More Toddler-ish-ness

We've gotten a few other gems on video over the past month, and since I could use a little distraction from the fact that my semester is starting on Tuesday, I thought I'd take the time to post some of them. Here's my selection criteria: to me each of these videos seems to bring out Simon's emerging toddler-ish-ness.

Simon never stops. A while ago I showed that with a little video of him laying on his back, kicking and flailing his arms...well, he doesn't so much lay on his back anymore (ever), but he is still as busy as ever. Recently he has become even more entertaining to watch because his actions seem much more purposeful and he can be quite intent on accomplishing something...its not always clear what, but he is intent about it :).

Busy, Busy (2 min 11 sec):

Simon still loves to take things "out"...but now he also loves to put them "in"! We're fairly certain this won't carry over into clean-up behavior when he's a toddler, but it is helpful right now that getting his toys put away can be like a game for him (only if he's in the mood to play, of course).

Putting In (31 seconds):

Simon has loved bathtime ever since he was old enough to sit upright and splash with his legs. Well, he still loves it, and still loves to splash, but recently he has discovered that he can also use his arms to splash...and since I only have a limited time wherein I can get away with posting nude Simon content, I thought I'd better share this one. (Here he is in Grandma & Grandpa's big tub, a couple weeks ago.)

Splish-Splash (1 min 12 sec):

For a while now, Simon has expressed a preference in what book we read to him, if he's given the choice. (If you hold up two books and ask him, he'll consider both and choose one.) He also clearly liked some books more than others, and if he happened to grab one he really liked, he might try doing his "book" sign to get you to read it. In the past few weeks, however, he has become much more deliberate and direct--he has started crawling over to one of his bookshelves, sifting through several until he finds one he wants, then pulling it off the shelf, holding it out toward us, and vocalizing, until we read it! And, when being read to, he now shows a little (or sometimes a lot) more initiative in directing the reading. Here he was so excited and so curious that he could hardly contain his grunting-requests as he pointed as various pictures on the page:

Pointing in Books (46 seconds):

P.S. The book I'm reading here is Simon's most recent Imagination Library book--if you have a child under five, check to see if your local United Way participates in this program (you can search by zipcode on the site above)! They will send your child a free book in the mail every month until they are five years old--books are paid for by Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, postage paid by your local United Way. We love it!

Feeding Philosophy

Everywhere we go people comment that Simon is a "good eater"...I'm not always sure what they mean, but I think it is that he eats a lot, and isn't very finicky. We appreciate the compliment, but at the same time it seems like kind of an odd thing to identify as "good"...are there "bad" eaters?

Through ECFE I was introduced to the feeding & eating philosophy of Ellyn Satter--we really like it. Basically, she says that our society worries too much about food and as parents we often unintentionally put more pressure on food and eating than there needs to be. There's a nice summary of one of her key tenets here--the division of responsibility in feeding. Basically the idea is that its the parents job to provide healthy food choices and some mealtime structure, and the child's job to decide whether to eat anything available and how much of each thing to eat (if any). If offered a variety of healthy foods, she says (and research backs her up), even infants will eat a pretty balanced diet through their own choosing--their appetite will guide them by making them hungry for different types of food. (Which is how all of our appetites would guide us, if we didn't have all sorts of emotional and social issues mixed up with our food consumption.)

This feeding philosophy is still new to us, but in the past several months it has gone well. It prompted us to phase out pureed foods as soon as Simon was able to pick up pieces and feed himself, so he would have more control over his own food intake. We are also trying to avoid any sort of coaxing or coercing Simon to eat any particular thing or amount, which is sometimes difficult (e.g., it is tempting to say things like "are you sure you don't want more cheese?" or "but you love cheese!" if he is suddenly not interested in cheese one day). As he's able, we let Simon feed himself, and when he's not able, we try and make sure to wait for cues from him that he wants another bite or spoonful, rather than continually putting more food in front of him unrequested (which we used to do when feeding him pureed food--he was so compliant and such a "good eater" that we really don't know if he ate so much because he was really hungry or because we just kept putting another spoonful in front of him).

Sometimes we have to get a bit creative with trying to give him some independence and control while also limiting mess. Right now we're trying to let him experiment with toddler-sized dishes and silverware, while also not having bowls full of food on the floor (which is what happens if we just give him a bowl full of something with a spoon and let him go at it). We've recently found a decent intermediate solution that lets him work on his spoon-handling skills and feed himself without extreme mess--it works well for anything thick enough to stick to the spoon...

Spoons (57 seconds):

We also like Ellyn Satter's view that you should let kids grow into the bodies they were meant to have--be they small, medium, or large--which means you shouldn't either restrict quantities or force (or even encourage) kids to eat more than they are hungry for. (Just imagine if we all ate when we were hungry and stopped when we were full!) Apparently this part of the feeding philosophy is more difficult during toddlerhood, when most children become more picky and will at times eat just a couple of bites and then be done--if you've ever seen Simon eat, you know that isn't currently his tendency--but even if it becomes his tendency, we plan to stick to the philosophy. Needless to say, we don't really believe in the "clean plate club" philosophy--though recently it appears that Simon does...

