Halloween

We had an amazing Halloween this year. Simon's Grandma and Grandpa Joe came to visit from Hawaii (more on that later) and so did his Aunt Gabrielle (or as he named her "Gaga"). Simon was lucky enough to celebrate Halloween twice.

The first was on Saturday the 29th which was the Lincoln Square trick-or-treating. All of the stores in our neighborhood hand out candy and there is live entertainment and pumpkin decorating too. If there had been a costume contest to enter, I think we would have won! We were a family of bees. To be more specific we were a family of 12 bees plush a bee dog (Buster came with Gaga). We received a lot of attention everywhere we went. Strangers were even taking our picture. Here we are from left to right (Grandpa Joe, Auntie Gaga, Buster, Nonna, Will, Grandma Lin, Daddy, Simon, Mommy, Jackson, Mark, Dennie and Auntie Stephanie)

On Halloween, we did a little trick-or-treating on our block with Simon's cousins Dennie and Jackson. We had two dragons and a Spiderman. It took the little ones a bit to get into it, but once they got the swing of it they loved it! Dennie was a pro and showed them how it was done. When we got home, Simon handed out candy to the rest of the neighborhood kids. He really loved doing that. For a kid who doesn't even know what candy is yet, he sure loved handing it out. The expresions the boys are making in the picture of them waiting at the door to go trick-or-treating captures their little personalities perfectly. They are too funny!

Can't wait for next year!

Beep Beep

Simon's love of trucks is holding strong

He can easily say the word "truck", but he still chooses the call them "beeps" or "beep beeps" because of the noise they make when going in reverse. He absolutely loves all of the construction that has been happening in our neighborhood because he can see trucks everyday. I honestly don't know what we are going to do when it is over.

When we drive in the car he is always looking out the window looking for trucks. From the back seat of the car, we'll hear him say "beep" as a truck passes by.

He even got his own hard hat

Sometimes he wears the hard hat when we go to visit the construction sites. He will also bring toy trucks with him and show them to the construction workers. He always gets a lot of attention from the workers and we have had three of them tell Simon to stay in school and go to college. Simon's Mom and Dad both agree!

Simon's favorite book in the world is aptly named "The Truck Book". Of course to Simon it is simply called "Beep" or "The beep". It was sent by his Grandma Lin from Hawaii. It first belonged to Simon's Dad and she held onto it for over 30 years. The pages were so old and worn that I had to cover them with plastic tape so that it didn't fall apart while Simon played with it. The title of the book tells you all you need to know. It is a book with pictures of trucks and a few descriptions of what the trucks do. There are a few pages with dogs on them too and Simon goes crazy for those. His two biggest loves in life are trucks and dogs. Having his worlds combine blows his mind. We read it to him many (I repeat: MANY) times per day. Simon will also hand it to anyone new who comes in the house so they will read it to him too. I'm sure someday he will be sick of the book, but that day does not seem to be coming anytime soon.

Here he is mesmerized by the book read by Daddy on the first day we got it back in August

I can honestly say that growing up in a house of four girls, I did not have much exposure to trucks. I never thought I would know so much or care so much about pay-loaders, excavators, grapple skidders, front end loaders etc. I never even knew some of those names a few months ago. But, whatever our little man loves, we love too.

Full Disclosure: Simon was not actually driving any of the trucks pictured above (in fact it probably was not even legal for us to sneak on for the photos). Oh well, he loved it!

Simon is 17 Months old!

Dear Simon,

October flew by so fast. You had a lot of fun and exciting adventures. You understand and say more everyday. At this point, you will imitate any word that we say. It is so cute! Animals sounds and "beep beep" are still your favorite words though.

You are a very strong and independent boy. You play well on your own and also love to play with other kids. At the park you are so adventurous it can be pretty nerve wracking. The other day you jumped right off of the swing set. No damage done, but I was scared!

