Rocket jam and cat cam

I love my new glow-in-the-dark rocket pajamas. Thanks Grandma and Papa!

The only way for the cats to be (nearly) in contact without a growling, brawling, hissing, swatting cat fight:
I won't say that no progress has been made in their relationship but it's been extremely slow going.

I've got some pictures to post from an outing in Seattle last week. Till then, cheers!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Silas!

I guess he likes his presents :)
I'll post more pictures and let you know the highlights of the day later on. Right now, I've got to go frost some birthday cupcakes!

Malachi

Hey Silas, whatcha hiding behind there?
Oh, it's your buddy, Malachi! I should have known. You guys are pretty tight these days, aren't you.
Okay, why don't you run along and play with Malachi while I talk to our Internet audience for a minute...

Malachi was a Christmas gift from Grandma G. Silas bonded with him almost immediately. I thought up the name Malachi and Silas originally just called him "Kai," but now he pronounces his whole name. "Malachi, diaper on! Malachi, face cream! Malachi, ride front!" are all common phrases. To explain the last two, we put lotion on Silas' face for some eczema (which you might have noticed on one of his cheeks in certain photos). Silas makes sure Malachi and the rest of his toys, along with mom and dad and the cat, all get their "face cream" too. He also likes for Malachi to ride with him on his bike or the rocking horse, and he'll tell me if he wants Malachi to "ride front" or "ride back" meaning if he wants me to stick the doll in front of him or in back. Yesterday, he wanted Malachi to ride on the back, so I stuck him into the back of Si's overalls and Si happily skipped around the house with him there for quite a while.

Silas also likes to take off Malachi's tiny shoes and try to put them on his own feet. When I hear him say "Boot on! Boot ON" I know I'm going to have to explain to him yet again that Malachi's shoes are much to small for Si's feet. It is undeniably funny watching him attempt to put on a pair of shoes that wouldn't have fit him even when he was a newborn :)

Let's video chat!

We have been video chatting with my parents lately so that they can see Silas, and he can see them. We've had a lot of fun interacting in this way, and we're hoping to have this set up with Drew's mom soon too.

On Sunday, my sister and her kids came over to my parents house and they all got the chance to watch Silas open the Christmas presents they sent (which FINALLY showed up after being stuck in Seattle for several weeks).

Here's my sister and my parents, smiling at Silas:
In front of the computer are some of the things Silas brought out to show them, including his harmonica (he graced them with a long solo), his cutting board and wooden vegetables and fruit, which he sliced up for them, and his keyboard, which we encourage him to pound on, rather than our laptop.

The first picture also shows the little table and chairs that Grandma G sent to Silas. I'll have better pictures of that, and his newly redone little play area, in another post.

Hey, if you are a friend of Silas (or his parents) and you'd like to video chat, we use gmail to do so. It would be wonderful to say hello to you! Keep it in mind!

T'was the night before...

We brought in our live Christmas/Yule tree today, a blue spruce that we'll plant in the yard in the new year. I decorated it with cranberries and popcorn and the hand-felted ornaments that I made last weekend.
After Silas went to bed, I placed into the bows of the tree the little wooden animals that his grandma and papa sent. In the morning, he'll be able to hunt for them and discover them, one by one.
The little tractor, also a gift from the grandparents, is sitting on some of the squares I've completed for Silas' knitted farmland. I hope to have that project finished by his birthday in March.

We lost our power again today three times! Finger's crossed, we will have an electric-filled Christmas tomorrow.

Have a Happy Christmas everyone!

The week and a half in review

Let's play catch-up, starting with today's events and working our way back a bit...
First of all, obviously, it snowed. These pictures were all taken this morning. It's our first snow of the season and since this is western WA state, it may very well be the last. So, we made the most of it.
Oooh, what is this?
Um, seriously. What. is. this. Any why haven't you made mittens for me?
And is this really necessary?
Okay. The other big thing going on today is Drew's and Patrick's art reception. Yea! Silas is resting up now from his time playing in the snow so that he'll be bright-eyed for the event.

Silas has the sniffles, but that's life. We've been running a humidifier in our bedroom, which seems to help.

