Tasty butterfly.

We are enjoying a visit from our dear friends Charity and Andy. Jason pulled this image off the camera and labeled it “livsimoncharityandy.” That pretty much sums it up.

Dear little Simon,

You are ten months old today. Every single day you are less a little baby and more a big boy. I truly marvel at what you can do.

This month the big news is that you are crawling. You worked yourself up to it, moving just your arms and then dragging your legs behind (this looked like the Worm, a breakdancing move). You would also pause every so often and put your head down to look back at your legs (a yoga move, the Downward Dog)—we teased you, saying that you were making sure that they were still working.You had all the components, and you got where you needed to go, but it wasn’t really crawling. Then one evening, you put it all together, and you’ve been crawling every since. You’re getting pretty fast too. Truth be told you are still a little jerky in your movements, and you look a bit like a little windup toy. Believe me, it’s adorable.

To get you to practice crawling, Daddy and I started playing a game with you. It’s based on a game from Whose Line Is It, Anyway? a TV show we like to watch sometimes. We use a cardboard tube from a paper towel roll (no, it doesn’t take much to amuse you—or us, for that matter), and we toss it back and forth and pretend that the tube is something different each time (a drumstick, a light saber, a mustache). The idea is that you will want the tube and crawl to get it. Let’s just say that it’s a good thing you come easily to Mama because my sound effects are truly pathetic. Daddy’s, on the other hand, are perfect—interesting to you and they always make Mommy laugh. Like I said, we started the game to entice you to practice, but that’s becoming less and less of an issue—you love to crawl, anywhere, anytime (even in your sleep once in a while).

The other big development is that you are pulling yourself up to a standing position all by yourself. Again, you started slow and you still do take quite a few tumbles, but I’m duly impressed at how quickly you are improving even in just a few days. And you look like you are so proud of yourself when you find you can stand up on something new; that kills me. You love to stand up in your crib; we’ve already lowered the mattress once, but it looks like we’ll have to lower it another notch. You have mastered pulling yourself up on your music table, you’re making progress with the couches, but so far the most impressive has been that you pulled yourself up on a brick wall with just your fingertips. Kid, you might have a future in rock climbing (oh dear!).

You don’t have any concept of how tall you are, so when you try to pull yourself up under chairs or the desk in the kitchen, you bonk your head and just can’t figure out why you can’t stand up straight. You can be pretty stubborn too, and when I try to pull you out from one of these situations you hold on tight. It’s pretty hard to take you seriously when you get yourself stuck and then fight against being rescued.

You love music. You love to hear it, love to make it. You really enjoy banging on the piano, and you tend to like the high notes. You and your daddy spend a little time each evening practicing. It’s some of the most beautiful noise I’ve ever heard.

Although you don’t always perform on cue, you like to clap when you’re excited (or when we try to conjure up excitement just by saying “Yay!"), and you sometimes throw your arms up too (the best is when they’re a little askew, like you’re making a “c,” one arm curled over your head, the other stuck out to the side). You also know how to play Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake Baker’s Man. Your favorite part is “mark it with an S!” You sometimes seem a little bored before we get to that part.

It seems like you’ve been imitating sounds more. We can usually get you to do a fake cough, and you’ll match a pitch saying “buh buh buh.” I could do that all day long; it’s really delightful.

And this weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving—your first one, of course. You did great with all the traveling (to the Kliewer Thanksgiving in Omaha and the Carlson Christmas in Laurel) and jostling and oohing. True to form, you passed on most of the big people food that we offered you, but you did allow us to give you more than one bite of pumpkin roll. Good boy.

You are a happy little guy, and you bring so much joy into our lives. Most days I think I’ll burst, and one of these days I probably will.

Mama loves you so very much, little man.

More photos of this month here.

You may have noticed that for the last few days I’ve been keeping it brief, hobbling to the NaBloPoMo finish line. The good news is that the end of November signals the beginning of December, which means it’s December Photo Project time. I look forward to it every year. So while I may rely on just the pics, you can count on twenty-five more days of nonstop posting here at the old Grand.

It’s Black Friday, and Simon was so excited about the 4 am deals that he could hardly sleep last night.

Poor kid will have to settle for cinnamon rolls at Bread and Cup and leisurely browsing at Indigo Bridge. At least that’s the plan.

The list of things I have to be thankful for is long. Really, really, really long. This little guy is among my favorite blessings. Or is that obvious? Happy Thanksgiving, all. 

After a full morning of crawling (everywhere!), pulling up (on everything!),and general mess making, who wouldn’t need a nap?

I have long admired Brook’s blog category “Genuinely Random,” and at last I have something that warrants adding the same category here:

Sunday, Jason and I loaded up Simon in the car as a last ditch effort to get him to nap. As we were driving down Tenth Street, I spotted a truckful of mannequin legs parked by the side of the road. Man, I thought, why don’t I carry my camera all the time? Jason didn’t want to turn around and get the camera, so we drove on, and I started mentally writing a blog entry about how cool and random that picture would have been. All the while, I had a dramatic, Abigail Moseman-like voice in my head: I’ll never, ever in my whole life see a truck full of mannequin legs again. I did realize, of course, even then that the picture in my head was a highly romanticized version. I mean, seriously, a white pickup packed full of mannequins feet up? That’s random, kitchy Americana gold right there. That’s the stuff postcards are made of.

