We spent three days in Fenelon Falls last weekend with Christopher’s family doing not much else but chatting, eating great food and watching movies. After all my moaning about what a handful he has been lately, Simon decided to get back at me by being a complete delight all weekend. I’m sure everyone now thinks my complaints about his behaviour are totally unfounded. Simon did things he never does at home, like playing happily for tens of minutes in his exersaucer, going down for naps with no fuss and letting me eat an entire meal uninterrupted. My in-laws seemed skeptical about all my claims that “he’s not normally like this, I swear!” Nicely played, little one.
With Hawksley
Four generations
Moms and babies
-Leila
My workout videos are gathering dust, so Simon decided to encourage me to get off my butt by doing some Pilates moves (with perfect form no less). You can bounce a quarter off his abs.
Simon loves being held high in the air, but as you can see we become drool targets when we play this game.
And just for fun, here’s a picture of the greatest soother in the world.
-Leila
In the first weeks of Simon’s life I wrote a post describing how he had his father’s calm and peaceful disposition. It has become apparent that this ruse was all part of his sinister plan to make us fall in love with him so we wouldn’t take him back to the hospital’s Returns and Exchanges department. Simon definitely does not have his dad’s disposition. He has mine - namely that he’s an impatient loudmouth.
The following sequence of pictures demonstrates this nicely. Our attempt to get a picture of all the boys together went awry when Simon decided he was NOT in the mood to sit still and look cute. Whining was quickly followed by screaming, and by the end of it he had two more babies join his chorus. By the look on his face you would think I was trying to pull his toenails off one by one, not snap a few photos.
-Leila
I just checked and it’s been two weeks since my last post. Yikes! One day is pretty much like the last in babyville so it’s easy to lose track of time. It’s amazing how a week can fly by despite the moments when time seems to stop, specifically the screaming and whining moments.
Over the past 14 days I would occasionally think to myself, “I should go write a post about [insert new/amusing/gross thing Simon’s doing]”, but then I would get busy doing something else and forget what the new/amusing/gross thing was. But I know what the people want and it isn’t some boring update about Simon’s gas troubles (still waking him and us up at night). It’s pictures!
My current favourite things about Simon are his neck and wrist creases. Is it wrong that I have this overwhelming urge to gobble them up? His thighs have so many creases it’s cute overload, so I won’t post any pictures of that yet.
In my last post I described how we were taking Simon for winter walks, but after our last walk we noticed that Simon’s cheek was still pretty red that evening so we decided to forgo the hikes until it gets warmer. We think it might be windburn but it’s still a little discoloured so we’re going to see our doctor today. As you can see, it’s not causing him any discomfort.
I swear to God every picture we take of this kid is on our couch.
People are always commenting on Simon’s faux hawk, but it’s hard to see in most of his pictures so I took one to showcase his cutting edge style. The rest of his head is starting to catch up now so I wanted to make sure I documented it before it disappeared.
Simon’s able to sit up on his own on soft surfaces like the couch (where we live apparently) or my lap. He can last about five seconds on the floor before he starts toppling over, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be sitting indepedently by six months.
Simon gets cranky sitting in his bouncy chair during dinner, so we brought out his highchair so that he can be at our level. He had a great time playing with his toys and knocking them over while we ate, but I’m sure he’ll be bored of it within a few days. If it isn’t new it’s no good as far as Simon’s concerned. Novelty reigns supreme, and that’s why I’m giving him the remote control and the phone to play with now.
-Leila
Simon discovered his twig and berries in the bath a few nights ago and now anytime he’s naked he likes to reach down and squish his poor little testicles. Topher thinks he’s a masochist.
Despite the cold temperatures, Topher and I are taking Simon for walks at least every other day. The snow makes it hard to push our stroller so we’re using our baby carrier instead. Christopher zips his coat over Simon’s body to keep him warm so all you can see is his little head poking out. I guess this is what Topher would look like if he had a beer gut.
Simon’s getting bored of hanging out in our living room so outings are becoming a necessity. He likes going to the grocery store, the movies and Baby and Me time at the Early Years Centre. I’ve managed to avoid the mall so far, but it’s winter and there isn’t much else to do so that probably won’t last. Of course my favourite thing to do is drink coffee and gossip with the ladybuds (Topher’s cute nickname for the moms I hang out with) while the babies entertain each other.
