Zoo Lights 2014

We all wanted to get out and do something holiday themed. Simon was supposed to stay off his foot so we popped him in the stroller and took everyone off to zoo lights. It was a fun time, but we had the tiredest children. We left the house at 5:15 which is Lillian's bed time and finally parked at 6, which is Simon's bed time. Needless to say we didn't stay too very long. We sadly didn't get to ride the merry-go-round or the train, the lines were just too long. Maybe we'll get out again later in the year and try again!

Family Photo!

Lisa wore Lillian for the first half of the evening. 

Found the Member Hot Cocoa and Cookie Lounge!

Goodbye George Wart-ing-toe

On Friday the 5th at 8:30 Simon was scheduled for his surgery. We needed to get to the hospital by 7, so we left the house around 6:15am. Jessie kindly came to the house at 6am to watch Lillian so we could just focus on Simon while we were at the hospital.  He was a little rock star while we talked to nurses and anesthesiologists and a few other folks to prep for the surgery. The surgery was about an hour - just long enough for Alan and I to get breakfast and a cup of coffee and get back to the waiting room. It went very well, the thing was definitely just a wart and nothing more scary. He had some unexpected pain in the recovery room so they gave him a bit of morphine. As a result we were at the hospital on the long side of their estimate and checked out around noon. 

We got home to Gaga and Papa Basque and Auntie Lisa. They were awesome about helping us through the weekend. Simon got carried everywhere on Friday since he was not supposed to put weight on his foot. Then through the weekend he was supposed to take it easy, with the added adults and attention Simon was really good about being careful. The hard part will be the next two weeks when he is not supposed to run. He went to school on Monday, but is skipping gym for the next couple weeks. 

Following the blue line to the surgery room. 

Last view of The Wart.

A recreation of the photo from Simon's first surgery.

Hanging out and talking about the number on his bracelet. 

After surgery, eating a graham cracker and trying to wake up.

He was really out of it and uncomfortable when he first woke up

Checking out his "robot arm" in the recovery room

Toe hurts!  Poor kid had a bit of a melt down when the pain was a lot worse than advertised, so he ended up getting some morphine from Nurse Sally to help with the pain.

You know it hurt because he didn't want his Popsicle,
didn't want to play iPad, didn't want to watch tv.

After the morphine he was feeling much much better.
We were here another couple hours to make sure he stayed good.

Lots of Disney Junior on tv was a great distraction

Simon's Journal Entry

Simon's pre-k has each child spend time each day writing/drawing in a journal. On Wednesdays they do a class journal, but every other day he does his own. He has a 3 ring binder that he keeps the pages in. The teachers talk to him about what he drew and then the write it down in a note. I typed up the notes as the caption to each picture for ease of reading. 

This is Mama, Aunty Amy and Simon. We are at Hamilton's pumpkin patch
it started to rain and we drove back home. 10/27/14

This journal is split in two. The top is the picture and the bottom he worked on explaining the picture and then writing the letters that he hears in the words he is saying. I am so amazed at the progress he is making in just a few short months. 

This is Ms. Roshea's house. There are clouds. The chimney
has smoke coming out. The grass is for the house. 11/18/14

Here he wrote his name on the back of one of his art projects.

Fall Lawn cleanup

We took advantage of the warm post-thanksgiving weather to clean up the leaves and seasonal plants around the yard. It was a whole family affair - Simon and Lillian helped - both raking and moving the leaves.

So happy to help!

Trying to chase the dog down the sidewalk.

Remembering her leaf collecting purpose.

Simon is putting leaves in the bag and Lillian is trying out Simon's rake.

Simon practiced with the whoopee cushion.

He laughed like this every time he sat on it. So delightful!

Car wash baby!

Finishing the basement

It's been a long time coming, but the basement is finally just about finished.  When we did the house renovation a few years ago, the foundation was fixed up and some basic framing was put into place down there, but we haven't managed to get the resources together to actually make it into a livable space until recently.  We had a little bit of work done on it last summer, putting in a window into the future bedroom space, but then things were on hold again until earlier this year.  We had originally thought we would try to do the work ourselves, but eventually realized that it would take forever and take up all of our free time and still might not end up the way we wanted.  So we brought Larry back in to start work on it part time while he was finishing up a different job.   He started at the end of May and progress was initially slow while the time was split with the other job.  Full time work started in September, and by the end of the month drywall was up, the bathroom was mostly assembled, and the cork floors and tile work were all done.  October covered trim and painting, and was the end of what we had contracted Larry to do.  Finally, at the end of November we had new carpeting installed in the bedroom and tv room, and it was all ready to use.

Looking south through the bedroom in Jan 2011 and in Nov 2014.

There are still a few things remaining to do, including putting tops on the half walls, finishing the wire terminations for the cable/internet/speakers, and eventually getting some cabinets and counters for the laundry room and furniture/electronics for the tv room.  But it's still all useable for now, and we're loving having all of this new living space in the house including a big tv room, bathroom, guest bedroom, laundry room, and little playroom. 

See photos from the past year and a half of work after the jump.

Peace in our time

Simon and Lillian are finally starting to get along much better.  Simon still isn't the best at sharing - his version of sharing is usually just taking whatever Lillian's playing with - but he's not really getting angry and yelling at her whenever she comes by.  And just in time too, since she's recently started copying his yelled "NO" that he used to do to her all the time.  We talked to Simon about how he's teaching Lillian how to act and we don't want her to turn into a mean person, and he really seemed to take that to heart... he's been significantly nicer to her since then.

Helping her put on her shoe

Not only are they not fighting as much anymore, but lately Simon has been actively trying to play with her and she's finally gotten to the age where they can have some fun together.  One of their favorite games is to chase each other around the island in the kitchen, but they also play with the blocks or stacking buckets or play food together.  I hope this cease fire lasts... it's been nice to see them being happy together (and to get a break while they keep each other entertained).

After the jump are a couple more recent videos of the two kids getting along.