a day late...but not a dollar short

it is here. finally. and simon loves it!



in-n-out opened their first locations in northern utah yesterday. one in orem and one in draper. they broke records. 15,000 hamburgers were sold between the two stores. i didn't dare take that on yesterday. the lines were insane. the drive-thru was winding throughout the parking lot. when i drove by this morning after it opened it didn't look so bad so i asked robert to meet me there for lunch. when i got there the drive-thru was just as bad, and there was a line out the door, but they said the wait was 15 minutes to get the food from where we were standing. so we did it. it might have taken longer, but it wasn't too bad. i was with good company. thank you rob and dad (and mike from rob's classes) for humoring me and going to in-n-out during the grand opening rush.



simon really did love it. i couldn't get a picture of him with the cheeseburger in his mouth, but he ate more than half of it. way to go buddy.

i remember

i remember that we had a commodore64 when i was a kid.
i remember my parents deciding not to get the internet when i was about 10 years old.
i remember learning to type on those really old, boxy macs when i was in 5th grade.
i remember using dial-up.
i remember when not everyone had a computer.

now even toddlers have their own computer.



don't worry, we didn't buy this computer for him. it's just robert's old computer from 2004.

autumn

we have a huge maple tree in front of our house. due to the amount of leaves that fall this time of year i have decided that i don't ever want one of these trees when i someday have my own house. cleaning up all of the leaves is quite a chore.

the other day i was walking out of the house and the neighbor boys were playing in all of the leaves in our driveway, and when they saw me they ran away. i let them know they could keep playing and they came right back. it was really cute. i even got them rakes. the younger boy (not pictured) took the rake and said, "i love rakes. i want a rake for my birthday." so cute.

after i got rakes for the boys i got simon from the basement and let him play with them. i let him get dirty. i'm pretty sure this is the first time. here is simon sitting next to daniel in his big pile of leaves.

the simon we all know and love

classically simon

a return to hk

when i first met robert he told me that hong kong was his favorite city. i made him promise to take me there, and he did. when we were living in shenzhen we went to hk every chance we got. i also fell in love.



this next picture is from my favorite park ever. i talked about this park in my new york post.


this next one is a sign for a commuter escalator. no where else will you find one of these.


so after visiting hk i told robert i really want to live there. whenever we talk to people that live in hk i always ask how we can get there. the thing is, i've never really believed that we'll end up there, as much as i think i would love it.

last week robert accepted an externship with the international center for law and religion studies. we're going to hk. it may only be for a month or so, but i'll get to live there.

mummy in a car

first halloween

yes, i know technically this is simon's second halloween, but i don't think the first one counts when he's only four months old and didn't dress up and was asleep for the whole occasion. i'd say we made up for it this year.

my calendar was full of things to do. more than we were physically able to do. i already posted about the scarecrow festival. last weekend we went to boo at the zoo. it was cold. yesterday was halloween scream at the senior center that my dad goes to in bountiful. today we had little haunts, get bewitched, monster block party and trick-or-treating at the mall on our list. we went up to salt lake for the monster block party, but there was nothing there. luckily we were just driving by first since simon was asleep in the car. i just now found out it was cancelled :( i was most looking forward to this event. all month! oh well. we drove down to west jordan for "get bewitched" at gardner village. i had never been to gardner village and was curious. it wasn't that great. maybe it would have been better if they were passing out candy at all the boutiques. maybe it would have been better if they were open, instead of closing at 4, just 5 minutes before we got there. but they did have some pretty cool decorations. after that we drove back to provo and went to the university mall for trick-or-treating. it was pretty crowded. there was basically one continuous line along all the store fronts. but we managed to get in and out of there with plenty of candy in 45 minutes. then we came home, fed simon, bathed simon, put simon to bed.

happy halloween!

boo at the zoo:









golden years senior center:







university mall (parking lot):

i love these guys

i know you can't see simon very well in this picture, but i love this picture of robert. i haven't showed this to him yet or told him. but this post is for him. i miss him. he's been so busy this week, coming home for dinner and going back to school, spending at least 12 hours a day there. i very much feel like a law student widow. but it is ok. i'm really proud of him and how hard he's been working. i'm happy he wants to do well, and that he's enjoying the challenge. i love you robert!

