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Adventures of a spectacularly active, incredibly clever, and insanely adorable little boy.
Birth date: June 15, 2004
| sept 15 - oct 14 2005< previous month | next month > Start at the beginning of Simonial Kagledom |
Fun Simon Stuff
see him age at a glance watch his 6-12 month music video (9mb) watch his 0-6 month music video (10mb) when did that happen? a timeline
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Archives by Age
The Fifteen Month Old
this month's photosOctober 13, 2005 
Simon says: "Happy Third Birthday, Cousin Jeff!"
Matthew was playing "lift with your back and not with your knees" late last week and then again early this week just to see what would happen and *BURN!* there went his lower back. Hava spent Tuesday and Wednesday at home lifting, running, bending, and carrying for two. Matthew is feeling somewhat better but since Simon just keeps getting heavier and heavier, he is resigned to the fact that there will be much more back pain in his future (note to Matthew's personal trainer - free your schedule). Yesterday was Simon's 15 to 18 month checkup so we finally have new stats ...Weight: 25 lbs. - 50th percentile (finally up from the 25th) Height: very nearly 33 inches - 90th percentile (still)Simon had four shots (including a flu shot) that were really painful but he doesn't require any more until he is FOUR YEARS OLD. And, after speaking with his doctor, we decided to give him his first taste of peanut butter - the final frontier in food. Simon can now officially eat anything - with the exception of things he isn't allowed to have quite yet (i.e. sweets and other food items with no nutritional value) and things that might make him choke (hard foods and large chunks of semi-hard foods). Speaking of food, last night at dinner Simon was in the zone and humored us with his knowledge: "Simon, where is your ... tongue? mouth? hair? foot? head? nose? Where are your ... teeth? ears? fingers? eyes?" He got everything right and laughed and clapped for himself after each show. At one point, Matthew asked: "Simon, where is your thorax?" Simon, looking very confused, put his hands up as if to say "HOW SHOULD I KNOW I'M NOT EVEN SIXTEEN MONTHS OLD!" Simon then correctly pointed out the "light" (chandelier), the "music" (CD player), the corn on his tray (and he said "corn" at the same time), "outside" (back porch), "Winslow", "cup", and "Calvin" (the front door).
Other relatively new things for Simon: he is really good and running and kicking and running and throwing. Though he still trips on occasion he is quite coordinated and we wonder where the athleticism is coming from (and if it will stay). He still likes to push his plastic bike around outside and now, when he hits a dead end, he picks it up and turns it around. Sometimes he rides it and uses his feet to propel him (but clearly it is much more fun to push). His favorite game is chase with a parent running after him saying "I'm gonna get you!" He suddenly can't get enough of the swings at the park. He is repeating a lot of words we say but his favorite thing to say on his own is still "AND?" (pronounced "an duh"). He now says "uh ah" when he drops something (we think he picked this up from Grammy). He can't be in the house for more than five minutes at any time of the day without complaining of boredom and asking to go outside; this includes just after he wakes up at 6 AM.
October 10, 2005
Simon makes a special appearance on his buddy Patrick's blog today. Go there now.
October 9, 2005
Simon picks out a pumpkin by himself at the Children's Discovery Museum Pumpkin Festival (yesterday):
How about this one?
Ugh! That's too heavy.
Wait, what's that over there?
Now that's a pumpkin!
How about this one?
Ugh! That's too heavy.
Wait, what's that over there?
Now that's a pumpkin!
October 5, 2005
Simon had his second hair cut yesterday at a new place, just for little kids, in Mountain View: Cubby Cuts. There were no tears and there was no struggling and so they are our new best friends. After the new do, we tried to do the regular bedtime routine only Simon had plans of his own. He ate and ate and ate and pooped and defecated and made BMs from 8 to 10 PM last night, then he woke up at 4:30 AM to start the process over; at 5:30 AM he demanded breakfast. Growth spurt? We'll see. Here is Simon in the tub last night with his new do.
Today we have a special offer ... Make A Simon of Your Own!Here is a starter set of parts:
Afterthought: It occurs to me that since we have an official sighting of the second molar (above), that makes ten teeth which means we're half way through teething! Notice how I say we. This is team work.
Today we have a special offer ...
October 4, 2005
Simon had a rough day yesterday. Hmmm. Let's start again. Matthew had a rough day yesterday. Simon was cranky, Matthew was cranky, Hava was not particularly cranky but that's because she is able to be out of the house when Simon and Matthew are cranky. In any case, all of this crankiness stems from Simon being up from 1 AM to 3 AM Monday morning. It was frustrating that he didn't want to go back to sleep (tooth ache, we assume) but there was something charming about having a barefoot half-pint dressed in dinosaur pajamas walking around the kitchen and asking his Mom to make him corn on the cob (uh, no; corn on the cob is not an appropriate middle of the night snack).Hava missed his bedtime for the first time ever last night in favor of seeing Salman Rushdie talk at the local book store (more hearing than seeing actually since Hava is short and the entire town showed up). Simon, of course, was just as happy with Dad putting him to bed as with Mom. Or maybe he was happier? He slept in until 7:15 this morning; sweet kid.
