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 12, 2009: 12 months 1 week old

So, since Silas turned one he hasn't been doing too much besides trying to figure out how to run. He walks almost all of the time now and will occasionally run. Eric and I took him to Ikea and then to the mall on Sunday and he got to play on the big foam playground in the mall for the first time ever. He really loved it. I have been in a training for a new part-time job (about 1 day a month) full time this week and Silas has been with a babysitter and Eric while I am there. He has been doing great without me and seems to not notice too much that I haven't been around. I know it's a good thing, though it is a little sad for me. Still, Silas is such an independent little boy, it's not surprising and I'm glad he is having so much fun.

August 7, 2009: a blog update

Hello friends and family. So, I didn't want to spoil the birthday post by getting into this, but I am here to let everyone know that, now that Silas is a year old, I will only be posting updates once a week. Taking a picture every day was fun, but it has started to become challenging and a little dreary for me. Since I want the blog to keep going, cutting back to once a week should allow me to continue to enjoy this blog and thus keep it active.

Thanks for understanding!
-Silas's mom

p.s. This does not stop Silas's papa from posting whenever he wants...

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.

August 2, 2009: 11 months 3 weeks old

Silas got some nice presents at his birthday picnic. One of his favorites (so far) was a large bag of rubber duckies. Here's a video of him playing with them with Grandma Gail.

August 1, 2009: 11 months 27 days old

Silas's birthday picnic! We held it at North Park and we brought along our grill so we could make everyone burgers, sausages and veggie burgers. It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun!

July 31, 2009: 11 months 26 days old

Aunt Angela and Uncle Jamie joined the crew visiting! This was the first time Uncle Jamie met Silas. We all went out to the Church Brew Works for some good food and good company.

July 30, 2009: 11 months 25 days old

Visitors! Grandpa Jack, Grandma Gail, Uncle Brian and his friend Sarah showed up for the weekend. We all went out to mexican food for dinner.

July 29, 2009: 11 months 24 days old

Another day spacing out about the camera. Alas.

July 28, 2009: 11 months 23 days old

My attempts to get a nice video of Silas walking have so far failed, but here he is standing at the Natural History Museum. He pushed the stroller about half of the time that we were there.

July 27, 2009: 11 months 22 days old

Susie, Ruby, Silas and I originally planned to go for a walk, but it was so hot, that we decided to let the kids play in Ruby's baby pool. Silas loved it.

July 26, 2009: 11 months 3 weeks old

Eric competed in his very first triathlon today! It was an international distance event (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run). Silas and I went and watched him compete. We are so proud of him!!! There are a bunch of pictures from the event on our flickr site here.

July 25, 2009: 11 months 20 days old

Silas and I had to go back home today. Here's one last picture of Silas and I with Tante Robin and Cousin Quinn and Cousin Zoe. Silas and I got to meet Robin's new boyfriend Rob today too, so I put in the picture of the two of them here. One more time, the link to the flickr photo set from our trip is here.

July 24, 2009: 11 months 19 days old

Silas got to play with his Grandpa Bob during our trip to Chapel Hill. We also baked two cakes to celebrate Silas's upcoming birthday, Zoe's upcoming birthday and Grandma and Grandpa's 40th wedding anniversary. Grandma Bobbye helped Silas blow out his candle.

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 21, 2009: 11 and a half months old

We've decided not to totally deny our child of sweets. Silas seems to be really happy with that decision. Here he is sharing a Klondike Bar with Tim.

July 20, 2009: 11 months 15 days old

Silas really enjoys playing ball. That mostly means sharing Guthrie's tennis balls that are laying around the house. Silas doesn't care, just so long as it's spherical and he can throw it.

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 18, 2009: 11 months 13 days old

Rachael and I hosted a baby shower for Tim and Becky. It was a lot of fun. When Silas wasn't being entertained by Eric, he enjoyed watching the guys play corn hole. Notice the blue corn bag in mid-air. Mark threw the bag which is why Silas is facing him.

July 17, 2009: 11 months 12 days old

We went out to dinner tonight at the Sharp Edge. It was a nice treat.

July 16, 2009: 11 months 11 days old

Twice in one week I forgot to take a picture of Silas, so I snuck up on him while he was sleeping and took a picture. I know, lame. But still, he's so cute :)

July 15, 2009: 11 months 10 days old

Another trip to the playground. Eric was heading off on a bike but stopped by to play for a little bit. The two of them were talking to a little girl just off the picture to the right.