April Highlights

Technically, this picture is from the end of March, but it's adorable...
Silas with his friend Ruby


Silas with Nora


Silas with his Great Grandpa Randall


Silas looking stoic (or sleepy?)


Baseball!


Silas checking out the car


Playing with the train table at the library with Papa


His first bath with his sister


And, finally, going out for a walk with Momma, Nora, Susie, Ruby and Rose

November 11, 2009: 15 months 6 days old

Ok, so I have not updated Silas's blog in a loooong time. Part of the reason is because I really want to post all of the fabulous pictures we've been taking of him over the past two months, but at this point, a text post is better than no post.

Silas had his 15 month appointment last week and is holding steady as a cute, small kid. He weighs 20 pounds 13 ounces and is 29 inches tall - both ~7 percentile. He is also getting three more teeth - he now has four molars, and the final two non-molar teeth on the bottom front are working there way in. It's amazing how much older he looks just 'cause he has teeth.

Some updates over the past few weeks... he is saying more and more words, though his favorites are 'this' 'that' and 'duck.' Just tonight I said to him "say goodnight to papa" and Silas looked at Eric and said 'night!' He has also started to wave consistently. It happened shortly after Maya and Ryder's wedding (which was beautiful and tons of fun) on October 24th. So many people waved at him, it seems like he finally figured it out and now waves all the time. He is also walking comfortably now and loves standing and climbing on unstable surfaces. Another new development is a greater interest in books. He will now hand us a board book and then wait to actually read it, pointing at various things in the book and turning the pages. Eric has been doing reading time with Silas in the mornings and it seems to really be paying off.

Silas was a dragon for halloween and enjoyed hanging out at Kate and Matt's house for the evening. He spent a lot of time putting candy in his bucket, and then dumping it out.

It's hard to believe it is already the middle of November. As soon as I get on top of the picture situation I will be sure to post some here, or at least a link to our flickr site.

Happy fall everyone!

September 25, 2009: 13 months 3 weeks

I guess my once a week plan is definitely a bust. The good news is that Eric has quit his job to stay home with Silas and start a consulting business, so maybe he'll pick up my slack and start posting more frequently again. Hooray for life's big changes :).

Silas spent a total of 3 weeks in day care, he ended up being sick for all of it except the first two days. He also managed to get both of us sick. I'm looking forward to the whole household getting better.

Silas's second molar also popped up last week. It's the furthest forward molar on the bottom left. So he has a pair on the left side now to really help him chew. His third molar is also coming in. I just noticed it today. It's on the top right.

Silas has stopped doing the 'franken-baby' walk and has moved on to the 'drunken baby' walk. He looked so grown up in his overalls and real shoes, walking the streets of Dormont. Thanks Grandma Bobbye and Grandpa Bob for the clothes and shoes! Below that picture is a cute pic of Silas with his papa. Next is a picture I took at Becky and Tim's house two days before Becky went into labor.... Then, a shot of Karen and Silas at Roving Brunch. I was pretty lame and didn't get any group shots of roving brunch this month. Becky and Tim were at the hospital laboring (they had a baby girl on 9/21 named Calliope... Congratulations to them!!!). So, I was kinda distracted. Plus, Silas and I were both feeling pretty sick. But, the food was fabulous and Maya took some pictures of the feast she and Ryder cooked up. Finally, the last pic is another cute one of Eric and Silas playing with Eric's thumb ring. Silas likes to take the ring off and put it back on Eric's thumb.

September 12, 2009: 13 months 1 week old

Ok, so it's been waaaay more than a week since I've updated the blog. Life has changed bigtime in the past couple of weeks. The big change... I got a job teaching 8th grade math. I interviewed for the job on August 24th, got the offer on the 27th, started working on September 1, and the students started on September 3rd. Silas went to daycare for the first time on September 2nd. He's got his first daycare cold, but other than that, seems to be doing fine. We take the bus together in the morning and I drop him off on my way to work, then pick him up on my way home. We got lucky and found a decent daycare around the corner from my school.

Over Labor Day weekend, we went to Indiana to visit family and celebrate Great Grandpa Randall's 90th birthday. While we were there Silas got his first haircut and his first ride on a pontoon boat. I've posted over 60 images and a video on our flickr site HERE. Below are a couple of my favorite pics from the trip.

Playing on the swings with Grandma Kathi



Silas's first haircut



Silas on the boat



Silas with his Aunt Angela



Silas with his Great Grandma Helton

August 29, 2009: 12 months 24 days old

Just a quick note. I forgot to mention that last Friday I was fishing something out of Silas's mouth and I felt his first molar coming through! It's the furthest one forward on the left. He's now up to 9 teeth.

August 26, 2009: 12 months 3 weeks old

Silas had an action-packed week this week. He got to hang out with his friend Ruby for the first time in weeks, then on Friday he went to the pediatrician for his 12 month checkup. His stats: Height - 28 inches, Head Circumference - 44.25 cm, Weight (fully clothed) - 18 pounds, 12 ounces. He's tiny and healthy.

We then got to spend the entire weekend with Zen, Jeanette and Laz visiting from NY. They had planned on visiting sometime in the next month or so, but decided on Thursday night that this would be the weekend to visit. It was a great last-minute treat! Laz and Silas had never met before. It was neat to watch them interact since they are only one week apart in age. I have a ton of photos to upload onto flickr. Once they are all up I will post a link to the set here. In the meantime, here are a few shots from the weekend adventures, including a cute video of Laz and Silas playing with the wagon.

