I've survived 6 months in their care.

Simon here again! It's been 4 months since I was allowed to share with the outside world.

Update on my favorites-

Book: This WOULD have been difficult to answer last week but I'm currently loving two new books. One is about tractors and the other has a train in it. I sleep with them.

Song: I've recently discovered the joy of singing. First it was the "Wheels on the Bus" then "Twinkle Twinkle" and now I'm a big fan of "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Ram Sam-Sam". Any time my mouth isn't producing words it's producing song. I've attempted to gently break it to Mommy that she need not sing along. Yesterday our conversation went like this:

Mommy: "Should we sing the wheels on the bus?"

Me: "No"

Mommy: "Are you sure? The wheels on the bus go round and round" etc.

Me: "Too loud"

Mommy: "Sorry (whispers) The wheels on the bus go round and round" etc.

Me: "Too fast"

Mommy: (whispering and slower) "Theeeeee wheeeeels onnnnn theeeee buuuuuus gooooo" etc.

Me: "Too slow" (and she's a smart-word I'm not allowed to say)

Mommy: (eye roll)

I'm somehow coming out the bad guy here when really I'm just trying to avoid saying "You're tone deaf". Guess I shouldn't question Daddy's' techniques at shutting her up. 

Food: Chocolate Milk. Please accept this answer as is. I don't have time to dissect if a liquid counts as a food and if it should be allowed to be my favorite anything. Move on. 

Word: "Why?" Don't ask why, I will beat you at this game.

Daily Living Skill: Grocery shopping. First of all, one of the places we go for our food has carts that look like cars. Yes, please. The other has mounds and mounds of food and boxes and ridiculous amounts of free samples. We also get our gas there so we can't fill up without stopping in. Sometimes we'll be no where near it and I yell for "Cot-CO" just in case they have forgotten it exists. I do my best to fit in so while we go down the aisles I slowly move my head around and say "ummmmm...hmmmmm" and act like I'm performing brain surgery while choosing which crackers to get. 

Gross Motor Activity: I'd like to say flying, but since my superman pajama powers failed me it looked more like cartwheels down the stairs.

Fine Motor Activity: I'm a big fan of baking and do a tremendous job of dumping in the ingredients, stirring, rolling dough, etc. etc. I also rock at bringing those cookies to my mouth.

Other firsts: I stay busy these days and have a lot of firsts I can brag about and some not as noteworthy (I was told not to blog about the first booger I picked and ate. Just trying to keep the world informed!). Recently I attended my first wedding. It was a glorious occasion. Turns out I have many more cousins that have been kept in hiding the last 6 months. We went on a road trip up north and believe it or not you can get more north than Thief River Falls. I went to a place called Roseau for my cousin Holly's wedding. We made the drive during nap and arrived early so Daddy drove around to look at important places like the hockey arena and Mommy secretly rolled her eyes. They considered stopping for medicine since I was not feeling well. Eventually we stopped at a nice gas station. When Mommy returned to the car I overheard "They didn't have children's ibuprofen so I got chocolate milk and Skittles". Gotta love her! The sugar snapped me right out of my funk and I allowed them to dress me in my "wedding attire".

Then we headed for the church. There are not any pictures from that portion of our expedition as I was not there long. We went in, I said hi to some folks, we sat down and they remembered that I don't understand "inside voices". First of all, there was a baby talking and I was just trying to help interpret. Then the beautiful bride started down the aisle and all the dazzling sparkles inspired me to sing "Twinkle Twinkle". We made a quick exit but Mom and Dad pulled the 'ol switcheroo and Mom headed back to the wedding and Daddy and I went shopping for that ibuprofen.

I went back to the church after the ceremony though and went through the line like I was always there.

Then I took 10,000 pictures. Here I am with my cousins. All the love from the wedding turned Luke into a zombie.

In case you haven't  heard of Polaris, it's in Roseau and makes a lot of stuff with tires and keys. I searched the entire reception for the key to this thing with no luck. My newly found cousins Kai and Sol and I had a lovely time working on our pretend play skills though.

It's a lot of work being at a wedding so I worked up a sweat and needed a lot of hydration. Mom and Dad were super excited to capture me "belly'd up to the bar". 

Grandpa took care of my hat since my head was a thousand degrees from running laps for 3 hours. 

 Here is my mom with all her cousins, I guess it's a big deal they are all together at the same time. I'm not in this pic. Moving on...

So weddings can really do a number on you and it's best to start the next morning with a little coffee. 

I hope I've helped you prep for your next wedding. Cry until you get skittles, sing so you don't have to be quiet, run until you're dripping wet, then scream so they take you home. Then throw them a bone and share the coffee.

What I haven't learned: A couple of tall people that I live with who shall remain nameless are all up in arms about how I can learn so much in 6 months yet can't learn that while Mommy is driving she cannot hold my hand OR pick me up. I'd like to ask why in 6 months she hasn't learned how to do that? Seems like a problem with her parenting skills more so than an unrealistic desire on my behalf.