So anyway, when we came back home an hour later or so, the truck was still parked in the same spot (in front of antique store, as it turns out, which actually makes a little bit of sense), and Jason offered to swing by home and let me pick up the camera after all (I love my husband). And I took some pictures. They were nowhere near as artsy or cool as the ones I had in my head, but I’m glad I got them anyway.

Tonight at small group, we will be playing this get to know you game. Everybody stands in a circle, and if the statement is true of you, you step in. Then you look everybody in the eye because you have that particular something in common. Actually, I won’t be there because both Simon and I are ailing.So, Internet, I’m looking you in the eye.

1. I ate out for lunch today. (No)
2. I am left-handed. (No)
3. I have sung a solo in public. (Yes)
4. I know how to make a White Russian. (Yes)
5. I have seen the new James Bond film (No) (I want to see the new James Bond film [Yes]).
6. I know my Meyers-Briggs personality type. (Yes)
7. My parents are divorced. (No)
8. I have been to a Husker football game. (Yes)
9. I remember the name of my kindergarten teacher. (No)
10. I have a green thumb. (No)
11. I am an only child. (No)
12. I have neices and/or nephews. (No)
13. I grew up somewhere other than Nebraska. (No)
14. I am an extrovert. (No)
15. I worked out today. (No)
16. I have cried at least once within the last month. (Yes)
17. I am traveling for Thanksgiving. (Yes)
18. I know how to change a flat tire. (No)
19. I am feeling less than 100 percent. (Yes)
20. I listen to NPR. (Yes)
21. Most days I like my job. (Yes)
22. I grew up in a Christian home. (Yes)
23. I have played on a sports team. (Yes)
24. I have been in Awana. (No)
25. I have a melancholy disposition. (Yes)
26. I have had braces. (Yes)
27. I have taken piano lessons. (Yes)
28. I have traveled overseas. (Yes)
29. I can’t live without my morning coffee. (No)
30. I have a Facebook account. (Yes)
31. Given the chance, I would choose a different college. (Yes)
32. I follow at least one TV show. (Yes)
33. I believe I have been discriminated against in my life. (No)
34. I think Tobey could beat Adam in a fight. (Yes)
35. My bed is made. (No)
36. My life has been in danger at least once. (No)

What is the story here?

Listening to Simon snore. Poor little buggy has a snotty nose, although he doesn’t seem to feel too bad.
Missing Peruvian food and music (a combination of an early bedtime for aforementioned stuffed-up baby and two adult introverts having too much going on this weekend).
Recovering from yesterday, one of my worst days in recent memory in terms of feeling overwhelmed and frustrated and generally sorry for myself.
Feeling refreshed after a day spent in Fremont with my parents.
Getting inspired (for the first time in a while). I have an idea for Christmas gifts that will require a bit of creativity, and I’m eager to get started.
Digesting delicious cake.
Letting it sink in that I am the mother of one who crawls. Simon did his first “official” crawling tonight.
Enjoying a quiet evening with my husband.
Looking forward to a short week and holidays with family.

When it comes to photography—or anything creative, really—I am very happy to have a push in the right direction. This self-portrait challenge was just what I needed today to lift me out of my blogging frump (and, yeah, anyone who has talked to me today can attest to the fact that that was not going to happen on its own). My favorite thing about this was that the mailman came by just as I was struggling to get the shot and offered to take the picture. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the point was to take it myself, so he took a couple of shots of me and the kiddo and then we chatted about cameras and NASCAR. 

Blah blah bloggie blog
I don’t want to write today
So I’m not gonna.

(Clearly, I’m in a blogging funkety funk today. You should check out these amazing pics of my friend Kasey’s amazing kids instead.)

So here is Simon doing his favorite thing (standing*) and playing with his favorite toy. When I first busted out this musical thingy (I believe the formal name is Learn and Groove Musical Table) a couple of months ago, he really couldn’t care less. But he’s grown into it, and now he can’t seem to get enough. This is charming enough except that the songs and musical flourishes that go with the words (e.g., “Da da da Uuuuuup!” “Da da da dowwwn,” “Ding ding ding ding ding do do do do duh duh duh duh duh Lights On! Lights Off!") are quite distinctive and they get stuck in my head. Even that is okay, except that the table is programmed to interrupt whatever is going on when another button is pushed. Simon just bangs away, so what I get sounds something like this: A-B-C-D-E Yellow Yellow Green 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 Red Green Green Blue A-B Yellow UP! High! Down! Up! Green Yellow Yellow A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O Green. You get the idea. It just makes me feel a little more scatterbrained than usual to be humming the alphabet and then suddenly interrupt myself with “Green! Yellow! Yellow!” (all in my head, thank goodness).

* I would usually save this for Simon’s next monthly letter, but I’m just so proud I have to share: today he used the table to pull himself to a standing position from his tummy. I don’t know that it’ll be a regular thing quite yet, but I was pretty impressed. When did my baby get so big?