October 2, 2005 
A hearty welcome to molar number two (lower left). Today Matthew put up the ladder so he could reach the attic. Simon thought the ladder was way cool and, after watching Dad, climbed nearly to the top on his own (before we stopped him). (Yes, of course we were close by the entire time. We do actually like the kid, you know?)
October 1, 2005
*UPDATE* Know how we said that Simon didn't do anything amazing today? Well, just as Simon was being put to bed Mom said "say 'Goodnight Daddy I love you'" and ... he did. OK, it was more like "Goo igh Daddy, I luh" but it was enough to make us both stand there completely dumbfounded, trying to imagine why only five minutes earlier he was having trouble finding his nose.
October 1, 2005
Yesterday Simon was pretty amazing. First, when Mom stopped singing "The Wheels on the Bus", Simon said "wheels on da bus?" Later, out of the blue, he pulled up Mom's shirt a bit and said "belly button" before pointing to his belly button. Finally, we were all in his room together and Dad asked "where is a bird?" expecting Simon to point to one of the wall paintings. Instead, Simon went to his bookshelf, found his book of family photos, opened the book to the page with a picture of Winslow, pointed and said "bird". Today he seems back to his normal "a bird?", "a bear?", "plane!" self. Grammy Joan stopped by for a visit and brought Simon the best gift ever - the only toy he has now managed to cry over TWICE when he had to let go to fall asleep. We took it outside today to play and neighbors kept commenting "what a GREAT idea!" What is the new favorite thing around the house? 
A toy vacuum. Start 'em young! (Thanks again, Grammy.)
A toy vacuum. Start 'em young! (Thanks again, Grammy.)
September 29, 2005
Two and a half weeks ago we switched Simon from two one-and-a-half hour naps to one two-to-three hour nap. He was having a hard time taking that second nap and without it he was miserable all evening so we figured moving him to one late nap was worth a try. The first week it was incredibly hard to keep him up past his lunch and, even after his one very long nap, he seemed tired; last week he was sick so he was tired all the time; this week the one-nap schedule has really paid off. Simon now actually wants to go to sleep at nap time and at bed time and, even better, he has started to sleep in to 6:30 or 7 AM. One of these days, Hava may actually need to start setting an alarm again to get to work on time.Schedule of a 15 month old:
| 6:30 AM | wake up |
| 7:30 | breakfast |
| 8:00 | play outside (often with Calvin) |
| 10:00 | play with Nancy (two days) or out with Dad |
| 11:45 | lunch |
| 12:30 PM | nap |
| 3:00 | snack and play dates |
| 5:30 | dinner |
| 6:30 | play outside |
| 7:00 | bath/snacks/books |
| 8:00 PM | off to sleep |
September 27, 2005
Simon says: "Happy Sixth Birthday Sarah!" Another full night of sleep (this concludes the complaining portion of Simon's first molar). For about a week now Simon has been asking us the same question over and over: "That a bird?" Sometimes, like when Winslow (the bird) is right in front of him, he sounds more certain: "That a bird!" Last night a plane flew in view of the bedroom skylight: "That a bird?" asks Simon. "That's a plane" says Matthew. "That a plane" whispers Simon.
September 26, 2005
Simon went to bed at 7 PM and woke up talking (as opposed to crying) at 7 AM. He then proceeded to eat his entire breakfast containing normal food that requires chewing. We think we are off to a good start.
September 25, 2005 
Simon slept through the night last night completely drug free (hooray) but, even though he slept an hour longer than usual, he wasn't really ready to be awake. So it turned out to be a really good thing that we had an early morning walk to attend; Simon slept in the stroller almost the entire 5K. Unfortunately, after the walk, Simon resumed his misery. Want to know what it is like to be with a miserable Simon? Turn to your closest friend and ask them to say "ummmm" non stop for hours at a time. We are looking forward to having our sweet Simonial Underunit back soon.
Here are Simon and Matthew just before the walk this morning:
September 24, 2005
We've decided to erase this week from our collective memories; herein lies the final record. After three nights of waking every four hours because Simon's dose of Tylenol had run out of steam and his fever returned, last night feverless Simon screamed and arched his back and kicked
all night long.
So to hell with the rules.
We went to Blockbuster and rented six toddler shows. That was after a trip to Jamba Juice; he drank smoothy and we tried to feed him ice cream, then we tried lime Jello. Finally we took him to the doctor. He has Roseola, a common childhood illness, but it is really the TWO molars (one on each side) which are causing all the trouble. The doctor mentioned that this type of rash is not an allergic reaction so Benedryl won't help "unless you just want him to pass out for a few hours so you can get some sleep" .... we're considering it ... P.S. The rash is the final stage of Roseola. It isn't itchy or painful and it should be gone tomorrow or the next day.September 23, 2005
Simon is on the mend. After a long walk early this morning he started eating and laughing and acting incredibly silly. He became so exuberant that, at one point, he ran laughing and squinting right into the door frame of his room hitting it so hard that he bounced back a few feet, landing in the hall. We pried his mouth open for a look at that first molar and, after all this pain and suffering, it has only two corners peeking through the gum.
