Simon the Frequent Flyer

Grandma and Grandpa Ning decided to come up and visit Simon. As new grandparents, they've decided to come up as often as they can to make sure they're his Favorite People to see. :)

Susie and I took advantage of the "free" babysitting and did something we hadn't been able to do in a long time: go to the Temple.

We even added some extra flare to the experience and had lunch at Zachary's Pizza afterewards. Definitely well worth the trip.

Simon had some words for Grandpa...he wanted to make sure he would be treated well.

Simon has been a bit fussy. We think he's teething. He's been a bit difficult to transfer. So Susie's here letting Simon take a quick well needed rest with her.

Simon has Susie's feet

4th of July we all flew to Jackson Hole Wyoming to visit his other grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Robinson helped us in taking care of Simon as well.

A view of the Grand Tetons from the back yard.

A view of the 3 Creeks golf course from the back yard.

Simon's happy with Grandma Robinson

We had some problems getting home. Long delays thru Denver made us miss our connecting flight. Simon couldn't take it anymore and passed out. He's a great traveler.

Susie got a new cell phone which takes great pictures.

Simon's sitting in his Bumbo Chair.

Separated: Eugene and Ireland (Philly & Toronto)

June 18, 2007 Statistics:
Weight: 13lb 11 oz (+2lb 10oz in 1 mo)
Length: 24 inches (+0.5 inches in 1 mo)

So, in January and February, Kelvin had a lot of travel for work. A grand total of 40,000 miles on United Airlines in those two months alone. By the time March came along, we were blessed with no travel until after Simon was to be born. Since his birth, no one has flown anywhere and we've been blessed for the ability to have everyone stay together.

Now, it's all starting up again. In anticipation for Kelvin's week-long trip to Ireland for work, the McFarlane's accepted the invitation to have Susie and Simon stay with them. It was a great excuse to see them again (or have Tannya see Simon again) and provide Susie some company and help while Kelvin's away.

Everything was set for an 11am departure for Susie and Simon to Eugene and a 10:58am departure to Ireland thru Philadelphia. We ended up in different terminals but Susie managed great and Simon was very cooperative. Their flight was delayed 50 minutes but they made it up in the air and they landed easily at 12:30pm in Eugene. Simon stirred a little bit but made no sign of irritation due to cabin pressure.

Kelvin however, had a 30 minute delay which ended up being a 2 hour wait on the tarmac at SFO. he took-off at 1pm (well after Susie and Simon landed in Eugene). After doing a 1hour holding pattern in Philadelphia, he missed his connecting flight Ireland by 10minutes. No other flights that evening, and the same flight the next day was already full. He and about 15 other angry Irish people looked for alternative routes and places to stay. After 5 hours of sleep at a Best Western in New Jersey (yes, all hotels booked for miles) Kelvin's currently sitting at the aiport waiting for his connecting flight thru Toronto back out to Ireland.

Simon's having a great time in Eugene. First he went with everyone to Target to go shopping. Whitney decided for half an hour that she was "Tannya" and that Simon was "her" baby. "I'm Tannya and I'm shopping at Target."

Later that evening, Rob had his chance to hold Simon while Tannya took a picture. Most of the other pictures posted are of Simon laying down. He actually looks a lot different (cuter I think) sitting up. The fat on his face gets distributed a little bit differently. Right as the picture goes, Simon opens his mouth and lets out a "rope" of spit-up. Classic.

It's tough being separated, but it's comforting to know that the Lord provides for everyone. Friends are made to serve and support us when we need it. We are so grateful for the great friends that we have and the ability that we have to support them in their needs as well. We all miss eachother but there is comfort in knowing that all will be well.

Is he Big?

So, it's been this on-going question between the two of us, as to how big Simon really is. Relatively speaking, he looks rather proportional. His head is not really oversized compared to the rest of his body...nor is he super chunky. He is currently 7 weeks old and he's wearing 3 -6 months clothing. Some of his 3 mo clothing barely fit him length wise, and he can barely squeeze his legs and arms thru the holes.

