NINE hours in a row (and Mom had to wake him up to eat!).

We love Simon
Yes we do
We love Simon
How about you?

Simon seems almost finished losing all of his brownish-red hair and new blond hairs are making their appearance. His eyes are still dreamy blue. Three more months until we can sing "Blue eyes, my baby's got blue eyes, do dee do do dee do ..."

It's Simon existence day!

One year ago today Simon looked a heck of a lot like this:

Hava suspected Simon was there because of a major amount of unexplained bloating and discomfort (and an understanding of fertility). Of course Hava and Matthew, newcomers at this, didn't want to get their hopes up. It takes two weeks before most pregnancy tests can show anything reliable and Kaiser (HMO) won't do a pregnancy test until four weeks past conception. So today, last year, Hava found herself two weeks pregnant (you get two weeks for free since they count from LMP and not conception). Hooray for us.

Want to learn more? Probably not. But you can learn about our last couple only vacation termed the CalifOrNia Centric ExPediTION.

Of course we planned the Simon many many moons in advance. House buying had him in mind. Matthew underwent genetic testing months before (both Mom and Dad have to be carriers for the most egregious genetic abnormalities so Hava didn't need to be tested once Matthew's blood was negative). And Hava had her chicken pox shot updated just in case she were to come into contact with a chicken poxer while pregnant.

Oh, one more thing that Simon really likes is his Boppy pillow.

Since returning from the Cape we've had some pretty bad nights. Simon really likes sharing a bed with Mom and Dad and it is hard for him to be back in the crib. Last night he was downright angry about the situation and let us (and the neighborhood) know his true feelings. Unfortunately, this has made Hava very gun shy about spending nights anywhere but home -- at least until Simon's sleep habits are less fragile. So if we say "no thank you" to overnight visits right now please understand that we really would like to engage in out of town mini breaks but Hava thinks sleep is mighty important and getting back to those seven and eight hour stretches (and staying there) is, regretfully, more important than anything else. Go ahead, offer an eight hour stretch of sleep for five nights in a row or lots of money, a new car, a trip around the world, world peace ... (OK, maybe she'd suffer for world peace.)

Current Simon likes: baths, faces, anyone making funny sounds, fabric (to chew on), knuckles (to chew on), the bjorn carrier (and gumming the front), sleeping, rolling, his fist, music (especially the Buffy soundtrack), looking at the silly baby in the mirror, grabbing onto hair, reading board books (he pays so much attention to picture books that it is actually quite freaky), being outside, going to the mall, eating, watching his mobile, raspberries (the wet kind)

Current Simon dislikes: waking up, being strapped into the car seat, traveling in the car, being hungry or bored

Simon had a wonderful time playing with Grandma Whee and Grandmother and Grandfather Kagle and we are sure he misses them now that we are back home. Simon did, however, have a big long-lasting grin at midnight last night when he "visited the elephant" and "played with his friends" (the mobile euphemism). We think he likes his room and is happy to be home.

Simon has been vocalizing a lot recently and held his own in conversations with Grandmother. Of course, his side of the conversation sounds something like ... "ooooh, ah ah ah, GA! la nee! ooooOOOAH! Aye." but we are certain what he is saying is very important and useful.

On the way back to Boston, Simon, his parents, and Grandparents stopped at Plymouth Plantation to learn about the pilgrims. We really do believe it was the heat and humidity that put him to sleep and not the actors.

Our flight home was uneventful. Simon was entertained by the fabric book Grammy made just for him and by looking at other passengers and walking in the isles with Dad. (Simon loves to look at textiles and chew fabric. In fact, he is chewing just about everything that he can get into his mouth these days. Could it be early teething? We'll get back to you on that.)

Simon unfortunately, now thinks 4:30 am (7:30 EST) is an appropriate time to play. Since Mom and Dad didn't get to bed until nearly 1 am, they were not really happy to indulge the Simonator this morning. Dad played while Mom tried to get another half hour of sleep before getting ready for work. The word of the day is "exhaustion".

P.S. Take a look at the month three photos to see Simon's adventures at the Cape. Sue gave Simon a "team g" hat that she made by drawing a little "g" on the brim. Simon is now in the "team g" hat club with Mom and Dad.

Simon took a trip in the Bjorn (front carrier) through the bustling streets of Provincetown yesterday and today he experienced salt water and sand for the first time. He loved the wind and the sand but seemed a little perplexed by the water at first.

Unfortunately, Simon started another growth spurt last night so Hava has been feeding him every hour or two which makes going out on the town somewhat complicated. In fact, he is hungry again ...

Simon took his first cross country plane trip on Saturday. Mom was really nervous about taking an infant on a plane but Simon taught her that she needs to trust in her little good natured baby more. Simon slept for nearly four hours of the five hour flight and played and ate the other hour. It was a no tears flight for baby, parents, and nearby passengers. Simon, well napped, was then introduced to the beautiful Sue Marsh who provided him with the greatest gift. (We'll post a picture of it here soon because words can not express ... ) Simon then endured his longest car trip -- two hours to Cape Cod! Grandprents' Kagle are enjoying being Simonized and Simon is enjoying the attention (because his parents NEVER pay any attention to him).

