Port Townsend

We ventured to Port Townsend this weekend. For those of you not familiar with the area, PT is a Victorian-era sea port. It's a fun town to visit and Silas seemed to enjoy himself. We don't have too many pictures of the town itself; as always, the camera was pointed at Silas.

Back to Work

Last week was my first full week back at work. Any mother who has had to go back to work and leave a small baby behind will understand how difficult this transition is for me. I'd much rather be at home with Silas, and needless to say, my heart is at home, not at work. While we were all at the farmer's market this weekend, someone asked me if I was a full-time mom. I said "yes, I am, and I also work outside the home." It' s ridiculous and actually heartbreaking to think that I somehow stop being a mom the moment I walk out the door in the morning. The reality is that I have two full time jobs --but I am a mother 24/7 . When I'm at work I think about Silas constantly, call home to check in and "talk" to him, pump milk twice so that Si can stay 100% breast-milk fed, and fight back tears at having to be away from him. The good news is that Drew and Silas are adjusting well to the change. Si did not want to take a bottle at first, but hunger conquered his objections, and he now eats just fine while I'm away. Hopefully, they will come in with me to Silverdale every now and then and hang out around town , allowing me to breastfeed Silas and not be so homesick. I'm really looking forward to that!

Baby in the Mirror

On Monday, Silas turned 4 months old! We took him to the doc that day and he weighed 15 lbs 15 ounces. Compared to other boys his age, Si is at the 73rd percentile for weight and the 64th for height. So, he is big, but well within the norm.

Silas has responded to his reflexion for quite a while now. Here he is, enjoying time with the "baby in the mirror" as we relax in our loft/guest room (where we used to sleep before Silas came along).

Summer Reading

Silas just finished 10 hours of reading (that's 10 hours of being read to, of course) for the library's Summer Reading program. He was the very first baby to complete the 10 hours and he earned a free book. Woo-hoo! We picked a classic: a board book version of "Goodnight Moon." Si's favorite books, however, are definitely the Maisy books by Lucy Cousins. We've checked many of these out of the library and enjoy reading them every day (mom and dad like them almost as much as Si).

Baby's First Road Trip

This week, Silas proved himself a remarkably good baby when mom and dad decided to take an impromptu road trip to Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is about a 5 and a half hour drive from Bainbridge. For those of you back in the Midwest, Eugene has a feel very similar to Madison, sans the capital building, but with mountains and the ocean in close proximity.

For a kid who hated car rides with a passion only a month or so ago, Silas was in amazingly good spirits for most of the trip, both ways! In the first picture, it's 5 am and we are on our way. The next two pictures show Silas and Mom
walking through the historic Masonic Cemetery
in Eugene --quite beautiful. In the fourth picture, dad takes his turn holding Silas in the Maya wrap. This is a prairie wetland on the outskirts of the city. It's way more flat and open than we are accustomed to in the Puget Sound region. Silas didn't care for the intense heat, so we cut our wetlands walk short. Finally, mom entertains Si with a book on the way home. Now that Silas is a seasoned traveler, we look forward to many more adventures as a family, such as hikes in the mountains, a trip to the ocean, and excursions to nearby towns and cities.

My Mr. Monk

This morning started off rather cool (not unusual for Pacific Northwest summers). It was perfect weather for Silas to show off the Mr. Monk hat and blanket mom crocheted for him. In the las shot, he's also showing off his new favorite activity -- thumb-sucking. What a cute little monkey!

A few more...

Here are a couple more pictures for your viewing pleasure. Silas loves to grab things now, as you can see from the first picture. But, every baby knows, grabbing objects is only part of the fun. The best part is putting said objects in your mouth. Yummmm, froggy!

This Kid's Got Character

Indeed he does. Every day, Si's personality becomes more and more prevalent. Here are some of the charming faces of Silas:

Feeling better now

We haven't posted in a while because both mom and Silas have been sick with colds for over a week. Thankfully, aside from a few sniffles and a bit of a cough, we seem to have recovered. We haven't been able to do much but rest up and recover. However, Si still managed to find the time to be supper cute (see below). Grandma G also arrived back from her Alaskan cruise on Friday. We hung out with her this weekend before seeing her off to the Wisconsin-bound train this morning. We'll miss you Grandma!