Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Pajamas on Parade!






Pajama Parade! Sleeper Spectacular! Pictured above are a few of the sleepers we have known and loved and (sigh) are just about too small now for our big little bear. Thank you to the mommies and Grandma G who gave us these particular pajamas.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Art Museum, etc.


What have we been up to this past weekend? Well, we hung out as a family quite a bit, did the usual: eat, play with the baby, do laundry, sleep, repeat. On Sunday, we had a big outing. We took Silas to the Seattle Art Museum. While mom and dad tend to prefer the more abstract pieces, Silas gravitated towards the more representative images. He particularly liked a horsy sculpture and an Egyptian cat head. He also enjoyed bouncing up and down and vocalizing about how much fun he was having. We look forward to bringing Silas back to the art museum in the years to come.

Silas got to try out the new hat mom whipped up for him on Sunday as well. Mom has lost track of how many hats she's made for him (around 7 maybe?) and she's going to make yet another one this week to match a sweater she finished over the summer. Well, you can never have too many hand-made hats, especially if you're a baby with a fast growing noggin!

Also included in this assortment of images: a picture of Si
wearing, yes you guessed it, another one of mom's creations. Mom's got more images of this sweater on Flickr, Ravelry, and soon she'll post more on her knitbook blog, in case you're interested. And, in case you are reading this from WI and you'd like to see Silas wearing this sweater in person, never fear: we'll be packing this one for the trip, for sure.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Our Family Thanksgiving


Did you all have a wonderful thanksgiving? We had a great day and we hope you did too! Our little family visited with friends and neighbors, all of whom were charmed by Silas. Dad baked a sweet potato pie and a green bean casserole. Silas got to eat a bit of baked sweet potato (loved it) and boiled potato (not so much). Mom is enjoying getting to spend four days off in a row with her boys! Today we talked to our families back in Wisconsin. We will be seeing them all next month when we take a cross-country train ride to the Midwest for the Christmas holiday. Wow, Silas is already looking forward to it!

One more thing: All of our Silas-supported charities, toy registry and a book wish list are now posted on the sidebar on your left, right under the links to other blogs/web pages of interest.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

All he needs is love!

Thinking of buying our Little Bear a gift and not sure what to get for him? We have some suggestions.

Our first choice: Consider donating to a charity in Silas' name. This holiday season, Silas is supporting the following charities:
SOS Children's Villages: Because Silas wants all children to feel as loved as he is.
ASPCA: Because Silas loves animals.
Roots and Shoots: Because Silas loves the earth.

If you would really like to buy Silas a toy, remember, LESS IS MORE. We favor him having a few well made, safe and engaging toys, over many plastic, loud, and easily breakable ones. And you've no doubt seen the headlines as of late regarding lead in toys. Silas is at the stage where he puts everything in his mouth, so this is a concern. With that in mind, if you can't resist buying the babe a toy, consider buying from the gift registry we've set up on Moolka.com. They sell toys similar to the one Silas is pictured with, which Grandma G bought for him this past summer. They are lead-free toys made by companies using environmentally sound manufacturing practices.

A few more ideas: I will be adding a book wish list at some point, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Silas can always use clothes as well-- size 18 months or older. And we love anything homemade!

Remember, you need not get him anything. His parents will not be offended, and he is a baby. Your love is the best present he could ever receive!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

8 mo's old--new achievements, teeth, & rashes


Silas turns 8 months old tomorrow! Here's the low-down.

First up: New achievements. He continues to improve his sitting up skills, as you've probably noticed in recent pictures. That's great, but the big news is that this evening, for the very first time, Silas pulled himself up from a seated position to standing by holding onto the guard rail on the bed--no help from mom and dad! Wow, were we impressed! Note: he still can't pull himself up to a seated position when he is laying down, no matter how hard he tries. Such is life. Overall, he is a lot more animated and able to scoot and pull and move himself around. He also likes to pull himself into mom's arms and cling to her, much to mom's delight!

Second: Teeth. He now has all 4 front chompers. The upper right tooth just broke through a few days ago. Let's hope we get a slight respite before he cuts anymore.

And finally: the rash. We noticing a rash all over Silas' back a few weeks ago. When it hadn't gone away in a week and a half, we called the Doc's office. We brought him in this Tuesday and she diagnosed the rash as eczema. Some infants are prone to it and he'll probably grow out of it eventually. It does seem to itch him sometimes, but luckily, he can't really reach his back to scratch it. We think he may have had a reaction to the foam mattress topper we had on the bed (which has since been removed). It was causing him to overheat at night and his back would become sweaty. Now that we know the rash is eczema and not heat rash, we know how to treat it. Mom's giving him nightly oatmeal baths and both mom and dad slather vitamin E cream all over his back several times a day. It's already looking better!

