Kadoorie farms

It was a beautiful breezy morning for an outing to kadoorie farms. Joy's friend Abigail wanted the girls to be little mice and Joanna brought face paint and ears to complete the morning. Joy wouldn't wear the ears but she did wear her backpack that she insisted on bringing. What a fun morning. 

19 months

What Simon is doing

• Is full of life and general mischief . Simon is into everything.  My mother describes me as that way :-) 
• Great problem solving skills and fine motor skills (can get open three varieties of baby locks on our cupboards) 
• He climbs everything and then jumps off. If I hide the stools he drags the chairs and climbs up so he can access the counter. His forehead always has a goose egg on it.
• Sits through quite a few books and even has favorite books. This is amazing since we couldn't get through a simple board book at Christmas. It is nice to get to cuddle him during the day since he is always wiggling and trying to climb us when he is being held. 
•  Wants to do everything that Joy does, even if it is too hard for him to do which causes lots of frustration. 
• Exerts his will and is very upset if he doesn't get his way. The tantrums have started, although he is not as committed to them as Joy was at his age :) 

What Simon is saying 

Simon has been increasing his pantomime routine and has learned one new word this month... Out
1. No
2. Yeah
3. ga ga: gross/garbage
4. baba: dog
5. dat: that
6. amm: food
7. mm mm: milk
8. Mama
9. da da
10. hi
11. bye
12. baabaa (and makes blowing motion): bubbles (which means he wants a straw)
13: nana: banana
14. Ot= out 

* can also say up but he isn't consistent on what it means 

Teeth: 13 teeth (one i tooth popped through and we are working on three more). These I teeth have caused so much sleeping trouble and General Crabbiness. I can't wait for teething to be over 

Eats:

Solid food: Simon is a slow eater and if we try to make him eat a bite of something he doesn't want to he causes himself to vomit. So we now just leave him be. 

• Loves: most all food. Especially bread, rice, veggies, fruit. Pizza (he is my son), yogurt, cheese, he adores keifer smoothies. Will eat beef over chicken any day. 
• Verdict is still out on:  beans, chicken

Sleeps: 
Night time:  6:30-5:30/6am. If he is teething then he can be up as early as 5am (or even start crying off and on at 4am). Simon is not the greatest sleeper and has tons of energy when he is awake. After 19 months of this Brad and I are feeling tired.

Naps: He is at one nap and will sleep for 1 hour on bad days and 2 hours on good days. Most days are at 1.5 hours but we had a lot of only 1 hour nap days, which makes for a tired mamma. Joy still sleeps longer than him in the morning and longer than him (1 hour or 1.5 hours more) at nap time. I'm thankful I have one good sleeper. We were hoping with the move after summer to have them sleep in the same room. However, if he is still sleeping so much less than her we won't be doing that.

Weighs: 21.4 lbs

Likes:
-  Going on bike rides with daddy. It is the only time (other than sleeping) that he is calm, quiet and still. 

-bubbles 

-Being outside:  He stands at the balcony door saying "out" 

-Reading: His favorite book is "and then it's spring"


-playing house, doctor and baby dolls with Joy

-Taking out the dog with daddy and feeding the dog

-Playing with kitchens and watching mommy cook (having two "helpers" can be very difficult...but I would like to involve him and Joy as much as possible because my mom did such a good job involving us in cooking!)

- loves splashing in all water..mainly the shower and any puddles we encounter. 

Dislikes: when Joy is asleep and he is awake or when he is being reprimanded. He has had to have a few time outs recently due to standing on the couch and trying to jump off. 

Favorite event this month: Low pollution and nice weather= lots of bike rides with daddy which make so one very happy boy. 

St Patrick's day

Somehow it worked out that we had two st Patrick's day parties back to back. It was hard to find two green outfits for each of us but we figured it out. We had so much fun. Thanks Jinean and moms group (no pics from moms group yet). Needless to say joy loves skittles :)

First dance class

Joy attended (and kind of participated) in her first dance class. A teacher at ICS is teaching the class to 10 little people. What a great service and sacrifice of her Saturday morning. 

Joy stayed pretty close to me but by the last stretching time she was willing to participate and had a great time. 

Good bye Fanling children's clinic!

I just have to report that Simon took his 18 month injection like a champ. Minimal crying once promised gummie  bear was delivered. It was my last time at the clinic here in Hong Kong. I did not shed a tear! Overall it has been a great experience at the clinic however there are  some funny (and frustrating) things. Here are just a couple. 

1) chinese babies: HK  children sit on their parents laps totally comatose... Simon ran around the clinic like a wild child. 

2) formula:  the nurse was a little confused by the fact that Simon drinks cow milk from a sippy cup not formula from a bottle. I must say tht the nurses were very supportive and encouraging when I hose to nurse both kids. 

