10 months old! --the breakfast O challenge

Si is 10 months old today. Wow! So much is happening for this little guy, perhaps the most notable of which is that he's now eating hard cereal. We've wanted to start him on something like this for a while but were faced with the challenge of finding an organic wheat-free O-shaped cereal that didn't have added sugar. Not an easy task! Finally we discovered Barbara's Breakfast Os and Silas loves them! This is the first time he's fed himself, and although more than a few fall to the floor, he is improving every day. We hope to introduce more finger foods soon.

Silas is also kinda-sorta crawling. He can get around now, though he's still rather clumsy and slow.

And then there's the teething. Silas still only has 4 teeth. He hasn't had any new teeth in 3 months. He goes through spurts where his gums really seem to bother him. He's been up nursing way more than usual the last 4 nights or so and I suspect this is because his mouth is sore. Unfortunately, I can't feel any additional teeth when I massage his gums, but they are definitely swollen. Keep your fingers crossed and let's hope he's cut a few more before he turns 11 months!

Silas Flies an Airplane

I meant to post these pictures a while ago (they are a month or so out-of-date), but all of those vacation posts intervened. Well, at long last, here they are.

Welcome to the World, Liam!

Silas and his mom and dad got to meet baby Liam last weekend. Proud new parents Jessica and William showed us their little beauty. Wow! We are all excited to see our two boys grow together. Welcome to Planet Earth (and Planet Silas), little Liam!

WI train trip windup

I think this may finally be the last post about our trip to WI last month. Our train left over an hour late, so the first 3 pictures show Grandma and Papa hanging out at the station, entertaining Silas, who was delighted to spend the extra time with them. Next up, the long awaited picture of Alden and Silas, together at last, in case you didn't head over to Alden's Story for the pictures that Jessi posted there. What a cutie that Alden is! Finally, for all of you non-Wisconsinites, here's a typical winter scene, taken from Grandma and Papa's front porch. We were very excited to have a good snowfall while we were visiting.

That about covers our trip--family, friends, and snow. We miss everyone in Wisconsin and hope to see you all soon! Come out and see us if you can. We're already looking forward to Grandma and Papa's next trip to Washington, which is scheduled for the beginning of May. Silas will be so happy to see them!

What Silas saw...

Dad took all of these images from the train. The first two are of Montana, eastbound. The rest are from our journey westward, the middle three are North Dakota and/or Eastern Montana, and the last two are in the Cascade Mountains, WA. Lovely, lovely snow!

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!

WI to WA: Our trip West

Here's a short video showing what our little sleeper room looked like. Two nights and two days on a train with a 9 month old is a long time. Although Silas did very well, we could tell he was happy to get off of the train and back home (as were we). Although we were very fortunate to have our own room, as you can see, space was still very limited.

We've got a bit more blogging to do from the trip--some still shots from the train ride, and a couple more pictures from WI --will try to get those posted soon...

North Dakota can be beautiful

The view from the train...

Christmas With the Kunz/Gammon Family

We spent Christmas Day in Waukesha with dad's family. Silas loves the wooden train stacking blocks Grandma G got for him! Also pictured are Silas with his Grandma G, dad, great-uncle Larry and great-aunt Barb. Auntie Amy and uncle Jeff's house was all decked out for the holidays. Silas loved meeting them, as well as his uncle Steve.

Grandma G and Merlin came to Grandma and Papa's house a few days after Christmas to spend more time with Silas.

Although Silas was at times overwhelmed by the amount of people and commotion at our family gatherings, it was wonderful for everyone to get the chance to see him. Most of the time, he was a very happy smiley boy who really enjoyed the attention everyone wanted to give to him!

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!

his 1st drawing

Christmas Through the Kaleidoscope