Now Entering Parenthood...

On January 8th, 2010… our lives changed forever, for the better, and a new part of our family entered this world. This post is not meant to be a mushy parent lovefest, but just a simple look back on what we’ve learned along the way and the little man that helped us learn how to be parents. But first…

SNAPSHOT OF A 1 YEAR OLD

JAN 8, 2010: 7 lbs 8 ounces, 20 inches, 0 teeth
JAN 8, 2011: 21 lbs 10 ounces, 30 inches, 8 teeth

NICKNAMES: Bug, Buggers (Mcgoo), Stinkman, Mr. Man, Little Man

MOST ADORABLE HABIT
Running up and laying his head in your lap, or “head hugs” as we call it, just to let you know he’s thinking about you, before returning to play.

MOST ANNOYING HABIT - TIE
Tom and I couldn’t decide between Simon’s obsession with insistently throwing his sippy cup on the floor during meals or turning the TV on and off (mostly off) while we are in the middle of something (TV is also a computer).

A BUDDING PERSONALITY
He smiles at strangers and shrieks at cats, in fact pictures of cats sends him into giggle fits. He loves being chased and giving hugs to everyone (including animals). He likes entertaining and being entertained, which sometimes means he doesn’t like being left alone… just having you there to watch him play is comforting. He is determined to figure it out, he’s not easily tricked. A determined happy little guy.

A GROWING VOCABULARY
Official Entries: mama, dada or daddy, all done
Questionable: nah or no, hi, hello, duck, kitty, soft

“ON THE VERGE” - CAN’T QUITE YET…
Color with a crayon, put a fork in food, put the right shaped blocks in the right shaped holes (oh so close), clap, run, walk while holding hands, or sing along.

PLACES TRAVELED
As far away as Boston. As nearby as Indiana, Ohio, and western Michigan. He’s been to the zoo, the library, outdoor festivals, malls, museums, and the beach. He’s played in the snow and in the water, with dogs and with cats. On planes, trains, and cars… and we hope to do much more in 2011.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND MISGUIDED NOTIONS
You walk into parenting thinking you know a lot or fearful of how much you have to learn. The truth is somewhere in the middle… a lot of common sense, and a lot of willingness to learn along the way.

SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT
Time We Were Told To Sleep Through The Night: 3-4 weeks
Time We Estimated It Would Take: 3-4 months
Time It Actually Took Him To Do It: 9 months

PARENTING DEVICES
Devices We Couldn’t Live Without: Catcher bibs, baby bjorn
Device We Wish He Could Live Without: Cell phones and remote controls
Device So Important, Now Forgotten: Pacifier, boppy, bottle warmer
Device Never Quite Used: Baby swing

BIGGEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Marta: Being on maternity leave at around 6-7 weeks old, my child turned into a cranky, inconsolable little stinker. Then I learned about how a baby needs to sleep during the day, which is often and a lot. The next day, I had a new kid.
Tom: Never realized how important it was to put a kid on a schedule and stick to it as much as you can, and how much he actually needs it.

ONE KID DOWN, ONE TO GO
This June, we will have a new (and final?) member of our growing family. It’s an exciting time, especially since we know a bit more what we are in for…

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO
Marta: Snuggling a small little guy, naps together, a summer off
Tom: Holding that new little life, swaddling

NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO
Marta: The “lump” stage, no smiles, crying with no real reason
Tom: Waking up in the middle of the night, exhaustion

MOST CURIOUS ABOUT
Marta: Simon’s reaction, keeping attention balanced
Tom: New family dynamics, creating new family memories 

WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
Marta: Pay more attention to sleepiness, end nighttime feeding earlier
Tom: Don’t overfeed during the middle of the night!!

WOULD DO THE SAME
Marta: Make baby food, breastfeed, be relaxed, make time for us
Tom: Most things!! Be laid back but also mind the schedule

COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS
We’ve been lucky with Simon in many ways and hope the new baby also has… no colic, no stranger anxiety, no ear infections. Is a good teether, a good eater, with a generally happy disposition.

CROSSING OUR FINGERS
But if we could modify a few things (which we can’t), we are kinda hoping for some earlier sleeping through the night and maybe this time… some more hair!! Of course, a little girl would also mix things up (stay tuned!).

