He can see clearly now...

Simon had his first eye doctor appointment this morning. Illinois has a great program for a free eye check for kids between six months and a year. He has perfect vision and even had his little pupils dilated to make sure the eyeballs are completely healthy. They are! We talked about our upcoming trip to Arizona and the doctor recommended sunglasses. Actually, she recommends them for here as well. 80 percent of eye damage leading to cataracts and macular degeneration happens before the age of 18! So we got Simon some Baby-bans. He isn't a huge fan, he would much rather eat them, but we will try to get him used to them in the next week before vacation. They have an elastic strap around his head to hold them on and are a fun color. Arizona here we come!

One Month Since Surgery

It has been one month since the surgery. One month ago we were sitting in the hospital waiting for little Simon to get out of the operating room and I was so scared. He came out of the surgery that day recovering and he is doing so well. He has gotten strength back in his legs what seems to me amazingly quickly when I think about it. Only one month! On January 3rd Simon couldn't roll from back to front - now he only sleeps on his tummy no matter how many times we roll him back onto his back. Also in the past month he has learned how to get up into crawling position on his own... and how to crawl backward. He also will get into his baby yoga pose - downward dog. With his arms in crawling position and his legs straight so his butt is high in the air and he's looking at his own knees through his arms. It's adorable. And of course he is standing so much better - balancing on his own with only a finger or two to help or completely by himself on his standing toy. How did all that happen in only a single month!?

His incision is healing wonderfully and he loves having it rubbed - but who wouldn't like a doctor ordered, daily backrub! We are so lucky that he is so healthy and happy and seems completely unfazed by the surgery.

 

I know! It looks like he's standing. But he's actually leaning against the couch. Movie Magic.

 

He is so strong. He can easily stand holding on to only one finger. He does try to take a step then and will sometimes fall over, but he's getting there really quickly. I think just a few more weeks until he's pulling himself up. 

Jenn took a picture of us before she left today. 

Tasty Toy

We have a toy that Simon can stand and hold on to and when he presses buttons or moves things it makes noises and lights flash. Sometimes it sings the alphabet song or the numbers. He loves it. Today he tried to eat it. He also likes to lick things now. I hope it's a phase. 

Simon shows us the steps of chewing...

First...put the puff in your mouth with hand and/or finger.
Second...make sure it stays in your mouth before chewing.
Third...use all two teeth and gums to mash it up.
Last...show off to all your friends!!

The Mooncrawl

Like the Moonwalk, only with a lower silhouette.

Simon really wants to be self mobile. He knows that it's possible to crawl but hasn't gotten the forward motion of the hands figured out and then there's the whole issue of the knees not bending right when he wants them to - it's incredibly frustrating. As he'll happily show you...

He also has become a champion stander, he'll pull himself up if you give him your fingers and he'll do a little waddley-walk.  More on that next time!

Matching day!

Drinking like a Big Boy

Simon is suddenly seems like such a big boy. His six month clothes aren't fitting him anymore (he is seven months, after all!) and looking through our clothes stash we realized we had only one 9-month pajama! Thankfully we had a carters gift card from Uncle George and Aunt Maria to remedy the situation. Jenn went today and picked out bunches of adorable clothes that Simon will start sporting tomorrow after they are all washed - including three new sets of PJs. He is going to be an incredibly well dressed little boy.

We have been feeding him lots of new foods. He loves eating and has been a great sport about everything new we've given him. He even had chicken yesterday! (Pureed with sweet potatoes, which does not smell amazing and has a creepy consistency - as both Colleen and I can attest, Jenn wisely pulled the vegetarian card to avoid it. Simon seems to like it though.) For all that the foods have been going great, the sippy-cup has not been going great. He just doesn't seem to understand what it's for. He has gotten water from it but maybe it's too heavy; regardless, we've moved on to option number two: drinking from a glass.

Video of that and more after the jump...