We had some great friends of ours over last week. Their 6 mo old Sienna is a great little ball of joy. Jeff and I are both baby hogs. Sienna, like normal kids her age, feel lighter than Simon because she can hold her balance. Simon's more of a dead weight. We took pictures for the Salters in Hungary (hopefully they read this) when Cara realized the size of Simon's feet.

The following weekend we went out with them again and decided to take Simon and Sienna to their first movie. It was the Drive-in Theatre in San Jose on Capitol Expressway. Since it was Saturday night they already had the Swap Meet during the day and there were piles of trash pushed up against the wall (pretty ghetto). But we arrived early and noticed so many families gathered around doing tail-gate parties. We opened up the truck bed and put blankets and pillows everywhere and the 6 of us enjoyed Shrek. Simon slept during the entire movie and Sienna just enjoyed the company.

We had the great opportunity of helping Jane Dukes out with housing for a week while she was transitioning out of the Bay Area. She was pretty intent on getting a picture of Simon smiling which we enjoyed. I tried getting some earlier but it's tough to get the timing down right. Jane was pretty diligent and out of many attempts, got a couple which were pretty cute. Simon indeed is getting to be funner to play with now that he's starting to try to hold his head up and is tracking people. His smiles are unpredictable, but for now it's usually when he's done eating, right after he poops, or when he makes some cool sounds.

McFarlane Memorial Day Weekend

Simon was weighed in yesterday at 11lb 14 oz. It's only been a week since his last weigh in so he's put on 13 oz in 7 days. We'll continue to trend his weight gain.

So, the McFarlane's came to visit the Bay Area this Memorial Day Weekend. Rob, Tannya, Paige, Grace, Whitney, and Crew. We wanted all 6 to stay at our place, but we had 2 things going against us:
(1) That's a lot of people added all at once in a single house
(2) Whitney and Paige were just getting over a cough

The girls wanted to see the Parker children and the girls stayed there and we had Rob, Tannya and Crew at our place. As you can see, Tannya really liked having Simon to hold. She had him during all of Relief Society as well (except for when Whitney came in looking for an escort to the potty).

We really enjoyed having the McFarlane's over. It had been way too long since we last saw them. The girls are getting bigger, and Crew became a blonde since we last saw him. His baby chunk looks like muscles on his arms. He's rolling over quite easily but can't quite get his bum up to start crawling.

These pictures were taken this morning. Simon's been sleeping about 3-4 hours thru the night. After he feeds he tends to fall back into milk coma but only after some precious moments awake.

30 days = Eyebrows & Acne

May 21, 2007 Statistics:
Weight: 11lb 1 oz (+2lb 15oz)
Length: 23.5 inches (+2 inches)


Last Saturday was Simon's big 30 day celebration. A lot of tantrums and fits were thrown (by Becca) when we told people in San Francisco that Simon was going to be blessed at the Ning Family home in Pasadena. With the 30 day celebration scheduled, it was tough trying to get everyone gathered together twice in such a short period of time.

On his 30 day birthday, there were two things were noticed different: Eyebrows and Acne.

For his blessing, we had immediate family available gathered at the Ning Home in Pasadena. Grandma Robinson accompanied the group on the piano as we sang Hymn #304, Teach Me to Walk in the Light. Grandpa Ning opened us in prayer. Simon then began a huge fit which was inconsolable. We ended up doing his baby blessing whimpering in the background. Simon was blessed by his father, and supported by great examples of Priesthood Holders. On both sides of the family, Simon is the first grandchild to be born in the covenant.

For the 30-day Birthday Celebration, the Ning Grandparents arranged for family and friends to gather at a Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Alhambra. Grandma Ning prepared a little Chinese Outfit for Simon including a little hat with the queue in the back. They're pictured here in the outfit. His hat was pretty big as was the rest of the outfit. He looked super-cute in it and hopefully he'll be able to wear it this October for Halloween.