3) food. They measure how much babies eat in rice bowls, which is hard for me because my kids eat off IKEA plates, and don't only eat rice. :) 

Happy Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year break is over. We loved having brad home!  We had a fun time visiting with friends, hanging out as a family and trying to escape the craziness that happens in our village during this time of year. 

Simon is 18 months

What Simon is doing

• Simon is trying to relay events to us these days, which is a bit like an exaggerated game of charades (with hand signals and sounds) since he can't really talk. He is very excited when you finally understand what he is trying to tell us. 
• Can identify banana trees and points out each one we pass. 
• Is a very sensitive soul: He cries when Joy goes to time out (for hitting/biting him!) and if a character in a book is crying he starts to cry. 
• Can navigate stairs (using the railings) really well on his own. Funny side note: I read Joy's 19 month blog post and I was stating how frustrated I was that Joy wouldn't walk up the stairs on her own, she only wanted to be carried (and I couldn't carry her because I had just had a c-section). Just yesterday I was feeling frustrated that Simon only wants to walk up the stairs. Oh us mothers we can never be happy can we? So I'm thankful that Simon WANTS to walk up the stairs. 
• Is BUSY: Runs, climbs big and small chairs and moves the stool so he can reach things on the counter. 
• Gives lots of hugs and kisses. He will blow raspberries on any exposed skin and can even give a back scratch if asked. 
• Can identify many animals (although still only making one animal sound..ROAR) 
• Has self- appointed chores: he daily reminds me to empty the dehumidifier water, empty bathroom garbage into the kitchen garbage and take out the garbage. By 2 years old just think of the chores I can have him doing! He even cleans up spills and put toys away. 

What Simon is saying 

Simon understand everything I tell him. He can follow one step directions. He still isn't much of a talker and has very limited words. I was a bit worried that his speech is so far behind Joy's at this age. So I have been counting every word. By 18 months he is suppose to be at 20 words..so he is close.
1. No 
2. Yeah
3. ga ga: gross/garbage
4. baba: dog
5. dat: that
6. amm: food 
7. mm mm: milk 
8. Mama
9. da da
10. hi
11. bye
12. baabaa (and makes blowing motion): bubbles (which means he wants a straw)
13: nana: banana

Teeth: 10 teeth (working on a bottom tooth and still no "i" teeth)

Eats:

Solid food: Simon is a good eater but his eating goes through phases like his sleeping. He will eat tons for a couple days (out eat Joy) and then eat like a bird. But he does eat a variety of food. Have I mentioned he has quite the sweet tooth! If there is even talk of candy he wants some (and then has one of his few tantrums because he can't have it). 

• Loves: most all food. Especially bread, rice, veggies, fruit. Pizza (he is my son), yogurt, cheese, he adores keifer smoothies. 
• Verdict is still out on:  beans, chicken

Sleeps:  
Night time:  6:30-6am. We have all finally found a schedule that is working. That only took 18 months. When he is working on a tooth or only has an hour nap it takes him a long time to wind down at bedtime and he will cry a lot.  

Naps: He is at one nap and will sleep for 1 hour on bad days and 2 hours on good days. One week he will only sleep an hour, then the next 1.5 hours and then the next 2 hours...then cycle back to the one hour phase. I think I have figured out that he is on a three week rotation or sorts. We are now in the 2 hour phase and everything is right with the world.

Weighs: 21.4 lbs

Likes: 
-  Being outside: although he would rather not be contained in a play ground. He wants to romp and roam while being wild and free. The roof is ideal! 

-Playing dress up with Joy's fancy shoes and jewelry! 

-Taking out the dog with daddy and feeding the dog

-Playing with kitchens: play food and pretend cooking is a favorite for this boy. If I let him play with the real hand mixer or any kitchen appliance he is in heaven. 

- Loves long showers and drinking the shower water out of cups. Joy and Simon play "coffee shop", at least they are not drinking soapy bath water. 


- Books: 'Good Night Gorilla", "Very Busy Spider", "How Does Baby Feel" (although that last one makes him cry on the page where the boy breaks his toy and feels sad). Simon's interest is growing in books. He always plays with is ears while we are reading to him. 

Dislikes: being far away from mommy especially if needing to be comforted, being told "no" (although listens better than his sister ever did) and when Joy has a time out.  
FLEECE * Since Christmas we have noticed that Simon has a weird bumpy red itchy rash on his legs. Finally last month I was able to narrow it down to a sensitivity to fleece, but only on his legs. With cream, sensitive soap and no fleece he is doing better (he still randomly breaks out, which I can't figure out why). When he is really itchy it definitely affects his sleep.

Favorite event this month: Daddy is on Chinese New Year break and we are loving having him around. We went on a super long hike on the first day of vacation. While Joy talked and sang the WHOLE time Simon loved observing nature and only made noise when he needed to point out every trash can we passed.