scarecrow festival

there wasn't a whole lot for simon to do at the festival but pose for pictures. a lot of stuff cost money. silly me, that's what i thought admission prices were for. i was wrong. so he didn't get his face painted. he was too young for most things there, except for the toddler tower, which was just a play area with play toys. nothing exciting. so we took pictures.

huge pumpkin.



simon loves this sign. really, he was sitting in front of the big pumpkin and crawled away to snuggle with this sign.

here he is snuggling the sign with a balloon snake on his head.


he also wanted to be picked up a lot.


another huge pumpkin, this one not real, and in jack-o-lantern formation. he didn't really like sitting for pictures this day.


after walking around and there not being much for simon to do, we went to the farmhouse. i think simon really liked looking at all the animals. we're actually going back tomorrow with a group of friends. hopefully it won't be as crowded and simon can play with more stuff, and maybe the horses will let him pet them this time.

or is this classic simon?

i think i'll just be posting classic simon pictures for a while. and yes rachel...he does have other clothes. this is proof! (btw, all those other pics were taken on the same day.)

classic simon

happy day

these pictures were taken the same day as the picture from happy post, and were also taken by dhb.

the day didn't start so happy.


i don't remember what it was that caused this sad face. but this is what we tried to make it better.


this might have been the result.


either way we decided to take him outside to help cheer him up some more. he loves going outside.


it may have taken a minute, but it worked.

pumpkin patch

do i really need to comment on this? i think it speaks for itself. i love him!

prayer answered

you know who you are and you know what that means

eating

look at him, eating a big person sandwich. what a guy.

happy birthday aunt rachel

since we truly are poor students i cannot afford to do much more than celebrate rachel's birthday by posting pictures of simon. i'm sure that's what she wants most anyway, except for actually being able to see simon.

these are a couple of simon's most recent pictures.



love you rachel! happy birthday!

today

video of what started yesterday. (reminder to email recipients, videos must be viewed on blog)

two weeks ago and yesterday

two weeks ago simon started doing this. i wish i had more or better pictures, but every time i grab the camera he moves.


yesterday he walked...a few times...3-4 steps each time. video still to come.

rock sitting

while simon's nana was in town she introduced him to sitting on rocks. they did this everyday for the last couple of weeks she was here. i try to take him out to the rocks when i remember, but he doesn't sit for very long. he prefers crawling on the concrete and in the mulch. and eating mulch.



as i'm writing this simon is figuring out how to infiltrate our tv stand that used to securely house his dvd collection, along with my ipod. hopefully he hasn't figured out how to get into the part with the dvd player and cable box.

doctors

it seems lately people i know haven't had much luck with their pediatricians. ok, just one other person plus me. new mothers need to know when NOT to listen to their doctors. but how would they know? we're new mothers. we don't know any better.
these pictures are from june, right around simon's birthday. for simon's 12 month check up the dr said he could eat anything. i asked about peanuts because i was under the impression you had to wait 2-3 years on that one. he said anything. i should have NOT listened to him. i should have gone with what i heard and my insticts. but pb&j is so easy to make for lunch, and the dr said anything.
simon started rubbing his face almost immediately after eating his first pb&j. and then i noticed he was all red. and the pb from eating with his hands probably transferred to his face. i chuckled. i know. what's wrong with me. i felt bad for him...poor little thing. so i called the dr office and they said to give him some children's allergy medicine. i took him to the store to get some. he was not happy. he was a trooper though. look at his face.


this was just the beginning though. the nurse said to take him in if he had any problems breathing. he seemed ok, so i decided to take him to have lunch with his dad after i gave him some medicine. the medicine didn't seem to work. he actually seemed like he was getting worse. he started crying, a lot. and then he threw up, 4 times i think. i was hysterical at this point. definitely no more chuckling. i pulled over in the first parking lot i could and robert met me there. i couldn't tell if simon's breathing was bad because he was crying so hard. so hard. robert went with me to the dr. they checked simon out. they said simon's reaction wasn't severe, but it definitely wasn't mild either. pretty lame that i had to pay $80 for peace of mind, but i definitely needed it.


