Life is a Swimming Pool Full of Plastic Balls

While Matt is at the office working on an amicus brief in a Supreme Court case today, Silas is loving day care at Taylor's office (as usual).

Body Movin'

Silas really wants to crawl.

Art Lover

This weekend, Matt's college roommate Rob was in town, and we all went to the Hirshhorn, the Smithsonian's modern and contemporary art museum.

Silas had an easier time appreciating some works than others. His two favorite pieces are below:

Two Volumes in the Virtual, a 1968 sculpture by Venezuelan artist Jesús Rafael Soto

Ron Mueck's 2000 sculpture Untitled (Big Man)

Details, Schmetails

I have a tooth! Huzzah!

I'm thinking this will be a boring post that no one will enjoy except Silas's grandparents, but, because this blog is essentially Silas's baby book, I wanted to be sure that I was recording certain details of the Buddy's life somewhere.

Current nicknames: As you saw above, he's often "the Buddy," as well as Silasaurus, SiJo, SDJ, and Smilas.

Teeth: We've got one almost-tooth. It's cut through the gums (lower left side), but has pretty much just been sitting there for about 3 weeks or so now. The rest of Silas's gums get swollen and appear very tender from time to time, but so far, we just have the one tooth.

Naps: Hallelujah, we have finally graduated past the 30 minute cat-nap stage. In the last month, Silas has finally discovered the joy that is napping for at least an hour. Instead of four 30 minute naps, we now have 2-3 45 minute - 1 hour and thirty minute naps each day. Given that Matt is now home basking in the glory of these amazing 90 minute naps (and often napping himself), I'm thinking I may have gotten a raw deal.

Crawling: Not quite, but SO. CLOSE. He wants it so bad. He can get up on his hands and knees and rock and occasionally rock so violently that he scoots himself forward a bit, but he hasn't quite grasped the concept of moving his hands and knees in a coordinated fashion. After a bit of rocking, he generally slides down to his belly and whines about the injustice of it all. He's also started trying to pull himself up, which is terrifying. We finally lowered his crib mattress this weekend to avoid having to clean his splattered brains from the floor in the nursery.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

Eating: Still eating like a champ. He's still nursing (and I'm still pumping at work). I hoping to wean him around a year, but my working mommy guilt is pretty significant and I'm a little worried that if I stop nursing, he won't love me anymore. He's eating everything we put in front of him. Spinach, mangoes, cauliflower, blueberries, waffles, green beans (even raw!), bread, chicken--so far this kid has not met a food he does not like. He eats pureed foods we've made for him and he's really into finger foods now too. We haven't tried any dairy yet, because he still appears to be allergic to cow's milk protein based on what I eat (man, I miss cheese), but we're going to ask his pediatrician what our next steps should be on the dairy-front at his 9 month appointment.

Hey, lady, you got any more of that chicken?

Sleeping (night): Not the greatest. I'm not sure if it's the teething or the almost-crawling, but he's been waking up a lot at night. He goes down for bed around 7:30 and gets up for good around 7:30 am. Generally, I refuse to nurse him until 4 am, so Matt has night duty until then. He may wake up 6 times in the night or he may wake only once for his usual "breakfast" time around 4 or 5. It's completely unpredictable... and EXHAUSTING. We may start letting him cry it out soon, but, for now, we're the trained monkeys in his nightly circus show.

Thanks, Dad. I just needed that 2:30 am snuggle.

General temperament: He's still super happy and adaptable. His favorite place on earth is the emergency day care at my work, where he's spent a few days here and there lately when Matt has to go to work for meetings. He loves any type of musical toy--play drums, piano, etc. He "sings" a lot, which generally sounds like a long, drawn out, high pitched moaning or keening and often worries strangers and passers-by, but we've decided it's singing... and he's, therefore, very TALENTED. He loves dancing and he and Matt have at least a couple of dance parties every day. He's also a big fan of the baby swing at the park and ripping all of the fur off of our cats.

