Lillian is 8 Months Old

I say this every month, but man does time fly! This little girl is such a sweet part of our life and I am so happy to have her. She is flying through her milestones quite quickly and any day I expect her to look over her shoulder at me, laugh with joy and then run after her brother to play.

1. She crawls everywhere, usually with one foot and one knee. For a week or two she did a happy noise and a lunge/belly flop as she got close to her target which was totally adorable, she has already stopped doing this and is super fast crawling and able to transition to sitting with no issues..  
2. She can pull up to standing easily and on anything. (Watch out for small chairs or empty laundry baskets which will tip over!)
3. She will walk when you hold her fingers, but she hasn't figured out cruising yet. When she tries to cruise she steps on her own foot and tumbles over. I give it another week before she has this one figured out.
4. She falls all the time, especially when pulling up on something that isn't quite enough weight to hold her, and is usually a trooper about it. I think she's going to end up with more bruises than Simon ever got at her age.
5. We dropped her crib to the lowest setting. 
6. We did sleep training and she usually goes down around 5:30 every night - about half the time she'll happily play in her crib for an hour or so before falling asleep. She still wakes up once in the night, any time between midnight and four, for a nursing session and then sleeps until between 5:30 and 7:30 depending on how loud Simon is in the morning. 
7. She takes two naps: First around 9:00 and second around 12:30. 
8. She is eating a bunch of foods and really enjoys eating. We started with purees but now have her eating pieces of banana, super steamed carrots and puffs. She has had yogurt and prunes, but everything else she has had has been a vegetable. 
9. Still nursing and taking a bottle as a primary source of nutrition. Unfortunately we are running to the end of the freezer stash of breast milk and since I'm not pumping at work there isn't a way to keep it up. This week we started to introduce formula and she is getting 1/3 BM and 2/3 formula for her bottles during the day. I plan to continue nursing in the evening/night/morning. 
10. She has started trying to clap and will happily wave at you for goodbye or hello. 
11. She will have whole conversations by growling. SO CUTE!
12. She cries when I walk by but don't pick her up. 
13. She is the happiest darn baby I've ever seen. She has a smile for everyone and laughs with joy often. She will cry when she's hungry or if she wants to be picked up, but it's a communication method. 
14. We are starting with baby signs (to nip crying as communication in the bud!)
15. When she is on the floor and Simon walks/runs by she laughs with joy and starts crawling after him, not infrequently he then starts running away from her shouting "no, Lillian!"  We always remind him it isn't his job to take care of her and he can't yell at her, but it's a totally funny interaction and a little glimpse of the future.

Lilly day

Simon had a doctors appointment today so I just had Ladybug and this afternoon Simon is taking a monster nap so it's girl time. 

Food is tricky!!!

"If this is how to get him to play with me"

I walked into the room and found this today......

Lillian follows Simon around the house now and if she could talk she would be begging him to play with her. She is really only interested in his toys and what he is doing so today when I was warming a bottle the house got quiet....I knew something was up. I walk in to the play room to find Simon "cutting" her hair. Haha!! She couldn't have been happier since her brother was FINALLY playing with her. :)

Park morning with daddy

Alan has had the kids in the morning the past few months. He has occasionally packed them up and gone to the park to wait for Jenn. It's cool and the park is empty and sometimes it's nice just to get out. 

Licking the Beater

He ran in just in time to ask to eat the beater... who could resist watching the fun? 

VIP Passes to watch Batting Practice at Wrigley

Simon and Alan went to the baseball game on the Friday of Jenn's vacation. I stayed home and watched Lillian, who cooperated nicely by sleeping for 3 hours so I could get a bunch of work done.  Joe some how managed to get them VIP tickets to go down onto the field during batting practice. 

Simon whacked Tom Morello on the arm while we were all hanging out on the warning track at Wrigley Field."

This is how you throw the ball, watch!

Super Mario Brothers Break

Alan and I were talking about Super Mario Brothers and he realized that the little NES controller would fit perfectly in Simon's hands. So this afternoon, after a whole week of no accidents (!) Alan set up a little TV and the NES in the play room.

