Give Peace (and hemp milk) a Chance

Just wanted to share a picture of my most recent knitting project. I designed this tank top as part of Yoko Ono's Imagine Peace Project. More pictures can be seen here and more info on Yoko's project is available here.

It was great to be off of work since July 3rd. Alas, I went back today. I was a little nervous about how Silas would do since I was with him so much for 3 1/2 weeks, but he did fine. This was also the first day he didn't have breastmilk while I was at work. Yep, after a year of pumping at work (twice a day till he turned a year and once a day since then), I've retired my pump. Silas has really taken to hemp milk, so that's what he drinks when I'm away. When I'm home, it's still nurse on demand. So far, this seems to be going well. It was strange to leave for work without my pump. I kept feeling like I'd forgotten something. And it was a bit sad not pumping as I'd always felt better being apart from him knowing that I was still providing milk for him. Still, the time has come, and the most important thing is that Silas is okay with it. Drew reports that he drank about 8 ounces of hemp milk, which is a good amount. I'm so glad we finally found a suitable milk for him that he actually likes!

Holy Molars, Batman!

When we took Silas to the Doc a few weeks ago for his regular check-up, she told us he was getting a bunch of his molars in at the same time. Yep. It's pretty hard to see them because when I tell him to say "ahhh," he'll open his mouth but stick out his tongue at the same time. However, when I stick my finger in there (and beware, it's like sticking your head into the mouth of a lion), I feel molars on all 4 sides. They've just recently started to cut through the gums. He has been understandably irritable. Lots of up and down mood swings, biting behavior, and a couple nights of severe restlessness. The good news, according to the Doc, is that he should be done with teething by age 2. So, only about 8 more months of miserable gum pain for the baby. Great.
In other truly good news, Drew and I managed to go to a movie (a matinée in an actual movie theater!) last Thursday. This was the first time we've been out to a movie since Silas was born and the first time we've ever used a babysitter (well, Patrick is really more like family then a babysitter). We saw the new Batman movie, which was big, loud, and exciting --a perfect choice to see on the big screen. Thanks to Uncle Patrick, Silas survived the 3 hours without mom and dad just fine. We may have to make this a semi-regular activity, though we're not inclined to want to leave him much longer than the length of a movie. It's nice to have a bit of a break, believe me, but we love being with our Bear too! By the time we got back at about 6:15, he was definitely ready to have mom home again to eat dinner with and begin his nighttime routine.
Oh, yeah, and the pictures: Like his parents, Silas is a big fan of the starch food group. Noodles, just like bread and rice, are a hit.

I Love Bread

I love bread.

I love bread, as well.

In addition, I also love bread.

You got something to say about it? Well then...

...let's talk about it over some bread!

Dad's back!

Miss you, Daddy!

Drew left this morning to go to his 20th high school reunion in Wisconsin. That means that I'm in single parent mode until his return on Sunday. This is the first time Drew has ever been away from Silas overnight, so it will be interesting to see how Si (and I) deal with it.

We already miss you, Drew/Daddy, so these videos, are for you:

I call this one Things just aren't quite right without my daddy so I'm gonna keep cr--hey, what's that in my ear?


Aren't you glad there's no sound?

After that, Silas was feeling better. --So much so that he was ready to show a big person who's boss. Since Drew wasn't there, I was the target.

I call this one, Toddler Attack.


One more thing: I usually do a monthly shout out when Si turns another month older. Forgot this time... Yesterday, the 16th, he turned 16 months! Woo-hoo!

Big Shoes to Fill

Hi Silas! Oh, what's that you've got there?
Why, it's mommy's shoes. Wow, what a big boy you are becoming!
And I see you like daddy's slippers as well.

Yep, that's our boy. He can't get enough of shoes. He carries them around the house, which means they often go missing. Also, whenever I say "let's go outside, Silas," he'll find my shoes (if he can remember where he put them) and bring them to me. Bringing me my shoes, unprompted, is also his way of telling me he wants to go outside. He tries to put his Crocs on by himself, but it's still a little difficult. Still, he makes the attempt. And on a related front, he's trying to put pants on as well. He can get one leg on, but that's about the extent of it, at present. It's a start!

