This morning was the first of what, let’s be honest, will probably be many times where the sight of my kid in minor peril sent me running first for the camera and only then to his rescue.

The resemblance is kind of frightening, don’t you think?

Rebecca has dubbed Simon the Silent Explorer; he can be quite intense in his curiosity, and he has to check out everything. I actually let him into the cupboard this morning in an attempt to occupy the squirrelly little guy while I made some coffee, but I have a feeling that I have hundreds or even thousands of “I haven’t heard him for a while; I wonder what he’s gotten into” moments ahead of me.

I have a truly wonderful husband. This morning he wanted to get to work early because he has a day full of potentially stressful meetings (he realized this last night when he was taking a turn trying to get Simon to sleep. See? Wonderful). When we woke up to snow—at 7:42, already pushing it to get to work at 8—he still got Simon changed and dressed and then he suggested I go out and try to get some pics of the snow while the winter wonderland was still pristine. (And if I knew more about our camera, I could have gotten some really great shots. As it is, they are all pretty dark and the white balance is all wackadoo. Still, it’s the thought that counts.) And if that weren’t enough, he also filled up the car with gas on our way to work (making him even later)—this because he knows I hate doing it (for no good reason, I just do)—and bought me a caffeine-free Diet Coke because he remembered I’m out and that I haven’t had time to go to the grocery. In other words, in one morning alone he was good to me in so many ways that I cannot even fit them all into a grammatically coherent sentence. 

I spent a lot of time today—this frigid winter day—thinking about the heating vents in this old house: close them upstairs and open them downstairs in the morning to keep more heat on the main floor; open them upstairs and close them downstairs before bed to get the bedrooms heated up.

We went to Spilker’s Tree Farm to get a real Christmas tree today (for those of you who are counting, this was our third attempt at a tree this year). Simon was fascinated by the process of cutting the bottom of the tree and trimming the lower branches, which is what he is watching here.

Last year we were shopping for who knows what, and we stopped to look at Christmas stockings. It brought (happy) tears to my eyes to think that we would need a new one for this year. 

Photo credit to Jason.

In warmer weather, Jason and Simon loved to sit on the porch and watch the neighborhood happenings. Now that it’s grown cold, they have to be content with a new perch on the bookshelf in the L’Abri corner. It’s not as much of a sensory experience, but it still keeps Simon’s interest for a time.

Simon and I spent the day with my sister, Rhonda (aka Aunt Fun). We tried to decorate the house for Christmas as a surprise for Jason, but we were utterly defeated by the garlands.

I’m never sure if we’re winding him up or wearing him out. (Photo by Jason)

I love pictures where what’s going on in the background is at least as interesting as what’s going on in the foreground (whether on purpose or a happy accident). Neither of these photos were taken by me (but I’ll claim them for my blog since they were taken with our camera).

Charity got this shot of the Tredways kicking back after dinner on Monday.

And Rebecca caught my guys being tricksy last night at the Blue Orchid.

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.

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

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?