Robots, birthday cakes, and all things Simon

Simon and Gracie were invited to Simon's friend, Ivan's, robot themed birthday party earlier this month. Ivan was Simon's first friend here in Caboolture - Simon and he immediately hit it off when Simon first started at Ivan's preschool last year. Since then, Ivan has left for "big school" - prep! - so it was especially nice to be invited to his party, as Simon hadn't seen Ivan in a while. Gracie loved Ivan too and she still talks about Ivan- until a few weeks ago, we'd pull up to Simon's school and she'd say, "Ivan!!!" She's just started saying, "Clayton! Clayton here?" when we pull up. (Clayton is another one of Simon's good friend). She loves Simon's friends and I wonder how long this will last?! I can imagine her at 15- clayton, Ivan, Ethan, Micah?! Uh oh!

But back to the robots - Andrew outdid himself making robot costumes and I think Simon and Gracie had the best costumes at the party. I love it that Andrew is so talented at making costumes. If it was up to me their costumes would likely be falling apart before they made it into the car. Or maybe I would have just sent them with robot shirts and a cardboard box over their head?

Speaking of robots, we bought a new vacuum and Simon and I wanted to buy a robot vacuum cleaner. We got hooked on watching those robot vacuum cleaner movies and were pretty convinced they are pretty sweet little vacuums. Simon was heartbroken for a day, but in the end, we ended up with a bagless Volta - our old vacuum cleaner had bit the dust, broken in three places and I was thrilled to have the Volta even though she still needs pushing. So Simon's birthday is now only a few months away. We regularly have conversations planning the big event and the cake and theme of the party change daily. Right now we are looking at a very big guest list: Jazzie and Dani; Nyunday and Atem; Ethan; Abi and Kya; Micah and Sami; Ivan; Antonella, Kieran, Clayton, Drew, Toby(kids from his school); and his cousins. It's lovely to see Simon enjoying all of his friends. We've been here just over a year now and for Simon and Gracie I think it seems like it's been forever. Themes for the party are ranging from Octonats to Legos to Jake the Pirate to Mike the Knight. Simon loves his little "shows" of which all are "my favourite show!" depending on which one is on... we've started Sat morning cartoons- Diego and Dora (especially for Gracie) and Jake the Pirate and Mike the Knight for Simon, plus Simon's discovered ABC 4 Kids on line which equals lots of games based on his favourite shows. It's hard to keep screen time to thirty minutes with all the options and I alternate between just wanting to toss the computer out the front door and also enjoying seeing them learning new things and enjoying their little shows. And there are some definite presents on his list: #1 is the fish game- a game his neighbours have where a fish blows up little things (not sure what actually) and then you catch them with nets. I've seen a butterfly one that was really fun and I think it's the same thing. #2 a camera Simon's asking to take photos of everything and actually I think he's pretty good. He's got such interesting perspective and I enjoy seeing how he is looking at the world. I love watching him taking pictures. Here are a few of the pics he's taken recently.

T-ball begins in a few weeks and Simon's signed up. Apparently there are about 80 little kids at the fields on Sat morning, from all over the area. I'm not sure what Simon's going to think of it- when we took him to soccer last year he was so shy and timid. He loves playing games and he's become heaps more confident so I'm excited to see what he thinks of it all. He went to a gymnastics trial class and he loved it. He didn't want to go- on the way there put up a fit in the car about it but in the end, he loved it. So I'm hoping he'll enjoy t-ball. We bought him a little glove, which I think is so cute but he doesn't like it (he's so picky about how things feel on his hands and feet), but again, I'm hoping when he's there, he'll just go with the flow and use his glove. A few weeks ago D and Eilleen and Evie came for the weekend. We loved having them visit and Simon even said, "Daddy, I think Evie is even cuter than Gracie!" Coming from Simon who dotes on Gracie, that's a huge compliment to Evie. We tried to have a game of baseball, but Simon was more interested in making up his own games. He likes to make up his own games and teach everyone how to play them. Uncle D was a very patient learner and Simon enjoyed playing with him immensely. And Gracie and Evie had a great time too, especially in the pool!

I took Simon to a swimming lesson this avo and it's amazing how far he has come. He is actually swimming on his own, just a metre or so, but still, that is remarkable for me to see as is, seeing him going under the water to get a toy. He does everything his instructor asks him to do and then waits patiently at the side when his instructor is teaching another child. I'm really proud of his confidence and how much he's enjoy swimming. I am looking forward to the end of the term for our parent-teacher conference with his teacher and the love of his school, Angie. When I ask Simon what he likes most about school he immediately says, with a big smile, "Angie!!!!" I love the chance to hear Angie's observations and how he is progressing at his school- I love the Montessori education for preschoolers and think it's fit especially well with Simon's personality and needs. After lunch, instead of napping, he practices his handwriting. I sent him to school with a new handwriting book and "magic" pen (erasable pen) and he brought it home, completed two days later. I couldn't believe he had actually done the work - it was incredible. I had to take pictures of it before erasing it !

Simon's had a few bumps and scratches this month. On Monday he got kicked and punched in the face by one of the kids at his school. Simon didn't hit or punch back and he didn't cry either- so he may be the littlest for his age, but he's pretty tough. Then on Tuesday, he ran into 2 poles and when I picked him up I noticed a big bump on his head. He was fine except when he laid down and didn't want to go to bed because it hurt , so at 7:00 pm, I started feeling worried and mentioned taking him to the hospital. Simon was all for the idea and told me he needed to go because he was afraid it wasn't all going to be okay. Once he and Andrew were buckled into the car he said to Andrew, "It's a Simon Daddy date! Like Curious George going to the hospital!" The nurse at the ER saw him right away and he came home very doped up on panadol and happy. Then on Wednesday the school called me because, after the Harmony Day International picnic, Simon's eye started to swell up. He and I have both had conjunctivitis for about a week or so, but his eye wasn't looking too bad; but when it started swelling I rang our friend who is an eye doctor and she rushed him into her practice, as she needed to rule out a serious infection. Thankfully it wasn't serious but getting the eye drops into his eyes is serious. I tried to send him to school with the eye drops but he really didn't want me to because he said there was no way he wouldn't cry and I think he must not like other children seeing him cry. So I won't pawn off the worst mummy jobs on his teacher! I've bribed him with buying an Octonauts DVD he asks for every time we are at the shops so if we can get these drops into his eyes 2 times a day for a week or so, he will be the proud owner of "Ready for Action!" I had my colonoscopy and endoscopy this month and Simon was sweet and supportive. He prayed for me, that I wouldn't cry and he was very interested in the whole process. The past few months Simon has started praying a lot, talking to God about little things and asking God to help him in situations. Okay, that's probably good for remembering Simon's month. I'll add pictures soon- sorry about the format also. I can't seem to figure out how to add spaces between text?