pitcher EVER to throw a perfect game all because Joyce blew the call. At least Joyce owned it, which is way more than I think anyone expected from an umpire, and Galarraga came out looking like the classiest dude in baseball.

Galarraga was robbed of making history and all those watching – in person and at home in our living rooms – were robbed of witnessing history. It’s a shame. A terrible shame and while I don’t think Major League Baseball will change the call, maybe at least they’ll change the game by instituting some type of instant replay so this doesn’t happen again.

Even though the record books won’t reflect it, EVERYONE knows Armando Galarraga was perfect on June 2, 2010!

Simon @ 18 months

At 18 months, Simon weighed in at 28 pounds and 6.8 ounces and measured 35.28 inches long. He's still just under 2 pounds lighter than Harmon at the same age but he's finally taller. Kevin thinks he's going to be bigger in the end ... we'll see.

Simon's been having a great time with his brother at the park now that it's finally nice outside. We've been outside almost every night. Because of my work schedule, we were not able to go to Kevin's parents' house for Easter so we went May 14-18 instead and it was great! Everyone was happy to see the boys and they had a great time!

Simon @ 17 months

At 17 months, Simon is more able to play with Harmon, which is good for all involved. In the morning, Harmon asks that I put him in the crib with Simon so they can play together. They usually will read books together, play with stuffed animals and dance and sing to nursery rhymes. They also are taking baths together and, in a stunner, playing with the cars together. Harmon has gotten a lot better about sharing, especially his precious cars. So, to see them playing together with the cars is nothing short of a minor miracle!

Since getting the walking thing down, there is a lot of talking going on. One of Simon's favorite things is to do his roll call: Mama, Daddy, Big Bro, Nana, Papa, etc. And, speaking of Papa, Simon loves it when Papa plays the "wolfman."

First bath together

Last Thursday night (April 8), Harmon was taking his bath and Simon wouldn't leave him alone in the bathroom. As I was getting pajamas ready across the hall, I heard giggling. I checked on them and Harmon was shooting water from his rubber ducky at Simon. Of course, Simon thought this was awesome. So, I gently suggested to Harmon that it might be fun to have Simon in the tub with him. Much to my surprise, he agreed. Thus, their first bath!

Now, I thought this was great but I don't do the baths. Kevin will clean them up and bring them to me and then I'll do lotion, pajamas, hair, etc. I DO know that Kevin hates to be splashed and, with two boys, I'm thinking that's going to happen once or twice. Maybe we should consider shifting the bath responsibilities.

Tonight will be their third bath together so, unless disaster strikes (disaster = Harmon being grumpy), I think we can a) officially retire the toddler bathtub (thank God) and b) plan to put down a lot more towels on the bathroom floor. It's going to get wet and messy!

What did you say?

Harmon says funny things. He just does. He doesn't plan them, they just come out. Usually, he thinks he knows how to say something or he hears something incorrectly and then thinks that's how you say something. Whichever way it happens, it's hilarious.

Here are five thinks that kill us:

1. For the longest time, he called marbles narbles. He would tell us he played narbles at school and we were like, um, what? Once we figured out he meant marbles, we explained the difference. Sometimes he still says narbles, just to mess with us.

2. During this past Christmas season, we listened to more than enough Christmas music. He loves to sing (he gets that from me) and I caught him on more than one occasion singing Jingle Bells and saying "oh what fun it is to ride in a one-morse open sleigh." First, I died. Then I explained it was a one-HORSE open sleigh.

3. When he goes to Kroger with Kevin, the highlight for him is getting something from the BENDING machine. Yep, bending instead of vending. Classic.

4. He'll joke around sometimes and say that something is ridicleous. He's close. It's like nuclear and nucular, except Harmon is 4, not an ignorant, middle-aged politician!

5. Finally, my favorite - banklet, which sounds like BANK-A-LET. Obviously, he's trying to say blanket. I was just talking to Kevin about how we should probably tell him how to really say it. But, it's cute how is says it. There's an innocence to banklet and we don't want to let it go!

He says so many other funny things on a daily basis and I need to remember to write them down. This silliness won't last forever!

16-month update

The walking is crazy. Harmon walked at 15 months too but didn't pick it up as quickly as Simon has. He walks all the time ... well, unless HE IS CLIMBING. He climbs on everything. He's part monkey, we swear. It's hard for us because Harmon wasn't like this. Simon is constantly on the couch, despite falling off it. If you don't push the dining room chairs in, he'll climb on those. Even if you DO push them in, he'll either a) pull them out and climb or b) just crawl up on them while they are pushed in. It's nuts!

In addition to the climbing, he gets into everything. If we let him, he would have every toy of his and especially every toy of Harmon's out at the same time. He also likes to climb into and empty our pantry and totally digs playing in the fridge.