August 19, 2009: 12 months 2 weeks old

Eric took a lot of nice pictures at Auggie's birthday party, so we have a whole set up on our flickr site here. I just put a couple of pics from the party below. He really enjoyed the sandbox. The next picture is Silas at Ikea. I'm posting it 'cause it's a really good shot of his teeth. You can clearly see the four teeth on the bottom here. The final picture is of Silas trying to climb a stone wall. His current favorite thing is to try and climb everything. If something is in his way, his first choice is to try and go over it. If he can't quite get up (like onto the coffee table) he just sits there with one leg up like in this picture and screams. It's simultaneously annoying and cute.

August 16, 2009: 12 months 11 days old

Happy Birthday Auggie! Eric, Silas and I went to South Park today to celebrate Auggie's first birthday. I'll post pictures Wednesday when I do the weekly update. A couple of other things that have gone on in the past few days... Silas has gotten his eighth tooth. He now has 4 on top and 4 on the bottom (all in front). He also survived an entire week of both Eric and I working full time. I got a part time job that required one week of training and we found a great babysitter to come and take care of Silas all week. She did a great job. So great, that Eric and I decided at the last minute to take part in an Adventure Race on Saturday morning while she came back and babysat Silas again. Here's some official pics of the race. There aren't any pictures of Eric and me, but there is one of our bikes (first pic, second row).It's been a jam-packed week!

August 5, 2009: ONE YEAR OLD

So, I don't typically wax poetic on this blog, but today is a big day for Silas. Today is his first birthday. Yes, he won't remember it, but I will. One year ago today I was laboring away and in less than two hours from now, one year ago, Silas was born. The very first post on this blog is his birth story. It's pretty amazing a whole year has gone by. It's been so amazing to be able to spend the whole year home with him and watch him grow and learn and smile and laugh and walk. What an adventure. Even though he won't remember, we still tried to make the day special for him. We started out by treating him to a cupcake at Dozens in Squirrel Hill. Then, Eric went off to work and I took Silas to a new store called Toys 2 Try. They have a large play area and they sell tons of European made toys. Silas played and played, and then I bought him one of the toys he seemed to like the best (that wasn't a ball!) as a first birthday present from his Mama and Papa.

Happy Birthday Silas. We love you.

August 3, 2009: 11 months 29 days old

VIDEO OF SILAS WALKING! It's only been eleven days since he started walking and he is getting steadier by the minute.

Also, here is the link to the flickr photos from Eric's family visiting over the weekend.

July 23, 2009: 11 months 18 days old

SILAS IS WALKING!!!!!
After a fun-filled day of going to the pool and hanging out with the family, Silas was playing ball with Boo and took 3 or 4 steps from the table to me in order to get the ball. It was an exciting moment that I have to get a video of soon. In the meantime, you'll just have to take my word for it :).

July 22, 2009: 11 months 17 days old

Silas took his first airplane trip today. Silas and I flew to Chapel Hill, NC to visit with his Tante, Cousins Quinn and Zoe, and Grandparents Bob and Bobbye. We had to take two short flights to get there. Overall he did well, though he was pretty unhappy that we couldn't get up at all on the first flight and ended up crying for about 5 minutes before falling asleep during landing. There is a small set of pictures from the trip on our flickr site here.

July 19, 2009: 11 months 2 weeks old

Oh, I keep forgetting to mention it... Silas has a new tooth on the bottom left. It came in just a couple of days ago.

So, we had to go to Lowes in the Waterfront to buy plywood, so we stopped at Steak 'n' Shake for food. Silas is now able to use a straw to drink the shake. He's come a long way!

July 9, 2009: 11 months 4 days old

Silas took his first unassisted steps today!!!! Only one step at a time, but he did it multiple times. We managed to catch it on video :).

July 8, 2009: 11 months 3 days old

Silas and Ceci have not had a chance to play together in a couple of weeks. So Joy, Ceci, Silas and I met at Voluto coffee house to hang out and catch up. Then, Silas and I met up with Eric at the Eliza Furnace Bike Trail for Silas's first ever bicycle ride!!! Eric ran while Silas and I rode the bike. It went pretty well, he's still a little small for the seat, but he'll grow into it :)

June 22, 2009: 10 months 17 days old

Silas took his first dip in the Bloomfield neighborhood pool today. It was a beautiful day for a swim. He seemed to enjoy watching the other kids playing in the water the most. We will be going back for sure!

June 9, 2009: 10 months 4 days old

Silas's teeth are starting to show more. He's got four on top and two on the bottom and he loves to bite everything. He actually will bite into food enthusiastically and then spit it out. Super fun for me :)

May 23, 2009: 9 months 18 days old

More camping pics. Again, the link to our flickr site is here. Here are a few highlight pics. It was a full day. We hiked at Cooper's Rock State Forest (2nd pick) and Silas went swimming for the first time ever (3rd pick) and, the big news of course is that today is Eric's Birthday!!!!

May 18, 2009: 9 months 13 days old

Eric took the only picture of Silas today on his laptop camera. Not the best shot, but better than nothing. In tooth news, Silas's Right Front tooth on the top has come through. He now has four teeth on top and two on the bottom.

May 14, 2009: 9 months 9 days old

We went out to dinner at the Anchor Bar here in Buffalo. It is the place where Buffalo Wings originated from. Silas really seemed to like the wings. We got the 'mild' wings out of fear that they would be too hot. They were really good, but had almost no hot sauce on them. Still, it was a nice dinner and overall a fun experience. AND, Silas had his right top front incisor break through the gums today. Only the top right center tooth left of the four coming in and hopefully that will happen in the next day or two. He is now up to FIVE teeth. crazy.