Adventures with Cookie Monster...

Simon experienced his first baking project with Mommy this rainy Saturday afternoon. He was very excited that we were going to make cookies. Much to his dismay, homemade cookies do not come instantly out of the box in the cupboard, but require a lot of patience and A LOT of waiting. He did great, I think the pictures are worth a thousand words.

You're kidding me, all I get out of this deal are a bunch of raisins?

Very patiently waiting

And then maybe starting to get a little irritated...

Finally, what I have been waiting so long for...

Our own little Cookie Monster!

And a little video of Simon and the cookie conundrum for your viewing pleasure!

We're back!

I'm so sorry, but I forgot the camera. Friday I had my second residency interview so I was a little scattered when I came home to pack in the afternoon. We had a blast at our family's house this weekend. Simon ran around like a nut with all his cousins and was totally hyped up on sugar (thank you Uncle Donut) and didn't sleep very much, but it was fun and well worth it!

His cousin Sean was very excited that Simon got to sleep in his room. I think the first night they kept each other awake talking until 9:30 or so. Boy did 7:15 come awfully early. We watched his cousin Shaelyn learn to ride her bike on two wheels, and enjoyed the beautiful sunshiney weather while we were at it. Merma and Grump came on Saturday for lunch and dinner, Simon was thrilled to see his Grump at Aunt "Ninny's". Another highlight, Uncle Scott's new "MOMOCYCLE!", which was talked about incessantly (by Simon) the whole weekend. What a gorgeous weekend, fun to play outside and the added bonus of the ice cream man on Saturday to end the season.

Thanks Ninny and Uncle Donut for a great weekend! We can't wait to see you all at Thanksgiving!

And we're off...

for a fun filled and a little crazy Mommy and Simon weekend at Aunt Mindy and Uncle Scott's (aka Uncle Donut) house. Min and Scott have four kiddos under the age of 12 and we always joke that Simon would secretly love to be the fifth Donovan kid. He just loves all the commotion and activity and they love playing with him too so he gets lots and lots of attention. For me, it's a much needed trip out of the great state of Maine and a lot of distraction with all my cousins around. I'll update on our trip when we're home on Sunday! Bon Voyage!

Random rant...

I don't quite understand why the breastfeeding ticker looks like it's nearing the end. I certainly don't think it's an omen as my boy is still a nursing fiend with both moms, but it is a little weird. I wonder if it'll stop after his birthday? Did you know that the AVERAGE age of weaning worldwide is 4.5 years? I think that it's only that low because the majority of women in the US only breastfeed for a few months if at all before switching to formula. It's pretty incredible if you think about it, I don't know that I want to breastfeed for 4.5 years, but I also don't live in a society where breastmilk is where my child gets all his nutrition. A big hurray to us and our lovely son for keeping it going thus far.

Probably for the best...

that Simon wears his bike helmet while riding his giraffe around the house. Maybe we should just have him wear his bike helmet all the time. Sometimes I wonder, do you think the kids would tease him if I had him wear it to school too?

He's a cute one....

Kim asked me today whether I was going to blog every day about Simon. I said, "no, only when he does something cute, so I guess, yes, pretty much every day!" He's pretty cute I guess. Simon had a good day at school today. Wish it was just a boring mundane day at daycare, but with Simon things are never dull. The day started with me waking him up at 8 AM to get reading for school. He sat bolt upright and said "DADA (simon) WEAR SSSSS (steelers)?" And would settle for nothing less than his two piece Steelers ensemble, thank you Grammie.

Kim picked him up from school where she head all about how "Simon didn't nap well today, he spent most of nap time trying to jump out of his crib." I guess it'll be an early night. Right now, in his infinite cuteness is playing with his people and school bus, opening the door, singing the wheels on the bus and then taking the people out the top of the bus, lining them up, and putting them back in. He's been at it for at least half an hour. Should be a quiet (early) night.

You know daycare is going well when....

You hear a song from the backseat that goes something like this "LORI, I YUV YOU! BOBBIE, I YUV YOU!" Lori and Bobbie are two of Simon's primary daycare providers, he goes twice a week right now and seems to love it....obviously. Could have been prompted because we were travelling the same road we take to daycare and it was in the morning. Either way, I love hearing this, makes me feel a little less guilty about having to work during the day, knowing he loves his school and they love him too!

Teeny Tiny Baby

In an effort to keep up with requests for new pics of Simon I have decided to start blogging. It seems like a good opportunity also to keep track of all the silly and outrageously wonderful things he does each day.

I spent the day studying for boards (I promise we'll get to Simon....). Ugh. Four or five more weeks, still far enough away so I don't know exactly how long, but close enough that I should start doing something about it and not wait until the last minute (rewind to October 2005). I came home to an very enthusiastic "HI MOMMY!" and a big grin from the top of the stairs. I run up to him and ask for a kiss. He starts to walk into his room, turns around and comes at me, full force, mouth open for a welcome home kiss. I wipe the drool off my face (he's teething) and follow him into his room to "PAY COWS?" Well cows only last so long before Simon's on to the next activity. He jumps up into his rocking chair, lays across it sideway with his little legs hanging over the arm rest and exclaims, "TEENY TINY BABY!" I looked at my very big boy, who not too long ago was indeed a teeny tiny baby and felt an overwhelming sense of both pride in my beautiful wonderful son, and sadness at how fast he's growing into an independant little guy. My baby is not a baby anymore. He runs around the house like a nut, he rides his giraffe at the speed of light in the living room, he throws and hits baseballs, he watches the Red Sox games yelling at the top of his lungs, "GO MAMMY, GO BIG PAPI, HIT BALL!" He is truly a toddler now. It's a difficult thing, to embrace the people they are becoming and still to feel a sense of sadness at the two years that have flown by. Our days of nursing nonstop, snuggles in bed in the morning and having him fall back to sleep, and all of the wonderful things about babies are gone. They have been replaced by all the wonderful things about toddlers. His unrelenting curiosity about the world around him, his ability to ask for and receive what he wants, as long as it comes with a "PEESE MOMMY!", he runs and jumps and plays and is so much fun to be around. So while I miss my little baby, I probably always will, I love love love this wonderful toddler who makes me laugh (and cry sometimes) and always has something to say no matter what's going on, who loves being the peanut butter in the mommy-mama sandwich and who makes every day exciting.

One of my favorite summertime pics, Simon and the sand attack!

Simon and his Grump at a Portland Sea Dogs game in early September.

Like Mommy, like son...

Simon and Mama and a quick preview of the chicken costume...

Beautiful boy.