Another thing Harmon never did that Simon loves to do is make a huge mess eating. He really gets into his food and, at the end of the meal, his entire high chair is a mess. He throws some of his food on the floor and he rubs food in his hair and eyes. When he gets tired of actually drinking his milk, he'll start letting it slowly dribble out of his mouth. It then settles down into the pocket of his bib, along with food that he missed getting into his mouth. We call this Simon "soup" and it's disgusting to clean up.

To make up for the food mess and the climbing, though, he gives the best squeezey hugs and will give unsolicited kisses (open mouth, on the cheek) at any moment. He's also learning new words by the day! He's doing great at school and may move up to the next room - the grasshoppers - very soon. He spends some time visiting the new room now and just shimmies under the gate when he wants to go back to his old room.

Overall, he's a very happy, healthy, handsome smart boy. We are so very lucky!

BITE ME!

On Monday, March 8, Kevin picked the boys up from school and there was a note in Simon's coat sleeve alerting us that he had been bitten earlier that day. Evidently, he was standing near the play sink in his room and one of the other little dragonflies didn't like that so much so s/he bit him. He cried a bit, the teachers cleaned and iced the bite and all was good. I didn't even think much of it until later that night when we stripped him down for his bath.

Near his left shoulder blade, there was a huge bite mark that had BROKEN THE SKIN. It also was bruised. I started thinking, wow, the guilty party must have bitten him long and hard because there was a lot of damage, especially when you consider he had on a onesie and a thick sweatshirt.

Bites happen, we know that. Harmon was bitten a couple of years ago too. So, that wasn't what upset us. We were mad because the teachers didn't actually SAY ANYTHING TO US. They just put the note in the coat sleeve, of all places. What if that note had fallen out? We would have had no idea. So, that following Thursday, when we dropped him off, we talked to them and they apologized for not telling us. This made US feel a little better but I'm sure it didn't make Simon's SHOULDER feel any better!

Stepping out

Because Harmon was a late walker, we didn't really stress about Simon walking. He has been upright and cruising since the fall so we figured it would all come in time. Well, that time was February. He took a few steps between me and Kevin in our living room on Tuesday, Feb. 9 and then took several steps across the hardwood floor at my parents' house on Saturday, Feb. 20. The following week - the week of Feb. 22 - he had the hang of it and was everywhere. I think our favorite thing was watching his little hands open and close as he tried so hard to balance himself. We also loved the open mouth!

Someone once told me that your baby is gone once he or she starts walking. Because of this, I was more than happy to wait until the 15th month!

15-month update (March 5)

The 15th month was kind of a big deal. It included things like talking, blowing kisses and WALKING! Once he got the walking down, he started talking more. With Harmon, it was just the opposite. As I've heard so many times from doctors and parents, it's hard for toddlers to concentrate on more than one big thing at a time. So, yes, more words is a good, good thing. We taught him to blow kisses to us and he obliges on most occasions. Around Valentine's Day, we found the source of what seemed like an infinite amount of drool - four more teeth, including his first molar. Such a big boy.

The 15th month also brought his first time playing in the snow (Feb. 10). He had a great time and only cried for a short time after he fell face-first into the snow! He cried much less than Harmon did when he got snow in his gloves!

As for the stats, he weighed in at 26.3 pounds and measured 33 3/4 inches. He continues to close the gap on Harmon, who was 28.4 pounds and 34 inches long. He remains two pounds lighter but is only 1/4 inch shorter! His hands and feet, though, are much bigger. Who knows what we have on our hands.

Rocking Simon

Rocking Simon to sleep is a special treat and Kevin and I take turns doing it. It involves getting all snuggled up in the rocking chair in his room under a big fleece blanket with our feet up. Sometimes, he’s restless and just wants in his crib which, unfortunately, reminds us that our rocking-him-to-sleep days are numbered. Most days, though, he is comfortable and snuggly and he just passes out on your chest – it’s the highlight of the day. You know it’s a great night, though, when he is so dead asleep that he a) ejects his binky (pacifier) and b) leaves a huge drool spot on your shirt. We look forward to that drool spot each and every day!

If you leave me now

When Harmon moved into his toddler bed just after his second birthday, his newfound freedom was a bit of a challenge to us. For a week or two, he was out of bed every night – he just could not resist! One night, Kevin decided to stay in the room with him until he settled down and/or fell asleep and, more than two years later, we’re still staying with him. We’ll read and then he’ll ask “can you stay with me for a few minutes?” We’ll then start his music get him all tucked in and take our spot next to him in his huge bed. Just a few songs in, though, he’ll now tell us, “you can leave now!” And, if you don’t leave at that moment, you’ll give you a stern reminder. I’m guessing in another two years, he probably won’t want us in his room at all!

Odd bird

Sometimes, Simon can be an odd little toddler. Three quick examples:

1. He loves to play with HIS ears, which can complicate things if, say, there’s a suspected ear infection (not yet, knock on wood). He also loves to play with MY ears. Many a night, while rocking him, I’ve had to make my ears fully accessible so that he could play with them until he fell asleep.

