Brothers Gotta Hug!

I've been harassing Michael about getting a good picture with his brother.  It's definitely hard to do, and I definitely need the help of pinterest to do it!

So far, I've gotten this one, and it is not perfect.  Michael is a bit out of focus!  FYI:  f2.2 is not enough depth of field!

(photography note:  Michael's shoulder is on the same plane as Simon's face and is perfectly in focus.  The plane that Michael's face is on is probably 0.5-1 inch above Simon's - thus the lack of focus at f2.2)

I've enjoyed watching these two play with one another.  Michael definitely loves his brother, and I think he is doing his best to acclimate to the lack of attention he receives as a result of Simon.

Simon finds Michael pretty funny and is always laughing and smiling at him.  Michael, in turn, makes silly faces and says silly things - because he is being Michael!  Last night, he was playing with his ears and wiggling the tops of them with his hands, which Simon found to be hysterical.

Michael likes to show Simon how to play with his toys, and Simon watches on with interest.  I only hope I can help them grow to appreciate one another and not see each other as rivals for attention.

For now - I have this picture.  I'm thinking I will be dragging them out for pictures soon as the fall months approach.  Definitely need to be thinking of outfits for them and poses!

Simon: 3 Months Old!

I'm so thankful for this little project to kind of force me to be accountable at least once a month to write something about Simon.

Here he is!

He is becoming more and more enjoyable each and every day:

He is getting much better about his head control:

I was trying very hard to get him to look at the camera.  Unfortunately, I had to compete with my yellow ceramic stool, which Simon found infinitely more interesting than me.  Thus, I got the picture above.  :)  At least I know how to shoot my 50mm prime lens and where I need to be with respect to my subject to get it blurry enough in the background not to see my messy house.  This is me letting things go.

Simon is starting to recognize people he sees everyday.  I took him over to my neighbor's house yesterday so she could play with him and it really freaked him out to be somewhere new with someone new holding him.

But then, he saw Michael and smiled a bit.  Then he saw me and relaxed a little bit, but it was still a little scary to him.

It's the best feeling to see Simon smiling at you.  He loves his family, and it shows in his reactions when he sees us.  He smiles, chirps, and is starting to squak a bit as he tests his voice and volume.  

Simon is starting to really bat at toys and grab onto them.  He's tried to touch my plate of food, shoved his hands in my bag of snacks, and stared longingly at my Woodside Creamery ice cream cone.  It only goes uphill from here!

He can play for 20-30 minutes at a time on his playmat.  He loves grabbing and batting at the toys hanging above him.

Yesterday, I set him on his back on his playmat.  When I came back he had rolled onto his side and almost onto his stomach.  His chubby little arm kept him from going all the way.  Then, he found his hand and decided that was way more interesting than rolling over.  :)  Thus, is the end of leaving him places up high.  Not that I do that much ever since I dumped him onto the ground out of his car seat.

I should talk about that - on August 12th, Michael was at basketball camp, and I was home alone with Simon.  The phone rang, and I tried to multitask and picked up the car seat from the floor with Simon in it while talking.  Simon was unbuckled, and the car seat handle was not locked.  I pretty much dumped him out onto the floor, face first.  I felt so terrible!!!  Luckily, the car seat was already on the floor, so he did not fall far.  But that does not alleviate the guilt!!

Anyways, almost immediately afterwards, I took Simon's first fist pump picture.

* insert fist pump picture here *

I thank God everyday for keeping my little boys safe.  We are so thankful for Simon's funny personality and enjoy each and every moment with him, truly.  There's something to be said for delayed gratification!  Simon is a sweet baby who is full of giggles and fun.  We love him dearly!