Grandma and Papa are coming!

Grandma and Papa Bryant are arriving from WI tomorrow, and we are so excited! While we wait...here are some bonus pictures for you:

No, that's not a cigar, it's Drew's funky toothbrush. We are teaching Silas to brush those pearly whites.
And a couple from Carmine's baby shower last Sunday --Silas stays entertained (momentarily) by some of his blocks. He liked the little Silas-sized chair they had.


As you can imagine, we'll have lots of pictures from the grandparents' visit, so stay tuned.

Walks with Crocodiles

You've seen Silas stand with crocodiles. Now see:

THE ONE, THE ONLY
THE AMAZING SILAS
WALK WITH CROCODILES

Enjoy!

Saturday at the park with Silas

Silas had not one but two park outings today! In the morning, while Drew was at the library for a training, I took Silas to the Waterfront Park. We walked along the water, near the marina. I was able to point out many birds and dogs (two animals he now knows the signs for).
We then played on the tot swing for a bit. He's still figuring out what the swing is all about.
In the afternoon, the weather was so nice, we decided to take Silas to another great Bainbridge Island park, Battle Point.
Silas enjoyed a shoulder ride on the way to the playground.
He loves the slide and can basically go down on his own now.
This is the special needs tot slide. I've never actually seen anyone with special needs use it, but it's pretty cool that they have it. Silas knew to hold on right away.
Si's favorite thing about going to playgrounds is to watch other kids run around. I can see the gears turning in his head...before long, he'll be one of them...running, running, running.

It was a busy day for our little bear, and he crashed super early. Playing is hard work!

It's the simple things in life

Since moving to WA, our family has been without a very basic and essential household item--a table we can all sit and eat at. We never felt we had room for one given the design of our house. Drew and I got in the habit of eating dinner on the couch. Now that Silas is eating "real" food, however, we feel it's important to eat together as a family as much as impossible, and the small counter we were crowding around just wasn't cutting it. So, we finally decided to do a bit of rearranging and we bought ourselves a great wooden table. We love it!
Here's Master Silas sitting at the head of the table:
We also got a new hook-on high chair for Silas, so as you can see, he is seated right at the table with us now. For several months, he's had the unfortunate habit of kicking and shaking his other high chair. This included shaking the high chair until it rocked and when we added the table to the mix, kicking it away from himself. So the change in chairs was necessary both for his safety and our sanity.
Another simple thing in life that we are not taking for granted today: Our boy is eating well again! It is SUCH a relief! Today, he had rice and an entire avocado for lunch. And as you can see, he's able to eat peas again, which makes him very happy.
He gets very playful and amusing at mealtimes:
He loves this sorting drum but it wasn't a great idea to give it to him at the table, as he later threw it on the floor, and narrowly missed hitting our wi-fi modem. Oops!

I've made coasters (see pictures of them here) and will hopefully make place mats to accent our lovely table soon!

It looks like snow, BUT...

...it's HAIL. No kidding! We had the craziest hail storm yesterday. Never in all of our years have we seen a hail storm that poured down for 20+ minutes and coated the ground like snow.
Seriously, we couldn't get over it, so we both took lots of pictures.

Here's our welcome mat, completely covered with hail:
And here's the scene from our front porch, just 3 hours after the storm. Quite a contrast.

Well, it's been a whole week since Silas became ill. We called the after-hours nurse yesterday afternoon after another hurling episode. She basically said that we had to wait it out and let it run it's course, but there was nothing to worry about as long as he wasn't dehydrated and was eating/drinking a bit. Finally, last evening, Silas seemed really really hungry! Woo-hoo! Today, I am happy to report, was vomit-free. His appetite still comes and goes, but he is starting to eat better, though we are still restricting his diet to bland foods. Anyways, let's hope he's finally over this yuckiness!

Regret, served fresh, with a side of vomit

In Thursday's post, I announced that Silas was back to normal, except for his appetite. This may have been premature. We've had some regrettable setbacks since then. Drew and I are both feeling a bit guilty about decisions we made for Silas that seem to have been detrimental. Confession time:
On Thursday, after another day of Silas barely eating, I gave him cooked peas, which are his favorite. Finally, he ate willingly! I only gave him a small portion, but he finished every single one and I was so happy to see him finally really eat. He hadn't vomited in 2 days, so I thought we were safe. At 1 am that night, he vomited peas. Lesson learned--stay away from green foods when baby is still recovering from the flu.

Friday went alright (not including the fact that he possibly maybe ate a teeny bit of red paint on our broom and flipped backwards from our window seat onto the floor) and Saturday was shaping up to be a good day for Silas as well. Drew was feeling better too and the two of them were having a good time. Just after Silas got up from his nap, Drew was bouncing Silas up and down and Silas was laughing and laughing--until he puked. He cried steadily for 20 minutes after that and has puked twice since then, including at 4 am this morning. Lesson learned--stay away from bouncing activities when baby is still recovering from the flu.