2. He is the most ticklish baby I’ve ever come in contact with. ANY part of his chubby little body will produce a healthy squeal when tickled!

3. Every time he coughs, he will follow it up with a sneeze. This “skill” comes in handy when he’s eating. Sadly, it’s how we can tell he’s just coughing instead of choking. If a sneeze happens, he’s all good.

14-month update

OK, Dec. 25 to Jan. 25 is a pretty boring time of year. After Christmas is over and your football team doesn't go to a bowl game, there's not much keeping you going. It's the doldrums of winter when you're stuck inside places like Jungle Java and, God forbid, Chuck E. Cheese!

But, for Simon, this month was the month he pretty much decided being upright was the new and cool way to go! Although he has been standing and cruising a lot, his primary way around was still crawling. Well, he now is standing on his own - for the first time at my parents' hardwood floor on Saturday, Jan. 9 - and I can tell he's thinking about taking steps. We're in trouble!

Also, this month, I made wear the hell out of this hat!

The beginning?

Harmon began what we hope to be a long and successful athletic career on Saturday, Jan. 16 when he attended his first soccer practice. While soccer quite frankly BORES ME TO TEARS (to be fair, Kevin likes it), there weren’t a lot of sports options around town for 4 year olds. There was floor hockey (um, NO), gymnastics (come ON, the kid is huge) and swimming (we would have gone with this one but there were scheduling issues). Anyway, upon arriving, he was a little hesitant to get out there with the other kids but, eventually, he ventured out into the chaos with Kevin. He did a great job listening to the British Elite Soccer (oooooooooooo) instructors and doing what he was told and it looked like he was having fun. I think the next practice will be even better, especially when he a) can go out there WITHOUT Kevin and he b) won’t feel the need to come visit me and Simon all the time. We all went to the first practice but I think it will be best for future practices if just one of us goes. It’s just fewer distractions. This first class is only five weeks long and then we’ll see what else is out there. I am DYING for t-ball and, eventually, Little League but he needs to be in kindergarten for those. In due time!

Got milk?

At Simon’s one-year appointment back on Dec. 4, we spoke with the doctor about his transition to milk. For the life of me, I couldn't remember doing this with Harmon so I was interested to hear what he would say (side note: we had a different doctor for Harmon). So, he suggested we just give him some Vitamin D milk in a sippy cup and see how it goes. If he was hesitant, we would have to wean him off formula slowly with all kinds of ¼, ½, ¾ mixtures. Thankfully, Simon said to hell with that mixture business as he happily chugged down his milk. Before that appointment, he had pretty much lost all interest in bottles throughout the day. He would have one at school and maybe one while my Mom and Dad were watching him on Wednesdays but nothing more. With the big move to milk, we thought we should just do away with ALL daytime bottles and it went very well.

The only remaining issue was the nighttime bottle, which the doctor said he would like to go bye-bye by the time he was 14 months old. Ah, what to do? We were dead set against putting milk in a bottle (since he was already getting used to it in his sippy cup) and we simply did not want to buy anymore damn Enfamil. So, we agreed that once that last can of formula was gone, we would just maybe give him a drink of milk from his sippy cup before bed. Well, we used the last of the can for his bottle on Friday, Jan. 15 so Saturday, Jan. 16 was the first night in his 13+ months that he didn’t have a nighttime bottle. Kevin has Simon duty on Saturdays so I didn’t think much about it until it was MY turn to rock him to sleep on Sunday night. I guess on Saturday, Kevin said he gave him a look like “what the hell is going on, where’s my damn bottle?” Understandable! Sunday night with me, though, he was sad and he cried. I felt terrible but it didn’t last long. Within a few minutes, he was drooling on me and snoring. We thought we were in for a few rough nights but he handled it just fine. He’s such an easy baby, a good baby, and always so adaptable to whatever is going on. Sorry about those bottles, little guy!

13-month update

The last month of Simon's life occurred during the busiest time of the year so it's impressive that I remember ANY of it! I do remember that the tooth to the right of his top front tooth finally busted through on Nov. 30 after his gums there were black and blue for weeks. I thought maybe he had fallen and injured that tooth but the little pearly white finally came through and put my mind at ease. This month also brought a ton of multi-syllable babbling complete with pointing at everything. He was like an Elmo doll that just got turned on!

On the heels of his first hot dog on Dec. 9 (my Mom let him have one when she was watching him), he also started camping out in front of the open refridgerator door to get a drink of his water. And, speaking of drinks, he made the transition to from formula to milk but that deserves a post all its own (bye, bye, Enfamil)!

Christmas vacation

Each year, I really look forward to Christmas vacation because we get so much uninterrupted time with the boys. This year, Kevin and I took off two full weeks and it was awesome! While we did the usual things like sleeping in, taking naps, decorating the tree AND baking way too many treats, we did some different things too. We finished up our shopping, I took Harmon to see Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and we made our first family trip to the Henry Ford Museum. We planned to go because of the Lego exhibit, but we barely spent any time there once we arrived. Harmon was way more excited to see all the cars and trains so we spent most of our time doing that. On our way out, we also had a Bergquist boy hot dog!