Simon totally loved it, as I'm sure you can imagine. He was sort of getting the hang of it, though obviously not zipping through levels. When I had a go I realized a lot of it was muscle memory; I used to be able to fly through the game but my jumps were off and I kept dying. We also switched controllers between each level, so that didn't help get a rhythm. Lillian stayed in the other room with whoever wasn't playing - she's too little for TV yet!

We only played for an hour or so and then we went outside and played baseball - no complaints. (And the NES/TV is already put away.)

That girl can crawl!!

After she crawls to me in this movie she stands up for a second on her own. Pretty amazing for an 8 month old! Before you say it, I will: That girl is very advanced for her age.

Aquarium Day with Daddy

Jenn was on vacation last Thursday and Friday and Alan stayed home to watch the kids. On Thursday he decided to go to the aquarium as it's been something he's been wanting to do with Simon for months. It ended up being a challenging day, but was still a great experience.

I asked Simon to remember 2 things from the day to tell me about when he got home. As I was tucking him into bed, he interrupted songs to tell me about 1) he saw a huge crab (that was bigger than him) and 2) he saw a shark. Then he was so proud he remembered to tell me about the two things. I sure do love that little guy! 

Simon's Third Birthday Party

Simon's 3rd Birthday Party was on Saturday, June 14th. It was baseball themed. There were hot dogs and popcorn and Auntie Colleen made Baseball cupcakes. We played a lot of baseball and snacked, then when it was time for candles Simon got them lit twice because he blew the candles out as soon as he saw them. Alan held him back while we sang happy birthday and he blew them out a second time. Then Simon asked for a fork to eat his cupcake. During present time he was totally in love with every present and he was constantly saying 'Can we open this now!?'  It was a great time had by all.

More pictures to follow, with a special thanks to Breanne who took the majority of the pictures!

CBA Again

Simon is sort of over me taking pictures of him, as evidenced by this face...

Lillian still likes it though!

Toothy Lilly

Simon is three years old!

It amazes me that Simon is three - in both an 'already' and in an 'only' way.

Some things about Simon now:

