Simon at 11 months

It's not easy for me to focus on the 11-month mark without wanting to burst from the joy that I have an almost-one-year-old. I can't believe it! Didn't we just back from the hospital with him?

Simon's accomplishments:
Walking. Straight up WALKING. Everywhere, all the time, no more crawling.
Loves reading time. Always willing to curl up with me and read a book.
Dances to music, and head bangs. Really likes the Temper Trap.
Says "uh oh" whenever he drops something.
Doesn't like to be fed by us anymore, wants to handle and eat food on his own.

Simon's unfortunate accomplishments:
Refuses to take our hands when walking. Good, I guess? Being independent and all?
Loves the library. Bad because he loves telling me how much he loves it, "OH, WE'RE AT THE LIBRARY? G'UNH BLER BOPPDITTY BUH LIBRARY LIBRARY HI EVERYONE." Yeah.
Tries to take off his diaper a lot.
Had his first cold a few days ago. He was so miserable, I cried about as much as he did.
A lot more fussy lately. Between growing pains and the move, and I'm not always able calm him down.

Simon's achievements in nobody's eyes but mine:
His favorite toy seems to be his toothbrush.
Fascinated by all the cars on the busy street we live on.
Plays with this singing bear doll we got him; presses the paws constantly to change songs likes he's unsatisfied with the playlist.
These red skinny we got him. So cute.
He's constantly confused for a girl. I'm always told how pretty he is; that's what I get for dressing him so flamboyantly, I suppose. We're not wringing out hands over it, though.

Goof

I'd like to apologize, because the next few (if not the last few) blogs posts will be pretty Simon-centric. Tomorrow will be his 11-month post, so I'll finally be all caught up and able to put up his birthday post (one year old?!?! Gah!) on Oct 3rd. And this current post I couldn't resist: we found him sleeping like this last night about an hour after we put down him to bed. I'll let the picture speak for itself.

The Haunted Man

This move has taken me to a place I haven't been in a long time: feeling alone. We knew when we left Rexburg we'd be leaving all our friends behind and would have to start fresh, but during Seve's student teaching we had all those other student teachers to hang out with, and Portland was abundant with family.

In our new home I only see Seve early in the morning and late at night, since he stays late for all that drama he's teaching. His first play as a new teacher: Wit. He's worried about the pelvic exam scene. He and the town's other high school drama teacher are also considering a collaboration on a joint musical, Urinetown.

So Simon and I are left to our own devices all day long. This is what I thought I was waiting for, this is what I thought I wanted for years. To simply be home with my baby, but goodness, I find it very lonely. Simon is wonderful, but his conversation capacities are limited at the moment.

To keep my spirits up, I've created a writing nook where this apartment's fireplace used to be. I bought a cork board where I post all of my ideas and visual inspiration so I can keep myself grounded in my writing and not drift into depression. My desk fits perfectly into the nook and I write for about 2-3 hours each day during Simon's naps.

But sometimes it's not enough. I need some girlfriends, stat. And if I could choose, I'd like some weirdos like me. Who like the dark and the feminine, who are excited for Bat For Lashes' new album The Haunted Man, who will start a book club and read something other than Tuesdays with Morrie. It'd be nice if they had babies, too. But who am I to be picky?

Simon at 10 months

The day before our move, we let Simon create some original works of art for the loved ones he was leaving behind. So he Pollocked it up in the driveway.

Simon's accomplishments:

Eats with a spoon (though he tends to dump the contents before they reach his mouth).
Can stand up completely on his own, without assistance getting up, for 2-3 seconds.
Only needs to hold one hand now while walking (in fact, he gets mad if you try to grab the other hand).
Biting has stopped, hallelujah.
Nap time has returned!

Simon's unfortunate accomplishments:

Knows what "no" means . . . and will often times do the "no" anyway.
Has started this fake crying thing when he wants attention. Sounds so different from his real cry. Sometimes I give in anyway (which is bad! I know!) because . . .
Has started to hate cuddling. This is terrible.
Fights sleep tooth & nail.
Hates it when I dress him. Would rather be naked.

Simon's achievements in nobody's eyes but mine:

Talks (and snorts) in his sleep.
Says "g'unh g'unh g'unh" all the time.
Will cuddle if a movie is involved.
Often makes "declarations:" yelling while holding his hand up, index finger extended.
Loves being outside and walking/crawling in grass.

Twin Falls

When Seve first came to me with the those two words, Twin Falls, I didn't think much of it. We had tossed around two-word cities before; Virginia City, San Francisco, Las Vegas. I found the one word cities more exciting, like Memphis or Baltimore, because they were new, in the east or south where our palettes had never tasted before. But each word we uttered, whether single or in pairs, resulted in an empty interview and false hopes for the future. So we taught ourselves to stop hoping, and just wait. The right word would come. And we were perfectly happy and prepared to stick around in our current one word, Portland.

But two weeks ago those two words came rushing forward and swept us up in a whirlwind move that had us packed and taking off before I even realized what was happening. Now, here we suddenly are - a new apartment, all the boxes finally unpacked (or hiding in closets) and surrounded by that dry wind I only know in Idaho. Never did I think we'd end up back here, and we know it's only another pitstop in the roadtrip of teaching and grad school and more babies and all those dreams coming true we have for ourselves, but who knows? Maybe Idaho's swallowed us up after all.

Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time, or commented on your posts. Between my Aunt Valerie's funeral, a family trip to Texas, and the move to Twin Falls, my feet are only now just finding the ground, much less my fingers finding a keyboard.

In other news . . . how about that new Cat Power album? And that St. Vincent & David Byrne collaboration that came out two days ago? My ears couldn't be happier.