We spent with my immediate family where - among other things - Simon got Elmo and Harmon got a very cool Lightning McQueen remote control car. We got them in their jammies before leaving Waterford so we could just put them to bed when we got home. Then we collected all the presents and put them under the tree.

Christmas morning was spent at home and we were stunned that Harmon slept until 8:30 a.m. He was patient for a little bit, but once it got around 9 a.m. we had to wake Simon and get the festivities underway. They opened presents for a while in their matching reindeer jammies.

Later in the day, we headed to my Uncle Max's house to celebrate with my extended family. The highlight, of course, was the Thanksgiving-style turkey dinner, which Simon took full advantage of! We didn't stay long, though, because the next morning we had to hit the road to Peoria to celebrate with Kevin's family.

I've been making that trip 2-3 times each year since 2000 and it was never as bad as it was this year. We should have known it would be bad when it took us ONE HOUR to get from the east side to the west side of Ann Arbor! It snowed almost the entire way and it took us about nine hours to get there (it's usually 6-7 hours). The last two hours, I had to sit in the back seat with the boys because they were so sick of being in the car. We got there late on Dec. 26 and spent the next three days just hanging out. Kevin's brother, sister-in-law, sister and nieces came over every day to play with the boys, which was very sweet! They got LOTS of attention and way too many gifts, as is the norm! We headed back on Dec. 30 and made it home in record time, which was great because Harmon was itching to play with all his new toys.

As has been tradition since the year before Harmon was born, we went to Pizza House for dinner on New Year's Eve. It wasn't the best trip as both boys were nuts! I think they were pissed about just being with me and Kevin after almost a week of attention from so many other cool people. New Year's Day was ... well ... a bummer. No bowl game will do that to you. The rest of the weekend, we took our time getting ready for the week and wondering why Christmas vacation has to go by so damn fast! It was back to the grind on Monday, Jan. 4 - ugh!

ONE

Simon turned one today, how did that happen? I feel like my water just broke and I was in the bathroom with Harmon at my side, both of us calling for Kevin to come upstairs and help.

He's one. He's crawling (on all fours for the first time on Nov. 10) and pulling up and cruising and saying Mama and busting out teeth left and right (seventh tooth - top and to the left of his front tooth - poked through on Oct. 29) and even getting haircuts.

He's one. He's still snuggly ... but not for long. He has too much to explore.

He's one. He's almost done with Enfamil and bottles forever, which, despite the cost of formula, makes me a little sad.

He's one. He pretty much eats what we eat now and, as Kevin always says, he'll be eating a whole steak next week. I guess that's why he never liked that baby food much!

He's one, even though he looks way bigger. Official stats - 24 1/2 pounds and 32 1/2 inches long. For comparison, Harmon was a little over 28 pounds and was about 33 inches long. So, while he's a little lighter, he's almost as tall. In short, big boys.

He's one and his first birthday falls during the Thanksgiving rush, which is bad and good. Bad because it gets lost in the shuffle. Good because it's an even bigger reminder of how thankful we are for him.

It's amazing that I thought I couldn't love another child as much as I love Harmon. I worried about that a lot while I was pregnant and Kevin would always tell me I was crazy. I guess I WAS crazy because all it took was one look at Simon and I was in love again, and, one year later, I love him even more!

Happy birthday, Simon!

Bergquist boy birthday party

Since the boys' birthdays are less than two weeks apart, we foresee many joint parties in the future and 2009 was the first. We had their party at our house on Saturday, Nov. 14. It was just family, but it was fun! Nana and Papa and Aunt Erin were in attendance but Aunt Stacey was sick so she and Uncle Marc kept their germs in Chicago. Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Angela made the drive from Peoria. Because Simon is too little to understand birthday themes, we let Harmon pick and, surprise, he picked Cars. We decorated with Cars stuff everywhere and got yummy Cars cakes from Just Baked in Twelve Oaks Mall. While we weren't in love with the Lightning McQueen cake (it looked like the decorator kept messing up and then just adding MORE frosting to cover the mistakes), we loved the two smaller cakes we got - Luigi for Harmon and Guido for Simon.

Before we cut the cakes, we downed pizza, salad and breadsticks (regular and Harmon's favorite, cinnamon) from Pizza House and then headed to the basement to open all the gifts. It was like Christmas down there - these boys are so spoiled! Both boys got so many nice things - thanks to our all-too-generous families. Harmon opened all his gifts and then started in on Simon's, too. Simon got tired so we stopped with the presents and put him down for a quick nap. He actually ended up opening the rest of his gifts later in the week. After he woke up, we sang happy birthday and they both looked so sweet sitting together taking it all in (at top). I hope we can catch a photo like that every year!

Happy birthday, boys!