WRAP UP - OUR FAVORITES FROM YEAR ONE

FAVORITE MEMORY
Tom: Simon’s first smile… we were getting ready for a trip to the park and he was in his car seat. After that he was a lot of fun, I remember taking him to Saugatuck and holding him at the top of a giant windmill.

Marta: Seeing his reaction when he first got back from a weekend away from home. He giggled and crawled around, hugged the cats. Also seeing his sweet face when Abbi gave him a hug, so appreciative and unexpected.

FAVORITE AGE
Tom: Right now!! He’s playful and happy and how cute is it to see someone so little walking around? Answer… really cute.

Marta: Right now is pretty awesome, but let’s not forget how great it was when Simon could sit but not yet crawl (6 months). Lots of smiles, less bumps and bruises.

At 11 months old, Simon has become quite a lot of fun for Marta and I. While he’s always been a pretty happy baby, he’s finally begun to actually “play games” with us. Silly, pointless games of course, but that’s what it’s all about when you are a baby. Marta discovered that Simon loves getting lightly bopped on the head by various objects. This activity can go on for 15 minutes straight with Simon laughing hysterically the entire time. If there’s one thing we can’t get enough of, it’s those hysterical baby laughs. He also loves being chased, tossed up in the air, and being tickled.

For Thanksgiving, we all drove down to Indiana to spend the holiday with my Dad’s family. The car ride was over 5 hours long, but Simon handled it perfectly, both on the way there AND on the way home. During the trip, Simon got to meet his second cousin Abigail, who is two years old. Watching the two of them interact was incredibly entertaining, and we managed to get some pretty cute photos. 

Simon has also become more affectionate and cuddly lately, something that all new parents look forward to. When he wakes up in the morning (after a wonderfully long and uninterrupted 12 hours of sleep), he wants to be picked up and held while he wraps his arms around and rests his head on mom or dad’s shoulder. The ladies at his daycare have reported that he has been going around giving hugs to the other children, and if he notices a hug taking place, he quickly makes his way over to get in on it.

While he still hasn’t quite begun to speak complete words, he has started doing what appears to be another bit of sign language. When we sit him down in his high chair, he frantically brings his hand to his mouth in a back and forth motion as if to say “I’m hungry, where’s the food!?”. We have started giving him whole milk during meals, which he really loves, among many other new foods. Simon is an exceptional eater for a baby his age, and we are grateful for that. Sometimes it’s a complete mystery how he’s able to eat so much food…where does it all go?

Finally, this month marks one of Simon’s biggest achievements yet…walking! While he’s nowhere near perfecting it, he has taken as many as 13 steps without tumbling over, and he continues to practice every day. Marta and I spend a lot of time playing with him and having him walk back and forth between us, using some mundane object to coax him into it. Mundane to us, but fascinating to him. Remote controls, a camera lens cap, and bubbles seem to work really well to get him up and moving. At the rate he’s improving, I think it’s only a matter of weeks until he will have mastered the ability altogether, and thus we will begin a whole new chapter of keeping an eye on our little troublemaker.

It feels like the months are going by faster, and we are quickly on our way to one year old. Simon grows more fun everyday. He has favorite games, like chasing mom and dad around the table while knocking down blocks. He is extremely giggly, and is becoming more and more strong willed and curious about the world around him.

On The Verge… Watch Out!!
I really tried to capture it, but the moments are so fleeting, it’s almost impossible to get them. But here it is… Simon is perhaps days away from walking. One month ago, he stood for the first time, got freaked out and then didn’t really do it again for a while. But slowly over the past week, Simon has been taking risks on his own. And it’s not just standing, it’s been attempts to walk.

As of right now, he can take a step or two as long as it is part of a forward momentum fall into something like the couch or mommy’s arms. And he can also stand for about 5 seconds or so. But 99% of the time it ends quickly with him plopping down on his sweet little tush. But everyday he is getting a little more stable and a lot more daring.

What Did You Just Say?
While Simon has still remained pretty quiet compared to many a babbling and actually talking babies his age, we were super excited to discover that Simon had learned a very important phrase… ‘all done’!! Although I also wasn’t able to get this magic act on video really well :(

What makes it important is, for one, it is not just a word but baby sign language. So Simon will babble ‘alda’ with his hands held high above his head. It’s also a very versatile phrase. And even though we’ve only done it with him at the high chair after eating… He has done it when he’s done taking a bottle before bed and when he is just really pissed off that you are trying to clean his face. ‘ALL DONE’ he insists.

