Napping Crisis

Deeply concerned by the financial crisis and the government's inability to get their act together and save us from the looming depression, Silas decided that today was no day to nap.
Despite the lack of sleep, he was in good spirits and high energy the entire day (his dad, on the other hand, was feeling as frazzled as a WaMu CEO by the time I got home from work). Finally, at 6 pm (an hour and a half earlier than usual), he crashed as hard as today's stock market.
Rest easy, Silas.

Our crazy kid... or, Silas every day

I took this short video a week ago, while my parents were visiting. This is a 30 second look into everyday life with our high-energy sweetheart.

And here we are...

The long awaited Silas-with-his-grandparents-pictures are posted at last! Not wanting to totally steal their thunder, I've posted a few and anticipate my parents posting many more on their blog. Perhaps later this week, I'll add a few more, or maybe even a video...

18 Months Old

Si turned 18 months old yesterday. These pictures were taken by Drew about a week ago.

Caught, purple handed:

An artist at work. Medium of choice: crayon.

Do NOT take my blueberries away from me. Do NOT! You will find out just how loud I can be.
Still haven't posted any pictures of the grandparents. It will happen eventually.

Enjoy being a year and a half, Silas. It's a good age.

The outside room

Oh, hello there, Planet Silas readers! How are you? My name is Silas and I will be your guest blogger today.

How is it that these O's taste so much better simply because I am eating them outside? I do not know. I do know that I enjoy eating on the deck. It's really a lot of fun. In fact, the deck is my new favorite room!

But wait...there's more...
I have set my sites on becoming an expert carpenter. The deck is a perfect training ground.

Shannon taught me how to hammer things (my parents are so proud, even though they look a little nervous). I learned how to measure the railings from Daddy and have been practicing a lot.
See the slats that Daddy and Shannon added so that I can't fall through the side of the deck? That was thoughtful of them. It seems the big people around here are very keen on keeping me safe.

A baby's work is never done. Better get back to measuring these posts!
You wouldn't know it from these pictures, which contain only yours truly, but my Grandma and Papa are in town visiting! In fact, in the picture below, I'm staring right at them. And guess what? They both have cameras!
Anyways, I'm sure my mom will get around to posting some pictures of the grandfolks in a few days. Until then, you'll have to settle for me, me, and more me :)

Just because...

This is the kind of shot our dear old camera could never hope to take:
Okay, I know, lots of pictures lately. Maybe too many? What can I say, I'm still having fun with the new camera.

Drew actually says this one is interesting. Imagine that!

The thoughtful child:

Silas, opening a portal leading to a magical fairy realm:

This is an Ektara. Si loves playing it.

I'm learning how to use the macro setting. I don't usually go in for pictures of flowers or fruit, but, I couldn't resist this plum on one of our trees. Me thinks someone's been squeezing the fruit to see if it's ripe (Look closely. If you can't see what I'm talking about, click to make the image bigger):
One more thing to note: Grandma and Papa arrive tomorrow!

All decked out

Five years after moving in, we finally have our deck!

This is how it looks from the front of the house. Our lovely kiwi vine is growing over the archway leading to the stairs and side lot.
It takes a lot longer than you might think to build a deck. I naively thought the workers would come and go in one long day. It was more like 4. But they did a great job and the deck is beautiful. We've sort of been waiting for this deck ever since we moved here in August of 03. We live in a century-old farmhouse which Shannon completely renovated prior to our arrival. She always envisioned a large deck on the side, but things kept coming up (a new roof, etc.) and the deck was put on the back-burner. Well, it was worth the wait. They just finished yesterday and we have already been enjoying it. Shannon plans on putting some kind of meshing up around the railing, at least temporarily, so that Silas doesn't decide to dive through the slats head first. We'll probably move one of the picnic tables up from another part of the yard so that we have a nice place to sit and eat. Such a nice addition to our living space!

A few more from Saturday

What to do when the baby get's crabby? Let him take the wheel! Silas has figured out which key goes to the car and can insert it. Thankfully, he can't turn the car on. Yet.
And another from the cafe: don't know why, but I really like this one.