Comfy Pants

One of the first questions Harmon asks me when it’s time to get dressed each day is “Mommy, did you pick out comfy pants for me?” If the answer is yes, all is right in the world. If, however, the answer happens to be “No, I picked out corduroys or jeans,” we’ll there’s going to be a problem. Sometimes, that problem is resolved by reminding him he can change when he gets home OR he can get wear comfy pants the next day. Other times, though, he’ll put up a decent fight and do his fair share of whining about the injustice of making a 4-year-old wear denim. I hope he gets over this because Catholic Schools and most workplaces don’t embrace a comfy pants policy!

Harmon’s special day

On Harmon’s 4th birthday, we thought we should spend a special day with just him. So, we sent Simon to school and celebrated our day o’ Harmon. We began by dropping off cookies Harmon had made for his classmates. They thanked him by singing happy birthday and quizzing him on what he was going to do the rest of the day. It was very sweet to see them all interacting together in that classroom setting – something we normally don’t get to see.

After cookies, we headed to Kerrytown for a trip to a very cool toy store called Mudpuddles. There he played for a long time with everything that was on display, including a wooden marble run. While I thought he might one (we didn’t – marbles and one-year-olds don’t mix), he chose a very cool floor puzzle with emergency and construction vehicles as his special gift. It was then about lunch time so we drove over to Pizza House for pizza and Harmon’s favorite – cinnamon bread sticks.

Lunch then was followed by his first trip to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. We’ve meant to go 1,000 times before but it just never worked out. I’m glad, though, that we chose to go on a special occasion so he will always remember it. The special exhibit when we visited was Bob the Builder and he had a great time with it! We then made it through the rest of the museum and he loved every part of that too. The ambulance, the bubble machines and the very cool ball popper were probably his favorite things!

After a great afternoon at the museum, we scooped up Simon and headed home. Again, we knew his official party was coming over the weekend but we did get cupcakes to close out the day. I think he liked his special day and I hope we can continue to do that for both boys as they get older. It’s nice for them, at least one day out of the year, to have our undivided attention and have everything be about them!

4!

I Wonder If I'm Growing

I wonder if I'm growing
I wonder if I'm growing
My mom says 'yes, I'm growing'
But it's hard for me to see

My mom says 'eat your sandwich
It will make you grow up tall'
But when I eat my sandwich
I'm hardly bigger at all

I wonder if I'm growing
I wonder if I'm growing
My mom says 'yes, I'm growing'
But it's hard for me to see

My mom says 'Wash your hands now
Then you can go and play'
Hey, I can reach the tap now
For the very first time today

And I think I must be growing
Oh I know I'm really growing
My mom says 'yes, I'm growing'
And now I know it's true

Harmon, today you are 4! I don't know how many times I have to say it or write it before I actually believe it to be true.

This song, by Raffi, is special to the both of us but for different reasons. You like it because you're a kid and you like Raffi music. I like it because, even though it makes me a little sad, it reminds me of times when you couldn't "reach the tap" or of the times I told you to eat so you would "grow up tall."

I love you, little man, no matter how much growing you do! Happy birthday, buddy!

First haircut

After Simon needed a little Photoshop trim in his official one-year photo, we thought it was about time for a haircut. We were trying to wait until after his first birthday but his hair wasn't in on that plan. So, on Sunday, Nov. 8, we took him to a place in Northville called Snip-Its and it went great! He was a good boy but he looked so grown up when he was all done. To deal with the emotions of the day, we headed straight to the Franklin Cider Mill for some donut therapy!

Official photos

On Sunday, Nov. 1, we met up with the great Martin Vloet for the boys’ official yearly photos. The original plan was to take them outside somewhere on campus but it was too cold so we figured the Michigan Union would be a great spot. We started in the hallway behind the café on the first floor where they were some nice couches. Martin, and his great eye and speedy, flashy, professional camera, was able to catch the boys like this:

Harmon - official four-year photo


Simon – official one-year photo


Since we weren’t in love with any of the boys together in this location, we decided to head upstairs in hopes that the Ballroom – where Kevin and I had our wedding reception – would be open. It wasn’t so we simply settled for the hallway and we think it worked out just fine:

First official photo as brothers


We love this photo for the obvious reasons but also because it reminds us where we started back on the evening of Dec. 2, 2000:


Many thanks to Martin for his time and effort and, side note, wardrobe provided by Baby Gap!

Halloween 2009

Simon's last "first" holiday was a cold Halloween night in Ann Arbor. Luckily, he had on a layer or two under his frog costume:


The cold did not bother Harmon, our little certified organic banana:


He was a little shy to start but, near the end of night, he was walking up to doors all by himself. He also for the first time really enjoyed his candy! Simon, on the other hand, had no idea what he was looking at:


In due time, little man!

11 months

Simon turned 11 months old today and a few of the highlights from the past month were, of course, food-related. Shocker! As Kevin was picking him up from school earlier this month, he witnessed Simon at the table YELLING for more Cheerios! He tends to just yell when he’s hungry. He also had his first donut just a few days after the Cheerios incident as Kevin took him and Harmon to Erwin Orchard.

