Football Sunday

Alan and Simon had a Football Sunday. First they watched some of a game (green bay because Simon slept through the bears). Even though they only watched for a short time (30 min maybe?) Simon saw a couple touchdowns. Afterward they went outside and played some football. First they practiced catching. Simon was doing great (below series of pictures is him catching the ball) and when I switched to video he stopped catching, of course. It was a great time with lots and lots of laughing. 

Daddy throws...

Lands right in his hands and Simon HAS IT!

Before Daddy is even done cheering Simon is ready to keep going.

Daddy and Simon playing catch. Toward the end Alan takes his keys out of his pocket and takes his shoes off. Simon is very confused about that and when the neighbor Doug comes home Simon tells Alan that *he* (Doug) has his shoes on.

After a long talk with Mary and some more catch, the game evolved to throwing, running, passing and laughing... With an occasional tackle thrown in. 

Here are some of them watching the game... Simon was pretty entranced by the whole thing. Mouth open was the normal expression.

My boys at breakfast!

Simon's new toy: Baby Sarah

I've heard that having a baby doll to care for and see others holding can help reduce sibling jealousy... so today Simon and Jenn went out to get a baby doll for Simon. He picked her out and then gave her a name (Jenn came up with a bunch for him to choose from). Her name is Baby Sarah and Simon has been really sweet with her so far today. Sang her songs, tucked her in for nap, changed her diaper... He did have some jealousy when Jenn held the baby but that's the point and they talked about it. We will see how it develops. Hopefully it helps him get used to the idea! 

BGB Update: 30 weeks 5 days

It has been a rough couple weeks with everyone in the household getting a quick cold except for me who was sick for a few weeks. I just couldn't shake the sniffles and coughing. Finally I'm feeling a bit better, but after having been sick for so long am seriously feeling the difference in my mobility and endurance. Thankfully Alan and Simon were great about stepping up while I was down - Alan covering all the Simon/cooking/cleaning duties and Simon being a very good listener when it is just the two of us. I'm lucky to have such good men in my life!

Thankfully, our little girl is still doing great. We are already 30 weeks, which means she'll be here in less than 9 weeks (since we are planning a c-section for 39 weeks on Nov 1st, not the normal 40 weeks on her due date Nov 8). She is about the size of a large cabbage this week and weighs in at around 3 pounds. We went last week for another growth ultrasound and she is doing wonderfully, growing exactly as expected. I always feel her moving a ton and during the entire ultrasound she was bent at the waist with her toes touching her forehead but was waving her arms about like crazy. It was great fun watching her legs twitch and feeling her kicks. I think she is going to be rowdy! 

The crib, cradle and dresser/changing table are all here and ready to be put together and cleaned. We are planning on doing that and moving things around to make space upstairs this weekend when Colleen and Joe come by for what they think is a string-free dinner... little do they know I am very sneaky.  After that we just need to get a crib mattress for her and a glider for me - but both of those are not required for the first few weeks so no pressure. I even have a color scheme planned for her room. She will have the front room which will stay blue, but I'm going to use purple, pink and green to make it a bit lighter and more fun. I found a great set of butterfly sheets that I'm modeling the colors after and I'm knitting her a baby blanket of pink, purple and gray that should work well in there too. With white wood and a gray glider her room will be beautiful! 

Emily & BGB at 30 weeks, 5 days.

Emily & BGB at 30 weeks, 5 days.

Tyler and Karmen

This week Jenn started full time school (congratulations Jenn!) but that meant that she dropped her hours with us. We found a stay at home mom named Karmen with a little boy named Tyler who lives not too far away that will be watching Simon on Tuesdays. This is good for so many reasons - more socialization, getting used to new people and to get him a routine out of the house so he has something 'normal' when BGB arrives. Karmen even speaks Estonian to Tyler (though she is totally fluent, no accent, in English) so I've encouraged her to speak it to Simon. Even if he doesn't remember it later in life, learning a second language is supposed to do all sorts of great things later for brain flexibility and creativity.

Simon and Tyler play amazingly well together. They are remarkably good about sharing considering Tyler is 23 months old and Simon is only a couple months older. The only time they show signs of jealousy is when I'm holding Tyler's hand or Karmen is holding Simon's hand, but even that is some pointing and a touch of upset - not a full out tantrum or anything.  

The first day was this past Tuesday and they came to our house so Simon could get used to them on his own turf. They went down to WF on Tuesday morning to the free music class and played. Simon's in Orange and Tyler is the little blonde boy in white. Then they went to the park, came home and napped and then played in the backyard with the house, the basketball hoop and even some baseball. Great day!

At Whole Foods.

Tyler and Simon.

Totally worn out from the day of playing. 2.5 hour nap.

Watermelon and washing

April (Lizzy's mama) sent me an article about how watermelon can help prevent preeclampsia. So on Sunday we got a whole watermelon and in the past two days we have eaten quite a lot of watermelon. Simon really likes it, but since it is so delicious and juicy we can only eat it outside. Simon likes it best when it comes without the rind as he isn't great at judging how big a bite of red is left and often gets big bites of the white when he's eating, however he will eat it anyway it comes. Here are some pictures of the little guy enjoying watermelon. He had some inside his house in his little chair while Alan and I sat at the big table. Then walked all over and ate and ate and ate... At then end of the afternoon Alan brought our watermelon covered boy upstairs to shower off before dinner. He sure does like taking showers! 

Meeting Baby Elizabeth

Our friends Scott and April brought their beautiful newborn baby girl, Elizabeth, to visit us this weekend. She was wonderful, almost no fussing, and so very, very tiny. She is 8ish pounds and I had forgotten how little that is!

Simon has never seen a baby quite so small (only 2 weeks!) and had to spend some time getting used to her. He was not thrilled when Alan or I held Little Lizzy - reminding both of us that we were his mama/daddy - but we talked about it quite a bit and assured Simon that we would ALWAYS be his mama/daddy no matter who we were holding or what we were doing. Which might come back to haunt him when he becomes a teenager. He did like checking her out, and was really good about moving slowly around her and her toys. But he was definitely happiest when Scott or April was holding her. The rest of the weekend we have occasionally been reminded 'You MY mama.' or 'That MY daddy.' 

Lizzy, Scott, Simon and April. Simon has a lion rattle to show Lizzy.

Lizzy has the smallest toes! Smaller than Simon's, we compared.