Picture of the Day: 8/31/11

Simon bonding with Britni, America's Next Top Nanny

Picture of the Day: 8/30/11

Simon is sporting a retro look today with lemon leg-warmers showing his willingness to run the extra mile, grey socks to keep the tootsies warm and a classic yet adorable frog onsie.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Simon has been awesome with tummy time lately. He plays and does a little half pushup (aka 'sphinx pose' - we've been going to lots of yoga classes lately). I've really just been happy that he hasn't been crying when we put him down on his belly and that he moves his little arms and legs almost like he's crawling. Then two days ago Simon suddenly rolled over. I was sure it was a fluke, maybe I just laid him down off balance or something so gravity took over.

Today he showed me how much I had underestimated our extraordinary young man. He easily rolled over six or seven times this morning. He had already done it maybe four times before I went to get the flip camera that Grandparents Basque loaned us. I love the one when he just looks at the camera and then rolls over! What a smart boy!

Three more roll overs after the jump.

Whew - We Have a Nanny

Simon has been worried sick that we didn't have a nanny set up for him yet. 'Mama,' he screamed, 'don't you worry about these things?' By this morning he had enough and gave me physical evidence of his concern. A lot of it. All over his face and his clothes (his pjs, not the cute red onesie he is wearing below) and his fun new play mat. So I gave him a bath by myself for the first time. He had fun and kicked/splashed around and was at least marginally cleaner at the end. Certainly wetter. Then we had a little baby massage, put him down for a nap and I got right on that nanny thing.

We made an offer to a lovely young lady named Britni who we think will be wonderful. She has lots of experience (mostly with infant twins so our single Simon should be a breeze) and is from Michigan. She has been in Chicago for a while and is finishing up her degree in writing in the evening. She loves Simon and is excited about all the things we are trying to do more naturally, like cloth diapers, making our own food and baby wearing.

Simon is finally sleeping peacefully.

PS Don't you love the socks?

August House Progress

We've been pretty busy throughout August and haven't been great about taking progress pictures.  The main work over the past few weeks has been mainly on HVAC, plumbing and electrical.  These are obviously pretty important things to have in the house but don't make for as dramatic a picture.  So to inject a little excitement into these progress pictures I tried using a new app on my iPhone that takes 360 panoramic pictures.  They're not the most clear pictures in the world since I'm still getting used to the app, but they give a pretty good view of how things are looking as of August 22.  As always, click on each one for a larger version.

Standing in the middle of the kitchen, with the center of the picture looking at the window over the kitchen sink

July House Progress Part 2 (July 14 - July 31)

Lots more constructions pictures here, including nearly-complete framing on the first floor and partially done framing on the second floor.

Standing by the front door looking all the way back to the kitchen window

July House Progress Part 1 (July 1 - July 7)

After the discouraging sight of our house basically completely gutted at the end of June, we were happy to see things really start coming together quickly in July.  It was a very tough month for construction due to the weather, which was the rainiest July in Chicago on record.  At least we weren't living there at the time, but having to deal with the aftermath of a mini-hurricane a couple of times a week for most of the month definitely slowed things down a bit.  Despite that, we were happy with the progress. We went from a house with practically no floors or walls to one with plenty of both in just a few weeks.

Standing in the first floor family room and looking out through the second floor master bedroom window.  Wait, what?