i took simon home and took off his clothes and put him in a huge t-shirt for his little body. he started getting better. then i looked under his shirt and he still had hives all over. i felt so bad. like i should have known, and it was my fault. but seriously, the dr said "anything".


the hives took all day to go away, and i think it was the end of the next day before he was completely better. so this is a warning. don't do it. do NOT give pb to your baby. some people say 15 or 18 months is ok. but be sure to have children's allergy medicine on hand when you do it. and try just a tiny bit. or rub a peanut on your baby's skin first. just be prepared. i always have his allergy medicine on hand now. i hate that i learned the hard way.

you know what else sucks, he doesn't like almond butter.

simon's future

has been determined. i think he's got talent, but you decide for yourself. he really gets into it. we kind of wonder about his pent up aggression that he lets out on his drums.

while i was gone

simon started doing this:



a lot.

i went to new york

do you ever just really really need to get away. just leave everything behind?
there was a lot going on this summer. lots of family came to visit. clara came home. and before people left or moved away, we spent a few days in Idaho with the whole family. there was a lot going on. there was a lot of stress. so i went to new york. no kids. no spouse. no parents. but a much missed sister (and a friend i hadn't seen in years, a brother-in-law who just moved there along with another friend that i very much miss since she moved). thank you robert. thank you for knowing how badly i needed this and loving me enough to let me go. and also thank you for the frequent flier miles, and all the plasma you sold to pay off the trip. i love you.


my sister lives in brooklyn. after we went to jacques torres, to get delicious ice cream and a thank you gift for robert, we walked around a bit and ended up by the water looking at the brooklyn bridge. so i figured i should say hi.

we decided to then try to get to the high line for the sunset. more on that in a minute. on our way i saw this. i was so excited. but for the sake of keeping things in order i'll have to explain more later.


we did make it to the high line in time for sunset. i think this is my new favorite park, ever. it might be better than the one in HK. well, it probably ties with it. there is something about a park in the middle of a city, among tall buildings and businesses. and escape from everything going on in the world. the high line is a park built on the tracks for elevated freight trains that are no longer in use. i loved it. this picture kind of shows the elevation of the park. but more importantly is a picture of my wonderful sister that let me stay with her and put up with me for 4 days.


i know this picture didn't come out too well. but i hope you can tell how amazing this park is.


and then there was this hotel hovering over the park.


back to the chelsea market sign. does that ring a bell to anyone. i would LOVE to work in chelsea market. specifically here...


but it was so late that i couldn't go in. it would have been fun to go on a tour or something. if they do that. but i was just happy to be there. there were a couple of restaurants open and an italian market. the market was really cool. they had every type of gelato. a million different pastas and cheeses. a pretty intense deli. and huge jars of nutella for $40 or something insane like that.

the next day i went to columbus circle to meet a friend. my sister was telling me about these statues that they have inside the mall there. there is a pair of statues, one of a very large woman and one of a very large man. here's the woman.

here's the man.


do you see that? yes, it is anatomically correct. but why is it shiney?


oh, because people touch it and rub it, and take stupid pictures while doing so. why?!?

midsommarfest

yes, i know midsommarfest was in june. i have a lot of catching up to do as far as blogging goes.

thank goodness there is an IKEA nearby so that we had reason to celebrate this...hmmm, it isn't really a holiday. it is more just an excuse for the swedes to get drunk and party. but in the IKEA parking lot there were many things for kids to do. not infants or toddlers, kids. the only thing we could get simon to do (by force) was wear this nice little crown made of some branch.

he took it off as soon as i stopped restraining his hand.


another reason why i didn't post this in june is because it was taken with my phone camera. it has taken me this long to take the pictures off. this also explains why the quality isn't that great. but i have this problem now. most of the time i want to take a picture of simon i don't have my camera with me (and he moves by the time i get my camera if it is nearby). so you'll just have to suffer through lesser quality for now.