Good-bye, point-n-shoot

Our new, fabulous camera arrived! I don't think I can ever go back to a point and shoot after experiencing this camera. It is much more technical, so there is a lot for me to learn. I took a gazillion pictures today trying to figure things out. Drew gave me a crash course in aperture and the like. Clearly, while looking through the photos, I still have a lot to learn, but I'm posting some of the ones I think turned out okay. I'm sure Drew would tweak them all in Photoshop, but I'm not as picky as he is yet. I'll get there eventually.

A new day is dawning. From here on out, photo quality on both of the blogs should improve.

A couple Drew snapped at the cafe this morning:

This camera has a great lense and I'm really impressed with the clarity. Just for fun, I left the file size on this picture large. If you click on it, you can see how clear it is. Oh, and look who's reflected in Si's beautiful eyes!
This is our yard; the lower pasture. The sheep are out to graze and Silas is demonstrating the fact that he is no longer afraid of them. In fact, roles are about to reverse as the sheep go running from him in terror.
This is Azure, our young and most handsome sheep. He's the alpha sheep, if there is such a thing.
At the park this afternoon; Silas steers the ship. Ahoy, young matey!
After the park, one tired tot with crazy hair.
No doubt you will see more pictures from today and the days to come as I figure out more and more about my new toy. Also, expect videos...with sound! No more silent home movies, and no more point-n-shoot!

More on the feeding and care of Mr. Bear

Just look at those teeth! With 16 teeth now, Silas can eat a lot of the same foods that we do. There have been a few surprises regarding what Si will eat or will not eat.

Here are a few things I was absolutely convinced he would love, but instead has rejected the multiple times I've offered them:

Peanut butter (go figure)
Cheese (clearly he was not born in WI)
Butter (Seriously, Silas?)
Scrambled or fried eggs (but boiled eggs are one of his favorite foods)

And on the list of foods I thought he'd hate but instead loves:
Raw broccoli
Fresh salad greens

He's already a better vegetarian then I am.

I was going to write more about language since he's been doing really well with that lately, but I think I'll save that for another post. Pretty soon, the list of signs I keep on the side will disappear since I haven't been updating it anyways. He has picked up several more signs, like thank you and scared, and he still uses baby sign often. However, we've been mostly concentrating on spoken words now that he seems ready to vocalize more.

So, in closing, I will leave you with an extra picture. It is strange because we've never emphasized gender specific toys, but regardless, he loves "boy" things like balls and vehicles. Here he is, fulfilling a gender stereotype, playing with his truck, or "cah" as he calls it:

September 08 Book of the Month

Announcing Planet Silas' September Book of the Month:

Hands are Not for Hitting by Martine Agassi ; illustrated by Marieka Heinlen.

This is a board book we've checked out from the library several times. Not only does Silas enjoy it, but we enjoy the advice it gives us in how to constructively redirect Silas from hitting when he gets overly excited or is in pain due to teething. It's easy to get frustrated when he hits or pinches or twists or squeezes. This book has been a lot of help in dealing with this. Now we tell him "Silas, hands are not for hitting. What are hands for?" And we can use an example from the book, or most often, start clapping our hands and get him to clap along. Seems much more constructive than just yelling "Nooo" at him.

Like many of the books that make the Planet Silas Book of the Month list, this book works for us because it's interactive. I've posted a few images as examples.

Below, the picture shows that hands are for "keeping safe." Silas is signing the "parent" sign (all big people are parents). And then signs "baby" for the little girl (all children are babies to Silas). And to top it off, there is a car in the picture. "Car" or "cah" is one of Si's most frequent vocal words, at the moment, and he'll be sure to point that car out to you. "Cah, cah, cah."
You can't really see it, but Silas is giving me a hug, just like the little girl in the picture. So sweet.
Hey Happy Camper, that's a good book, huh!
And our Honorable Mention is:
Teeth are Not for Bitting by Elizabeth Verdick ; illustrated by Marieka Heinlen.

See a theme here? I don't have any pictures of this one, but thought it worth mentioning. Similarly to Hands are Not for Hitting, this book helps toddlers and parents alike cope with the frustration and pain of teething and the behavioral issue (biting) that can result from that pain. This book is from the same series. I have a feeling we may be checking out other titles from that series in the near future. For instance, there's one called Tails are Not for Pulling. Hmmm.