One more Planet Silas factoid to end this posting: at the Doctor's, Si weighed in at 20 pounds 4 ounces.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Sobin Speaks: "The boy-child is tolerable"

I recently had a chance to sit down with Sobin, the family cat, to get his take on how life has changed since Silas was born. Here's what he had to say:

Amber: It's an honor to speak with you, Sobin. What were your first impressions of Silas?

Sobin: At first, I was mildly annoyed. He smelled funny and made weird noises. I decided to avoid him as much as possible. That was before my "realization." Since then, I've come to believe that the boy-child is tolerable, perhaps even more than tolerable.

A: Tell me more about this "realization" as you call it; what do you mean by that?

S: Well, I was staring at the boy-child one day, and he looked back at me and laughed. That's when it hit me. I own this child. Just like I own his parents.

A: Really. How did you draw that conclusion?

S: It's obvious, isn't it? The boy-child thinks I'm here for his own amusement, as do his mother and father. While it's clear that they are delusional, this false thinking actually works in my favor. They are charmed by me and therefore, they do my bidding. This boy-child will be even better then his parents because I can raise him and train him just the way I want.

A: What do you intend to do, when you say "train him?"

S: Well, right now, he is too young to walk or open doors, or the drawer to where my food is stored, for instance. But it's only a matter of time. He is growing stronger every day. He already follows the movements of my other servants when they fill my bowl and open the door to let me out. But unlike the adults, this child won't pretend to "control" me by locking my door at night or restricting my treat intake. All I'll have to do is endure his clumsy petting for five seconds,
and he will give me anything I desire.

A: Speaking of "giving," I heard that Silas has already given you something that used to be his. Is that true?

S: I believe you are speaking of the car seat? That was mine to begin with, actually. I let him borrow it as part of my master plan to make him think I really care about his well being. Yes, now that he's grown out of it, I've taken it back.

A: So, am I to believe you really care nothing for the baby, or for us, for that matter? Why do we keep feeding you, and putting up with your constant whining, then?

S: Purr, purr, purr. I love you so much. Purr, purr. Watch me grab this ball of yarn and play with it. I'm just like a kitten. Purr, purr, purr.

A: Awww, that's so cute. You are the best cat Ever!

S: (barely audible) fool.

A: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk with me. I really appreciate it.

S: Scratch my ears or leave my presence at once.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

If You're Handsome and You Know It, Eat a Spoon




Yes, another hand-knit item, made for Silas while he was still in the womb, and now, finally fitting him well. Silas proves that fluffy is "in" this season, and egg shell blue is the new black.

Coming back to the spoon: This rule applies not only to spoons, but also to toys, books (both ours and his), bottles, the guard rail on the bed, mom and dad's fingers, and anything else Silas manages to put in his mouth: Take said object away from Si's mouth when he is in the mood to chew on it, and all bleep breaks loose. The solution: Be ready with something else you don't mind him chewing on, and give it to him FAST. That usually works, though a period of calming down time will most likely proceed his reattachment to a new object. Ah, such are the travails of a teething tot.

One more thing: I made the decision to move the Guestbook to the bottom of the blog. It was taking too long to load the page (patience, patience, I know!) and many of you reported to me that you couldn't figure out how to sign it. Regardless, if you'd still like to sign it, please do so!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Knitting Mama Strikes Again!






Note: now that I'm putting all of my past and present knitting/crocheting projects on line in Ravelry, you will probably be seeing quite a few of the Silas-sized objects on this blog in the near future. Even though I have a knitting blog, too, if it's on Silas and it looks cute, it makes the Planet Silas cut.

Now then. This bunting is one of the items I knit while pregnant--before I knew if I was having a boy or girl, I believe. It seemed so big that only recently did I put the babe in it. I don't think I was ever satisfied with the outcome of this project until I saw it on him. As my friend Melissa would say: "Melt."

Also note: Silas takes a healthy interest in "grown up" food. In fact, it is hard to keep him away from it. He has three teeth now (just cut his upper left), so he quickly is building up to being able to eat something of the non mashed/pureed variety.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Got Hemp?


Got Hemp?, originally uploaded by knitbook.

Dad's been on a hemp-milk kick lately (it's yummy!). So young, and it already looks like Silas has got the hang of product placement. Well, at least it's an earth-healthy choice!