Simon slept twelve hours last night, waking twice for nourishment. He was also much happier yesterday than in the previous days. His nose is still stuffy but he looks to be on the mend.

Fun things to do on a cold winter day:

1. sit on the scale (or chew on it)
2. close doors with your head
3. play wheelbarrow with Dad
4. make Dad scream by chewing on his foot with your only tooth
5. prove that baby proofing just the bottom bookshelves is clearly not good enough

Guess what? Restaurants in the Bay Area have high chairs just like Hawaii. Simon is excited and invites everyone to a hearty meal at a high chair place near him (bedtime rituals start at 7:15 PM).

*update*

Simon is officially a healthy boy besides a cold, painful gums, and an award winning case of the crankies.

And, for those of you "in the know", Hava was not reorganized out of her job.

Simon has a cold. Hava has a cold. Matthew has a cold. The only difference between them is that while Hava and Matthew prefer to sleep when sick, Simon hasn't slept for more than 45 minutes in a row, without screaming his head off, in a few days/nights. We aren't sure if it is new tooth pain, the cold, or something else which is waking him up. He will be visiting the doctor this morning to make sure he doesn't have an ear infection. This is one of those times when a talking Simon would be really handy.

If Simon could speak his most often uttered sentences would be: "mind if I chew on that?", "look, only one hand!", (and worse) "look, no hands! ... owch."

Simon can finally sit and we are so proud; Simon enjoys his new balancing act as well. Other new skills include making vibrato by moving his hand over his mouth and saying "ahhhhhhhhhh" (Mom and Dad do this to him when he cries to make him laugh). He also now does this squinty smile thing with his face when he is really happy and he is trying really hard to stand and walk unassisted.

He adjusted back to California time without any trouble but he has been waking up several times in the night with a scream or a cry before falling right back to sleep.

Oh, the vibrato thing has replaced "da da da da da da da da"; Simon is a one-shtick-at-a-time guy.

Simon Says: Aloha Maui!

Simon sat without propping himself up for the first time this morning; of course, by the time the camera was found he had fallen over. Maybe he'll be able to sit in his seat on the plane!

Simon's interest in water stops at the water itself. Yesterday he went whale watching and if he spent any time at all looking out over the sea he probably would have spied a whale tale or two; Mom and Dad saw lots of humpback whale tails. Today we took him to the local aquarium and he was mostly interested in figuring out why the water is kept behind plexiglass; and if those darn fish would get out of the way, he might figure out how to break in.

Simon's top five reasons to like Hawaii:
5. ceiling fans EVERYWHERE
4. if you stand on the beach the water plays peek-a-boo
3. less clothing required (and sometimes none!)
2. all the restaurants have high chairs
1. water water everywhere and lots of milk to drink

Now that the sun is out it has been a busy couple of days. Simon, "the almost-one-toothed barracuda" (he bites all fingers available) has shown us just how ardent his water passion really is. Yesterday we took him to the on-site kiddie pool because we thought it would be warmer than the ocean (boy were we wrong) and he LOVED the pool, repeat not just liked it, LOVED the absolutely freezing cold water. Then we took him to the beach and, holding onto Dad's hands, he walked right out into the surf and thought the cold water and roaring waves coming at him were SO GREAT. It was truly an incredible sight (so we took lots of photos). Today we took him to the ocean again and he jumped and kicked and splashed while the waves rolled over him -- screaming for joy the entire time. The little guy gets more than a few stares from onlookers who can't believe that we aren't torturing our adorable baby.

Yesterday we continued Simon's restaurant high-chair adventures at the local Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Dad secretly put some chips on the ground for Winslow's relatives to find. Simon watched the birds in rapt attention and hardly had time for the spoonfuls of baby food coming his way.

The weather forecast for today and the rest of the week looks good!

Simon sat in a restaurant high chair at lunch for the first time yesterday and he enjoyed the experience so much that he did it again for dinner. We went to a really great restaurant. Simon had sweet potatoes, apples, and bananas and provided entertainment while eating the bananas; bananas have really gone out of favor.

Simon is sleeping in a "pack-and-play" and thinks the mesh sides are funny. Mom and Dad may have to purchase one of these things for their next trip. Of course adding more luggage to the mix may be a really bad idea; it took us ten extra minutes just to figure out how to exit the airplane (car seat, boppy pillow, backpack (doubling as diaper bag), baby carrier, jackets, baby).

It's still raining here in Maui. We forgot to mention a few new things about Simon. He stopped blowing raspberries into the air two days back and started saying "da da da da da da ..." nonstop instead. He now crawls to Mom when he is hungry (very handy) and he tried to investigate a power outlet for the first time at our hotel (and was whisked away in plenty of time).

