Silas and the sheep

This is the video I took last week that I said I would post...

Fearless sheep sheering and date night

Silas, looking on as Blu the sheep gets "shaved."

I wasn't all together sure how Silas would manage the sheep sheering this year. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that he's been dealing with an understandable fear of sudden loud noises, like vacuum cleaners, and sheep baaing. I was afraid that the combination of the sheers and the sheep being forced into awkward positions would really freak him out.

That ended up to be totally unfounded, however. Perhaps it helped that for days leading up to the sheering, I talked up the event, saying that the sheep were getting shaved, just like daddy shaves. When the moment arrived, he didn't shy away at all and in fact, we hung out and watched all four sheep get "shaved" even though the process took well over an hour. What a brave kiddo! For more pictures and to watch a video I took of the sheering, click here.

In addition to it being sheep sheering day, yesterday was also my birthday. It truly was a wonderful day. After Silas' nap, we took a hike in one of the local forests. We walk in the woods all of the time but haven't been to this part of the Grand Forest, as it's called, in quite a while, and it was just beautiful.

In the evening, something most remarkable happened. Uncle Patrick came over to watch Silas so that Drew and I could actually go out to dinner, sans child! We went to my favorite restaurant, Shima Sushi, and managed to spend a delightful hour and a half on our "date." While this was a special thing to do in honor of my birthday, we might just have to make date night a regular (or at least semi-regular) occurrence. Wait, didn't I say that same thing last July? :)

Hanging out on Thanksgiving

Holidays are the perfect occasion for me to unabashedly dress up my child in hand knits. Looking quite spiffy on Thanksgiving morning, here's Silas, sporting the v-neck sweater I made for him before he was even born, and which FINALLY fits him.

Hanging with Sparky:
And Shannon:
And friends...Hey, what's so interesting over here?
Oh, it's just those silly sheep. Blu is eating some alfalfa of of Audrey's back (and getting a mouth full of wool for his efforts too), which everyone thought was pretty funny.
We had a pretty restful, low-key Thanksgiving, which is just the way we like it to be. Silas talked to all of his grandparents on the phone, and we made a lot of great food, which we ate next door at Patrick and Shannon's house. And as you can see, we got to spend a fair amount of time outside walking around the yard and neighborhood. It was a happy Thanksgiving for us!

19 Months Old

Silas is 19 months old, as of yesterday...
All of these pictures were taken during a little photo shoot I did last weekend.

Believe it or not, there are a few more pictures and details of the sweater/hat set that I knit, which you can see here.
Clearly, he's not afraid of the sheep anymore:
He's truly a toddler, but still my little baby. Love you Silas!

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!

Fear, thy name is...Lawnmower?

Silas is no fan of loud noises, so it's not a big surprise that he's afraid of the lawnmower. But like other things that he is afraid of because they are loud (the vacuum, the sheep), he is also strangely fascinated by the lawnmower. Here he is, standing at the window, whining softly with his lower lip pushed out and his eyes wide. As Shannon drives the mower near our house, he can't take his eyes off of it, no matter how scared he is.
I didn't capture the scaredy-face, unfortunately (it's pretty irresistible). Instead, he has his fingers lodged in his mouth to give him comfort and help ward off the coming doom as the mower circles ever closer to the house.

Meanwhile, one of us still has to walk Silas outside while the other vacuums.

But, we are making headway with the sheep. Until quite recently, Silas was, well, sheepish with the sheep. He was okay unless they started Baaing loudly. The suddenness of this was enough to send him over the edge. Now however, I'm happy to report that when they baa, instead of crying, Silas says "baa" back. In fact, he now seems to refer to the sheep as "baa." This, my friends, is progress. Perhaps when he can start imitating the lawnmower and vacuum, he will overcome those fears as well.

First Snow

Snow is a rare treat here in the Puget Sound Region. Usually, we only get a tiny bit, perhaps a few times a winter, if that. Silas got to experience it for the first time yesterday afternoon. How beautiful it was, and Si had so much fun! We've posted a video as well (below). Like the other videos of Silas that we've posted, this one is an "old school" home movie as our little camera has no sound capabilities. So, do not attempt to adjust the volume on your computer when you play it. Just enjoy!