Progress on the potty

Simon first peed on the potty on Wednesday, April 14. I was in a forever-long meeting about our building dedication when my Mom broke up the monotony of it by sending me a photo of Simon on the potty. It was cute and sweet and sad all at the same time! He followed up the peeing with some pooping on Saturday, May 29. He's been going, on and off, all through the summer but once September it, we got more serious. He now sits on the potty every morning and usually goes especially if you read him a few books! And, now that it's October, we're trying to increase his time on the potty to a few times a day. Harmon was relatively easy to potty train so we hope and pray Simon is the same way.

September ...

Even though we decided to wait until next year to start Harmon in kindergarten, September was a emotional and stressful month for us. Kevin and I had a hell of a time at work - way too many events and projects due. Harmon, despite staying at Annie's, had to adjust to a bunch of new friends at school, not to mention being the oldest kid in class for the first time. Simon dropped the binky but added the potty - he's changing so much every second of every day. Despite the stress of the month, it flew by ... like they all do. On to October ...

Simon @ 22 months

Simon had a big month filled with many milestones. A lot more talking and a lot of filling in the blanks when we're reading. He says "please" and "thank you" and "no thanks" - such a polite young man. He loves "mar-mallows" and "roni and cheese!" He will tell Harmon "no bite," "no hit," "no fight" and all kinds of other things as he's learning to defend himself against his big brother. While he stopped using his binky during the day back in the summer, he finally gave it up all together around Labor Day.

On Sept. 4, while at my parents' house, he climbed out of his pack and play and, just a little over a week later (Sept. 13), he climbed out of his crib. He woke up early and I gave him some books to read while Kevin and I got ready for work. While Kevin was in the bathroom shaving, Simon came rambling down the hallway. Kevin thought I let him out but I didn't. I was back in my bathroom doing my hair while he scaled his crib. He's not done it a lot since then but we are in discussion about when to move him to his toddler bed.

He's been getting much better at the potty too, going at least once a day and sometimes more. One sad development, though, is that he no longer likes to be rocked to sleep everynight. Most of the time, the minute you sit down with him, he says "crib, crib" and wants to hop right in, curl up and go to sleep. Once in a while, though, he'll fall asleep on you and leave a huge drool spot and it makes you feel like he's a baby again.

Bye Bye, Binky!

Since he was just a few days old, Simon has always had a close relationship with his binky (his pacifier). He seemed to like it so much more than Harmon did and it never failed to soothe him. Lately, though, he's become less dependant on it - using it only at nap time and bed time - which has made us start thinking about when it should go away forever.

Harmon gave his up relatively easy at 18 months but I anticipated more of a battle with Simon. Not only because of him but also because of me. He's my baby and every last big step like this for him is the last big step like this for us.

So, on Monday, Aug. 2, 2010, as I got ready to rock him to sleep, Kevin asked him for his binky as he covered us up in the rocking chair. Simon willingly gave it to him, as he always does, so I decided to just see what happened from there. Side note: Kevin did sneak it back to me before he left the room. As Simon's eyes got heavy, he looked up at me a few times and and said "Binky? It's coming?" I said, "No, honey, it's all gone" and he would repeat this as he put his little head back down. After a few minutes, he was snoring ... and I was crying!

Now, he may very well need again but, on this night, for the first time in 20 months, he fell asleep without it.

Since that night, Simon has done a great job without his binky, only needing it a couple of times. And, as of Labor Day, Kevin and I are finally calling the binky dead. Sure, he doesn't sleep as late in the morning (at least so far) and he might wake up during the night every now and then but it's nice to know he no longer needs it. He's getting to be a big boy now.

Simon @ 21 months

One of the highlights of Simon's 21st month included our last-minute trip to Traverse City. We felt like summer was quickly disappearing so we escaped up north for a long weekend. We did nothing but eat and play in water and it was awesome! Simon had a great time playing with his big brother not only at the hotel pool but at various beaches and lighthouses in and around Traverse City. Each morning, they also had breakfast together. It was great to see them happy and playing peacefully with each other.