Simon Says: Happy Birthday Great Grandfather Rubenson!
Simon Also Says: Aloha from Maui!

It's pouring in Maui this evening so we Kagles are indoors checking out the place where Simon's first tooth is about to break through (lower front right). Simon has played with toys, looked at the rain, taken three short naps, gone out to lunch and had some ice water from Mom's cup (yuck! but can I have more?). Simon was excellent on the flight over but had a hard time adjusting to the new time last night and this morning ("hard time" in this instance is defined as a case of the crankies due to lack of sleep).

*Update*

Simon pulled himself to a standing position for the first time this evening (multiple times because it is fun). That's right, the kid can pull himself to standing from laying on the floor, he can crawl, and he is almost "cruising" (walking while holding on to furniture) but he CAN'T YET SIT! (He sits on one cheek while propping himself up with one arm but still steadfastly refuses to bend in the middle for us or sit on two cheeks on his own.)

Simon Says: Happy (early) New Year!

Simon's web site may be on vacation for a short time while Simon refines his jet-setting skills. We will be updating the news, there may just be a delay in uploading.

Simon has been Spity-Mc-Spitstein since Christmas. He blows raspberries into the air for a good portion of every day. He has also become Adventure Baby! over the past two days. He is no longer content to crawl in circles around toys, he wants to investigate (and taste) every piece of furniture, every cord we haven't yet hidden, trash cans, the bathroom and kitchen, and basically anything on the floor he shouldn't have.

Over the past two days he has had quite a scare when a stranger with a foamy beard takes the place of Dad in the bathroom. Simon starts to cry when the scary man appears; luckily, Dad shows up in no time at all to make him smile once again.

Welcome to the nursing diet plan.

Step 1: Become pregnant.
Step 2: Gain incredible amounts of weight for nine months.
Step 3: (The most important step!) Give birth to a very very hungry baby and nurse, nurse, nurse!
Step 4: Wait six months, eat everything in sight around the clock making sure to include lots of cookies and chocolates, cheeses and meats.
Step 5: Get on scale and find out that you've actually lost an extra two pounds over the weekend.

This diet is only recommended for women of child bearing age. Results may vary. The infant used to test this diet plan nurses every two hours even at six months (though last night he slept ten hours and fifteen minutes straight).

We three Kagles have had a terrific past two days. Sunday we had our first spontaneous outing since before Simon's birth; finding ourselves in San Jose at the Children's Discovery Museum. Even though he was a bit younger than most of the crowd, Simon had a great time watching balls be carried by the force of air and water, holding himself up on the bumper of an old fashioned car while touching the tire and horn, crawling in the under age 4 room and chewing on every cylinder and block in sight. Simon worked up quite an appetite while playing and broke his solid food consumption record at dinner: two cubes* of sweet potatoes, half a cup of rice cereal (before it was liquified), four cubes of pears, and one jar of peaches. He then slept a record nine and a half hours in a row followed by an additional two allowing Mom and Dad to sleep in.

*Hava makes most of the baby food and freezes it into ice cube trays.

Today we made it to the mall bright and early, escaping the rain, and bought a few things for Simon and Hava. Simon was given his first balloon by the mall staff, a red one, and he loves it. Tonight when we read Goodnight Moon saying goodnight to the red balloon will have new importance.

Simon had a very Merry Christmas in Sacramento. He slept through both 20 minute flights. He sat facing cousin Sarah in his car seat and stared at her 99% of the time (who needs musical car mirrors when you can stare at a five year old beauty?). He opened presents (sorta). He played with his presents' packaging. He had peaches for the second time (LOVE 'EM!).

But, most importantly (from Simon's perspective) he met two dogs - including one really really large German Shepard named Odin. Odin is soft and fuzzy and it was hard to determine who drooled more. We have a dog-loving boy.

Simon Says: Merry Christmas!

The past few days has seen Simon's lack of movement frustration virtually disappear. He loves getting around on his own and is so proud of his new abilities. He has even had his first hard fall on the noggin into a sharp corner but still seems to have all his marbles.

Speaking of getting around, Simon is all set to take a trip to Sacramento early tomorrow morning to celebrate his first Christmas with Grandparents' Rubenson. Hava and Simon will be flying because Simon still isn't happy about being stuck sitting for very long and Hava wants a happy holiday. How long is the flight? 40 minutes gate to gate (from SFO).

SIMON CRAWLS! He finally "got it" this evening. His first official crawl was for Mom. His second official crawl was for the thick paper tag recently separated from a gift our friend Cindi gave Simon last weekend. That's right, he doesn't crawl for the toy but he crawls for the TAG of the toy.

In other amazing mobility news, Simon walked while holding onto Dad's hands from the bedroom through the hallway to greet Mom when she came in from work. Walking is so cool; watch out tags, Simon's coming to get you.

