Sweet Simon

In my mom's response to my last post, she asked what Simon was up to these days and if he was crawling yet.  I guess I haven't said much about what Simon is doing.  That's because for the last three and a half months, Simon has mostly been crying or being held by me.  He's had a bit of a rough winter-- almost-constant ear infections with some teething, several colds, and a bad bout of roseola mixed in.  The other day, Simon had his gazillionth ear check of the season and his pediatrician proclaimed his ears officially cleared.  I didn't really need her to tell me, though, because on Sunday, Simon suddenly woke up a different baby.  He was happy and playful.  He smiled at people.  He played independently.  He giggled.  I felt like he was saying, "Hey.  We got off on the wrong foot, here.  Why don't we start over?"  It's amazing what not being in pain all the time can do for an infant.  

Here's Simon doing his mixed real crawl/army crawl.  (Listen to what Asher is saying in the background.)

Simon also loves to clap, wrestle with Asher, climb over short objects, and chew on everything (including me).  In the last couple of days, he has also mastered the skill of pulling himself up to stand.  Here he is showing off his two new skills:  standing and big, cheesy grins.