Big News Will Bring Big Changes
So what else big has changed in the past month? Well, on Oct 10th, I found out that much to my surprise, I was pregnant with our second child. And come fathers day 2011 (June 19th), Simon will have a little baby brother or sister.

It’s early, but the news has already started us thinking about what next summer will be like. Will Simon be ready for a big boy bed? Will he be jealous of the new baby, indifferent, interested? And so we are just focusing our attention on our small family before it becomes bigger… On being parents to our baby, before he isn’t the ‘baby’ any longer. I guess that just might be sooner than we thought.

Everyday we are closer to one year old, and everyday I am losing my little baby to the independent toddler who roams my house looking for cabinets to open and things to climb. Only cuddly when he wants to be, Simon has become a little man with a mission to find new and yet undiscovered things to slobber on or to hurt himself with.

At potentially the most squirmy and restless point in Simon’s existence so far, we decided it was time to up the ante, test our patience and take him on some new adventures…

Little Man, Big Adventures
First stop, Boston!! I was traveling to Boston for a conference and decided it was a good time to bring Simon out to Massachusetts to meet his Great Grandma Giles and the Monkley family. It was also a perfect time to catch my friend Alyssa before she moves out to Spain to continue her fairytale romance and marry the man she met on our trip to Portugal together.

Tom did the first flight alone with Simon, who was giggling at strangers up until the descent. The pressure got to him and he had a little meltdown. He arrived to Boston passed out on Tom’s chest.

After a few days of trying to do a more adult vacation (nice restaurant, sight seeing), we took Simon to a children’s museum where he could crawl and chew on everything. He was as happy as could be. And I have decided that I need to open a business that combines the drink menu and food selection of a fancy wine bar with the full wall to wall padding of the crawler room at Boston Children Museum. Pop your kid in the water bed pit and get served a nice Malbec with prosciutto pizza.

Lessons learned… Avoid restaurants that might mind their floors covered in half eaten finger foods. Obey at least one nap a day and you will be better off for it!!! And after toting around a toddler in the city, mom and dad will need one anyway.

Next was a train to Southwick, where Tom figured out how well the baby bjorn fits over the back of a seat, and does an amazing job keeping a baby happy and out of trouble. All in all, Simon did pretty great traveling. It’s hard to keep him entertained and still, but at least he was happy and smiled at any stranger that would smile back.

Scared to Stand?
Our second big trip this month was to Amy’s parents cottage in Ohio, right outside of Sandusky. More laid back than busy Boston, we got to just enjoy the company of friends in a cozy cottage by the fireplace.

What was extra exciting about the trip was that Simon decided to stand (with no support!!) for the first time in front of the room full of people. Once people cheered, he got a little freaked out and promptly sat back down. To be honest, I think Simon is afraid to stand and definitely afraid to walk. He is strong enough, but the minute you try and help him stand his body goes limp and he sits down. But I guess I should be thankful for that :)

I can’t believe how fast this is all going. That I am now the mom with the BIG baby in the room, rather than the small petite newborn. And when are you actually ready to do it all over again? Only time will tell!!!

Back when I first got my baby book, I was excited to enter in dates and stories all about Simon’s “firsts”. Little did I realize how unclear something as simple as his “first word” or the first time he ever crawled would be. Everything is a matter of opinion… childhood is not in spits and spurts, but a constant gradual (or sometimes not so gradual) process.

So with that in mind, the month of August brought CRAZY amounts of progress. And for the six days we were gone to California, I feel like I left my baby and came home to a little boy, a toddler who is becoming more independent, strong willed, and animated every day.

First Words?

So, I already know I am going to get hassled by more than one grandma on this one, but we have been waiting patiently for what we consider Simon’s “first word”. It’s soooo unclear, and a very personal decision about where you want to draw the line. A baby just doesn’t wake up one day and say “mama”.

He babbles, and sometimes he babbles things that sound like words… so either you decide the minute he babbles something that sounds like “mama” that it counts (Simon @ three months) or that he has to say it with intent, with some type of acknowledgment that he understands what he is saying (Simon @ eight months?).

Depending on who you talk to, Simon says a lot of words. But for us, he is still a work in progress. But in the last week, he has really started showing signs that he knows “mama” means me, “dada” means Tom, and “baba” has something to do with eating. Best example was a night I went into his room when he was crying and the minute I walked in, he reached up his hands and said “mumumuma”.