The boys also had a great time when we dusted off my old Wrangler and took the top down. We drive it a couple of times each week but we haven't taken the top down in YEARS. We thought, though, that the boys would love it so we drove, open air, to our favorite ice cream place (Mickey's Dairy Twist) in Saline. They had a great time and now Simon can't walk by the Wrangler without yelling out "Jeep, Jeep!"

This past month, Simon also made his first trip to the Big House! We made a donation to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital back in the spring and part of it was four tickets to a fall scrimmage. The scrimmage was the same day as the Dream Cruise so Harmon went with my parents (and had a GREAT time) and Simon came with us. It was rainy and we weren't allowed to take Simon's water, Cheerios, etc. with us (lame stadium rules in effect) but it turned out OK. It was great to see the team up close and personal and it was awesome to walk Simon through that historic tunnel (he loves tunnels)!

The only bummer of the past month was that Simon go bit AGAIN at school. This was the third time - once on the arm and two on the back (one on each shoulder blade). Evidently, there are two serial biters in his class that are now being "shadowed." Here's hoping there's no more biting in the coming weeks, months, etc.

Swimming!

Harmon just finished his third set of swim classes and he is already clammoring for more! His first class was a Tot & Parent Swim class with Kevin back in March and April (March 8 through April 5). It was five weeks long and the whole point of the course was really just to get him used to being in the water so that, in the next class, he would be able to do it without Kevin.

In mid-April, he started the Pre-School Swim class and that one ran for seven weeks (April 19 through May 31). He was without Kevin and he did a great job! In fact, all parents were ordered away from the pool deck so the instructors could do their jobs without distraction. Kevin and I alternated taking him to class and would watch him having so much from the observation deck. And, after each class, we started a tradition of getting him ice cream from McDonald's!

In June, he started his third class - the Low Beginner Swim - and it ran for another seven weeks (June 21 through Aug. 9). This class was all about kicking, strokes and getting the kids' faces in the water. Harmon did great on all but the last part - he's not too crazy about having his face submerged! He finished on Aug. 9 and, unfortunately, he can't move on to the next level until he turns 5. So, we might just tackle that in the new year. All his classes so far have been through Pittsfield Township Parks and Recreation at the Washtenaw County Recreation Pool. He loves it but, when we do start up again in the new year, we might try to move him to Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation or the Ann Arbor YMCA. Both places seem to have a lot more available times, instructors, etc. Whatever we decide to do, Harmon is all in. We can't drive by the pool without him yelling "there's my swim class!"

Summer of (no) power!

This summer has been terrible, when it came to the severe weather. It was hot as hell and it seemed there was a thunderstorm every other night. We lost power on three different occassions - all day on May 31, June 18-20 and July 28-29. Having a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old with no power is, quite frankly, no fun. They have NO idea what's going on and it's hard to keep them entertained without TV, radio, computers, etc., especially when the sun goes down. One good side affect of these power outtages, though, is Harmon's new fascination with the weather. One way for us to explain things to him during these storms was to let him see the weather map on my iPhone. Since then, he can't get enough of the Weather Channel and keeping us updated on any upcoming storms!

Simon @ 20 months

Our vacation to Pittsburgh brought on a whole new side of Simon, competitiveness. It was really the first time we've all been together since he's been mobile and interactive and he was battling for his share of attention. It was a race to see who could talk first, who could get to the door first, etc. Simon also learned quickly that if he cried, even a little bit, chances were good that big brother would get in trouble for it. And, speaking of big brother, "big bro" became "babo" this month (he also will say Harmon). His other new words this month were Grandma, Grandpa and Cici (for Aunt Stacey) and Enin (for Aunt Erin) and, finally, SIMON! His language was inspired by our trip and his words of the month were "bus" and "tunnel." Who knew the Fort Pitt Tunnel would hold such a special place in our memories of Simon at this age!

Pittsburgh

For our summer vacation this year, we went to Pittsburgh. Yeah, I know. The reaction we got from friends and family was classic but, you know what, we had a great time so shut it!

