Simon said his goodbyes to Grammy Joan on Thursday evening and, on Saturday, he said hello to Grandmother Jill and Grandfather Steve. He is basking in glory of all of the extra attention and the larger audience. Some might even describe Simon as a bit of a ham - a very silly occasionally shy ham. He has been to the Museum of Science and Industry with both sides of the family in the past weeks not only because Daddy scored some free passes but also because it is just a really fun place. We took him to Lawry's last weekend for a four course meal during which he was a perfect little gentleman and ate out the next day at a local diner where he wouldn't eat anything but maple butter from a toothpick and couldn't sit still for more than five minutes without complaining. Fortunately, "thank you" and "help, please" are now as commonly spoken as "crackers?" and "waters?" and forcing him to say the words instead of moaning is working remarkably well. The sentences continue to flow and for that we are immeasurably grateful.

'Twas a dark and stormy night.

Well... er... no.

'Twas a Summer evening filled with billowy white and grey clouds. Clouds promising rain. Clouds exactly like these...

Much to Hava's "I'm in Chicago for THE WEATHER" disappointment, these clouds were in the way of a storm which never came. Warmth radiated from the bricks and mixed with the cool breeze as Hava and Simon jumped and played on the deck. Out came the hose.

Simon got wet.

Simon got wetter.

As the evening progressed, Simon found himself with fewer and fewer dry clothes. Soon, he was wearing nothing at all.

Still, 'twas not the kind of evening which would cause a normal naked person to willingly sit in a bucket of very very cold water. But, when you are almost two, strange things happen...

When you are almost two, outside, naked AND there happens to be a bucket of water nearby, you see nothing but opportunities...

And so the evening passed. Just like the L...

We have a new rule; you can't flush the toilet unless you use the toilet. Simon is now controlling the amount of urine he puts into the toilet in hopes of being able to flush more often.

Photos from the week...

Jumping on the deck.

In awe at the Rainforest Cafe.

Playing with new toys.

Slicing a green pepper.

Getting out the real stuff.

The Rainforest Cafe is THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH according to Simon. He had been there once before but that didn't make this experience any less exciting. He danced, he pointed, he laughed, he hugged his Mama and his Daddy, he exclaimed, he exuded exuberance (and that was before the macaroni and cheese arrived and the elephants started to move). He swayed, he smiled, he talked to the florescent fish as they swam in the tank next to his chair and then we ordered a VOLCANO (a sundae with a sparkler on top). When the VOLCANO arrived he started a round of "Happy Birthday."

Grammy, Daddy, Mama, and Simon walked home from the L, played with his early second birthday gift, a table and chair set along with a fold-away wooden kitchen complete with supplies and food - from Grandparents Rubenson, and danced to music. Simon did his usual silly routine of looking back out of the corner of his eyes while spinning around to make himself incredibly dizzy before falling into something. When that got old, he asked Mama and Grammy several times to: "Read a book?" He grabbed Mama's hand letting her know it was time to go into his room, read a book, and get ready for bed.

Before he went to bed, Simon counted the toes on his right foot: "one, two, three, four, five" only he really wanted to count higher so he concentrated on the big toe pointing over and over, "six, seven, eight, nine, ten" ("eight" is pronounced "eit"). It never occurred to him to move to his other foot. Later he counted the slats on the back of his crib and stopped (correctly) at eight.

Mama put him in the crib and covered him with a blanket (a new addition to the routine) and he went off to sleep without any vomiting.

Simon's been drinking out of fountains again which means a rash followed several days later by lactose intolerance. Mmmmm, milk. Mmmmm, cheese. Last night, just as he was being carried over to his crib after a big glass of milk, he relieved himself of dinner. The stench of the vomit combined with the smell of the cleaners attempting to cover up the stench of the vomit were too overpowering to allow him to sleep in his room so he slept fitfully with Mama in the big bed after literally kicking Daddy out. As a result, we three Kagles are exhausted and will now nap until dinner. We have special plans...

New things for Simon: All of a sudden he speaks in full sentences using real words. Three sentences from yesterday: "Where did Daddy go? Where is he? I don't see him!" (Matthew had run back to the car to get a bottle of wine before we went to a housewarming party.) He also used French words without being asked in the correct context yesterday. For example, he held up his dirty hand to Mama at dinner and said "Frotter!" (scrub). This morning we took him to Starbucks for a steamed soy milk. We thought he would reject it but he drank the entire cup exclaiming excitedly how he had "hot coffee!" (Grammy has been drinking hot coffee in the mornings.)

Simon says: Happy Belated Birthday, Uncle Art!