This month was also big at school as Simon moved into a new room. He’s no longer a ladybug at Annie’s, he’s now a big bad dragonfly! This move really spurred a lot of new activities, especially pulling up on any and every thing AND cruising.

Who knows what the next month will bring!

Let's go Krogering

Harmon doesn't always like to eat his dinner, or go to bed, or, for that matter, get out of bed on school mornings. But, one thing he does, without fail, is accompany me to Kroger. It may seem simple, but one of our special times together is when we have father-son time at the grocery store.

There was a time when he would tell me which Kroger to go to (the one "by the stadium" is actually Westside, while the one "by our house" is actually just that -- nearby on Carpenter Road). Once there, we are a machine. Now, just ask Aimee, I love me some lists. I write lists on everything, so, of course, I bring my list to Kroger. But, Harmon seems to always know what we need.

First, no matter what entrance we go through, he insists on running to get this yogurt. Then, it varies from pretzels to Pop-tarts to bread to fruit. But, one thing he loves to do is to carry the next item we pick up. It never fails: he could be walking down the aisle with a bag of "chester" (Chessman) cookies, and if I stop and get more applesauce, he has to carry that. Heck, I could pick out a 40-pound bag of charcoal and Harmon would strap it to his back if it meant he could carry it around the store for a while.

When we head to the checkout, Harmon will take the last item that has now become his best friend and hand it to the checkout clerk. But, they must scan it right then and there and hand it back to him in its own bag. If not, he will let them know.

Lately, he has loved taking quarters and buying things out of the gumball machines at the entrances to the stores. Hard to believe most of those things are $1 now. But, I did feed Donkey Kong and Crazy Climber machines when I was younger, so I am happy to give him quarters.

Overall, we have fun together and it makes the chore of grocery shopping more fun. I tell him I always enjoy my trips to Kroger with my buddy!

Simon's 10-month update

Simon has spent most of the last month getting after it at the dinner table. While we had let him try a few things – Cheerios, banana and those Gerber puffs – it wound up as a total finger food fail. So, we waited until Thursday, Sept. 17 to try it again and then IT WAS ON. He had some cheese and bread that night with us at dinner and loved it. He has not looked back since. He’s devouring Cheerios, several kinds of bread (biscuits, crescent rolls, garlic bread, etc.), pasta, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, apple, raisins, zucchini, peas, carrots, squash, applesauce, puffs, oatmeal, yogurt and tortilla. We also are adding things by the day and DUDE LOVES ALL OF IT. He loves to eat and there is no way possible you can feed him fast enough. If you take one split second longer than he wants, he will let you know about it. In short, he’s a great eater and we're happy about that!

Because of all the finger foods, he is way less interested in his bottle. He still has it but not nearly as often. I hope he weans himself at Christmas like Harmon did.

To work off all that food, he is army crawling like nobody’s business and just starting to pull himself up. While he loves his toys, his favorite activity as of late (well, besides eating) is giving his big brother a heart attack by getting into his toys. We’re working on sharing – it’s going OK.

Lots of new words and sounds but STILL NO MAMA! Damn it, kid.

And, lastly, yes, at 10 months, the eyes are still blue. I’m starting to believe.

Ring my bell

Last night, when we all were playing in the basement, Simon busted out his fastest army crawl toward the exercise room/playroom. Of course, as evidenced here, Harmon can’t handle this. So, in an effort to prevent Simon from touching his precious toys, he stormed by him and crashed right into one of the exposed basement poles. The impact knocked him to the ground and the sound was that of a dinner bell ringing (I still can hear it). By the time Kevin got to him, he was up on his feet but we quickly had to wrestle him back to the ground to put some ice on the already-developing bump (oh and he HATES ice). I think we caught it in time because the welting and the bruising, fortunately, weren’t bad at all.

All this bell ringing, though, got us to thinking that we’re REALLY going to have to do something about those poles as Simon learns to walk. The basement wasn’t finished when Harmon first started walking so we never had to worry about it then. Now, though, we need to come up with a plan – quickly – or we’ll have to wrestle two kids to the ground for ice treatments.

Please, stop, noooooooo!

Now that Simon is mobile, Harmon can't stomach the thought of his baby brother putting all his precious cars – with or without faces – in his mouth. So, the minute Simon is on the loose, Harmon totally loses his damn mind.

Harmon will be playing in the living room and the minute he sees Simon peek his head out of his bedroom AT THE OTHER END OF THE HALL, this is pretty much his reaction:



I’m hoping he’ll grow out of this!

Becoming a Bookworm

On Thursday, Sept. 10, Kevin and I dropped off Harmon in his new classroom for the first time. He’s transformed from a Lightning Bug to a Bookworm now at Annie’s Children’s Center and being a Bookworm is serious business. When we went to orientation in August, his teacher busted out the workbooks and we were like WTF! Neither of us (or our siblings) ever went to daycare or preschool so this whole thing is foreign to us. But, we’re all in so we got him some workbooks for home too.

