Simon, January 2012

What do you think? Does our boy look like his dad? Collin’s mom sent me this outfit and  I couldn’t resist doing a mini-photo shoot. I couldn’t get a good pic of Simon smiling that wasn’t blurry. He’s too wiggly

This one was the best for side-by-side comparison But just for show, and because, lets be honest he’s adorable, here’s a couple more:

He was a good sport through the whole thing. But by the end he’d had enough. As soon as I picked him up off the floor he barfed all over my shirt. Thanks buddy. Simon is drooling 100% of the time, as evidenced by the long strands flowing from his mouth. He goes through at least 4 bibs a day and a couple onesies too, yikes! By the way, I’m a little sad that all his hair is falling out…He’s like a balding old man. But his spiky whisps are cute and soft so he’s still a keeper.

P.S. A shout out to my rad sister-in-law Cicily for emailing me Collin’s baby picture. You’re a real gem!

Our first flight of our trip was relatively painless. If you don’t count Violet not taking a nap. I had a feeling we would pay for it later. And boy did we ever! The flight from Denver to Cody, WY is an hour and should be easy. But let me tell you folks, it was miserable! Violet basically screamed for the entire hour. She was so overtired she couldn’t control herself. I’m talking, kicking, screaming, crying, yelling, throwing her snacks and toys, pulling her hair, you get the picture. It was bad. Collin and I decided it was the longest hour of our lives thus far And i’m sure everyone on the flight shared our sentiments. Man, it was a doozy. But we made it and all slept very well that night thankfully.

We hardly took any pictures over our vacation which is so sad. But we had our hands full with these two kids. Fortunately the first 4 days of our trip were illness free. Unfortunately our kids were miserable the rest of the trip  Violet had a great time playing with her cousins at “grandma Bennon’s house”, as she would say. She discovered how much fun it is to play dress up and as a result was dressed like this for the 3 days we were there:

We gave Collin’s parents a 7 generation family pedigree chart for Christmas. Our good friend and neighbor designs them. Go here to learn more! We also gave one to my parents.

On Christmas Eve we hopped on another plane for a quick flight to UT to spend Christmas with my family. Santa made a large drop of presents for miss Violet and she was very excited and I think a bit overwhelmed. When she walked into the living room Christmas morning she said: “OH-K GREAT! Yook at all dee’s presents Santa got fur you!” It was pretty awesome. We did manage to take some video of Christmas morning but it’s around 15 minutes long, way too long for this blog. We had a great time on Christmas visiting with family and eating, and eating, and eating. It was delicious!

The day after Christmas Violet woke up with a runny nose, slight fever, and a cough. She was still in pretty good spirits which left me feeling optimistic that it was just a cold and she would be better in a few days. Unfortunately for her she felt worse and worse, so we took her to an urgent care clinic. Long story short, they did all kinds of tests to rule out strep throat, ear infections, and pneumonia. She had the croup which is better then the alternatives but still miserable. I knew it was only a matter of days before Simon was next. Sure enough, the next day he was sick too. Bummer. My family were good sports about our cranky sick kids. My mom even took Violet to “Build A Bear Workshop” and let her pick out her own bear( I’m still questioning Violet’s taste since she picked the ugliest bear they have. I’m not kidding. But she was happy and we were desperate to keep her that way so whatever works right?)

Here she is in all her glory. Yikes!

We flew home on the 30th. And to make a very LONG story short Simon was super sick. He slept for 5 hours straight and didn’t eat for almost 10 hours. He was very lethargic and dehydrated with a fever of 102.5 so we ended up taking him to the ER. They gave him IV fluids and an oral steroid to re-hydrate him which helped right away thankfully.

Poor baby Collin and I each took our turn with colds right after we got back too. Not fun. But everyone is recovered now and I’m hoping we’ll stay illness free for the duration of winter, fingers crossed.

Now we’re just trying to get through the cold, gloomy winter months. Violet has suddenly become more of a home body and asks to stay home everyday. Which has its pros and cons. Now that she’s a bit older she spends a lot of time playing on her own with her toys which is huge! Now if we could get our boy to take some decent naps (longer then 30 minutes please) then we’d be all set

We blessed our sweet Simon last Sunday. We were lucky enough to have Collin’s parents, and aunt Carrie and uncle Fred, and my mom too! We had a great time visiting with everyone and of course forgot to take many pictures.  Here’s some of what we did:

* Visit to the Cloisters Museum

* Dinner in Union Square

* Walked 5th Avenue from 34th street-Rockefeller Center to see the windows at Macy’s, Lord and Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue and of course the big Christmas tree.

* Collin made an amazing dinner for everyone that included a ribeye roast, twice baked potatoes and green peas. I made chocolate cake for dessert

Violet LOVED having  her grandparents here. She was showered with gifts, love, and undivided attention which has been a little scare these days poor girl. We’re gearing up for a trip to Macy’s to see Santa. She wasn’t a fan last year but i’m optimistic about her attitude this year.

Simon is growing like a weed, yikes! I dressed him in a 6 month outfit today. Crazy. More pics to follow. Happy Friday everyone!

We’re in full Christmas mode around here! Violet is really interested in the tree, decorations and of course santa. So we’re trying to create some of our own family traditions so that it will be a memorable holiday for her. These are some of my favorite christmas stories from my childhood. I ordered a few of these for Violet and we’ve been reading them during the day. I especially love Santa’s Favorite Story. I really want to instill in her at an early age what the Christmas season is all about. What about you? What are some of your favorite Christmas books?

And while we decorated our boy watched:

Here’s the finished product:

We’re really feeling the Christmas spirit now!

*by the way, Violet’s obsessed with this pink shirt that my friend Andrea gave me. She asks to wear it over her clothes almost everyday.*

And here she is devouring said cupcake.

Surprisingly (or not) she had no ethical qualms about eating her favorite Sesame Street character. Although about halfway through when Elmo had deteriorated into a mumbled mess of red and white frosting, she said, “Where Elmo go?” He’s in your tummy, Gingher. “He’s in my tummy?” Yes. And your hair and your shirt and your pants and the table and your chair…

By the way, the cupcake is from Ruthy’s Bakery at Chelsea Market.

Happy Halloween friends!

He’s so happy, most of time He loves to eat and he should, since he’s 11 pounds, give or take a few ounces. He also loves lay on the floor and kick around. But his most favorite thing to do is to be held. He also really smiles when Violet comes over to talk to him. So sweet!
He sleeps pretty well too. Sometimes getting back to sleep in the middle of the night is a challenge but most nights he’s fine to just eat and fall right back to sleep. He’s becoming more and more alert and interested in his surroundings everyday which is fun to experience again. You forget so much of newborn life as they get older.
Life with two kids is challenging. But on hard days I keep reminding myself that it won’t be like this forever which helps. Violet still has some jealousy issues and the the tantrums, OH the tantrums! They don’t call them terrible twos for nothing
Slowly but surely she’s learning to accept her new reality. Every morning she runs out to the living room to look for Simon and always asks where he is if she can’t find him. And she says she’s thankful for “my Simon” in her nightly prayers.
But we love these two little munchkins and are so so happy to be their parents!