Southport Taco Festival, Horses, and the dark

On Sunday I really wanted to go to the Southport Taco Festival. It is in easy walking distance and who doesn't love a good taco?! Simon napped until 4pm that afternoon but we decided to push it and go anyway. Unfortunately the taco festival was a bust - the lines were just so long it would have been impossible to stand in them and not have had a crazy toddler and a crazy mama before we got through. We walked up the length of Southport hoping to find a shorter line when we came across... HORSES and a CAMEL!

Obviously when you see ponies and a camel for the first time you need to pause and collect yourself, and that is just what Simon did. We stood near them and watched them give pony rides to kids and camel rides to adults for about 20 minutes. In the first couple minutes we offered a pony ride and it was a decisive no, however after realizing that none of the children were coming to any harm at the 20 minute mark Simon changed his mind and did want to go on a ride. Luckily that line was short. We walked right up and Simon handed the lady the 5 dollar bill (after some time of comparing the sign asking for five dollars and the five dollar bill in his hand to make sure the numbers were the same). Then Alan put him up on the horse and away they walked. Simon LOVED it. In the video I didn't do a great job catching him saying 'bu-bump bu-bump" as he tips his head side to side but he is.

Gooooooo!

Since we didn't get tacos at the Taco Festival we went to Burrito House to get our taco fix. The whole walk to burrito house Simon talked about his pony Andy (who is a horse from a library book) and ba-bumped and when asked if he liked it he told us happily, 'He didn't even lick me!'

We left Burrito House around 7pm - so late for Simon. When we walked out of the restaurant he started laughing and pointing at the sky and it took us a minute to figure out what he was saying. The sun had just set so one  half of the sky was light but as we faced home the sky was DARK. He hadn't seen dark sky before and was laughing because he thought the dark was funny and the Sun was silly or sleepy or both. I wish I had gotten a video of that, it was wonderful.

Here is his summary of the day when we got home, but he was so tired it's a bit disjointed and we had to prompt a bit.

More pictures of the horse ride after the jump...

My little hacker

I was checking an email before I headed out to work and needed to run to the bathroom. Simon offered to hold my phone (so kind) and I was sure I locked it before I handed it to him. But when I looked at the pictures to write a post I found a ton of pictures of Mr Simon's eyes and even a nice little video. Made me laugh so I thought it might make you laugh too.

I'm WATCHING YOU

Simon Saying 1,2,3 in Estonian

Karmen is great about sending pictures when Simon's with her and this week she sent a little video too. The resolution isn't excellent because it came to me via text, but it works. Karmen speaks Estonian to Tyler and I told her to feel free to speak it to Simon too but she usually just speaks English to Simon since he already knows it. Apparently just speaking around Simon is enough because he figured out how to say 1,2,3 and was repeating it to Karmen. Here he is saying it for us.

Happy boys in a big mess.

Mexican food and football

One guess where the tv in the restaurant is located.

Busted up nose.

On Saturday morning (yesterday) Simon and I were horsing around on our big bed and he dove for the pillows at the top and overshot the pillows and went nose first into the wall. It so sad, the poor guy immediately started to cry (who wouldn't) and kept saying 'Noooo!' like he didn't want it to have happened. Believe me, I didn't want it to have happened either. No blood, but a small bruise across the bridge of his nose and some swelling. I still wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with two black eyes, but so far he's good. 

It's really hard to get a picture of it, so I guess that means it's not as bad as I keep thinking it is. 

He's eating a pretzel, which is why he is making a funny expression.

Bran flakes and bananas

A while back I had bran flakes for breakfast, before that the only cereal that Simon had ever had was cheerios. After I let him try mine he discovered that he LOVES bran flakes and bananas. Now they are a common breakfast request. The order of requested breakfast recently is muffins, then pancakes, and third is bran flakes. The first two seem about right for a 2 year old but every time he asks for bran flakes and gets SUPER excited when I say yes I sort of chuckle to myself. 

Tuesday Park District Class

On Tuesdays Simon goes to a Chicago park district class with Karmen and Tyler. It's in a park space across the street from her house and will be a great activity when the weather starts getting cold and rainy later this fall.

Basketball.

Tiny airplane.

Tiny airplane flying high!

Across the hall there were adults doing an exercise class.
Apparently it was hard to keep him from joining in

Then some time at the park outside because it stopped raining.

Baseball with mama

Monday afternoons Jenn has class and I watch Simon on my own. Yesterday after he woke up from nap we went down to the park and played some baseball. I sat on the grass and pitched while he batted. I'd say 'batter up!' and he would take position and then he would practice swing (what you see below) and then I'd throw the ball. He hit a fair amount of them - I was pretty impressed. And he always went to get the ball, hit or miss, so I got to just sit in the grass and watch him run around. It was a lovely afternoon.

For the very observant, those are new sunglasses. We looked and looked and couldn't find his sunglasses so I finally just gave in and ordered him a new pair. The day they arrived, of course, I found his old pair. Now he has two! 

His stance is actually with more bent knees, but he was confused about the camera coming out.

Practice Swing!

Big blue truck

Making his own big blue truck...

Twins

My boys dressed up like twins... 

So big - Simon batting

First Day at Karmen and Tyler's House

Tuesday Simon got picked up by Karmen and he went to Karmen and Tyler's  house for the day. They went to the beach, then went back home and had a quick bath before lunch and nap. Simon napped relatively well in the new strange place - slept almost an hour. Then they played some more and Karmen dropped him back off at our place. He was SO tired when he got home, and pretty clingy with us. It was the first time he's really spent a whole day away from the house and not been with someone he knows well. But it's definitely good for him! 

BGB Update: Hiccups

Baby Girl Basque has had a serious case of hiccups all morning. She is really calm about the whole situation... I only feel the hiccup and very little other movement so maybe she's sleeping through them? I remember Simon having hiccups pretty regularly and he would thrash about which made me think he hated it. This is one of the first times I've felt her hiccups and it is so calm it took me a while to figure out what it was. Still feels pretty darn weird!

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.