I should also throw in the fact that severe diarrhea is just part of the fun times we've been having, and the doctor says that will last a few weeks. Lovely.

Our tactic today is to feed Silas very tiny portions--one O at a time, one spoonful of rice cereal at a time, smaller amounts of breast milk per feeding. And of course, no bouncing. We'll see how it goes.

The Six Signs of Silas

As promised, here is the video showing the words Silas knows in sign. They are presented more or less in the order that he learned them.

So, there you have it. The boy says no real words vocally, though he is starting to parrot us more and more often, especially if the sounds we're making are goofy. For instance, Silas and his Dad do a great monkey impression. For a while, he'd repeat "uh-oh" to us, but we can't get him to do that anymore. The sign language, however, appears to be sticking. He learned all 6 of the signs you see in the video just after his first birthday, over a mere three week period.

Note that one of the signs he knows very well and had no problem learning is "kitty." So, he says "kitty" but not "mama" or "dadda." And believe me, we have tried to teach him to say mama and dadda both vocally and in sign. He doesn't seem that interested, but he'll catch on eventually. He does babble incessantly and the sounds mama and dadda come up a lot. He says "mamamamama" quite a bit, especially when he is complaining and wants something. At these moments, I delude myself into thinking he means what he's saying. Truthfully though, the context just isn't quite there yet, despite the fact that if you say "where's mama" or "where's daddy" he'll laugh and turn to the adult in question.

We are continuing to introduce new signs including bib, eat, doggy and of course, mama & dadda. Hopefully, he'll be adding these to his repertoire soon. Baby signing rocks!

Like Son, Like Father

When we went to the doctor on Tuesday, she told us that gastroenteritis is common and that we typically get this sickness a bunch of times in our life. As our body builds up an immunity to it, each time we get it, it is a milder case. So, Silas was probably as sick as he'll ever be with this particular bug. When we left the doctor, Drew remarked that he had no memory of ever being so sick, while I could recall having very similar experiences a number of times as a child.

So, where does that leave us today?

If you guessed that Drew is now sick, you win a gold star!

Yep, this is shaping up to be one of those weeks. Drew has been in bed all morning and I am home from work yet again. But, there's nothing to be done, of course, except hope that if I do contract this ugh bug, it's effects will be much less extreme.

As for Silas, well, he's back to his old self today, except that his appetite is still not that good. He'll have a few bites of banana, for example, instead of eating the entire banana. I suppose he just needs more time. My fear is that the experience he just went through will trigger a pickier reaction to food, but I suppose there's no real logic in that fear. Anyways, he is eating a bit, as well as breast feeding, so there's no reason to sound the alarm.

Let's just hope both my boys are totally back to "normal" soon!

13 Months Old -- Ugh Bug Retreats!

Silas is 13 months old today! You wouldn't know it from these pictures, just taken this afternoon, but he really was very sick the last few days. We had another rough night last night, and I know I promised a vomit-free post today, but this ain't it. He tossed his cookies so much more last night that I was starting to really worry, especially because he hadn't eaten any cookies or anything else to actually toss. For a while, he couldn't even keep water down. But thankfully, he seems to be over it, for the most part, today. He's even eaten a bit--saltines, applesauce, Os and bananas, mostly. Though he's not back to 100%, he's on his way.

Ugh Bug Update

Unfortunately, we didn't escape a trip to the pediatrician. I wanted to avoid taking him in because it's no fun to transport a child who might hurl at any moment. However, when he started to puke up bright yellow bile, we decided to call the doctor and just let her have her say. She confirmed that he has gastroenteritis and that we should just try to keep him hydrated, which we have been doing.

Also, to give my opinion on Pedialyte: Ah, it's not that great. Breast milk is WAY better at this point as it keeps him hydrated and provides antibodies to help him fight the virus. Also, breast milk doesn't generally have the immediate upchuck affect that Pedialyte has. Apparently, some babies respond better to it than Silas (and it's obviously the best solution for formula fed babes).

Soon after getting home from the doctor, Silas fell asleep (as did I). He's been napping for several hours--his second long nap of the day. He didn't even nap this much in February when he had that nasty cold and ear infection. So at least he's getting the rest he so badly needs. Let's hope he doesn't wake up vomiting again, yes?

On a different note, I've been wanting to get a video post together of all the signs Silas knows. I've got them filmed, but haven't done the editing yet, and that's on the back-burner for now. Maybe tomorrow, you'll be treated to a post that doesn't include the word "vomit" or its synonyms. We can hope!

Ugh Bug

Silas appears to have a stomach bug--the kind with forceful expulsion from both ends. We sort of lost count of how many times he's puked but it's around 10, beginning at 5 pm yesterday. You know it's bad when you hear your son crying from bed and he's laying there drenched in his own vomit. Poor, poor baby. But he is a trooper. When he's not heaving, he's in fairly good spirits most of the time, and we have to keep him from overdoing it with his usual high energy activities. At the same time, he's visibly tired. Obviously, none of us got a lot of sleep, and I'm home from work today to help care for him.