Since he has good head control now (and because our doctor said it was ok) we’ve tried putting Simon to bed on his stomach to see if he’ll sleep any longer. So far it’s hit and miss but he does seem to prefer it.
-Leila
This Monday we visited Hawksley, Laura and Cameron again. My mom came too and she made us a fabulous lunch. Hawksley is changing fast but remains super cute. When I look at Simon it’s hard to believe he was ever Hawksley’s size, but in this picture Hawksley is wearing one of his old sleepers so it must be true.
At four months old Simon is now 18 pounds. Here’s a graph that shows what percentile he’s in. As you can see he’s literally off the charts!
Simon’s started pulling off my glasses when I’m chatting to him or changing him. He’s also fond of pursing his lips and blowing noisy spit bubbles right now. He rolled from tummy to back for the first time last week and he’s working on rolling from back to tummy (apparently more difficult). He gets about 3/4 of the way there and gets stuck.
One of the moms I hang out with took some pictures of the boys last week. We tried to get one where they were all happy but as you can see it didn’t work out. From left to right - Thomas, Owen, Brayden, Simon and Ben.
-Leila
When we met our new nephew Hawksley, we were surprised by how small he seemed - especially considering he was born almost a pound heavier than Simon’s birth weight. It’s amazing how quickly they change and how easy it is to forget. I made this video clip as a reminder and so we could look for similarities in Hawksley.
These days Simon is much more animated, aware and active. He has figured out how to roll over, he grabs at any object in reach with the sole purpose of placing it in his mouth and he has figured out how to take his soother out and put it back (sometimes). Best of all he has a sense of humour and a great laugh.
What a week! Christopher’s sister Laura finally gave birth to her own (very) big little man on Thursday, February 1. Laura and Cameron are the proud parents of Hawksley Lauchlin Shaver, weighing in at an astonishing 10 lbs 10 oz! Way to go Laura!
And only two days later, our friends Glenn and Carolyn had their own big bundle of joy. Heath Glenn Williams was born February 3 in Perth, Australia weighing 9 lbs 12 oz. I thought I had a big baby but Simon was the smallest of the three (at a measly 9 lbs 11 oz).
We’ve added a page at the top entitled Friends and Family with links to websites for both Hawksley and Heath where you can see pics and get more info.
Congrats to all the new parents. Enjoy every minute of it.
-Leila
Simon’s strength has been steadily increasing so we decided it was time he do some jumping. This video shows his first time in a Jolly Jumper. He might need a little more practice to get the hang of it, but he puts on a good marionette show regardless!
-Topher
Simon and I went to an intro session for signing with your baby today. The idea is that you can teach your baby sign language so he can communicate with you even if he can’t speak yet. The instructor showed a video of kids signing things like more, eat, play and milk. To make the sign for milk you move your hand like you’re milking a cow’s udder - appropriate for a nursing mother since that’s how you feel sometimes.
Simon’s night time gas pain is much better although it still bugs him some days. I think there are a few things in my diet that aggravate it, including oats and any kind of bean. Too bad since Topher and I are trying to include a few more vegetarian meals in our diet and most of them have beans.
I’ve been feeling some stress about Simon’s sleeping habits lately, mostly because sleep, especially whether or not your baby sleeps through the night, is one of the main things moms talk about. The longest stretch he has ever had is only about four hours. Simon is still waking up two or three times a night to feed which doesn’t bother me at all, but lots of sources are saying he should be sleeping through the night at this point, including our family doctor and my most hated baby book (a free one from State Farm Insurance). In fact, the State Farm book says that 90 per cent of babies are sleeping through the night by three months! What a bunch of crap. Anyway, I’ve decided to stop worrying about it. Every baby is different and the most important thing is that we’re all getting enough sleep.
I’m going over to Jenn’s house tonight (one of the moms in our group) for hot tubbing followed by drinks and dessert by the fireplace. Four of us are leaving the babies at home with their dads for some time for ourselves. We’re all breastfeeding so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes well and we don’t get a frantic call to come home.
Here are a couple of pictures of Simon sitting in his Bumbo seat. He’s not sure he likes it yet but we’ll keep trying.