First, First, First and Away He Goes!!

Last month’s blog post… Simon hadn’t really officially crawled yet. Now he is threatening to walk, or at least making me nervous about it. Simon can crawl, and crawl fast. But not just on flat surfaces, he can climb stairs… he can crawl over people… and he can chase down any parents or cats that try and hide from him.

The first “pull-up” we ever saw was coming into his room to get him in the morning and finding him standing and laughing at us in his crib. Now he will pull up and stand for long stretches of time on just about anything, including things that aren’t terribly sturdy (i.e. his tricycle).

The thing about a mobile kid is that it means a lot more bumps and bruises. At first I wouldn’t let him out of my sight for even a second. But he still would get hurt anyway, and after a short bit, I saw him grow more careful… falling down on his butt rather than his head and slowly lowering himself from the standing position.

Simon is so intent on being mobile that trying to get him to sit still for a minute to change his diaper, feed him a bottle, or god forbid, put him down for a nap, has turned into tantrum time. Meanwhile, we are getting just as much bruises and rug burn chasing our little guy around the house.

First Finger Foods

Sometimes the process of childhood takes months, sometimes it takes… a day! Before we left for California, Simon could not really feed himself very well. He had not developed that necessary “pincher grip”, and instead would try and rake food into his whole hand.

Upon returning, I decided to try it out again. He was doing the “point and prod” method which is a step further, but couldn’t really pinch a bite of food and put it in his mouth. A day later, he was grabbing cheese one bite after the other and filling his mouth full like a chipmunk.

Now he is ready to eat anything and everything he can, and I am happy to let him go at it. We’ve moved on from the cubes of purees and we are ready for cheerios, cubed fruit, and whatever else his newly developed pinchers can pinch! Which I am SO thankful for, because for about two weeks straight this month, Simon decided he didn’t like eating anything but fruit, and now he wants to eat everything in the house.

Looking back at all of the photos we have taken over the last eight months, it’s shocking to see just how much he has grown and developed in such a short time. I anticipate that soon we’ll be having the very common feeling that so many parents express…. kids seem to grow up too fast! 

Simon turned seven months old today. Hard to believe it’s gone by this fast, but with every new accomplishment, I find myself excited for the next. I love this little boy!!

Daytime and Nighttime Delight

 Every new month is my favorite month. Everything Simon does is making him more and more fun… sure, his ability to move more and grab more (including Papa’s mustache) can make him a bit harder to watch and keep control over, but it also makes him funny and just plain fun.

Simon has slept through the night a couple more times, and on nights he doesn’t, he basically just wakes up once in the early morning (4 or 5) before dozing off for a few more hours. During the day, he’s giggly and happy, and for the most part he still smiles for complete strangers whenever we are out. We see an occasional peak of “separation anxiety” and “stranger anxiety” but it is pretty fleeting.

Rocking, Rolling, And Maybe Crawling!
Last month Simon was just starting to sit on his own. Now he can really hold the pose for a long time, keeping himself entertained with blocks or toys while sitting up. I adore sitting up up and then letting him play while I work in the kitchen… he looks so cute sitting on his own as I peak back to him every few seconds.

Sitting is one thing, crawling is a whole new ball of wax. Out of nowhere two weeks ago, Simon popped up on all fours and began rocking back and forth. I am not ready for this, I don’t know where it came from. And just this Friday, as we played with him on the floor, taunting him with a PS3 controller… Simon took his first “steps” forward, crawling little by little across the floor.

My first thought was “Cool!”, my second thought was “Oh crap!!”

What’s A Bug To Eat?

Now that Simon has a nice set of chompers, I’ve been feeding him more chunky and challenging food. Current favorites include fig oatmeal and carrots with lentils. Well, his real true favorite is any type of fresh fruit in what we’ve started calling his “sucky sock”. I’d love to start him on some finger food, but his pincher grasp is not really working yet, and he just ends up with a fistful of mushy food.

Happy, Happy Boy!!

Simon is getting very used to his media savvy folks… to the point where he stares at the camera more than our faces and saves his big milestone moments for the few days right before I write my monthly post. It kinda overshadows everything else that happened that month, but so it goes…

What did Simon do exactly in the past 3 days?