Trucks and dogs are still your favorite things (I still promise a truck post). You are also obsessed with books. Of course we have a ton of books, but you like to read the same few over and over and over again. Your favorites are The Truck Book (again that will be in the aforementioned post), Doggies and all of the Sandra Boyton books, Baby Farm Animals, Baby Dinosaurs, and a bunch of soft books we have with pieces that can be removed.

You also love the play soccer. You are getting really good at it and are fast at kicking and running after the ball. Since you really love to run it is a fun activity for us to do at the park too. You often say "shoes" and bring us either your or our shoes as a signal that you want to play outside. Notice you are wearing Daddy's shoes in the picture below and trying to get out the front door.

You are an adorable and never ending bundle of energy. You keep us on our toes, but we love every minute of it!

Love Always,

Mommy

Oktoberfest

A few weeks ago, our neighborhood (Lincoln Square which happens to be Chicago's German neighborhood) celebrated Oktoberfest. Once again, Simon and his Dad dressed the part. Simon was a hit! People loved him and his adorable costume so much that they were taking pictures with him like he was a celebrity. He even had three different people give him toys (two stuffed animals and a ball for the record). He also did the Flieger dance (you'll see him below doing the "fly like a plane" part) It was truly like being with a famous person. And he loved the attention. The boy knows his audience!

Simon is 16 Months Old!

Dear Simon,

You are officially 16 months old and it seems your baby days are over. You turn more into a toddler everyday. It is amazing how much you understand now and you have more words everyday.
You are a boy who likes what he likes. Whether it is food or words, you pick a few and stick with them. As far as food goes, you still will not try many new things so you stick with a few like peanut butter (on the spoon most of the time), fruits, pureed vegetables, and yogurt. Those are not the only things that you will eat, but if it were up to you that would be it.

On the language side, your favorite words are actually all sounds. You love to make animal sounds. You favorites are "woof woof" like a dog, "meow" like a cat, and "ppphhhtttt" for an elephant.

There was so much going on this month that i'll have to break it into several posts. We spent a lot of time exploring new things, playing at the parks, the beach and downtown at Millennium Park.

Here are some adorable photos of you creating your mischief.

Your biggest love right now is still trucks and I will write about that separately. Needless to say you spend a lot of time playing with and talking about trucks or "beep beeps" as you call them.

I love everything about you little man. I love when you throw your head back and laugh. I love how you call out to me from your crib when you wake up and then when I go in there you dance around with your monkey and laugh. I secretly love when you climb up on the guest bed and jump around (even though it is dangerous). I love the sound of your little voice when you read me stories. I could write all day about all the things I love about you, but the most important thing for you to know is that I love you always with all of my heart.

Love,
Mommy

Fun with Popo

Popo came for a visit a few weeks ago. We had a great time playing with him and the cousins. Simon really loved his glasses too (Mommy ALWAYS wears contact lenses at this point for that reason).

Thanks for a great visit Popo! We can't wait to see you again soon!

Our trip to the ER

A few weeks ago, Simon took a little fall and we had to make a visit to the ER. It was 6:15 in the morning and he was up and playing ball with his Dad in the kitchen. He fell and hit his head on our dining room chair and split the skin above his eyebrow. There was blood and a lot of tears, but luckily the cut was not very deep. It was long and wide though so we had to go to Children's Memorial. In order to calm Simon down before we left the house, I took him outside to look for dogs and squirrels which is one of his favorite things to do.

He stayed calm until they had to put him in a straight jacket type contraption so that he could not move. That was the hardest part. He couldn't feel them doing the stitches, but hated being tied down. They ended up giving him six stitches. When it was all over, they brought him an orange popsicle which he had never had before. Needless to say, he loved the popsicle. He was pretty cute in his little gown too.

Nonna was nice enough to come to the emergency room with us. Mommy needed the support because Daddy does not do well around blood. Later that day, Auntie Stephanie and cousins Jackson and Dennie came over to visit and cheer up our little patient.

His stitches came out five days later and he is good as new. The stitches were so well done that it is barely noticeable from far. Our little man was so strong and brave through the whole ordeal. Now he is just wondering when he can get another popsicle........