P.S. He is still managing to sleep between seven and eight hours in a row every night!

HE DID IT AGAIN! Simon slept for seven and a half hours in a row only this time he followed it up with another two hour stretch after only 30 minutes of eating. Hava is deliriously awake today and convinced that Simon is a demigod, a genius, a future Olympian, and just about the nicest kid on the block (which block? any block!). Hooray for sleep!

Simon slept for seven and a half hours in a row last night. This of course doesn't mean his parents did -- "Would you go check on him?" "Do you think he is OK?" "It's sure been a while." "He probably needs a clean diaper." "Well, he's still breathing." -- We could, of course, get use to this.

The long awaited first intentional back to front roll over video is now available. Warning: it is over 10 MB so it may take a while to download.

In Matthew's copious spare time, he has been putting together a few clips of "The best of Simon Kagle" Video Collection. How about we start with this one, now at least a month old, and you let us know if it takes way too long to download (realizing that you must have DSL or broadband in order for it not to take FOREVER). This movie is called Please Stay Awake Until 8:00!

If you have a sense of humor and can appreciate that for the first few weeks of life there isn't much happening in the way of self expression, click here. We call this movie "The Pisher Pishes".

For the past two nights, little sweet Simon has been waking up every two hours and around 2 am he can't fall back asleep for quite some time. We in the Kagle Household (Mountain View Edition) are very very sleepy and are feeling rather ssssslllllloooooooowwwwww. It is just now starting to sink in that Simon is not a temporary visitor and he is really here to stay. Maybe we have been slow for the past three months.

Simon rolled from front to back today. Theoretically he can now roll himself over and over and over until he reaches a wide variety of important floor oriented destinations. We think this is unlikely; rolling seems like a really inefficient mode of transportation not to mention the dizzy factor. He is now working on the forward scoot (he already has accomplished the full circle back rotate). Our little Olympian ...

Everywhere we go people stop to tell us how much Simon looks like his Dad. Hava thinks Simon's Dad is quite cute so these comparisons are welcome. Hava, however, has a secret. In the tradition of show, don't tell, click here. Hava on the left, Simon on the right.

Simon is mesmerized by Uncle Jon and even came up with a new really loud laugh in his honor.

Today Simon joined the ranks of Kagle Rocket Commanders. Check them out

Hava bought Matthew and Simon a fancy swing to soothe any potential crankies and it arrived today (still a surprise for Matthew since he isn't home so *shhhh*). Within two minutes of swinging, Simon was completely out -- giving him his third long nap of the day. It's hard not to love a swing that has an aquarium, a fish mobile, lights, and "soothing sounds". In fact, I want my own.

Grammy visited today and Uncle Jon will see Simon in the flesh for the first time this evening. Simon will see Uncle Jon for the first time tomorrow morning, probably around 6 am but maybe at midnight or 3 am. We hope Uncle Jon wasn't actually planning to sleep ...

The back to work schedule is working out even better than expected. Simon is an exceptional follower of the night-time routine, which now includes being in bed by 8 pm, and the morning routine, waking up at 6 am for a feeding and then taking a nap at 8 am and noon. Hava feels like she never stopped working except that she can now sit closer to her work surface sans the enormous belly. Matthew would prefer to get more work done during the day but is figuring out how to use nap time and Hava home time efficiently.

It is a long standing Kagle tradition (at least as long as the seminal Kevin Costner work, Dances with Wolves, has been available) for everyone to be given an Indian name. The point of Indian names is that they are mutable, depending on current life circumstances. We've decided on a few new Indian names for ourselves:

Matthew: Sits at Home
Hava: Milks Like a Dairy Cow
Simon: Has a Fist*

* Did we mention how proud Simon is of his fist? He shows it to us all the time in a very "power to the people" salute.

Simon provided Hava with a good night just before she returned to work. By good we mean that he fell asleep on his own (sucking his thumb) at 9 pm, 2 am, and 6 am. Being able to comfort himself and fall asleep on his own is such a big deal and we are so proud.

Back at the Kagle abode, Matthew has won the "why is Simon cranky" debate. Matthew wants to solve Simon's crankies with food. Hava can't imagine that Simon is hungry enough to eat 4 oz every two hours (technically speaking, he shouldn't be able to consume that much). While Hava was away, Simon and Matthew managed to go through all of the fresh and some of the frozen milk. This just means Hava has to add a pumping session at lunch and possibly another in the evening. He's a growing boy. Moo.

Often, it may seem that we new parents make having a newborn sound rosy and perfect. OK, we really do think Simon is pretty perfect but, just in case you're thinking about running out and getting your own Simon, we feel the need to tell you about a few less-than-ideal Simon habits:

1. Simon will no longer take a pinky, he won't take a binky unless he is 98.5% asleep, and he is still not very good at getting his thumb. Simon must suck on something to get to sleep. Can you guess what the only other option available is? If you've guessed "Mom", A+ on the Simon test so far! This is pretty bad as it keeps Mom up many many hours when she isn't actually needed and, starting tomorrow, Matthew is likely to have trouble getting Simon to nap. We really do think he will have the thumb thing down soon but his hands are still pretty elusive things.