And now, working our way back...We've received two Christmas presents in the mail so far. Thank you Grandparents! We are using the little table and chairs already. He has a very nice "work" area now for slicing his wooden vegetables, drawing, reading, typing on his keyboard, etc. I will have pictures at some point. The other gift will have to wait till Christmas morning...

Tuesday the 9th: Drew's birthday! A fine day indeed. I didn't get any stellar pictures of the two boys together that day, so I'm not posting any. But Silas did help his dad open his gifts, and Silas very much liked the boxes (and Drew very much liked what came in them).

Last weekend (the 6th and 7th): Drew and Patrick hung their show, which took quite a bit of time. So, Silas and I hung out together a lot, and went to several Christmas in the Country places. This is a weekend long event which takes place at various houses and farms around the island. People sell handmade goods, food, etc. There are activities like live music, pony rides, and Santa. I did point Santa out to him, but he was more interested in the water feature set up next to Santa's chair. Since we really don't care about getting a picture of him screaming his head off as we force him to sit on a strange man's lap, we took a pass on that and enjoyed the music guild's chamber ensemble. Silas LOVED that!

And finally, last Friday...Silas went to the doctor. He wailed the ENTIRE time, even though no shots were given. But other than the trauma he experienced simply by being there, the biggest issue he's facing is some eczema on his face. The doctor doesn't think it's food related, so we are just keeping it moisturized as best we can. Other than a minor cold, he is healthy and happy (when not at the doctor).

That pretty much catches us up. I'm hoping to post more frequently this week, but I make no promises :)

Wish List

I've added a wish list to the side of the blog per the request of relatives. This is not meant to be solely a Christmas list. I will add and subtract from it over time and it currently contains items that we will use or need well into the future, along with some fun items. As I have mentioned before, probably too often, we don't really need or want a whole bunch of things. We have a small house and sometimes it seems toys are everywhere, even though we have a conservative amount of toys compared to many families. So, quality over quantity is our motto.

My big gift for Silas, which will probably be a joint Christmas and Birthday present (since it won't be finished by the 25th), is a knitted farmland. I got the idea from another crafty blogging momma. I'm making it piece by piece, and will be sure to update you on it's progress. There are a few farm related items on the wish list, but I'm still searching for the right farm, and may see what I can find locally.

I hope everyone is having a low-stress holiday season so far!

Daily Bread

Thanks to the generosity of Beth (at my work), we are the proud owners of a bread maker. We now bake all of our own bread (7 loafs in the last 7 days!), which has been really fun. One does have to get used to its strange shape due to the the kind of pan the machine uses, but the bread is undeniably delicious. We've made several different kinds --oat, french, and cranberry walnut(pictured). Silas helps by adding certain ingredients and pushing the start button. Later on, when we're eating the bread, we tell him "that's the bread you helped make."

Halloween Preparedness Checklist

Trip to the pumpkin patch. check.
Turning a pumpkins into a jack-o-lantern. check.
Jack-o-lantern checklist added note: It was a family effort. Drew scooped out the stringy stuff and seeds and then roasted the seeds. I did the oh-so-elegant carving, and Silas held the top for us so that it wouldn't get lost and also threw pieces of discarded pumpkin bits off of the deck.Back to the checklist:
Read "scary" stories, including "The spooky old tree" which grandma and pa sent. check.

Wear the cute Halloween pajamas that grandma G sent. check.
And finally,
Put the finishing touches on Si's costume. che--er, well, almost check. Let's just say, it will be ready to go by trick-or-treat time on Friday afternoon. We are ready for Halloween and can't wait!

Grandma for President

While we wait impatiently for the presidential candidates to announce their running mates (c'mon already, boys!), Silas has started a campaign of his own. Grandma G. sent him this shirt. Perfect for the election year! I think Silas is hoping he's on Grandma's short list for her VP pick!

Along with election year madness, we are also still experiencing teething madness (note the fingers in the mouth in the top picture). He recently cut two incisors, bringing the total teeth count to 14. Only 6 more to go!

Silas says, "Danke Barb"

Barb got Silas this book and hat in Germany. Apparently, this kind of hat is what all of the cool German babies are sporting this summer. Silas likes both of his presents. Vielen Dank, Barb!

