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.

Snoqualmie Falls

Yesterday, we took the grandfolks to see Snoqualmie Falls, which is about 30 miles East of Seattle. It's 270 feet high (about 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls for all of you waterfall enthusiasts).
A Silas-eye view of the falls:

Here's my tourist brochure shot:
After viewing the falls from the upper observation deck, we made our way down to the river. I may have fly-away hair in this picture (hey, it was breezy!), but I still like this picture of us:
Drew climbed down onto the rocks. Here he is taking a picture of me taking a picture of him:
And finally, Drew takes Silas for the hike back up.

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!

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!

New Growth meets Old Growth

There are many great areas around our neighborhood to walk to--the trails leading through the salmon stream and woods which link neighbor's houses, The Grand Forest up the hill from our home, and Meigs' Forest, just down the road. This old growth Spruce is in Meigs' Forest, just a few minutes walk from our house. In the first picture, we are standing in between two of the roots. Amazing! Living in the Pacific Northwest, Silas should have no problem living up to his name, which means "man of the forest."