Simonal Kagledom seems to be tapering off on frequent updates. This is due to an increase in overall atmospheric delight (some call senioritis or spring fever) and not because Simon has become a boring subject. Indeed, Simon continues to entertain us. He was given his first pillow to sleep with late last week (an old squishy one belonging to Matthew) and was so excited by the gift that we found him standing up hugging the pillow each time he awoke. He would then walk through the hallway to our room (talking excitedly the entire trip) to return the pillow to our bed so it could be with the other big-person pillows. Once the excitement of having his own big person pillow wore off, he returned to waking up talking about his blue toe nail calling it a "Toe, boo. Oui oui." (translation: "my toe is blue where I got an owie"). Once, Mama walked into the room after his nap to find him "reading" his copy of Olivia which he apparently snuck into his crib under the cover of darkness. We are tempted to plagiarize the book, adjusting only the name "Olivia" to make the perfect Simonial version: Simon is good at lots of things. He is VERY good at wearing people out. He even wears himself out... (insert picture of him dancing, then jumping on the bed, then pretending to sleep, then jumping back up for so long he actually works up a toddler sweat).

Grammy Rubenson arrived on Wednesday to spend a week with Simon. His regular sitter is expecting a new baby any day now. Last night Amelie (soon to be big sis) stopped by so her Mom could have a rest before being the parent of two. Simon usually thinks Amelie is pretty great. He talks to her all through dinner and they make each other laugh in their own weird conversations. Unfortunately, Simon likes to give Amelie big hugs which she tolerates no more than twice before it becomes upsetting. He also tries to sit on her and give her boos much as he used to do with Calvin. Amelie, being proportionately smaller than Calvin to Simon, doesn't quite appreciate having the Simon the Gigantic pin her to the ground to lift up her shirt. One day soon we will need to explain to him why most little girls are probably not going to react well to getting a boo on the belly. Yesterday he tried to help her up the two steps leading to the front gate of the courtyard so they could make their toddlerific escape. Amelie put out her hand for help and Simon grabbed it and walked up the steps as usual helping her arm up but leaving her body behind. Be it that her arm and body were still attached, Amelie fell and it was equally scary for both toddlers. Luckily, boo boos of the scary type are highly kissable, Amelie's Dad was around, and everyone was fine.

Hug number two.

To show off for her Dad (who is originally from France), Simon sang his best version of his favorite song, "Bonjour Simon, comment cava? CAVA!" Amelie's Dad was dully impressed, threatening to take him off to France. If we can go too, he's got a deal.

And then it was hot. Sticky hot. Stormy rainy hot. TGFAC hot.

Would that keep these Kagles from fully experiencing Memorial Day weekend? Somewhat. We had plans to enjoy nearby beaches but decided early morning outdoor activities and afternoon indoor activities might be the better course. Events included...

Friday night swimming at the "Y."

Saturday morning conquering of the Sears Tower followed by lunched at Marshall Fields and a brief glimpse of the Memorial Day Parade.

Saturday afternoon was time for birthday boy shopping at Toys-R-Us followed by some time with Amelie and her parents (so Hava and Matthew could walk to Emilio's and have much needed gazpacho).

Sunday morning we took an early morning neighborhood stroll, did more shopping, and Simon helped Hava pot plants on the deck.

Monday morning we took the L to Millennium Park to visit the LED water faces.

For lots of this...

and some of this...

and this...

and even a little bit of this...

Simon carried a small American flag which he dutifully waved almost the entire time we strolled along the streets of Chicago. Many an elderly person got a kick out of our very patriotic boy.

Last night, just after his bath, Simon walked over to his crib and asked Hava to put him in. She did. He snuggled up with his stuffed snake, and looked at the pictures through his crib bars while Mama read him Harold and the Purple Crayon. When the story was finished, Simon put his head on his folded blanket/makeshift pillow and said "bye!" before he closed his eyes and went to sleep. This afternoon, about a half hour before nap time, he asked Matthew to put him in his crib and, as soon as he was in, he whispered ever so quietly "bye!"

Most of the time Simon is just that great.

Simon had his worst tantrum ever Monday night. He was over tired, over hungry and couldn't contain himself, even in front of the Grandparents Rubenson, when faced with not being able to serve himself and everyone else pasta from the big heavy breakable bowl. After a lot of screaming and crying and writhing we gave in just so he would STOP and eat something before being put to bed. The next night, sans Grandparents, it started all over when faced with not being able to serve himself rice. This time we put him in the time-out chair for one minute and the problem was solved. He has been such a great kid lately; we were unprepared but we've learned our lesson about giving in (and family style dinners are out for the time being).

Some fun Simon moments over the past week:

• He loves to play hide-and-seek. We hide in the closet, behind the curtains, under the crib and he walks into the room and declares "I don't see! Where's Daddy?" just before he searches all the usual spots and we pop out to surprise him and make him scream and laugh.
• "Was sat?" is often followed by what he thinks it is "Was sat? Dog?"
• His diapers have been no match for his bladder at night so, more often than not, his PJs are wet in the morning. When we enter the room to get him out of the crib he points to the wet spot and says "uh oh" (but still doesn't want a diaper change).
• Last night when Mama was lathering him down with baby lotion he asked "Was sat? Baby soup?"
• His favorite television character, Caillou, is now in a good percentage of his conversations. For example, "Old MacDonald had a Caillou." Who knew? Simon hasn't seen Bob the Builder (we still try to keep his TV watching very limited) but likes to stare at his Bob the Builder pull-up diapers before we put them on. Bob looks a lot like Caillou but he has TOOLS! We're pretty sure that if Simon ever finds out that Bob has his own cartoon, we'll never be able to turn off the DVD player without lots of pain and suffering so, at least for now, he can think Bob is Caillou with a construction fetish.