1. Sleep Through The Night
For some parents it happens right away, for others it takes quite a while. I’d like to consider us somewhere in the middle, but in truth… it might have taken Simon a little longer to get to this milestone that the average baby. So long as you get there, it’s easy to forget the journey along the way, and so we have arrived… from 7 pm to 7 am. May it be the beginning of a very welcome pattern.

Randomness? Coerced? Simon did “sleep through the night” the second night we decided to ween him from his nighttime feedings. I’m not sure if that was the magical trick, and I will drive myself nuts thinking about why I didn’t try weening before. But it’s hard to predict anything in a baby’s life, especially around sleeping.

2. Sit On His Own
Wobbly, sure, but it is amazing how quickly a kid goes from completely flopping over on you to being able to hold himself up for a good 5 minutes solid. He went from hopelessly “supported” to being able to adjust his spine and put out his hands for support whenever he felt a bit tipsy. He’s still most comfortable laying on his tummy, squirming like an inch worm, but he’s seeming to enjoy his new vantage point while he can hold it.

3. First Teeth!!
Not even a weekend after Amma said “I checked those teeth, they aren’t coming in for a while”, I felt a sharp little point sticking out of the bottom gum in Simon’s mouth. Now this has happened before, so I didn’t get too excited, not even when his daycare girl Bailey came running excitedly to me… “a tooth, a tooth”.

But several days later, it isn’t just a point… it is two clearly visible tops of bottom teeth coming in. He’s in a bit of pain, but sleeping better than ever strangely enough. I’ve been feeding him ice cold watermelon and other fruit slushies that he seems to enjoy (except for the occasional brain freeze).

Other Fun Stuff At Six Months
Foods!! Simon has been loving just about everything I feel like making him, and even I have been getting more adventurous. Not just peas, but peas with sweet curry… creamed spinach with parsnips… roasted potatoes and leeks… mango and papaya. Right now it is my creative outlet and fun weekend activity.

Lon and Roxy came back out for another visit. They convinced me to purchase a “pile of plastic poo” in the form of a backyard blow-up water park. Simon wasn’t too happy at first, but once we got the water warm enough, he was all about it.

I met up with my old high school friend Jessica and her cute little baby boy Ben for a BBQ in the park. We thought it would be a fun idea to put together as many babies as possible and see what happens.

Can it really be five months? Time is speeding by and the months are blending together. Some things are slow going, like Simon actual moving backwards on his sleeping habits this month. Other things are fast acting, like Simon becoming a grabber and a roller for better or worse, increasingly curious and active in the world around him.

So what else is up with our little guy this month…

Our first vacation as a family

Without going into too much adult life detail (since Simon is far more cute and interesting), for the past month I went from casually considering other job opportunities to interviewing for multiple positions, including one that would have us uprooting and moving out to New York. By the end of the month, I was already starting my new job and the family was in desperate need of some time away from all this serious life stuff… so at the last minute we decided to spend Memorial Day weekend in Saugatuck, MI.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast in the downtown. I was worried about how naptime and bedtime would work, but Simon went down for a nap both days as we ate breakfast downstairs. And he came pretty close to sleeping through the night both nights.

It was a pretty fabulous and classic West Michigan trip, complete with a hiking trek out to the sand dunes, a dip in the “refreshingly” cold waters, lunch at New Holland Brewery, and a visit to the windmills in Holland. It was fun for Simon’s first vacation to be a return to what I loved about my childhood.

Good Sleep, Bad Sleep… make up your mind child
After the vacation, actually in the car ride back after Simon’s very first tantrum, he developed a stuffy nose. After some amazing nights of sleep on vacation, it was back to 3-4 night wakings. Then he was normal (which is 1-2 wakings for us at this point), then he had a few days of fever. Then he was normal, and last night for god knows what reason, he was up about 6 times. If that kid doesn’t pop a tooth soon just to give me some reason for this sporadic behavior, I’m going to go mad!!

Then, he is so fun when he is awake, it’s easy to forget the hard stuff. Tom has really grown attached to Simon more than ever, and nobody can make Simon laugh quite like daddy…

Feeding time for the Bug :)
So last month, I got permission from the pediatrician to start feeding Simon solid food. The food adventure has begun. We are having a blast, and Simon is game most of the time. There has been a few fussy moments, many many messy moments, but after a month he is getting pretty good about engaging in meal time… even figuring out that it really helps if you open your mouth when the spoon comes by.

