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.

Day 305 = January 1, 2011

About 10 minutes before midnight, Simon woke up. There were some loud noises outside that probably startled him awake so we figured we would take him out of bed for a few minutes to ring in the new year. He still looks kind of drowsy.

We hope you were with your loved ones to celebrate the beginning of the new year!

Simon has been learning to point so we’ve been trying to teach him the famous ET finger-to-finger touch. He’s not quite doing it here but I’m sure he’ll get it soon.

Check out Simon’s cute chubby toes!

Out having lunch. It was a very chilly day so we bundled him up extra snug and warm.

*nom*nom*

Simon has yet to get the hang of using a sippy cup. He’s more distracted with playing with the tether right now.

Welcome 2011!

Day 304 = December 31, 2010

I went to work for part of the day and thank goodness everything went smoothly. While I was away, Ron took this funny picture of Simon attempting to climb on our bed using his teeth. I guess his teeth must still be itchy.

We let Simon try some kiwi for the first time tonight.

First piece in…

Hmm…

Ugh… what? another piece?

I don’t want anymore!!

After we tasted it, we realized that it was kind of sour so Simon probably did not like that. After dinner, Simon and I had our playtime. He was really interested in his yellow bucket again. Either chewing on the edge or making sounds into it so that it would echo.

He seems to be learning to put the blocks “in” but then will take them “out” right away. Check out his round belly! It looks like he is turning into an “outie”.

Simon went to bed pretty early, around 7:30pm. He’s still having a very runny nose and cough so he’s probably still exhausted from his illness. His PJs tonight are a mismatched because we haven’t had time to do laundry and we have less sets of PJs now. He’s grown out of most of them so has maybe 6 sets (?) that he can still fit but he only wears them for 2 or 3 nights before they get dirty and require washing.

I am sick too with runny nose and sore throat so I also needed to rest so went to sleep the same time Simon did. My nose is pretty raw from blowing it often these last 2-3 days and I’m always feeling dehydrated even though I’ve been drinking as much water as possible. I’ve been taking high dose vitamin C + zinc and my throat seems a lot better. So I slept a few hours then woke up to have dinner and waiting until midnight to strike.

This set of champagne and wine glasses is from my friend Gary. We’ve had it for quite a few years so hoping it has kept well.