September 22, 2005
Simon is really sick. The kind of sick where he just wants to be held or drift off to sleep. We took him to the doctor this morning because his temperature last night was hovering mighty close to 103* but all she could offer is that it isn't an ear infection or a throat problem or a lung issue. "He probably has a virus" says Dr. K. She also let us know that if he looks good and responds normally, a high temperature isn't an issue. (Dad Rubenson start taking notice here.) She says there is no longer the belief that a very high temperature does damage and there is no reason to panic or, say, freeze your kid in a tub of cold water and ice. She said that the fever shouldn't last for more than another day and not eating isn't life threatening (he is consuming milk by the jug).
September 21, 2005 
Simon is sick. At first we thought it was the molar but he is hardly eating, sleeping more than usual, and has a low fever. All he wants to do is go outside and play with Calvin which is, of course, the one thing he can't do while sick. He still managed to come up with a couple of new "words" this morning: "um" and "huh?"
September 20, 2005
There is another parrot in the house only this one isn't green. Yesterday Simon came up with a new favorite word: "and" (with a very hard "d"). As in "gooobliach chiva stuwinno ... and .... boobuliogropiyamase." Matthew will never say "and" in quite the same way.
September 19, 2005
The photos have been updated. What's behind Simon in the photo of the week?
Michigan Charlie!
Michigan Charlie!
September 19, 2005
Another eventful weekend; so eventful that we were too tired to upload the photos. This week's photo will appear this evening. Saturday, after some quick thinking, we took Simon to the Palo Alto Junior Museum. His swim class was canceled at the last minute and he was fairly upset about the situation. After a fun time playing in the museum and looking at the animals in the small zoo, we took Simon out to lunch and put him back in the car for a drive through San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge and all the way to Santa Rosa. Once in Santa Rosa, Yahoo! Maps failed us and we ended up at a mall (and played in a toy store) before making it to our first destination: The Charles Schultz Museum. Now Hava may work with Museums but, truth be known, she finds all things that are kept behind glass painfully boring. So Simon and Hava ran through the Museum (literally), played with the chairs (which were pretty cool), and exited to the garden while Matthew looked at the comics and read, listened to, and watched things about Schultz. Schultz clearly loved Santa Rosa and built an ice rink, a cafe, a tennis court, and a baseball field on the property. Simon had dinner on the baseball field among 50 large decorated Charlie Browns which had just arrived that day. Our final destination in Santa Rosa was a party for our friend Bill. Simon enjoyed making non-family adults play Ring Around the Rosey, ate things he normally wouldn't (meat lasagna, celery, and sausage bagel bite pizzas), and then became delirious so we put him in the car to sleep on the long drive home.
"Oh MOM! Did you say sleep?" asks Simon. "Oh, I thought you said SCREAM."
Simon blessed us with ear piercing screams and desperate cries all the way from the Golden Gate to our garage (about an hour). He was so upset about being in the car that, the next morning, we had to convince him that we were only driving to the plant nursery a few blocks away before he would let us strap him into his car seat.In other news, Simon's molars continue to bother him. It is hard to tell how many are coming in, where, and how they are doing; we are not (usually) stupid enough to put a finger in Simon's mouth. Even though he asks to be put to bed, he can't seem to sleep for more than a couple of hours without screaming and he now has a runny nose in addition to his runny mouth. Considering how painful it must be to have large sharp objects erupt into his mouth, we are fairly impressed with his behavior (if this is as bad as it gets).September 16, 2005
Hallelujah! There is a reason Simon has been so cranky and sleepless and it isn't because he doesn't like us anymore or because he is practicing for the terrible twos. Simon has his very first genuine molar or, at least part of a molar - the very tip (on the bottom, right side). 
Hooray!In other news, Simon is now officially a kid. On his fifteen month birthday he figured out how to pick his nose - both nostrils (though not at the same time). Matthew says he is now ready for Montessori.
Hooray!In other news, Simon is now officially a kid. On his fifteen month birthday he figured out how to pick his nose - both nostrils (though not at the same time). Matthew says he is now ready for Montessori.
September 15, 2005
Simon says: "Happy Birthday, Grandfather!"We also say: "Happy Fifteen Months to Simon!"
Yesterday morning, just after Simon woke up, he lifted up his arms to Dad. Matthew picked him up. He pointed to the hallway. Matthew carried him into the hallway. He pointed downstairs. Matthew carried him downstairs. He pointed into the living room. Matthew carried him into the living room. He pointed to the kitchen. Matthew carried him into the kitchen. He pointed at the refrigerator. Matthew opened the refrigerator. He pointed at the bowl of blueberries. Matthew took out the bowl of blueberries. Within minutes, the blueberries had been consumed. Why is language important?