Why, yes, I *do* take requests.

All right. Boring entry over. We promise to have some good anecdotes for the next one.

Pics

Just some pictures we took in the last few weeks that I wanted to share:

So, why don't you have your people call my people. I've got some calls to make....

When I grow up and pierce my eyebrows, it will be in retaliation for
posting this picture on the internet

What? *Real* men wear legwarmers.

One Boy, Two Cups

For all the toys with bright colors, shiny mirrors, wild noises, and flashing lights, Silas often takes most pleasure in the simple things. As of late, he has become obsessed with measuring cups. Here he is at last night's bath, enjoying his cups.

Family Resemblance

My mama says I'm mighty handsome!

Matt and his best friend, Rolf (3 months)

Matt, making a face that seems very familiar.... (4 months)

Taylor, chilling on the oh-so-70's orange bean bag (~10 months)

Taylor and her many chins (6 months)

Who Does Silas Look Like Most?

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  Matt


• 
  
  Taylor

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Bed Head

Here's a quick pic of my boys and their bed head. Sweet dreams!

Wet Hot American Summer

Nom nomnom nom nom. Tasty.

The long July 4 weekend marked what will no doubt be the first of many trips by young Silas to the beach. His Uncle Russ and Aunt Morgan recently bought an awesome beach place in Pine Knoll Shores, NC and invited us to spend the weekend with them.

Given our previous sunscreen fail when we took Silas camping, we were a little concerned that we might repeat that rookie parent mistake and leave the poor child red and crispy. To avoid such a disaster, we spread 60 SPF sunscreen on the boy like mayonnaise on a sandwich, taking special care to cover every square centimeter of his skin.

Why are you guys laughing at me? *I* didn't pick out this outfit.

After greasing him up with sunscreen, we put Silas in a "rash guard" shirt made from 50 SPF material and put a Gilligan's Island-style hat on his head.

The young bubble baby plays quietly with his hypoallergenic, sterile toys.

To finish the job, whenever we were just sitting on the beach, Silas sat inside a little protective dome that kept the sun at bay. This may have been overkill, but it was effective. After three days on the beach, Silas got a little sun but no burn.

Seriously, y'all.... This sand stuff is delicious! It should be added to my lunchtime rotation.

Silas did, however, ingest quite a bit of sand. For some reason that escapes us, his principal goal during every second on the beach was to grab and cram into his mouth as much sand as possible. Much of the time on the beach was spent barricading him inside his sun-dome so that he could only swallow a few grains of sand at a time rather than gulping entire handfuls.

Now, the wet stuff was pretty good, but I think I like the dry, finer version as well.

The water temperature was great, but a little choppy for an 8-month-old. Matt's attempt to dip the boy's feet into the water was foiled when a wave slapped into Silas's back, abruptly soaking both of them.

Oh, heck no! You were "just going to wet my feet," my heinie!

Off the beach, Silas had a great time, making earnest efforts to crawl on the hardwood floors at Russ and Morgan's place while their 4-pound miniature Yorkshire terrier, Cooper, made earnest efforts to restrain herself from licking Silas's face over and over again. (It was very tempting!) Given the sleeping challenges that we have sometimes faced with Silas, we were very pleased that he slept soundly through the fireworks and general revelry outside the night of July 4.

In addition to frolicking in the ocean, young master Silas also took his first dip in the pool, thanks to his Grand. The two of them had a blast swimming and floating and Silas was so relaxed by the warm pool and the safety of Grand's arms that he almost fell asleep!

I like this great big bathtub!

Grand, why was the baby pool so much warmer than the big pool?

Swimming makes me tired, Grand.

Silas will have at least two more opportunities to hit the beach and/or the pool this summer: in Destin, Florida with his Papa (Matt's dad) later this month and in Emerald Isle with John & Heather and Jim & Ginny for a week in August. We can't wait.