We've been able to keep breastmilk and water down for several hours at a stretch (sometimes), but Pedialyte always brings on an upchuck. He won't even touch his beloved Os and banana. Still, I think he's better today then he was last night, so hopefully, he'll be better soon. We are worried, of course, but are hoping to avoid a trip to the doctor as long as we can keep him hydrated. Will keep you updated...

So Long, Blondie

Drew and I both really love this picture of Silas. Oh, that thoughtful gaze. You can really see the little boy he is becoming. You may recall the Blondie onesie from posts dating as far back as last summer. Drew put it on Silas one last time this week. It fit-- barely. So, we are saying "so long" to that favorite onesie, and in a way, good-bye to that little baby Silas used to be. It's on to big-boy tees to match the little boy we now have!

Future Spinner?

Yep, he's discovered my spinning wheel. In this video, Silas goes back and forth between spinning the wheel and pushing the buttons on our answering machine. There aren't any messages but every time he pushes the message button, it beeps 3 times, so naturally, he can't get enough of it. The video then end with me trying to get him interested in the cat, who is outside the kitchen door. But he's pretty much absorbed already.

Coming soon...I'm trying to put together a video showing the words that Silas can sign--we're up to about 5 now.

Fantasy of a Baby-Sized Helmet

I know the kid's gotta learn how to stay upright and move around without crashing into things. And I know he's bound to fall and hit various parts of his body before he accomplishes that. But seriously, did you know that you could get a bruise on top of another bruise? Silas proved that to us just yesterday. I'm not sure how well you can tell from the pictures, but he's sporting a 3 or 4 day-old yellow bruise on the upper right portion of his forehead. On top of that, he has a brand new red-purple bruise. There is a considerable lump there as well. Before he fell and produced the yellow bruise, there was a matching bruise on the opposite side.

Silas hits his head hard on something I would guess a minimum of twice a day, but it's only enough of a knock to his noggin to cause a bruise every now and then. I suppose he's just at the stage where this is to be expected. Still, I can't help but fantasize about him wearing a padded helmet to protect that precious head of his. Hopefully, he will outgrow this clumsiness, though Drew says he's probably inherited it from me. If that's the case, we better get him a bubble to live in :)

Oh, and I can't post this without including how we now deal with these bumps. The wonder cure is Arnica. We applied a hemp bump and bruise salve with Arnica to the new bruise yesterday and today, you can barely tell it was there!

Alias Polar Bear

Silas really wanted to start his own music blog in order to share with you all of the music he grooves to.

So now, I present to you, the Planet Silas companion blog:
ALIAS POLAR BEAR

Do stop by it from time to time. Si and his dad will be updating it with new tunes and music videos for you to enjoy every now and then.

Milo's Birthday

We took Silas to Milo's birthday bash this afternoon. A good time was had by all and the boys (3 of them all born within 3 weeks of each other) were so adorable together. Happy Birthday Milo!

Look Ma, No Hands!

If he can combine what you see in this video with what you see in this video I posted back in February, we'll have ourselves a walker!

April 08 Book of the Month

Announcing Planet Silas' April Book of the Month:
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes.
Summary: Kitten sees the full moon and mistakes it for a bowl of milk, which she simply must have.
As a librarian who catalogs children's books for a living, I see many picture books, including those who win the big literary awards, such as the Caldecott. When Kitten's First Full Moon won the Caldecott Award a few years ago, however, I have to admit I wasn't totally convinced, though I do like the author quite a bit. Then the reviews started to come in from the school librarians: little kids LOVE this book. Silas adores it as well, and I can now say that I am a Kitten's First Full Moon convert, big time.
This book has what it takes to engage young readers--bold high contrast illustrations, an appealing character, rhythmic, appropriately repetitive text and a simple lightly humorous story. it's quite a fun one to read out loud (and believe me, I've already done so a bunch of times). I've added the baby sign for "milk" when I read that word in the text so that I can convey to Silas that Kitten and he have a common love of milk.
This month's honorable mentions:
Miffy's Counting Book by Dick Bruna. This was Silas' favorite book when he was 3 or 4 months old. Seriously. He couldn't get enough of that book and would always calm down when we read it to him. He's still quite a Miffy fan.
Hairbrushes for Babies with Little Hair by Silas.
no, just kidding.
I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak. Silas got this book from his Grandma G for his birthday. It's quickly been added to his daily book rotation. He seems to really "relate" to the little toddler and his stuffed bear. I like reading this book with him because it lists things about the toddler which are loved, such as "I love your fingers, your toes...Your happy side, your sad side." These sort of phrases allow for us to point out body parts or make emotional expressions as we are reading the text to Silas. Very interacting and fun!