What Simon is doing at a Year and a Half

Simon's a year and a half now so I wanted to post some of the things he's doing that we love. He's been doing some of these things for a while, but it seemed a good time for a summary post.

See the full list after the jump:

Buckling Buckles

Simon learned lots of new words this weekend. Buckle and Open are the big ones which he shows off in this video as he buckles his high chair buckles (another new skill).  He likes to do this over and over for as long as we're willing to keep opening them back up for him. He can even close them if he's sitting in the chair, but thankfully hasn't figured out how to open them on his own. He also learned Dude (said while giving a thumbs up sign), Okay, Big and Bag this weekend. He also says Click, but I'm going with that as a noise not a word. 

Pictures of the Day: 12/13/12

What? Only fruit for breakfast?

I see me on the phone!

That is me!

I love my picture getting taken!

Doesn't he look old? Still only 18 months.

Pictures of the Day: 12/12/12

Simon isn't worried... 

Dr. No

Sad milestone this past weekend: Simon has learned to use the N-word.  Despite all of our best efforts not to say it around him, after 18 months he's finally figured it out.  I don't know where he learned that word... he must have picked it up from some older kids on the playground.

He says it very clearly, too - not like some of his other words that only make sense in context (if at all).  He has sort of a weird accent to it though... he says it more like "newww", dragging out the 'o'.  And he always has a sly little smile as he says it, like he's doing it on purpose because he knows it'll get a rise out of us.

Fortunately he still doesn't use it as an angry tantrum word, it's just an answer to a question.  If he really wants us to stop something (like tickling, feeding him broccoli or putting him to bed) he'll say "Alldonealldonealldone!".  He reserves "No" for when we ask him questions about if he needs or wants to do something in particular.  But it is now quickly becoming his preferred answer for every option to every question, and we keep having conversations with him that go like this:

Cocoa and Zoo Lights

On Sunday afternoon Sarah and Arjun had a Cocoa and Cookies get together and then everyone went over to Lincoln Park Zoo to see the Zoo Lights. It was a the first time we really pushed past Simon's bedtime and just went for it. He was great the whole time. 

There were a bunch of new people at Sarah and Arjun's but after a few minutes of adjusting he loved them all. There was another little girl there, a 14 month old who wasn't walking yet. I was giving both her and Simon some blueberries and was being clear about which were Simons and which were Lelani's. Simon took one of his blueberries and handed it to Lelani and then signed eat and pointed to her. He was so sweet with her! Patting her hair and waving and saying hi. He got a little crazy toward the end of the party, running around and getting applause from so many people can be quite the high.  

We took the bus to the Zoo and then walked around from around 5:30 to 7:30. He loved it. He walked a ton on his own and was carried for easily 30 minutes by Sarah. Everyone took a turn holding him and he loved it! On the walk to the train he passed out. When we got him to the backyard he was still zonked out and we had him tucked into bed by 8pm. He woke up a bit when we changed him and wasn't the happiest camper but was relieved to get into bed.

From Back Left: Joseph, Arjun, Paul, Alan
From Front Left: Vickie Sarah, Simon, Julie and Emily 

Saturday Park time

We thought we had a party to go to on Saturday, but the party was actually on Sunday. So instead we went to the park and ran around together. It was a great time.