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Our family, just about to begin our first adventure together into the "wilds" of the zoo. Mt. Rainier is between our heads.

Yesterday, we took Silas to the zoo for the first time. There are two zoos near us. We chose to go to the Tacoma zoo because it's smaller and therefore seemed a bit more manageable. Uncle Patrick joined us. Silas liked watching the penguins.
He also enjoyed the Beluga Whales.
And the walruses were OK from above, but he got a bit scared when we encountered them up close in the underwater viewing area. It was the only time he got a bit freaked out. Even the big polar bear didn't faze him.
Out of everything we saw, Si's favorites seemed to be all of the fish. He spent a long time looking at them, completely absorbed.
Silas walked most of the time, and was occasionally carried by one of his "giants." But after 4 hours (and only a half hour nap on the way to the zoo), he was ready for mom to strap him onto her back and chill out. I really don't want to sound braggy, but man, that kid did really well. No meltdowns, despite all of the stimulation.
OK, so here's were I admit that I have mixed feelings about zoos. Please feel free to skip this paragraph if you don't feel like having a soapbox moment. This zoo educates a lot and the animals are treated very well. They are all well cared for. It's a good zoo. And Silas loved it. And I loved seeing him love it. I could almost forget my qualms about the zoo... but then, there's the elephants. Two elephants to be exact. And they don't belong there. Clearly. Elephants thrive in large family groups on large tracts of land. Two elephants are probably all the zoo can afford; after all, they eat an enormous amount and need space. But they simply need more than what the zoo can give to them and it kind of breaks my heart because I think the only reason zoos always have elephants is because people want to see them so badly. Elephants bring people and people bring money. It is a conundrum, and I don't want to make zoos like this one out to be the bad guys because I can think of many many things that are worse. But sometimes I wonder what's truly more important to a zoo: the animals, or the profit. In the interest of full disclosure, we'll probably continue to take Silas to the zoo every now and then, but I will probably feel a bit guilty every time.

Sandbox, or, recipe for a happy tot

Are you ready? Let's begin.

Take a little bit of land.
Dig a hole.
The size and shape are up to you, but a small hole should be enough to do the trick.
Add several hundred pounds of play sand (combed through and cleaned)
Add several sand toys (optional)
Add toddler (recommended)
Add sunshine and a warm breeze, to taste.

ENJOY!

8 Years and 1 Baby Later...

...and here we are, celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary at Point No Point Beach.



On the way there, Silas contemplated what to do with the strange new toys we got for him.

He caught on to their intended purpose quite fast:
Silas decided that sand is the traditional gift to be given on an 8th anniversary. He gave us lots of it. Thanks, son.
Looks like we had lots of fun together!

The 4th

On the 4th of July, we went to Seattle with Patrick to visit friends (Hi M, A, & I). I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera, so I couldn't take many pictures. I have just a couple for you:We had a good old-fashioned meatless barbecue :) Yum! Silas helped us cook. After eating, we headed out to a park:
Silas met a new friend, played in the sand, and rode this whirly ride. Note that Drew is riding with him instead of me. I call this the "Flashback-to-Morning Sickness-Ride." I was more than happy to watch from the sidelines, though even watching them spin did trigger a wee bit of motion sickness. Silas seemed to love it.

We had a great day in Seattle, and were home in time to see Mr. Bear off to bed at his usual time. No fireworks for him (recall his fear of sudden loud noises). I was very thankful that he slept through them.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key, keeping in mind that our sole car was out of commission. In fact, Drew is at the dealership now getting it fixed. Let's hope it doesn't take too long!