Aloha, farm boy

He looks like he should be at the beach catching some waves, but apparently, we have Silas hauling firewood on the farm instead.
No, seriously folks...Barb (from mom's work) got this outfit for Silas when she was in Hawaii last winter. It is so adorable! Surely, we'll never encounter another baby with the same digs. Or so we thought...
This morning, when I checked Alden's blog, there he was wearing the same shirt! What are the odds! I knew they had a lot in common, but I didn't know that included fashion sense :)

Froggy Book in Action

Thanks, LeClair family, for this great froggy book. As you can see, Silas really has fun with it!

Our Lucky Charm, With Disclaimers

St. Patrick's Day Disclaimer # 1: We are not actually Irish, Irish American, Irish Catholic, Irish Catholic American, etc. The luck o' the Irish is not with us, but Silas is still our lucky charm, and he looked so cute in the St. Patrick's Day onesie that Grandma G. sent to us.

Grandma also sent us this great bib. That's where St. Patrick's Day Disclaimer #2 comes in:
This is not Silas' 1st St. Patrick's Day. He was born on March 16th.
So this was actually his 2nd St. Patty's Day:
But, seeing as though he was only a day old for the holiday in '07, and seeing as though it never dawned on us that it was St. Patty's day due to the fact that we had a day old baby, maybe we'll just pretend that this year was his first. Yeah, that'll do.

And finally, St. Patrick's Day Disclaimer #3: No, Si didn't get that fat lip fightin' over green beer at the local pub (even though he looks like he's been hitting the pubs in this picture. I assure you, he hasn't. Washington State laws are very strict on keeping babies out of pubs). In fact, the fat lip is courtesy of a nosedive he took into our dresser on his birthday. I don't think it showed up on any of his birthday pics, as the wound blended in with the berry juice.

At Shannon and Patrick's House

We went over to Patrick and Shannon's house for breakfast this morning. They were all set up and ready for Silas! Shannon tells me that the wooden implement Si is holding is a Scottish porridge spurtle. You learn something new every day. Silas really likes it.

Oh, and check out the new duds that Grandma G. sent us, along with some birthday gifts for him. Thanks Grandma! Doesn't he look like the bee's knees!

Discovery

Look, our son is a genius! He stacked these discovery blocks all by himself!
Ok, maybe mom helped a little. Ok, maybe mom stacked them and Silas knocked them over so that mom could stack them again. All part of the creative process. He actually will try to take off blocks without knocking the whole stack over, but his motor skills are not quite there yet, and 9 times out of 10, they all go tumbling. He likes to examine each block and will shake the ones that make sound. His favorite is the blue block with the red circular piece inside that he can push in and out and shake. And for some reason, he likes to hold the red one and chew on it from time to time. The red one is the tastiest, apparently.

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!

Christmas with the Bryant Family

There's no shortage of Christmas photos to post, thanks to Auntie Jennie's constant picture taking, and the several other cameras that were in frequent use as well. These pictures give you a glimpse of the Christmas Eve gathering at Grandma and Papa's house. Great-Uncle David gave Silas the beautiful wooden rocking horse. Also pictured: family shots of Silas, his mom, auntie, grandma, and cousins, papa, and great-uncle Bob, and Silas playing with the cool new puzzle Auntie Jennie got for him. What a day we had!

We spent Christmas day with dad's side of the family. We'll post these pictures soon, so stay tuned!

Jump for Joy

Silas loves the Johnny Jump-up that Grandma G got for him. After all, bouncing up and down is one of his favorite activities. Mom likes to put the thick hat she made for Silas on him when he's bouncing as a bit of added protection for his head. This is because, as wonderful as the Johnny Jump-up is, it is not a risk free ride. Basically, a big person must hold on to Silas the entire time so that he doesn't bounce his head right into the door frame. It's worth it though, since Silas has so much fun. I've included a short video of the bouncing baby boy in action. My apologies for the fact that you will have to tilt your head to see it properly. I had the camera turned when I shot the footage and then realized that I'd need video editing software to turn it. Oh well.