And the knit goes on...

Knit-night has returned!

We may be a smaller group than before...but it matters not. What's important is the wine, the commiserating, the laughing, and of course, the knitting that sometimes happens.

The return of knit-night reminded me that I never got around to posting about Simon's hand-knit clothes. If you have been a long-time reader of this blog, you know that I knit little "Pickle" a few different things. Well, he's now about the size to wear some of them, so we recently had a little hand-knit fashion show. The results were...um, interesting:

kimono sweater

This was the first to be tried on, because as I was going through Simon's clothes (switching out too-small clothes for slightly-too-big clothes, which it seems I have to do every 2-3 weeks!), he grabbed it. He seemed to like the white fluffy edging! It is huge, as you can see--but it should be, as its a 24 month size (those are supposed to three-quarter sleeves).

overalls

Then we tried these on--some blue overalls that I don't think I ever told anyone I knit, because it was early in my knitting days and they did NOT turn out proportionally correct at all. Given how odd-looking they were lying flat, they looked surprisingly good on Simon--course, they were still rather odd, with super-long straps, a low-rising 'bib', too-long legs, and a super-low-rise waist. This angle might show a bit better what I mean:

not quite enough to cover that cloth-diaper-butt, eh?

And last but certainly not least, the little multi-colored cardigan & pants set I knit in tediously small yarn:

aren't I handsome?

This actually fits quite well, despite its also looking a little out-of-proportion when laid flat. The cardigan turned out a little short and wide...but apparently so is Simon :). Of course, I didn't actually have the guts to keep him in it for long, as I knew it was only a matter of minutes before it was covered in one or more bodily fluids from Simon. We'll have to find some special occasions for him to wear it to before he outgrows it...or at least something special-er than sitting around the house!

Weekend in Madison

Just over a week ago now, Andy spent the weekend camping at Devil's Lake with his buddies--and Jess & Simon spent that weekend in Madison hanging out with Jess's folks. We had a lovely time, as evidenced below:

Just chewing on this spoon with Grandpa John...

...and Grandma Phyllis

Hey look, grandma & grandpa's jumbo-sized kitchen sink is just perfect for my bathtub!

We had to do a little car-swapping with the guys who were camping, which provided impetus for the four of us to take a little daytrip to Devil's Lake on Sunday.

We had such a great time! We went on a lovely hike, and saw some beautiful views of Devil's Lake.

This was a good test of the Ergo carrier for us, too, as Simon rode in it the whole hike. He did great--a bit fussy at times, but mostly was quite content, and he even fell asleep by the end, so we got to use the awesome sleeping hood feature (love it!). (And Jessica didn't faint from exhaustion, either, by the way.)

Being at Grandma & Grandpa's house also means different toys to play with!

Thanks for a great weekend Grandma & Grandpa!

An aside: Simon really loved these little cogs that go with this old-school Fisher-Price activity table (he's not quite pulling up to standing yet, so most of the time we had the activity part of the activity table down on the floor for Simon, as above). It reminded me that I've been meaning to get an activity table for him, since he'll soon be working on standing--so once we returned to the Cities, I took a little trip to Once Upon a Child (as I've vowed to not buy brand-new toys unless I can't find something used, or its just such an awesome toy that I can't resist). Unfortunately, while I did find two activity tables at my local OUaC, neither were what I was looking for: an activity table that would still function when the batteries die! In fact, I would prefer a battery-free one. Well, the kind lady behind the counter almost laughed when I asked about a battery-free activity table. I looked online when I got home and it appears as though all current activity tables on the market (not wooden activity cubes, mind you, but those are more expensive, it seems) use batteries--and some don't have ANY battery-free functions. Seriously?! (Luckily, I am now entrusted with the education of some 40 or so undergraduates, and therefore have a soapbox from which to spout my anti-toy-establishment rhetoric...so I won't bore you with a lecture on how infants need real objects & experiences, not virtual ones!)

If anyone knows where in the Twin Cities to get a good battery-free activity table (or riding toys, or push-behind walking toys, for that matter), please let me know (not that we need one of course)!

Visiting with Friends

We have had fun with friends--some new, some old--over the past few weeks. In some cases, this meant introducing them to Simon for the first time; in others, re-introducing him after many months--and he's quite a different baby now!

Simon met Liz, Jess' college roommate, for the first time. Liz is way out in California these days, so it had been a few years since Jess had seen her, too. They got along famously, as you can see.



Jess & Simon went to a baby shower in WI for my friend Ashley, who I went to high school with. We got to see several high school friends, some of whom had never met Simon, others who had met him long ago when he was just weeks old.


Simon finally got to meet Katie, Alex, Abbie, & Izzie! It was a too-short visit, but lots of fun, as you can see below...


Izzie enjoyed bringing toys over to Simon, who would get very excited, open wide to eat them and reach out for them, at which point Izzie would trot away a few steps, then do it all over again. Fun was had by all.

(And, unrelated to visiting friends but just too cute not to post:)
Simon! How did those socks get on your ears?! Oh wait, you've been spending time with Aunt Karlie, haven't you???? :-)

Simon's daily workout

We have lots of photos and videos just waiting to be blogged, and little time for blogging. So, instead of trying to actually recap everything we've been up to the past few weeks, I think maybe I'll go with a topical theme for the next few posts, rather than chronological. Today: Simon's large muscle skills--not because you all necessarily need to know that he has them, but because they're so darn entertaining to watch him practice!

Here are a few videos that show what a great workout Simon is getting every day:

The Backward Scoot (40 seconds):



Ready to Run (11 seconds):



Bathtime Workout (50 seconds):