We’re not exactly sure when we’ll start him in kindergarten (his birthday is JUST before the cut-off date so it’s up to us) but we’re determined that he be at least academically ready (if you can use the word “academically” when referring to kindergarten).

All this workbook talk is a bit of a change for him after his summer of hot lunches, field trips (Mill Pond Park, Timber Town Park, Kerrytown Bell Tower, etc.) and being the big man on the playground (he was the oldest in his class this summer as the handful of kids older than him made the move to the Bookworm room in June). He was fine his first day and was excited about it beforehand, noting with excitement that his NEW room has computers. It also helps that he “visited” a few times over the summer months. I’m sure he’ll be fine as he usually adapts pretty well to new situations. And, we’re excited about all that he’ll learn in this new environment, even if it does put him one step closer to “real” school.

Simon @ 9 months

We had Simon’s 9-month appointment on Sept. 4 and, after the weigh-in, our doctor declared him “mega baby.” While we’re fine with our big, healthy boy, we couldn’t help but think back to his first week when we had to wake him to eat so he wouldn’t keep losing weight!

He is a big boy – 23.5 pounds and JUST shy of 29 ¾ inches – although STILL not as big as Harmon at the same age (25.3 pounds and 30 ½ inches). While he may be smaller than his big brother, he definitely beats him when it comes to cuddling. He loves to snuggle up to you when you’re holding him and he’ll just lay with you and reach for you the time and again. He doesn’t like it at all if you get too far from him. He’s such a good baby – we’ve so far been blessed with two of them – and he really only cries when he wants his food. He has six teeth now – top front, bottom front and one on each side of the bottom fronts – and you would never know he cut them, unless you measured the amount of drool that flows from his mouth.

He wakes up so happy, after going down between 8:45 – 9:15 p.m. each night (I know, I know, our boys have late bedtimes compared to most). While he’s not too active in his sleep, he has figured out how to successfully sleep on his side, which is adorable. Just like his big bro, he prefers to roll rather than crawl to get where he needs to go. He is developing quite a repertoire of words, which sadly still does not include “mama!” I honestly feel like he’s holding out on me on purpose, especially after my parents have sworn THEY’VE heard him say it. He says dada, along with baba, rara, wawa and what sounds like an “h” sound. He’ll probably say some version of Harmon before he says mama! He also loves to make this teeth-sucking sound and is interested in any mouth noise you can make.

He eats a ton and is getting new and different foods all the time, with yogurt and a few different kinds of dry cereal being the big highlights. One of his favorite things to do before he eats is to kick the tray off his high chair. I think this may signify that we’re just taking too damn long to get his food ready!

He loves his toys, loves going to “school” and especially loves his big brother. At times, Harmon can get him to smile or laugh even when we can’t. Now that Simon is a little bigger, he and Harmon are starting to play together a bit and it’s great to see (and will be for many years to come).

His eyes are still blue and they don’t look like they’re changing anytime soon. Still baffled by this, I spoke with my Dad a bit about his family background. After thinking about it a bit, he remembered that his Uncle Johnny had blue eyes and blond hair. So, assuming someone in Kevin’s biological family has blue eyes, this might explain it. I also learned that my great Uncle Johnny was a minor league baseball player so maybe Simon will inherit his baseball skills too (note: my Dad was a not-too-shabby baseball player too). Genetics are amazing!

Running the bases

We took the boys to their last Tigers’ game of the season on Sunday, Aug. 30 (um, happy birthday, Kevin). The Tigs won (we got ANOTHER Verlander game), which is always a good thing, and Harmon tore up the base paths after the game. His first year, I had to hold him and run with him. His second year, he was very hesitant and was kind of scared. This year, wow, he flew and had so much fun with it. Check him out:

Newt Pneumonia?

After Harmon was diagnosed on a Monday, Aug. 24, we tried like hell to a) keep them apart (yeah, right) and b) disinfect the entire house but, as the end of the week approached, I feared that Simon had pneumonia as well. So, we hightailed it back to East Ann Arbor General Pediatrics. After a quick listen to his little lungs, he also was sent for an x-ray. Let me just say that a 9 month old getting an x-ray is a pathetic sight! He sat on the same “seat” as Harmon sat on but they had to strap his arms up with four different Velcro contraptions and also had to put some kind of plastic strap contraption under his chin so he would not look down and interfere with the x-ray. Of course, he was perfect throughout the whole thing – he didn’t make a peep. While we waited for the x-ray, Simon received his first Albuterol treatment via the nebulizer, which seemed to help. The doctor then came back and informed us that Simon DID NOT have pneumonia but advised us to keep up with the treatments for a few days and just to keep an eye on things. Over the weekend, he improved a ton and by the time he had his scheduled 9-month appointment, he was just fine (thankfully)!

