A few photos from three weekends ago--when Andy and friends went on their annual camping trip, and that meant Simon and I got to spend the weekend in Madison with Katie, Abbie, and Izzie. We had lots of fun with the Kalizabs (who are going to need a new name once daughter #3 arrives)!
Simon had fun with both girls--Abbie was especially good at being gentle with him
teeter-tottering at a park near my parents house
fun with some dress up clothes we raided from my sisters' closet
Simon gets a taste of what it might be like to have sisters around :)
We piled all three kids in the van and headed to the zoo...
...where Abbie got to feed some goats...
...and Izzie & Simon had fun puddle-splashing (see video below)
We knew heading into June it would a month filled with family--my sister's wedding, my cousin's wedding reception, a visit from my other sister and her family...we did not know that it would also include two funerals. Andy's paternal grandparents--Roy and Pearl--both died this month. We will be heading up north to attend Pearl's funeral this weekend; Roy's funeral was a week ago. So June has been an odd mix of joy and sorrow, and discernment--Andy also had two job interviews this month. We have many many photos from the past weeks that at some point I hope to share here.
For now, I've heard that Grandpa Steve has been missing his grandson mightily, so it seems like some light-hearted Simon cuteness might be a good place to start, until the craziness dies down and we have time to sort through our many wedding photos.
First Puddle:
Simon's first puddle exploration--at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison (later I'll have to post some of our other videos, of Simon & Izzy following each other through the puddles!)
thanks for the awesome raincoat and boots, Grandma!
Simon has enjoyed our new wading pool on a couple of recent 90-degree days
Jessica has been walking around in a time warp the past couple of weeks, thinking that yesterday (Sunday) was Father's Day! I was corrected a few days ahead of time, but then Andy and I decided to go ahead and celebrate an early Father's Day anyhow, since actual Father's Day is the day after my sister's wedding, and we'll be busy with family and wedding celebrations. So we declared Sunday to be "Faux Father's Day"...not because Andy is a faux father, mind you!
Andy = Father Extraordinaire :)
I tried to make breakfast for Andy--usually Andy is the one doing most of the cooking around here, so I thought this would be a nice treat. And he assures me that it was, though halfway through he relieved me of my cooking duties because Simon was so adamant that he have my full attention, that having me do all the cooking was turning out to be less of a treat and more of a headache than anything.
Daddy's always there to lend a hand...
It was a cloudy day, and pretty cool, so our initial plan of having a picnic on a beach was ruled out. Instead, we drove to a nearby park that has some really cool equipment, and a great separate toddler/preschool playground. Simon helped Andy celebrate by playing hide and seek with him in the play structure:
great toddler climber
awesome looking older kid playground, too, including this climbing web
After playing, we took a walk until we found a coffeeshop, then had a relatively relaxing time (as relaxing as eating with a toddler can be) enjoying a drink and snack there. After church we had some friends over for pizza from our favorite local pizza shop--though sadly we forgot to wish Mark (the only other father in attendance) a happy faux father's day.
All in all it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday, faux father's day or not. And this way Andy got to "open" his present early--not really open, but find out what his present is: a weekend camping trip later in the summer, with our friends Jen, Adam, and Zoe. Four adults, two toddlers, one canoe...its gonna be great!
As he approaches 1.5 years old, Simon is losing the last bits of babyishness he had, and trading them in for all-out toddlerness. Physically he has started thinning out, looking less like an infant and more like a little boy. He's also more and more adventurous. Though I wouldn't quite call it a "run" yet, he often seems to think that walking is too slow to accomplish his various tasks, so he breaks out into a toddling-run that's pretty adorable:
He's also talking up a storm. When he was about 16 months old we sat down to make a list of his words--some of which sound nothing like "our" words, as he created some himself. At that time we came up with about 30 words he uses on a fairly frequent basis, and I'm sure the list has grown in the past month. Here, he was bringing library books into the living room one-by-one, from his bedroom. I don't remember what I was trying to catch on camera, but I ended up getting something even better--I call it Simon's "Ode to Strawberries".
In case you couldn't make out exactly what was happening: One of the books is about colors, and has a strawberry on the red page. Simon loves strawberries. So he brings this book in, sits down to look at it, and basically says his word for strawberry over and over and over (something like "wawa")...but given the inflection and emotion, I like to think he was saying more than "strawberry, strawberry, strawberry"...maybe something like "Oh strawberry, you are so yummy! Oh strawberry, I like to eat you! Oh strawberry, so red and juicy!..."
Storytime at the library ended for Simon quite a while ago, as that library is undergoing renovation and I haven't quite had the energy to find an alternate storytime that works with our schedule. ECFE is also coming to a close for the semester...but never fear, we are finding new ways to entertain ourselves!
Simon tasting...something...and Zoe clicking mallots
For starters, we've been attending a music class with our friends Zoe & Jen. It's a wonderful class in so many ways--cheap ($3 per class), no commitment (pay if you show up, don't if you don't), laid back, baby & toddler friendly, etc. The class is Thursday mornings, and last week I brought my camera along to capture some of the fun.
selecting a shaker
Best of all, they have instruments out at the beginning of class for the little ones to experiment with. This is Simon's favorite part of class, by far--he likes it even better than when we play with scarves, and even better than when we roll big beach balls around on the floor. I'm actually quite surprised with how he uses the instruments, too--granted, there is some random banging around as would be expected from a 17-month old, but he also manages to tap out some nice melodies and rhythms!
Little Drummer Boy:
Percussionist Extraordinaire:
As a bonus, there's a park right across from the church where we go to music class, so we've started a lovely new habit of walking to the park for a snack and some outside playtime after class. What a way to spend Thursday mornings!
