Lil' Bruiser

Here's a hat and sweater combo I made for Silas--perfect for the cold weather we've been having lately. I've posted 4 additional pictures and more info on my knitting blog. Please click on KNITBOOK to link to this post (the post is on January 28th, 2008) If you're interested.

Rocking Out

If you saw Silas attempt the rocking horse when he first got it on Christmas Eve, you'd have observed the following: both parents holding on to a confused baby that assumed this was just another chew toy. Well, the rocking horse is still chewable by Silas' standards, but in just a month, he's figured out it's main purpose--ROCKING! (see video for proof) He only needs our help now to lift him on and off, and of course, we still need to stay right next to him, just in case. Still, he's getting better and better at it everyday. In fact, sometimes he rocks out so hard, we're afraid the whole horse will go flying backward (seems pretty sturdy so far, though). Rock on, Silas.

Froggy, want a new tooth?

Silas is FINALLY cutting another tooth! I felt it this morning and it is coming in fast. It explains his behavior lately, namely the irregular sleep pattern (or lack there of). Last night, he went to bed late (ok, it was only 8 o'clock, but that's almost 2 hours later than normal for Silas), and this morning he was up about an hour early, at 5 am. Before finally falling asleep last night, he lay in bed softly whimpering, poor baby. I've been examining his gums (as much as he'll let me) and I think it's safe to say that several more will be coming in before too much longer. Huzzah!

Stands With Crocodiles

Just yesterday Silas was able to stand solo with his crocodile walking toy for the first time. He's improved at both crawling and walking over just the past few days. Our awesome new bamboo shag rug probably accounts for the improvement in crawling, since we're able to have him on the floor a lot more. We have a great play area now. In the background, you'll see the neglected play pen. It's good at holding things and acts as a barrier to keep Silas from crawling in that direction, but we never really put him in it. He's inclined to hate it. Oh well.

Silas really likes his wooden toys, including the new pull toy and xylophone Grandma and Papa just sent him. It's wonderful to have a few quality and ascetically pleasing toys for him to engage with in creative play. He's having a lot of fun, these days!

Plays with Toys

Silas is a lucky boy. He's got lots of great wooden toys to play with. Here he is, crawling around and playing with blocks, a xylophone, a cat, a pull toy, etc.

10 months old! --the breakfast O challenge

Si is 10 months old today. Wow! So much is happening for this little guy, perhaps the most notable of which is that he's now eating hard cereal. We've wanted to start him on something like this for a while but were faced with the challenge of finding an organic wheat-free O-shaped cereal that didn't have added sugar. Not an easy task! Finally we discovered Barbara's Breakfast Os and Silas loves them! This is the first time he's fed himself, and although more than a few fall to the floor, he is improving every day. We hope to introduce more finger foods soon.

Silas is also kinda-sorta crawling. He can get around now, though he's still rather clumsy and slow.

And then there's the teething. Silas still only has 4 teeth. He hasn't had any new teeth in 3 months. He goes through spurts where his gums really seem to bother him. He's been up nursing way more than usual the last 4 nights or so and I suspect this is because his mouth is sore. Unfortunately, I can't feel any additional teeth when I massage his gums, but they are definitely swollen. Keep your fingers crossed and let's hope he's cut a few more before he turns 11 months!

Silas Flies an Airplane

I meant to post these pictures a while ago (they are a month or so out-of-date), but all of those vacation posts intervened. Well, at long last, here they are.

Welcome to the World, Liam!

Silas and his mom and dad got to meet baby Liam last weekend. Proud new parents Jessica and William showed us their little beauty. Wow! We are all excited to see our two boys grow together. Welcome to Planet Earth (and Planet Silas), little Liam!

WI train trip windup

I think this may finally be the last post about our trip to WI last month. Our train left over an hour late, so the first 3 pictures show Grandma and Papa hanging out at the station, entertaining Silas, who was delighted to spend the extra time with them. Next up, the long awaited picture of Alden and Silas, together at last, in case you didn't head over to Alden's Story for the pictures that Jessi posted there. What a cutie that Alden is! Finally, for all of you non-Wisconsinites, here's a typical winter scene, taken from Grandma and Papa's front porch. We were very excited to have a good snowfall while we were visiting.

That about covers our trip--family, friends, and snow. We miss everyone in Wisconsin and hope to see you all soon! Come out and see us if you can. We're already looking forward to Grandma and Papa's next trip to Washington, which is scheduled for the beginning of May. Silas will be so happy to see them!

What Silas saw...

Dad took all of these images from the train. The first two are of Montana, eastbound. The rest are from our journey westward, the middle three are North Dakota and/or Eastern Montana, and the last two are in the Cascade Mountains, WA. Lovely, lovely snow!

Attachment Parenting

Many of you know that we practice attachment parenting with Silas. A few of you (though you may not say anything) may think we're nuts for carrying Silas rather than using a stroller, and for having him in bed with us at night (known as co-sleeping or family bed).

Here's an article which explains why carrying the baby in a sling or carrier will help create a secure child:
Carrying Baby

Here are some facts supporting co-sleeping:
Sleeping with Baby

And finally, a link to:
Attachment Parenting International

We understand that all parents have the right to make their own parenting choices, and we are very happy with ours. I must add that Silas NEVER cries at night, unless he's woken up from a bad dream, which is very rare. There is no need for him to cry, since I'm right there with him--much less stressful for all of us! We love family bed!

WI to WA: Our trip West

Here's a short video showing what our little sleeper room looked like. Two nights and two days on a train with a 9 month old is a long time. Although Silas did very well, we could tell he was happy to get off of the train and back home (as were we). Although we were very fortunate to have our own room, as you can see, space was still very limited.

We've got a bit more blogging to do from the trip--some still shots from the train ride, and a couple more pictures from WI --will try to get those posted soon...

North Dakota can be beautiful

The view from the train...