‘Nator Pneumonia

A few weeks ago, Harmon wasn’t feeling well. He was coughing a bit so we suspected just a summer cold but it turned out to be a little more than that. On Sunday, Aug. 22, he was having a tough time breathing. He would play a little and then crash on the couch, which never happens! And, when we ventured out to the U-M Football Fan Day, he couldn’t walk more than 10 feet or so without stopping to rest. So, the next day, we went to the doctor and he was diagnosed with pneumonia in his left lung. The highlight of the doctor’s visit (besides his stats – 41 pounds and 40 ¾ inches) was his x-ray. We told him he had to get a picture taken so he was smiling big when they were taking his x-ray! The doctor started him on some antibiotics and we continued with the breathing treatments we usually do when he gets a cold and he felt better right away. He got a little winded for a week or so but otherwise he was back to normal quickly.

FOLLOW-UP: He had a check-up at Simon’s 9-month appointment (on Sept. 4) and was given a clean bill of health!

Just a little poke … or 8!

After the great cashew butter and jelly incident in Chicago, we, along with Harmon’s doctor, thought it might be a good idea if Harmon got some allergy testing. So, on Aug. 19, we headed to the U-M Food Allergy Clinic at Domino’s Farms. Side note: while we were parking, we saw a few longhorns as this clinic is in the same complex as the Domino’s Petting Zoo. Holy cow (har, har), they are HUGE! I also can see how there would be some serious goring happening with those things around!

ANYWAY, after talking to the allergist a bit about what happened and other things that we’ve figured out Harmon is allergic to, it was time for some testing. Instead of doing it on his back, which we were expecting, the technician did four picks on the inside of each of his forearms. He then had to sit for 20 minutes to give his body time to react to the serums. I held him on the exam table while he sat with his arms facing up and resting on a pillow. The clinic had portable DVD players (and Harmon watched Air Buddies) so that made the 20 minutes go by much faster. We could see him getting small hives on some of the picks so what we thought was confirmed. He is allergic to fish, eggs (straight eggs only, like scrambled eggs), cashews (NO WAY), pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts. Surprisingly, he wasn’t allergic to almonds (he has had those on a couple of occasions with no reaction) but the doctor recommended we just steer clear of all tree nuts just to be safe. We also had orders for a blood draw but we decided he had been through enough that day. So, we instead headed to Toys R Us where he got a nice Cars surprise.

Since the testing, he’s been just fine. We’re learning how to avoid tree nuts, mostly by reading food labels, and we have an EpiPen for emergencies. If I HAD to choose, I would rather have him allergic to tree nuts than peanuts, mostly because he wouldn’t be able to have PBJ anymore. This is his favorite thing in the whole world AND the thing that really got this allergy business started.

This is the ONLY cool thing about Chuck E. Cheese's:

Funny Harmon things

10 funny things about Harmon lately:

1) We let him ride his tricycle down to the fire hydrant in front of our neighbors’ house and back again. When you ask him where he's going, he says he’s going to ride his bike down to the “fire department.”

2) When Harmon was a baby and we all would snuggle up in the bed, he always used to roll toward Kevin. Kevin would say that Harmon was “bum rushing” him. The other day, both boys were in the bed and Simon started rolling toward Harmon. Harmon promptly said that Simon was “bumming” him.

3) He sings “We Made You” by Eminem. He also loves the video.

4) His favorite cookies are Pepperidge Farm Chessman Cookies. BUT, he calls them Chester Cookies.

5) He has a new-found love of strawberry Pop-Tarts.

6) He calls Taco Bell “Bells.” We’re not sure why. We’ve never taken him there and we’ve only been through the drive-thru a few times since he was born.

7) His “th” sound comes out as an “f” sound. He’ll say, on bath night for example, “I don’t have to take a baf?”

8) Sometimes, his “s” sounds come out as “sh” sounds. Case in point – sausage becomes shaushage. Hilarious!

9) Instead of ridiculous, things are ridicleous to Harmon!

10) He just recently decided that he likes things like frozen yogurt and donuts, after basically refusing to try these things for almost three years.

Three hots and a cot

I’ve always loved the “three hots and a cot” line from Boyz n the Hood so I like to work it in when I can!

Anyway, on Monday, July 6 – which happened to be the first day of our vacation – we started Simon on a three-meals-a-day schedule. He had cereal and fruit for breakfast; cereal and vegetable for lunch; and fruit and vegetable for dinner. With each meal, he also had a bottle and then had one last bottle before bed. So far, it’s going very well. Let it be known he’s not one to turn down any food. I buy the two-pack tubs of Gerber baby food and he was having a half tub at each meal so we were going through one tub of fruit and one tub of vegetable each day. Since it’s been about a month of this and he’s still ALWAYS hungry, tomorrow we’re upping the intake to one tub at each meal.

His nine-month appointment isn’t until Sept. 4 and we can’t wait to see how much he weighs. I’m thinking he might finally catch big brother.

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.