1. He sleeps in a toddler bed and has for a couple months. 
2. When we transitioned to toddler bed we also went for bed time potty training, which went amazingly smoothly. Only a handful of accidents in these past months.
3. Though he was day potty trained at 2 and rarely had accidents after the summer (so he went all fall and winter with almost no accidents), he has had a really hard time the past month and a half or so. Or maybe we've had the hard time? He has had 2-3 accidents a day. 
4. He is amazingly verbal. He listens, understands and repeats. Watch what you say around him!
5. He is not really shy around strangers, though he gets reserved in new situations. He always orders his own meals when we are at a counter or restaurant and charms every waiter/waitress that he interacts with.
6. He is definitely trying to assert himself. We hear a whole lot of whys and a definitely have some negotiation. With the Why's we have been trying to logic him through it. EX: Simon: Why is this garage so big?  Mama: What is a garage for? (sleeping cars) How many cars do you see in this garage? (one, two, .... lots) Does the garage need to be big or small to hold this many cars? (big) So why is the garage so big?
7. If you talk sternly to him or raise your voice at all, Simon immediately lashes out with an angry 'no'. In that mode he is pretty stubborn.
8. He is a very stubborn kid, which is good and bad.
9. He loves music and to dance. We have dance parties or rock out on guitar/harmonica pretty often.
10. Simon is very concerned about how we are doing. He is very proud of making us happy and after we have a rough patch he will always ask 'are you happy' over and over until you want to yell. Usually he is asking because he knows you are not happy. 
11. He is starting to like his sister and, especially when no one is looking, will be sweet to her. Not to say that he's willing to share his cars with her - don't talk crazy - just that he is willing to say goodnight or kiss/hug her.
12. Naps are a struggle. He is still taking a nap, but he really doesn't like it. When/if he does finally fall asleep he'll sleep for 2-3 hours. If he doesn't nap he's a grouch.
13. He sleeps with Kitty (formerly known as Jelly Cat) and Puppy (formally known as Chili Dog). Kitty holds the special place of honor and is the one that talks, is brought everywhere, babied, and is often a bad influence. She is also occasionally used as a bat or whip - which causes her to be removed from the room and he has to sleep without her.
14. There is a night-light clock in his room that changes to green when it is alright for him to wake up. It changes over at 6am. Simon is usually awake and at my side of the bed between 5 and 5:30. I take him to the potty, then sits in his room and reads until his clock turns green. 
15. He has started lying. Not big stuff yes, but he will occasionally come in and tell us his clock is green when it isn't yet. 
16. He is capable of pottying on his own, but for some reason usually just won't do it unless someone goes with him.
17. He loves all sports and is surprisingly good at them. We have to stop playing baseball in the back yard because he hits 3/4 of the balls into the neighbor's yard. (Alternately we could just get more balls)
18. He is really is a sweet boy though he has been having some temper tantrums lately. He will hit the table or wall and say 'no!'. Sadly Jenn often gets the brunt of his temper and he has even hit her and bitten her once. We have been zero tolerance with it, but punishment is hard since he now laughs at time outs.
19. Because time outs aren't working, everything 'fun' has been removed from his room - all books, couch pillows, extra blankets and toys. The room is no longer a place to play. He is allowed a book to read in the morning when he wakes up before his light turns green and we read books still before nap and bed. However any books are a privilege and we will remove the 3-4 books that migrate in (nothing makes a mom feel meaner than to hear her kid screaming from his bedroom, MAMA PLEASE BRING ME BACK MY BOOKS! PLEASE PUH-LEASE.) 
20. Due to all above, bed and nap times have had to become more strict as well. He gets one warning and if he doesn't stay in bed then kitty and puppy have to come out. 
21. He is totally psyched to go to school in the fall. We have been going on play dates and he remembers and will randomly talk about his teacher, Ms. Zyrel (like Tyrell but with a Z)
22. Simon still has very little screen time, but we are not nearly as strict about it. He occasionally watches Daniel Tiger. The only movie he watches is Cars.  (Lillian is not allowed to watch, so it has to happen during her nap.)
23. Simon is totally obsessed with the x-box controllers, which he never gets to use. On very rare occasion as a special reward Alan will play a running/jumping video game with him. 
24. We introduced games on the iPad for the airplane ride to Arizona and he remembers them quite clearly. He will often ask for the iPad, though is usually disappointed. When he does get it he has about an hours worth of focus before he wants to go outside and play (same with TV or video games with Alan). 

Simon doing the robot dance this morning on his birthday.

Father's Day 2014

Fathers Day 2014 was the day after Simon's 3rd Birthday Party and 2 days after Wrigley Field Family Day. We were all pretty tired. But we really wanted to do something special for Daddy. So we took the train down to Old Town and went to see the Cat in the Hat Story Time at the Old Town Art Fair. Simon totally loved it.  Then we went to the Spice House to restock and then headed home (with a quick stop for gelato). A good day!

Wrigley Field Family Day

The Cubs do a Family Day at Wrigley Field every year and this year, as season ticket holders, we got to go. Colleen, Joe, Alan, Simon and I (and we had one extra ticket). Jenn stayed home with Lillian, which was definitely a good idea since we were on our feet the whole time.

I thought it would be fun, but it totally exceeded my expectations. We all had a total blast. Ran around on the field, played catch, touched the ivy, walked through the dugout and the batting cages and press box, met the owner and of course met Clark, the Cubs Mascot. We will definitely be going back next year.

Waiting for the gates to open, everyone now wearing a cubs hat but Simon.

Talk about an excited kid...

On the field!

With Clark, the Cubs new mascot.

Throw!

Catch!

You can see Emily in the purple and Simon in the blue playing baseball: 

Tiredest boy on his way home. Note the baseball tattoo. 

SO MANY more pictures after the jump...

Morning at CBA

I woke up to this at 4am. Simon was up by 4:30. 

After fighting with them for an hour to go back to sleep I gave up and packed everyone into the car and went out to breakfast at CBA (Chicago Bagel Authority). Not as good as Safari Cup (still miss that place) but a decent substitute. Simon was super well behaved and Lillian was totally thrilled. We might just be going out more often. If everyone is in a good mood next time we might even brave the train!

Simon didn't want me to take pictures of him so I snuck him into the background.

Look! I'm Standing!