Halloween Party

We had a Halloween party at mom's group today. I inherited some very cute hand me down bee costumes from my friend Emily (who made them!) Joy was very excited to wear the costume and Simon kept it on (minus the antennas) ...so two wins.

We had a craft, a game, a story and of course lots of treats! Joy is in her nap now dreaming of the piece of candy she chose to eat after she wakes up.

Fall??

It still feels like endless summer here (with lots of pollution thrown in) but I'm trying to do some fall things despite the weather.

Today we made some pumpkin shaped sugar cookies for our moms group Halloween party tomorrow. Joy had a fun time putting on the sprinkles. 

Gold Coast beach

If the weather is still going to be hot in the middle of October then you better enjoy it and go to the beach! 

Joy loved the water, waves and sand. Simon hated it for the first hour... Cried and clinged to us and wouldn't even sit on the blanket on the sand. But he warmed up and actually walked on the sand before we left for lunch. What a fun morning. 

Joy at 2.5

Joy is 2.5 and I thought I should do a little blog update on her cuteness. She still lives up to her name and is a very happy smiling little girl. She gets excited about things and wonders at the beauty of creation. She has very strong opinions and wants to do everything herself (she will actually redo things so she can say she did it herself!). We love you more and more everyday Joy bean.

What Joy is doing

• Can retell stories
• Pretend plays with her toy animals and dolls 
• Is mastering dressing herself. She always wants to "do it herself" but gets a little frustrated with shirts and usually ends up with both legs in the same underpants or pants leg. 
• Usually she is happy with me choosing her clothing, although she is particular about what shirts and pants feel good. 
• Staying at Sunday School and Mom's Group without a parent. We bribe her with chocolate chips. Today she had to go to Sunday School without crying to earn the chocolate chips. As soon as she sees me after the service she yells "Chocolate chips!" 
•  Thanks me almost every night for making "a delicious dinner"

Funny things Joy is saying 

* I'll do it myself...you'll see
* Don't I look coo (cool)

*My baby needs a nap because she is really fussy. 

* Simon is fussy and needs a nap......so I can watch my show (she gets to watch a peppa pig or Franklin show while I shower). 

*Why?????....about everything 

* I'm not going to be a mommy. I'm going to be a dinosaur (her response to brad when he told her she would one day grow up and be a mommy). 

Teeth: Finally has two 2 year old molars (bottom) 

Eats:

• Loves: sausage/hot dogs, eggs with spinach, fried rice, BIG apples (ie not cut up) and all fruit, mac and cheese with broccoli  
• Verdict is still out on: beans of any kind
• Favorite restaurants: Cocos Japanese Curry, Genki sushi 

Sleeps:    

Bedtime routine involves daddy reading about 25 minutes of books to her, them "mommy will put me to bed" is the request. She gets three songs (Jesus loves me, Jesus loves the little children and Twinkle Twinkle) prayers and a pillow placed against one ear and her stuff dog "Sam" on the other. 

Bedtime is 7pm, although she doesn't usually fall asleep until 7:30/7:45. During that time we have to go in a few times and reassure her that the "sounds" will stop (she claims she hears dogs barking and noises....we have a white noise machine going so we aren't sure what she hears). 

She still naps (praise God) from 12:30-3pm.

Weighs: 

Likes:

* Going on walks...and wants to bring her tricycle and then NOT ride it for very long. 

* Playing with play doh, painting and coloring. She loves kinetic sand (which she plays with at Elena's house). 

*Reading is still a favorite past time. We go to the library once or twice a week and get 8 books from each library (daddy's library at work and then the public library). Her favorite books right now are: Franklin, Arthur, Bernstein Bears, anything by Jan Brett and Rikki Tikki Tavi

*Keeping track of where Simon is...sometimes cute and sometimes very bossy

* Playing with her friends Elena and Abigail. 

*Mothering anything around her. She has four baby dolls: Mommy Joy (the biggest), Plastic Joy (made of all plastic), baby Joy, soft Joy (mostly fabric). She also is continually carting around her plastic animals and dinosaurs in her stroller, feeding them and giving them baths. 

*When daddy comes home and they play "sleep over" in her room (which daddy loves because it involves him laying down) 

Dislikes: 

*Timeouts: which she gets frequently, mainly for causing intentional bodily harm to little brother 

*Leaving a place without a 2 minute warning (we use the timer on our phone to give her a warning and it works like magic).