Clean Plate (14 seconds):

In other food-related news: We don't know about other bean soups, but Simon loves Grandma Marilyn's!

Not a Baby Anymore...

We sort of missed our window on a 12-month-stats post, but here they are anyway--at his 12 month check-up Simon weighed in at 21 lbs 1 oz, and was 29.75 inches tall/long. He's around the 45th percentile for height and head circumference, and around 25th percentile for weight.

Over the past month, he has been busy showing us over and over again that he is leaving his baby ways behind in favor of new and exciting toddler behaviors! I must admit, I am a little sad to say goodbye to the baby days...but I'm sure that will happen as he passes every milestone, and I know there are new joys ahead. Here are a couple of videos we've collected over the past weeks that give you a glimpse into Simon's day to day activities of late:

Simon has recently started using his push-behind toy for its intended purpose--but only on occasion. It rolls too fast for him on the hardwood floors, where he spends much of his playtime, but as you can see here, he does pretty well with it on the carpet.
Practicing Walking (11 seconds):



Here you can see that he has become adept at cruising--he'll go from object to object, let go with one hand to grab something (e.g. toss a basket out of his way!), look around, etc. You'll also hear him squeal with delight when he sees his friend Zoe's photo in the new photo album she gave him for his birthday--thanks Zoe!
Expert Cruiser (52 seconds):

Birthday Party!

Today was Simon's 'official' birthday party. He was joined by friends Zoe and Nina, and their parents (our friends), Jen & Adam and Katie & Karl. A few others weren't able to make it, but were with us in spirit :).

Karl, Katie, & Nina--who we hadn't seen since she was about 6 weeks old! She's gotten so big...holding her own head up and everything :)

Zoe, trying to help Simon open his gifts

Party-going babies! Jen holding Zoe (9 months-ish), Katie holding Nina (4 months-ish), & me holding Simon (1 year-ish!)

Mostly it was playtime for the babes and chat time for the parents--but we did have a little interlude of entertainment when waiting for the pizza to arrive: bubbles!

Bubbles! (5 seconds):




Zoe, staring in awe at the bubbles

Simon's godmother recommended colorful frosting for his first birthday cake--so I made his cupcake (actually pumpkin muffins, plus cream cheese frosting) extra special. Oddly, not much of that frosting actually transferred to Simon's face, even though he ate most of the cupcake.



'A birthday hat? Are you kidding?' thinks Simon

'Oh, you mean a shiny sparkly multicolored toy...well as long as you don't try to put it on my head again, that's great!'

Holiday Visiting, Part 3: Post-Post-Christmas

On New Year's Eve we arrived at our final destination for holiday travels: Red Wing. There we celebrated Andy and Simon's birthdays, New Year's, Christmas with Andy's family (nuclear and extended), and even were able to squeeze in a date night! Fun was had by all, and we returned to the Cities on Sunday with a song in our hearts, food in our bellies, and love in our families...(we've also been listening to Simon's new Raffi cds--can you tell?)

birthday cupcakes!


mmmm...frosting


Simon is starting to understand that there's something under the wrapping paper...


We had a lovely few days with Marilyn, Peter, and Steve--here looking at one of Pete's Christmas gifts


Andy's Mom's family made for quite a crowd--despite all the excitement, new faces, and being awake a full hour and a half later than usual, Simon held it together amazingly well

And, for your entertainment, here's a cute video clip of Simon discovering his "band in a box" gift:

One-Baby Band (35 seconds):

Holiday Visiting, Part 2: Post-Christmas

The first few days post-Christmas have been filled with visiting friends and family. On the 26th, we met up with Sarah, and Simon attended his first big family Christmas celebration, with Jess's extended family. It was quite the scene, with four generations in attendance--two at the top (great-grandma & great-grandpa), and eight at the bottom (eight of ten great-grandchildren were there), and a whole slew in between.

Simon, enjoying a brief reunion with his godmother...

...who knit him an amazing new hat! Its perfect timing, too, because he has pulled on the one I knit so much that now he can get it off, even when tied under his chin. This one fits nice and snug, and he hasn't managed to get it off yet :).

playtime with Grandpa John--Simon loves feeling his beard

upside-down playtime with Daddy

'helping' Aunt Liz take some photos

sitting on Great-Grandma Carole's lap while everyone plays our traditional Christmas white-elephant bingo (which is in no way related to bingo, really, except that its based on luck...)

The whole family enjoying dinner in Madison on the 27th--including Simon's soon-to-be Uncle David, who Simon hadn't seen in nearly a year (when Simon was still in the hospital)!

We are currently enjoying even more visiting with friends and family, in Red Wing--the parties just never stop!