The Librarian Takes a Vacation

I'm all smiles cuz I'm off of work for the next 3 and a half weeks or so. Silas on the other hand, well, he's cutting his first molar, so he's a bit testy/clingy/weepy. I'm not forcing him to use that shovel, I swear! He happily carried it all around the yard and then burst out crying, right on cue for the picture. My first order of business, aside from hanging with my boys all day, was to finish the Schoolmarm Vest that I'm wearing. I have a lot more fun things planned, but some of it, the things that involve traveling places, will have to wait a bit. Today, our gear shift would not shift out of park, and our brake lights stopped working all together. Apparently, the two things are related. The good news: our car is still under warrenty. The bad news: It's a holiday weekend, so we can't bring it in until Monday. And back to the upside: It's a good excuse to stay home and get some work done in my long neglected garden.

But that's right, I'm on vacation, better make Silas work in the garden instead:
But I won't make him work too hard. He can enjoy the Radio Flyer we got for him last weekend at the Bainbridge Island Rotary Auction ($1.50 --that's what I call a deal!).
He loves it, but he's really almost too big for it already. And he doesn't really get that he should make it go by using his feet. He prefers that I push him, which is kind of a workout, given how low to the ground that thing is. I think pretty soon, we're going to have to buy him something with petals. For now, the radio flyer is a hit.
A note about Si's books, since Jessi commented that I always find good ones. Shucks, you are a dear, dear. Well, I catalog children's books for a school district for a living. I probably see over 100 books a day, on average, so I'm exposed to a lot of great titles. Probably 95% of the titles on Silas' book wish list and the books of the month are books I cataloged at some point over the past 5 years. If you are looking for an inexpensive way to build your kid's library, check out your local public library's book sale. Most of them have them from time to time. The money from the proceeds usually filters back to the libraries, and you can pick up a lot of the books they've discarded or that people have donated for next to nothing. I've found that some of these books are in pretty good shape, some are a little worse for wear, etc. You never know what you'll find, but it's always worth looking. And we take Silas to the library ALL of the time too, so we are never short on reading material.

July 08 Book of the Month

Announcing Planet Silas' July Book of the Month:

The Wheels on the Bus adapted & illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky.
This adaptation has intriguing illustrations that introduce side plots and appealing characters along side the traditional song most of us are familiar with. It has pull tabs that move parts of the pictures and as you can imagine, Silas is a big fan of these. He's pretty hands on with this book, much to the book's chagrin. For instance, there's now only one remaining wiper on the bus going "swish swish swish."

This book is also known by the title "Not that one again!" Silas' is utterly obsessed with this book. We've read/sung it countless times, and it's now a bit worse for wear. But his love for it continues. If it happens to "disappear" he will search for it and come up to me signing "book." A couple of times, I absentmindedly sang a line from it (it's been stuck in my head for about three weeks now), then cursed myself when Silas excitedly went and brought me the book, expecting a complete recitation. For a baby who watches no TV, this book might as well be Sesame Street, and the bus might as well be Elmo. We are doing pre-potty training and have a little potty for him. Several times, we've sat him on his potty and he's read contentedly for half an hour. Not bad for an active little boy!

Here he is, about to shove the book at me so that I read it to him.
And 1.5 seconds later, he's attacked me with it. He will not relent until I make the wheels go round and round, make the doors go open and shut, make the babies on the bus go "wah, wah, wah." OK Silas, I get the point.
And pictured below is Si's favorite page: "The driver on the bus says 'move on back.'"
And the honorable mentions are... well, I don't have any this month. Not that there aren't plenty of good ones to choose from, but it's summer, and I don't feel motivated to capture them on camera and blog about them. Besides, The Wheels on the Bus is really the only book carrying major weight around here at the moment.

In lieu of honorable mentions, here's a bonus picture of us enjoying the 1,586th reading of The Wheels on the Bus.

Books of the Month Archive

In order to avoid an increasingly long list of previous books of the month on the sidebar, I've replaced that list with a link to this post, which I'll keep updated.

Here's the list, to date:

11/08: Engine Engine, Number Nine
10/08: Moonlight: the Halloween Cat
09/08: Hands are Not for Hitting
08/08: Goodnight Moon
07/08: The Wheels on the Bus
06/08: Frog Book
05/08: Puff the Magic Dragon
04/08: Kitten's First Full Moon
03/08: Close Your Eyes