Thursday, May 31, 2012

Fun with Family

We were so lucky to have Grandma Lin and Grandpa Joe arrive the day after Simon got his cast put on.  It was amazing timing.  We were all so happy to see them and Simon needed the distraction.  




 We had some really great outings including the Lincoln Park Zoo, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium and the Long Grove Chocolate Festival.
Our little astronaut

Simon with his favorite "Baby Beluga"
We were also able to celebrate Mother's Day with them with a surprise visit from Uncle Cameron.  He moved from Huntsville to Portland and drove through Chicago on the way.  When he left, Simon said he wanted to go with and he still asks "Where did Uncle go?"

Of course they didn't come empty handed and we have a few more trucks to add to the collection.
Playing trucks in his "Super Simon" cape handmade by Grandma Lin

Simon is a really lucky boy to have such loving grandparents.  We miss them everyday, but are so lucky to be able to Skype with them and have them visit so often.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Soccer Star

In April, Simon started playing soccer with the Lil Kickers.  He absolutely loves it!  It is a really wonderful program that combines soccer with relays, games and more activities which keep it interesting for a two year old.  He is the youngest child in his class but has no problem keeping up.  Unfortunately, his soccer career had to go on hiatus when he broke his leg, but we are confident he will be able to join the summer session.  He can't wait!





Monday, May 28, 2012

Visit to California

We went to California to visit Auntie Gabrielle, David and Buster.  Before the broken leg incident, it was a wonderful trip.  Gabrielle is opening her own yoga/pilates studio so Simon was able to assist in the construction while we were there. 



He absolutely loves his California family.  He had so much fun walking Buster too!







We can not wait to go back once the studio is open and Simon is healthy!  

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Special Friends

We were so lucky to have some special friends visit us in Florida.  In February, Dan, Jenny and Carter came down.  Simon loved playing with "the baby".  We got to experience Carter's first time swimming, going to the Ocean and going to a park.  It was so sweet!  Simon was very sad to see them go and kept asking where the baby was once they left.



We also had Buffy come for a visit which was so fun.  Simon adores his "Afoo" as he called her.  We went to visit Lizzy and her family who happened to be staying in Marco Island the same week Buffy was there.  Simon got to go on his first boat ride on a Hobie Cat or "Simon's boat" as he called it.  It was a special day.




Then our friend Patti came from Colorado for a visit.  This was the first time Simon got to meet Patti and he loved her right away.  

We also made some special friends while we were in Florida.  Of course there was Simon's fan club in the condo complex which was basically made up of retirees who adopted him as their own grandchild.  He was a real hit around the pool.  Our neighbor Joanne became a good friend.  She had just moved from New York with her husband Victor and dog Gizmo or "Momo" as Simon called him.  We were so lucky to have such wonderful people living next door.


Simon also made a special friend named Anna.  She is a year older than Simon and it was love at first site.  We spend a lot of time with her and her parents, Melinda and Ivan, and her baby sister, Emma.
Having so many special friends around helped to make this experience truly wonderful!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Simon is 23 Months Old and has a broken leg

This is Simon the first day his cast was put on
Unfortunately Simon broke his leg on the day that he turned 23 months.  It has been a long time since we blogged, but having a two year old in a full leg cast has not been easy.  We were in LA visiting Gabrielle.  Simon was on a bounce house and he jumped from the slide part into the house.    He started crying but was not saying anything about his leg.  We took him back to Gabrielle's house but could not seem to get him happy and comfortable.  It was then I saw that his foot was swollen.  We went to an urgent care center who took x-rays and told us it was a broken knee which was terrifying.  This was on Tuesday May 1st.  We were scheduled to fly home Wednesday afternoon but I called and got on an early flight.  We were running late and got stuck in LA traffic in the rain.  We had to rush through security and the United people were so nice that they escorted us through to the gate.  We made it on to the plane just in time and I heard the flight attendant say, "welcome to flight yadda yadda to Newark".  I thought she had made a mistake, so I turned to the guy next to me and asked if it was a flight to Newark.  He said yes!  I screamed "get me off this plane!" I was holding Simon (who is wearing a temporary cast at this point) running up the aisle screaming like a lunatic so they didn't close the door.  When I got off they were questioning me about how I got on the flight.  Yes, it was an obvious security issue, but certainly not my fault.  They had escorted me to the flight and took my boarding pass.  It was like something out of a bad movie.

Anyway, we took the next flight.  Simon was an angel.  He took a really good nap and the guy next to us was very nice.   After a very long day we made it home safely.
The next morning (Thursday) we had an appointment at Children's Memorial.  They took another x-ray and found that the fracture was in the tibia and not the knee which is much better.  They put him in a cast all the way from his toes to the top of his hip for 4-6 weeks.   At first he did not understand why he couldn't walk, but he has become more used to it and is able to scoot around with ease.  Sometimes he asks me to take the cast off which is so sad.
Luckily, until this point we chose not to let Simon watch TV so it has been a very special treat.  He loves to watch Disney movies.  He especially loves the elephants on the Jungle Book and he loves the Lion King.   We have arranged the house and toys to make things a bit easier and more interesting for him.  He is hanging in there like a trooper and can not wait to be able to play with his friends outside again.
Needless to say, updating the blog has been difficult (plus you still can not do it on the Ipad).  We have had a lot of fun adventures in 2012 that we still have to update.......more to come!

Disney World March 2012








At the end of our stay in Florida, Nonna and Cousin Will came for a visit.  We went to Orlando for a few days and Simon got to go to Disney World for the first time.  We spent on day at the Magic Kingdom. Before we even got inside the park, we got to ride the tram and a train to get there.  Simon was already impressed and we had not even made it to the park!

His favorite ride was Dumbo the Elephant.





He also went on the teacups

  "It's a small world" boat ride

 and the Magic Kindgom railroad.



He loved the rides.  We also saw a few shows at Cinderella's castle which he loved because of the music and dancing.  At the end of the show, they had fireworks which he thought was amazing.   I did not think we would make it to the parade at 3:00pm because Simon would need a nap, but he was too excited to sleep and he skipped it.  We had a front row seat at the parade which he loved.
Another highlight was meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse.




The whole day was truly magical!  Simon continued talking about it for weeks.  He would talk about "Simon's elephant in the sky" and "the guys danced" all of the time.  He developed a special fondness for Goofy during our visit whom he calls "Foo Koo".  The whole day was truly magical and we hope to go back someday!  He finally did sleep, but not until we were waking to the parking lot at the end of the day.