Traditional Red Eggs were served. Cari enjoyed those the most.

The Rail family drove up and Simon was able to meet his cousins for the first time. Davis and Noah get bigger and bigger every time we see them. Visually, Noah changed the most in size...they're both really good eaters.


This is Noah having fun with his plate.


Recently, Davis has been using a pair of training chopsticks. Here he is with a fashioned pair of training chopsticks. He was able to pick-up a salted peanut from his plate with them.

Unfortunately, the Rails had to leave before all of the dinner was served. Everyone enjoyed having them around.



A birthday cake was brought in which looked like a baby blanket with Simon's name in the middle.








Here's some of the dinner party. Thanks to Aunt Bobbi for sending us this picture.

Susie and I are constantly amazed and we feel so grateful for the love and support from our friends and family. We can feel the love and prayers that go out to us. We are truly blessed to have Simon.

3rd week...Fussy

So...we would have posted sooner, but I've been waiting for a better time to post. We've been struggling with our sleeping schedules this last week. Simon is the best...but when he looks straight at you and cries from 3 to 5 in the morning, you've changed his diaper 3 times, he's not hungry, and won't take the binky...you really test the love.

We've started making greater sacrifices to not disturb Simon when he sleeps. There's nothing worse than getting him asleep in the perfect position, and then waiting to see how long it takes before you can transfer him to the bassinet. Sometimes, it's not worth the risk of transfer, and we just crawl up into whatever position we find ourselves in. Rosa likes to still find her perfect little spot in the mess of it all. We have here a fine example of Susie taking one for the team. She pretty much took the opportunity to take a nap with Simon, and Rosa fell in where she could.

We've been getting ready for his 30 day celebration down in Pasadena with all of our family. So far we have invited our Aunts and Uncles and we should be pretty full at the tables at that point. We plan on having the baby blessing done in my parents' home in Pasadena this Saturday (the 19th). Cary's flying in after his Elder's Quorum camp-out...we're driving down Thursday afternoon.

We've got a couple of other pictures. A couple of things that we try to do to keep him calm is swaddle him in a sling (some times I like to carry him in it and tell him, "Simon, I've got your a$$ in a sling") The other thing we do is take on a long ride in his car seat. As you can see, some times he doesn't look like he's going to enjoy the ride.

Getting Home and Adjusted

Well, Simon is now officially 13 days old. Leaving the Hospital was quite an ordeal. We were pretty much ready to go after spending 6days/5nights in that one room. Susie's Mom continued to stay with us until Thursday afternoon which was a great help. My Mom arrived on Sunday night and will be staying with us also until Thursday afternoon. Both have been excited to get to know their new grandson and help him recognize their voices.

Simon has been doing a lot of sleeping. It's been pretty fun to be able to see him awake and play with him before he starts asking for food. As mentioned before, he lost weight in the hospital (very normal, even expected) and put on 3 oz before he left. Last Wednesday, April 25, he already gained enough to get back to birth weight. He has his pediatrician visit this morning so he'll be weighed in again. I'm guessing somewhere around 8lb 14oz.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Simon has a very cute "snort" when he cries. He tends to also get the hiccups quite a bit which kind of makes him cry too.

Sleep? I've been sleeping great. I think Susie's been getting more than we expected as well. Simon sleeps about 4 hours straight during the evening which means Susie only has to wake up on average, once a night, to feed him. How long will this last? We continue to accept prayers on our behalf. The prayers can either be in the form of helping Simon continue to sleep this well, or that we as parents will have the stamina to keep up with him. :)

I've got several pictures here of Simon sleeping. We've tried to get different pictures put together so they all don't look the same. The two above were actually taken while Simon was still in the hospital. The pictures below were taken last night. He likes to sleep as if he were in a roller-coaster: arms straight up. Enjoy the pictures!