First Illness, First Tooth

Simon has not been sleeping well recently. By recently, I sort of mean ever, but also mean that its gotten really bad the past few weeks. So, like any parent, we asked why...does he have a cold? is he teething? maybe its an ear infection?

Well, we finally have answers: yes, yes, and yes. This Sunday Simon had his first trip to the ER, because he was getting more and more miserable, and being a holiday weekend, the ER had to do. We learned that Simon has a sinus and ear infection, which probably began as a bad cold and spread from there. And today, Simon's first tooth broke through the gums. So it's been all three--cold, teething, and ear (and sinus) infection! Poor guy!

Despite all this, he's been relatively happy during the day, limiting his misery to night time.

We tried to get a photo of the first tooth, and weren't particularly successful. But, we thought you might be entertained by our attempts, which ranged from getting him to smile to holding his mouth open to catching him about to mouth a toy:

And finally, here's our best shot, where if you were to zoom in AND know exactly where to look, you could see his first tooth just peeking out!

Cousins!

Well, Simon has now officially met his cousins Ben & Ellie, and his uncle Nathan. Phew! He now knows his whole family :). The cousins will be returning again in a couple weeks, so I wasn't super-deliberate with the camera--hence no photos of them all lined up on the sofa, or of all of us together. I'll be sure to get those before they leave the country again! In the meantime, I did get a few good shots, though, of their first few days with us, earlier this week:

Ellie, showing the mittens I made for her (Ben got a pair, too)--after three years in Cambodia the family is off to Chile next, where it will be winter when they arrive.

Ben, now 3 years old, is quite the talker and loves, on any walk, to have a stick (or several) along!

Ellie was particularly taken with Simon--both kids were great with him, but Ellie (now 4.5 years old) was particularly patient and attentive!

Um...if this is Ben offering to take the photo, I'm thinking Nathan should kindly decline...

Andy, Simon, and I went along letterboxing with the family--here Jen is helping Ben stamp a book. I had never really heard of letterboxing before, but it seems like a great family hobby...we may have to get started ourselves...

Unfortunately, both Andy and Simon were sick during this first part of the visit--both are on the mend, though, so by the time we see Jen, Nathan, Ellie, and Ben again in a couple weeks, we hope to have the energy for even more fun!

Spring is here!

I am happy to say that spring has finally arrived in Minnesota! It certainly took long enough! We have some exciting visitors coming next week (Simon gets to meet his cousins!), and I know we'll have lots of cute photos to post then, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to catch up on the past week or two of photos, before we're flooded with adorable Ellie-Ben-Simon photos.

You may recall that Simon's in utero nickname was Pickle...well, Andy found the Gedney pickle hat we got at the state fair last August, and decided that Simon needed to try it on--stunning look, isn't it?

Simon still doesn't really enjoy tummy time...and he's still not rolling over (those early 4-week roll-overs haven't been repeated in at least a month). Generally, tummy time consists of his little feet and legs working hard to get his rear end in the air, while he is face-planted into the floor, arms doing nothing at his sides. Here we have a rare glimpse into the possibility that he might, someday, learn that those arms can be useful--like for propping himself up to make tummy time more pleasant, and rolling over a possibility!


We recently got to see our friends Adam & Jen, with their little one, Zoe. Zoe is about 7 weeks old, and is busy looking all over the place--we were happy to give her some different toys to look at while she visited our house :).

Simon & Zoe--their first both-awake-at-the-same-time encounter! I think Simon is thinking "hey, who's that? Look at me!" and Zoe is thinking "lalalalala! I don't hear you..."

Though he isn't rolling over yet, Simon does have a new trick--grabbing his toes! So he's traveling further along the road of figuring out what is "me" vs "not-me"...hands are me, feet are me...

Giggle Giggle

I don't really have anything in particular to say, but thought I'd share this little clip of glee, particularly for anyone out there trying to finish up the semester!

Giggles (12 seconds):

Catching Up

As you may have noticed, its been a while since we posted. Its been busy, and is getting busier--so I'll make no promises as to how often we may post over the next few months.

Last weekend my folks and sister were here. Here are a few photos:

"Do you see the resemblance?" wonders Simon (4 months old), posing with a picture of me at 4 months old.


Out for a walk with Grandma & Grandpa (& Mom)


We got a Peapod Plus for my birthday! Its a travel bed--for ages 0-6 says the box, but here Jess is demonstrating that even now-27-year-olds can fit if they're willing to scrunch a little :)


Chillin' with Aunt Liz

That's all for now!