Simon is 14 months

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What Simon is doing

• Walks: Simon started walking a couple weeks ago and has really taken off quickly. He chooses to walk more than crawl and is pretty good at maneuvering difficult terrain. He is sporting some great bruises on his forehead from a couple good falls! 
• Points at things he likes 
• Gives great kisses
• Throws trash away 
• Stands at the door banging on it and saying "BA ba" when he is ready to go bye bye. 
• Wants to do whatever Joy is doing (also eat, sit and play with). Monkey see monkey do. 
• Feeds himself: although not with a spoon yet. He tries and it gets everywhere. 

What Simon is saying 
Simon understand so much of what we say to him and about him. He has slower at talking but the last few weeks he is making more sounds/trying to communicate with words instead of SCREAMING (something about our genetics produces children who love to scream like a pterodactyl)

* ck : means trash can or yuck
*ma ma: sadly doesn't mean mama, it means MORE food
*da da: dog and daddy
* ba ba: bye bye followed by standing by the door and saying ba ba until we leave.

Teeth:6 teeth.. No new ones since July! 

Eats:
Nursing: one month of no nursing. The freedom I feel is not lost on me. It is so strange and great after 3.5 years of being pregnant or breastfeeding to eat, drink and wear whatever I want.
Solid food: Simon is a good eater. Although when he is sick he isn't so into it

• Loves: bananas (he can eat 2-3 a day!).  greens&keifer smoothies (he smiles and cheers the whole time I'm making them in the morning). Pasta and vegetables. Drinking with a straw 
• Verdict is still out on: beans

Sleeps:    Despite our best efforts and consulting various sleep books and websites Simon is just not the greatest sleeper. He has improved so much from what he used to do. He has slept through the night for quite a few months (from getting up 8 times in the night). However he wakes up at 5 am or 5:30am. He sleeps at night for 10-10.5hours. It is kind on the low average for his age but we can't seem to break it. 

He naps at 9am and 1pm. 1-1.5 hours each time. A couple times this week he slept 2 hours in the afternoon and I thought I died and went to heaven. I think we will start transitioning to one nap in the next month.  We can still get him to take a short morning nap in the car (on Sundays and Tuesday)...although he won't nap in the Ergo at all. 

Weighs: 

Likes: 

- Trash cans: No..he adores trash cans and will say "ck" (his version of yuck) as we pass them. He is always scanning for them! Throwing away his disposable diaper and banana peel each morning bring him so much delight. He also loves the toilet...and yes that is his toothbrush in it. Don't worry I threw it away. 

  

-The balcony; watching dogs people and construction.

-The stroller and going for walks. He will be really grumpy and fussy and then totally calm and quite the whole walk.

-Riding on daddy's bike: he EVEN fell asleep on the back of the bike.

- Books: Simon hasn't been as interested in books as Joy was. He will now sit through 4-5 board books before nap and bedtime which is HUGE. His favorites are any book with a lift flap (Dear Zoo), or touch books (mainly ones about animals). He also likes "Llama llama nighty night" and  "Goodnight Zoo".

- Playgrounds: loves walking up the slides and going in swings

Dislikes: He dislikes being very far from mommy.  He also dislikes it when Joy sleeping while he is awake. He as been sick a lot more than Joy mainly fevers and runny noses. He doesn't really handle being sick as well as Joy does.

Favorite event this month: Going to Kadoorie Farms since the weather is getting better/less hot and humid ...although the pollution has been terrible the past month!  

Away he goes

Simon is walking! Well I should say he is choosing to walk more than crawl. He walks between furniture now and can do it alone. He still likes to have a finger to hold on to when navigating new terrain. He always has the biggest smile on his face when he walks, as if he knows that this is a big accomplishment for a little guy.

October break

Brad got three days off work this week and we have been enjoying having daddy home. We've had a pretty relaxed schedule while getting a few things done. We had bike rides, dentist appointments, hair cut for mommy, Joy and mommy (and friends) Starbucks date, mommy going to Starbucks alone, daddy brewing beer, daddy checking out the protests downtown, dinners with friends and going out to eat. All in all a fun and relaxing stay-cation. 

Audrey's first birthday party 

Needless to say Joy likes cake! 

Mr. Watermelon face