Since the boys are still little, we prefer to drive so we needed a city that was less than six hours away. We had already done Chicago and we didn't have passports so we couldn't do Toronto. We also love to check out baseball stadiums so that eliminated Indianapolis. We had heard Cincinnati was cool but the damn Reds were on the road! And, Cleveland, Kevin and I have been there lots so we were looking for something new. And, quite frankly, Pittsburgh was awesome! I was very pleasantly surprised with everything there, except the shopping and that is just fine.

We left on Saturday, July 3 and after checking into the hotel, and after our first of many trips through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and over the Fort Pitt Bridge, we checked out the Pitt campus. I was shocked to find that Pitt was founded before U-M! We visit a lot of college campus and that's not often the case. Pitt was cool - VERY URBAN - and the boys had a great time in the Cathedral of Learning. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by the Cheesecake Factory to get a Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake - a vacation breakfast tradition for me and Kevin.

On Sunday morning, we hit the Carnegie Science Center in the morning. We had a great time checking out the USS Requin Submarine, as well as the Miniature Railroad & Village and the Highmark Sports Work. I think this was Harmon's favorite part of the trip - he could not stop talking about it. After the science center, we wandered over to PNC Park for the Phillies @ Pirates game. PNC Park is beautiful and, despite it being one billion degrees, we had a good time. After all that, the boys just wanted to hang at the pool so that's what we did in the evening with the sound of Pittsburgh's fireworks in the distance.

On Monday, we started at the Children's Museum of Pittsburg. I was excited about our visit because there was a Curious George exhibit and it did not disappoint. Actually, the whole museum was wonderful and the boys had a great time. There was one room that had cars and ramps - the jackpot for our boys - and another great water play area ... all in addition to Curious George. We were there for a long time - they did not want to leave! After a quick lunch, we headed to the National Aviary to check out all the birds. The penguins were awesome and you could get close enough to touch them as they swam by. Kevin even noticed there was a penguin named Simon! So many great birds, including some amazing owls! I was glad we made this a stop during out trip. We then did a bit of shopping and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, always on the agenda for us, no matter where we are. After dinner, we took the boys up the Duquesne Incline and saw some amazing views of the Steel City and it's 1,582 bridges!

Tuesday morning, we headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Honestly, it was SO HOT that I barely remember anything about the zoo other than the animals just being passed out everywhere. We all were sweating like never before and were tired and grumpy and hungry and it was nice to just get to the car and the air conditioning. We had planned a drive down to Morgantown, WV and it couldn't have come at a better time. The drive was beautiful. The hills and all the green were gorgeous and, again, I just never expected so much out of this part of the country. Once we got into town, the first thing we did was sneak into the football stadium. After that, we checked out campus and just missed sneaking into the basketball arena. The way we came into campus - a winding road up on a bluff above the river - made WVU seem very pretty and quaint. I was mildly impressed! We got back to our hotel late that night but had some packing to do since we were leaving around lunch time the next day.

On Wednesday, before checking out, we headed back into downtown to tour Heinz Field. It was $6 for the tour and it was so worth. Also, I figured there would be NO ONE touring in the middle of the summer but the tour was packed. People LOVE the Steelers! We went to to the field level, got to see the locker rooms, visited the press box, the suites and the stadium club. What a gorgeous facility, from top to bottom!

Overall, it was a great trip and we were impressed with Pittsburgh, despite the stigma attached to it. Being from the Detroit area, I was kind of sad seeing how Pittsburgh has been rebuilt. Detroit COULD be like that if there was ever any direction, leadership, etc. Maybe one day ...

There were a few things we didn't get to do on our vacation - Pro Football Hall of Fame, Fallingwater, Fudgie Wudgie - but we can always go back. I'm happy we visited to learn that it was indeed worth one visit and maybe even a second!

Simon @ 19 months

The past month was highlighted mostly by Simon's surgery. I feel like I wrote down NOTHING else from May 25 to June 25. I DO know Simon is continuing his talking. At this point, here is a list, off the top of my head, of his words: Daddy, Mommy, Big Bro, Nana, Nonny, Papa, close, potty, yeah, no, more, cookie, EIEI (without the O), poop, pee, eat, book, ball, blocks, read, hi, bye-bye, car and two. I'm sure there are more ... that will teach me to keep a notepad at my side.

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.