Marigolds

About two months ago, our local hands-on museum for kids -- Imagination Station -- reopened.  I took Simon on opening day to see the new exhibits and renovations.  He loved climbing on the fire truck but he also got to plant some marigold seeds.  He talked about his plant off and on over the next month, wanting to go back and see if it had grown.  So two Saturdays ago, we had an opportunity to return to Imagination Station and pick-up his marigold.  Since then, we have been nurturing it along on our kitchen window sill.  And I finally remembered to get some soil over the weekend so we could plant it in a larger pot.  So tonight, we planted Simon's marigold, along with two packets of additional marigold seeds.  I think Simon's favorite part was watering.

There is literally a whole package of seeds in each of two pots.  Not sure how well they will grow being so crowded in a pot -- time will tell!  My hunch is that Simon will expect to see full grown flowers the next day. But until they do grow, they will be some of the best watered plants around!

Three Little Pigs

If you can understand what he's saying, I think you'll enjoy Simon's version of the Three Little Pigs.  He's adopted Mark's version of the story and it's pretty funny.  The parts that are difficult to understand include the pigs squandering their money on candy and toys and at the very end, the pigs make wolf soup.  : )  Enjoy!

First Soccer Practice

Simon had his first 'official' soccer practice tonight and he loved it!  He's been playing soccer at school, too, but this was our first time to see him in action.  A few parents who have older kids playing soccer wanted to do something with the younger kids who want to be part of a team.  So one mom decided to start a once a week program.  There were about 10 kids and it looked a little chaotic at times but Simon had a blast.  His favorite parts were running and playing 'red light, green light' without the soccer ball.  : )  And after the official practice was over, Mark took him back to the field and let him kick some goals -- both were grinning from ear to ear.  So we're officially a soccer family and will encourage Simon to play as long as he is interested.  We're already guessing that he'll be a track star if soccer isn't his calling.

Singing Simon

We noticed Simon singing "On Top of Spaghetti" today -- he has some unique lyrics!  Cracked us up.  We didn't know that he knew this song.  He said they sing it at school.  It's a good song for him because he LOVES spaghetti.  Thought you all would enjoy hearing our sweet singing Simon.

Fishing

With the ponds in our neighborhood and Mark's love of fishing, it's no surprise that Simon is also taking an interest in fishing. His Papa will be proud of how Simon is learning to cast the line into the water! He's caught a few fish this week and hasn't fallen in the water. : )

First Trip to the Dentist

I put this off as long as I could but it was time for Simon to visit the dentist. He really has beautiful teeth and I hope he always will. But, he can be so squirrely and fidgety! I really was uncertain that he could sit still for a dentist appointment. So we talked about what would happen, got a book about going to the dentist and read it, etc. And lately, we've been to a couple of health fair type of events and he's received new toothbrushes and different kinds of mini toothpaste tubes so he's really been into his teeth and brushing.

Today was the big day. Mark picked him up early from daycare and they went to the dentist. Of course, he did awesome! He was so proud of his shiney teeth. He told me all about what happened -- wearing a bib, squirting water, the suction tube, the brush -- I think he really enjoyed it!

Another first for our growing boy. Doesn't he look so grown-up in this photo?!?! Thank you to Jana for the recommendation ... I think our whole family has found a new dentist and one that we won't dread going to see!

Big Boy Bike

We planned on waiting until Simon's birthday in September to get him a bicycle. But that wouldn't give him much time to ride it before winter arrived. So when his daycare declared Tuesdays to be 'bring your bike to school day' we thought it was a good opportunity to get him a "big boy bike." So here are some videos that will probably just be interesting to grandparents, aunts and uncles, showing Simon's successes on his new bike.