We've recently realized that Simon has outgrown 99% of his toys so we've been trying to think what he might like and use his birthday as an excuse to box up the old and open up the new. Simon's current favorite more-than-five-minute toys: the salad spinner, the CD player and headphones, old shampoo bottles that squirt water in the bath, our keys, and our cell phones (tonight he held Matthew's phone and said "smile! smile!" while trying to take a picture). Don't get us wrong, he has LOTS of toys; he just doesn't seem to care much about any of them. This is your chance to help. What do you think we should get Simon for his birthday?

He is currently interested in: music, Curious George-level books, counting, ABC's, stacking, jumping, running, swinging, climbing, water, sand, drawing, buttons that do something, tools that do something, stretchy things, spinning things, and things that pour or ooze. He is not particularly interested in regular blocks, cars, planes, trains, fire trucks, other modes of transportation, or puzzles.

Hava put together this "wish list" on Amazon as an attempt to figure out what he might enjoy and what we both can agree to buy. Are trikes the way to go? How about in climates where he can only use it a third of the year? A play house for the deck? Will it stay in good condition all winter? Will he use it next year? Play doh at this age? A kid size table? Do you have any of these things? What do YOU think? Please send email with any ideas to "admin" at "kagledom" dot "com" (or directly to one or both of us). Thanks for the help.

(Note to Grandparents, please let us know if you actually plan to buy something off of the wish list - we probably won't buy the toys from Amazon and we may go shopping this weekend - we're currently just using the list to come up with ideas.)

Simon says: Happy Birthday Grampy and Aunt Arlene! How old are you now? TWO!

On Friday, Grammy and Grampy arrived on a train from the West Coast so Simon has been busy entertaining them. Saturday morning the entertainment almost literally came to our front door in the form of a "Spring Fling" put on at the park just across the street. Simon ran through the bubble machine bubbles, danced to the music of the rock band, met Elmo, had his first snow cone, and was pushed on the swing for nearly an hour by Mama, then Grammy, then Grampy. He thought the bouncy castle thing looked like a lot of fun but was uncharacteristically scared to join the other bouncing toddlers. He was not, however, scared to climb the park trees (after watching much older boys).

Simon jumps for joy after meeting Elmo.

Stunned by the presence of a star in his front yard.

First snow cone. (When asked if he wanted red, green or blue, he requested "boo" and ended up blue all over.)

The night before we left for California, we had Chinese food delivered; Chicago Chinese food (so far) is incomparable to Bay Area Chinese food. Luckily, Simon has recently decided to widen his palette to the point where he will try anything and, occasionally, discovers that he actually likes the stranger looking things that he is served. For example, it turns out he is quite fond of shrimp and bacon (enter your own Jewish joke here). He'll even eat other kinds of meat when the mood strikes. Last Thursday he ate with a pot sticker in one hand and Crab Rangoon in the other. That was just before he hijacked the entire container of rice.

When we were in town, we visited our favorite Chinese restaurant in Mountain View, Cafe Yulong, to order the fish and leek dumplings (Simon's favorite). Here is Simon doing his best to look astonishingly impatient while waiting for the six dumplings he ate last Saturday.

Simon says: Happy Birthday Daddy! How old are you now? TWO!

We're back from our enjoyable but completely exhausting weekend in California. When Simon was three months old we said he would be a better travel sleeper when he was older. We also said that at six months old, nine months old, twelve months old, and eighteen months old. At this point WE GIVE UP. "Well rested" and "travel" post-Simon are mututally exclusive. Alas, Simon is much more entertaining at this point in the wee hours than he used to be...

Hava: "Simon, go to sleep"
Simon: (patting bed) "Here, bed. Mama sleep!"
Simon: (kisses Mama, kisses Daddy, returns to kiss Mama, returns to kiss Daddy...)
Simon: (laying down and pretending to snore) "Koooohhh sheeewww. Kooooooh sheeeeew..."
Hava: "Close your eyes!"
Simon: (Sits up and tightly wraps his hands over his eyes. Peeks. Giggles. Starts to talk and sing which continues NON STOP for two hours before we literally wrap two arms around him to hold him down until he passes out.)

Every night Simon screamed in his sleep. We tried everything to make it stop (like waking him up) but that only seemed to prolong the activity. The more tired he was (from lack of naps and nighttime sleep) the longer the screaming continued - until the final night in Oakland which was endless. We are the people you hear through the wall of your hotel room in the middle of the night and we are very sorry.

Despite the exhaustion, and despite accidentally leaving our laptop for a weekend with security in Midway, we had a great time. Simon didn't seem to remember much (and had no reaction to being back outside his old home) but immediately clicked with his old friends as if he had never moved away...

Rolling with Carl

Hanging out with Calvin

Swinging with Cindi

Enjoying the sunshine

(Most friends not actually pictured - photos were limited by lack of ability to upload to laptop. Be sure to visit Calvin's site to see other, completely adorable, photos.)