Sean's Birthday

On June 26th, we all gathered together to celebrate with Sean! First we had presents...

Then we had this yummy ice cream cake. Wendy bought these really neat candles that had colored flames. Can you see in the picture how the orange candles have a orange flame, and the blue ones have a blue flame? Very cool!

Of course, Kristin was happy to help blow out the candles!After the presents and cake, we sat around playing games and visiting with the family. Here's Simon and his Aunt Wendy. This is Simon's new "photo face" which appears almost every time he sees a camera. I love that cheesy grin!
Simon had lots of fun playing with Wendy that night. First, he spent some time pointing out all the different parts of her face. "Here's your forehead..."
And then he gave her a series of big wet kisses!

Simon's Trip to the Emergency Room

Last night Simon had his first trip to the Emergency Room. I doubt it will be his last. He was jumping around on some pillows and fell backwards into the coffee table. And right away, blood started dripping from the back of his head. It was awful! Fortunately, the bleeding stopped quickly - but it was obvious that the cut was bad enough that he needed medical attention. So, off we went. Simon seemed to feel fine and had plenty of energy. The Emergency Room was pretty full when we got there, and I worried we'd be in the waiting room for a long time. But it only took about a 45 minutes before we went back to a room. Well, it wasn't really a room - more of a curtained area. But you know what I mean. Simon was less than excited about having to sit and wait, especially when there was lots of fun and dangerous medical equipment sitting around calling his name.I tried to snap a picture of his head, but he was on the move most of the time. in this photo you can kind of see the spot - but we'd already cleaned up his hair. Initially, the entire back of his head was a big red mess.
It turned out that Simon needed two staples to close the wound. They had me hold down his body while two nurses held his head still. He was screaming the whole time since he hates being held down. The doctor leaned in to put the staples in and then paused to ask me if I was going to pass out. I wanted to smack her. I work in a hospital! I'm not upset because he's having a procedure! I'm upset because he's upset! Just get this over with!

Here is a photo of Simon after they had finished. Doesn't this picture break your heart? He looks so sad and pathetic!
Here's what his head looks like today:

Garden Harvest

It's an exciting time 'round the old homestead. We're able to harvest the first few vegetables from our garden. It's so exciting to have fresh produce at our fingertips. Kristin loves to come out and help pick veggies. So far we're getting zucchini, yellow crookneck squashes, and lots of cherry tomatoes. Most of the tomatoes are from the volunteer plant that came up along our fence. But there's loads more on the way! Look at how pretty our vegetables look! I love those vibrant colors.

Simon Turns Two!

Can't believe this little guy has already been with us for two whole years! For his birthday, we had the usual family dinner at our house: a BBQ (burgers and chicken) with potato salad, corn on the cob, and watermelon. And of course, birthday cake for dessert!
We got a cake from Costco, because they're fairly inexpensive - but of course, you get a TON of cake. Look how enormous that thing is compared to Simon! It's almost bigger than he is!
This piece of cake is actually WAY too big for him, but doesn't it look nice and manageable compared to the whole cake? Simon was very interested in the frosting, in particular:
He thoroughly enjoyed his cake and got it all over. Even in his ears! And he ran his fingers through his hair a few times for good measure.
Then we opened presents. Simon was particularly excited about this Wonder Pets book he received, and wanted to read it right away.
Of course, of all his gifts, I had my own personal favorite: