Day 309 = January 5, 2011

The daycare requested that we dress Simon a bit more warmly, at least two layers. I guess they go outside to play in the backyard sometimes so don’t want them to get cold. We also leave an extra jacket and change of clothes there for him. So today he is wearing a onesie and this sweatshirt that Grandma Tam got for him (in CAL colors!). He’s checking himself out in the mirror.

Mommy, do you want to see how you look too?

Ron says that Simon had a pretty good day at daycare. He visited near the end of the day to observe Simon at play. Simon seemed to like being in the kitchen.

He liked this play kitchen since our first visit.

The toy tables are at his height.

Mommy and Daddy, can you get me a table like this?

Simon still likes to put everything in his mouth.

We’re not sure if he learned these things at daycare but did two new things this evening: drinking a juice box through a straw and making new sounds with his pacifier.

During dinner, Simon got a little fussy so we offered him this apple juice box. He doesn’t seem to know how to start sucking but once you squeeze a little juice into his mouth, he can seal his lips around the straw and drink the juice. He also tries to chew on the straw though, probably just trying out his teeth. This is a reduced sugar apple juice box from Trader Joe’s.

The second thing Simon started doing this evening was biting his pacifier and pulling it out of his mouth and being really excited while doing it.

We wonder if he is picking up these things from other children in daycare. I guess that is one thing we’ll have to deal with, he’ll be picking up “bad” habits along with the good stuff.

Day 308 = January 4, 2011

In the last month or so, Ron has been visiting various daycare locations within San Francisco. Simon is growing up and we almost can’t keep up with how fast he is learning. We figured he needs to start interacting with other children his age and hopefully learn from them as well. Ron also needs a break so that he can get some work done during the day. So we found this great daycare that is relatively easy to get to, the caregivers speak English/Mandarin/Cantonese, they will work with you child to get them into good habits (like napping and eating balanced meals), and have children a bit older that Simon can interact with. My co-worker brings her kids to this daycare too and she raves about them. Ron dropped me off at work before taking Simon there then spent part of the day with Simon to make sure he would be okay in their care. Simon seemed to enjoy exploring the place as they have a very large play area with lots of things to see and touch. Here is Mr. Slouchy Pants checking himself out in the mirror while holding a pot.

Then later in the afternoon after Ron had left for a few hours then came back to check on him. He’s playing with foam blocks.

I think the thought of taking Simon to a daycare was harder on me than it was on Simon. He seemed his usual happy self when we picked him up after I got off work. We also upgraded his infant carseat to a convertible carseat. We’re going to move the position of the safety strap though since this is pretty inconvenient to put Simon in and take him out. Instead it can also be attached to the front passenger seat. Looks nice and comfortable, doesn’t it? He has so much more room compared to the infant car seat.

Drinking his milk, all by himself.

I visited the daycare last week and the caregivers seemed nice, the place was clean, and they have a pretty good schedule of activities for the children each week. They make healthy lunch, dinner, and snacks everyday and have set nap times for all the kids. Simon’s stubborn personality was very obvious to the caregivers today as they commented about it when Ron went to pick him up. Simon refused to eat from a spoon so ended up not eating very much. He is also not used to their timing for the morning nap and wanted to go to sleep much earlier then had to be carried in order to nap in the afternoon. He also did not drink very much milk during the day like he usually does. Overall though, for a first day, he seemed to do okay and did not have any meltdowns. He was probably just very distracted by all the other children and the toys.

Simon is growing up… *big SIGH*… now the time I get to spend with him is all the more precious.

Day 307 = January 3, 2011

I love Simon squinting, so funny! But he doesn’t mimic us anymore, he just does it when he feels like it.

And yes, Simon knows that the remote control turns on the TV. He’s trying to figure out what button turns on Sesame Street.

Simon surveying his breakfast. From our lunch yesterday, we brought home some leftover dim sum beef balls. Simon seems to really like them as he started to pick them up with his hands too.

This is Simon’s tired face.

Simon learned some new things today. For starters, he’s starting to learn to put his hand into the snack cup to take out his cereal and puffs.

But his pincer grip isn’t quite there yet so sometimes the snacks just end up sticking to his hand so that he can pull them out. He also doesn’t seem to like the snack cup closing onto his hand and wants to pull his hand out quickly as possible.

So daddy helps him out by pushing it open a little so Simon can get his little hand inside.

This picture is just random and makes me laugh for some reason.

Simon is more funny in this one, like he is lifting something really heavy! But they are plastic beads so quite light.

Simon also is learning how to toss a ball back and forth to daddy. I’m not sure if he really knows what he’s doing but seems like he’s having a good time.

He also does it with a bigger ball and his plastic cars. I remember the time when Simon did not know how to grip this big jingle ball. Now he seems to have no problem just grabbing and squeezing it in his hand.

Babies are sometimes easily entertained. Simon was interested in his plastic storage bin and started to chew on it, bang on it, put it over his head, and flip it all around.

Simon seemed to have a fun filled day. I guess I would too if I had all these toys to play with all day. Ron took this panoramic of Simon’s playroom. Kind of a neat effect.