2. Simon nurses for between one and two hours every time he wakes up in the night. Right now he goes to sleep between 9 and 10 pm and is sleeping in three to four hour chunks. Hava wakes up for work at 6 am -- do the math to find out why this is not ideal.

3. Simon falls asleep while nursing. He doesn't burp when he is sleeping and putting him down without burping him causes him to spit up. Spitting up causes him to wake up. Waking him slightly to burp him gets him to burp but the burp wakes him up. This is why getting him down in the middle of the night often takes two hours.

4. Apparently, rolling over from back to front is rare for a two month old. It isn't odd for Simon at all once you know about his little personality. Simon is bored. He wants to move and he wants to move away from where ever he is. Put him on his stomach and he tries to crawl away (given some traction for his feet, he actually does scoot away). Here is a key to Simon's boredom time tolerance. Are you a new person? Add five minutes. Are you wearing an interesting, high contrast shirt? Add five minutes. Are you showing him something new? Add five minutes. Sitting down with Simon is nearly impossible for Mom and Dad because they don't often have any of the previous qualifications. Walking outside works well as long as we walk somewhere that we haven't walked before. In summary, keeping Simon entertained is a challenge.

5. Try as we might, toys are just not that interesting to our little Simon. Even his beloved bouncy chair with music and lights is now out of favor. The only two things Simon hasn't tired of is music (the Buffy the Vampire Musical CD is his ultimate favorite -- but you have to sing it -- and he hates "The Producers") and he loves being rolled over and over and over on the floor.

New things for Simon: he can blow raspberries in response to a blown raspberry (he's not very good at the lip movement but he makes the sound and blows the bubbles), he rubs his eyes when he is tired, and he says "hi". "Aye" is his favorite sound, we don't actually think he is meaning to say "hi" but it sounds a lot like "hi" which is pretty funny.

What a day. Hava, Matthew, and Simon orchestrated a "dry run" of their future schedule (kinks and all - Hava slept in too long and the power was out so 8 batteries had to be found for the pump). Amazingly, Hava still made it to work on time. Unfortunately, because she was biking, she missed the big event - Simon rolled over (intentionally) for the first time. On the positive side, Matthew was filming him at the time so Hava saw it when she returned. He's been rolling over back to front ever since (and will likely have front to back very soon).

As a reward for his new skills, he was taken to the doctor for his two month checkup. Simon is 11.3 pounds (exactly average for boys his age) and he is 24.5 inches long making him taller than 90% of babies out there (hence the reason he is thin and growing out of his clothes).

Simon's shots were more painful for Hava; maybe she should have taken baby tylenol too.

Just a quick note to say that Simon desperately apologizes for his Mom's lack of response to email over the past two months. If Hava hasn't emailed you, it isn't because she doesn't plan to; she has your emails in her inbox right now. The guilt is awful. All email will be responded to next week when there isn't a Simon where there is a computer.

It's a busy week in the Kagle house. Hava, regrettably, returns to work on Monday so we are in high gear trying to prepare ourselves. Today we purchased a bike so Hava can ride to work (because there is no way Hava will be making it to the gym on a regular basis and she desperately wants to get back to her pre-pregnancy shape), a rack for the bike (to carry the pump), and a laptop backpack so she can carry her work each day (after working from home a half hour in the early mornings while feeding Simon). Last night Hava tested getting up at 6 am after five hours of very interrupted sleep (not intentionally). Life will be something like this for working Hava: Simon and Hava will nurse at 6:00 am, Hava will pump before she leaves at 8 am and ride her bike five miles to work with the pump, pumping supplies, lunch, change of clothes, and laptop in tow. Hava has reserved a private conference room to pump in at 10 am and 2:30 pm. She will be home by 5:30 pm to nurse Simon before his bath, story, and bedtime ritual which starts at 8 pm. Fridays Hava will be working from home, all other times, Matthew will be primarily in charge. We hope this works out for all of us. Besides the lack of sleep for Hava and the camelesque nature of her ride to work, we think it sounds completely reasonable.

In other news, Simon met Matthew's good friend Elaine (we're keeping up his social skills) and he seems to finally be getting a little pudgy. His two-month appointment is this Thursday complete with vaccinations. We're not going to tell him about that last part in advance but we may surprise him with something other than milk -- baby tylenol. Oh, it should also be mentioned in ALL CAPS (except we won't lest you think we are yelling) that Simon has successfully put himself to sleep a few times this week by sucking his thumb!

Simon has learned how to spit. Spit, as opposed to spit-up, is drool expelled at high velocities completely voluntarily. We suggest all visitors bring at least one change of clothes per hour of Simonizing.

Happy two month birthday to Simon!

New things for Simon in the past week: he found a smiling baby in the mirror and was mesmerized by its cuteness, he started to chuckle while awake, he had so much fun with Grammy that he forgot to nap all day long (and then spent the majority of the next 24 hours asleep), and he ended his three day growth spurt (thank goodness).