Several times over the past month we've bought a few pair of socks for Simon hoping that they would finally be the ones to stay on his feet; we tried 0-6 month socks, then 6-12. This past weekend we put aside our doubts that it could be that he has size 12-24 feet and low and behold, he now has socks that fit. Maybe he WILL be really tall - or does that only hold true for puppies? In any case, he is in the 90th percentile of height, he loves balls, and he is magnetized by the color orange. Not to gender/height/color stereotype him at this age but we're thinking a few basketball games might be in our future (bring this up often to see Matthew cringe).

We also finally purchased three safety gates over the weekend; one for the top of the stairs, another for the bottom, and a third for the entrance to the kitchen. Simon can get around at quite a clip these days but, so far, he isn't very inquisitive about rooms other than his own and the living room area. He started using his arms to crawl a few days ago but only gets a few inches before he gets confused and goes back to his impression of a break-dancing inchworm. It does appear, however, that Simon may learn to sit this month. Over the past two days he has stopped crawling and leaned back on his rear end, propping himself up by one arm. He resists when we try to bend him in the middle but it seems to be OK with him to sit if he gets there by himself.

Besides Simon's minor illness, the past week has been absolutely perfect as far as all things Simon are concerned. FERBERIZE YOUR SIX MONTH OR OLDER BABIES! We can't even express how much it has changed our lives, our attitudes, and our sanity to sleep through the night and Simon is getting more sleep as well. Simon cries briefly about 50 percent of the time and the other 50 percent he falls asleep without any fuss. Do it for yourself. Do it for your baby. Do it for your country.

Stepping off soap box now.

Yesterday in swim class Simon and Hava went underwater for the first time - twice. Simon blinked and sputtered a little but otherwise didn't seem to care (Hava blinked and sputtered a little as well). In other news, Simon now reaches out to be picked up and, the other day, after about fifteen minutes of playing with Hava's friends, he started to get sad and became happy again once returned to Mom. This is the first time he has shown a clear preference for wanting to be with a parent over a friend (he leaned to be back with one of the friends a short time later).

Feverish Simon spent most of yesterday sleeping. Besides lethargy and extreme cuddliness, his only other symptom was a slight runny nose. In his few moments of pep he went to see Mom at work and watched her flower-box-ball screen saver (which is just about the BEST movie EVER) and, later, Dad played Fat Boy Slim's video, Weapon of Choice, to which he bounced up and down over and over and over again.

This morning Simon seems to be all better (and he Ferberized to sleep last night without crying at all).

In other non-sleep news, Simon is working on the consonants "sssssssssss" and "ttt" because they make great sounds and are tonguerific.

*UPDATE*

OK, it wasn't so amazing. Simon woke up at 8 am with a fever of 101.5. The poor little guy had something to eat, was cuddled, and went right back to sleep.

This is amazing. Hava and Matthew went to bed after Simon (at the normal adult time of 10 pm) and have woken up on their own, no baby crying as an alarm clock, for the first time in, say, SIX MONTHS. Simon is still sleeping. What do we do with ourselves? Ah, for Hava the option is working from home (since she is going to be late unless he wakes up mighty soon).

Simon went to sleep last night on schedule (8 pm) after seven minutes of crying. He half-woke at 4:45 am and Hava decided to take the opportunity to feed and change him. He fell back asleep with one audible fuss and is still out.

Happy half birthday to Simon!

Time fly-by check: Yes, now it does seem like Simon is aging fast. In fact, it's almost like he is a real boy. He plays on his own for 30 minutes at a time, he eats solid foods, and he makes "MOM!/DAD! That's embarrassing!" expressions when he gets kissed and snuggled (we secretly know he likes it). It is amazing how much he has changed over the past six months (and yet it is equally interesting to note how his personality and many of his interests have remained the same). To think that this big boy came out of Hava only last June is stunning. Hava is eternally grateful that she isn't an elephant.

Here is a list of Simon's current likes and dislikes:

Like: being carried around by Dad in the crook of his arm
Like: being naked
Like: Mom's milk, applesauce, sweet potatoes, peas with rice cereal
Like: the color orange
Like: the fan in the bathroom
Like: bouncing, climbing, getting "some air", being in water
Like: silly faces, silly sounds, raspberries
Like: being outside and seeing people (especially other babies or little kids)
Like: pushing buttons, playing with balls, investigating textures
Like: pushing the shopping cart from the Bjorn (front carrier)
Dislike: going to sleep
Dislike: being stuck inside all day
Dislike: being strapped in (to anything)
Dislike: being tired or hungry or bored

Simon cried for eighteen minutes last night before he went to sleep, he slept for seven hours, nursed, went down with less that one minute of crying then slept an additional three and a half hours.