First food favorites: pears, cantaloupe, sweet potato
Still skeptical on: peas, avocado, mama’s veggie medley

Ooooh, that face!! Momma’s favorite Simon smiles
Everyone comments on what a smiley baby we have. Simon’s a charmer, he will smile at ANYONE who gives him a little bit of attention.

So, can I finally just say it? I love being a mom. I’ve had a couple people mention recently that it “looks like you and Tom are having fun” or that motherhood suits me. I don’t know what it is, but yeah… I really am having fun. I mean, sure, I am exhausted perpetually, I can’t get out to see a new movie, and I don’t really remember the last time I had a satisfying exercise session or made a home cooked meal. But… fun, yes, indeed it is.

Speaking of Fun… Time for First Foods
As with everything motherhood related, there is a debate over when you can give your baby solid foods for the first time. Our parents generation was experimenting with rice cereal during the first few weeks of life. Nowadays, you will get a hearty slap on the wrist from the parenting police if you even think about solid foods before 6 months.

Well, Tom and I have been experimenting with first “tastes”, not full out food. But I figure a little flavor on the fingertip isn’t going to hurt anyone. Plus it’s fun to see Simon’s reaction to things other than breast milk. Mashed potatoes = good, garlic lime sauce = bad. Then there is the really odd reaction he had to hummus… pain, confusion, happy, demanding more… repeat.

But, I’ve been holding off at doing actual feedings until I got the thumbs up from the pediatrician, which we got at his 4 month check up this weekend. He can hold his head up like a champion, he’s taking 30 ounces of breast milk a day and sometimes demanding more, and he’s doubled his birth weight. It’s time to get that kid some food!! And I couldn’t have asked for a better Mother’s Day present, I am so excited to cook for my little guy.

From Giggles to Full On Laughter
So Simon has gone from an occasional giggle to an occasional laughing fit. It turns out you just have to act pretty stupid to make it happen :)

It looks like he enjoys fart sounds, and he also enjoys bath time. I like to place him on my tummy so that he can kick his legs in the water. This week he was SO delighted by the sensation that he squealed repeatedly… then he became so delighted by the sound of himself squealing that he tried it louder and louder and louder, until Tom thought our son had gone crazy.

Now Hear This… We Have Roll-over
So, one really awesome thing about our day care is that the younger caretaker (Bailey) has been sending us SMS/MMS updates during the day. I think it’s just because she has become as excited as we have over Simon’s progress. So this week we got an excited text the minute he successfully rolled over from back to front to back again. (time to baby proof the house!!)

Plus, we get a whole bunch of these adorable images of Simon interacting with the other young kids.

So… he’s sleeping anywhere from 7-10 hours straight each night. He laughs, he smiles. We are starting first foods tomorrow. For my very first Mother’s Day, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m happy and in love, and looking forward to the summer ahead.

Simon is getting unbelievably adorable. In the past two weeks he has gone from mildly smiley, to smiles and giggles and loads of fun… especially in the amazingly warm Michigan April weather.

We have passed the three month mark and he is a delight to come home to everyday. I was going to wait until the 4 month mark to do my next update, but over the weekend, we had a couple of awesome firsts :)

First Giggles
Simon laughed pretty hard when we put in in front of the mirror for the first time. It might have something to do with the black mustache he had on, which he found pretty hilarious. But since then, he has been laughing a little more and a little more, until today we got full on giggles…

First Word?
It doesn’t really count until he says something and means it. He has uttered the phrase “Hi” and “Yeah!” before, but just out of complete coincidence of vowels and sounds that new babies make. This weekend, we caught him saying “Mama” for the first time ever, and on video nonetheless!! It’s the first time I’ve heard him even use the “m” sound, let alone string together a fairly clear “oh… mum-ma”

First Sleep Through The Night
Tom doesn’t want to call it a “sleep through the night” until he goes to bed at 7pm and doesn’t wake up until 7am. I just wanted proof of major progress in the sleep department, and in the past two weeks we have gotten just that. Simon had his first 8 hours of sleep (from 8:30 pm to 4:30 am). A week later he had his first textbook sleep through the night (from 11 pm to 6 am). He has been getting pretty consistent 5-7 hour stretches of sleep and usually only wakes up once during the night now. Awesome!!

First Trip Out To The Park
We’ve been going outside almost everyday now. Simon got his first experience on a swing and down a slide. More fun for us than for him, although he did end up loving the swing.

And Oh So Many Smiles…