Silas Jones

To appease Uncle Haig

2011-02-03T19:10:00.001-08:00

Uncle Haig has really been riding us lately about our failure to update Silas's blog. I don't think he quite realizes how difficult it is to get a decent picture of a constantly moving toddler who wants nothing more in life than to "Pwess da butt'ns on Mommy's camwa.... PWEASE!"

Lemme just put that lens cap back on for ya

In all seriousness, we're all doing great. Silas is a busy busy boy. He's constantly talking, although we can only decipher about 15% of what he says, which usually includes his insertion of the words "wocket ship" and "twenny minutes" in most conversations for some reason. We haven't figured out why yet, but if anyone has any theories, I'd be happy to entertain them.

He can throw some truly amazing tantrums over the most random things you can imagine. Last night he cried for 40 minutes straight because the cup he wanted me to pour his milk in did not exist. Note, that the problem was not that I wouldn't use the cup of his choice for his dinner beverage (and he has many, many options, ranging from various colors of sippy and/or straw cups, to various colors of small plastic topless cups he refers to as "bi' boy" [big boy] cups). Nope, he was upset because we don't actually own the cup that he wanted to use. I really love this kid, but sometimes he can drive me slap out of my mind.

Since we last wrote, buddy turned two and had a big old Halloween-themed birthday party;

Went trick or treating, had to be chased after as he tried to run into all of our neighbors houses after they gave him trick or treat candy;

I can see you in there

Refused to eat a single bite of our amazing Thanksgiving dinner in North Carolina (if you know me at all--seriously, I love Thanksgiving so much, I usually take a picture of my piled high Thanksgiving plate before I dig into it--you will know how abhorrent I find this);

Just in case you didn't believe that I actually take pictures of my plate

Even though I wouldn't touch my fried turkey, my Uncle Haig still likes me

Met his new baby cousin, Claren, and visited with Uncle Russ and Aunt Morgan;

SERIOUSLY, how cute is this baby?

I know it seems like I'm more interested in the present than the baby, but that's not true

Duets with uncle Russ

Celebrated Christmas with our families here in Virginia in our own house (!);

First annual viewing of Polar Express was a hit

Was treated quitely princely by Santa; and

Check out the bounty!

This one has "grandparents" written all over it

Visited with his Papa and Nonnie and cousins AJ and Kahlen in Birmingham over MLK weekend.

I Work hard for my money

COUSINS!

I think that about wraps up our last four months or so.

To close, I'm stealing an idea I saw on another blog recently (I can't remember which one it was or I would link it). It's called "Slices of Life." I think it's pretty self-explanatory (also, I am lazy and don't want to explain it).

******************************

Me: Good morning, buddy. Did you sleep good? Did you have good dreams or bad dreams last night?

Silas: Bad dweams.

Me: Oh no! Bad dreams about what?

Silas: Bawaweenas [ballerinas].

******************************

Silas: (Watching Big Papa smoke a cigar on our front porch) Gwand! Big Papa has fiwah [fire] in his mouf!

******************************

Matt: Okay, time to get out of the bathtub, Si.

Silas: No no. Si Si stay in baf all night.

******************************

Me: (handing Silas a fork to use to eat his dinner)

Silas: Oooooh, a fohk! My favowite!

******************************

Silas: Juice, pwease!

Matt: (handing him the juice) What do you say, Silas?

Silas: (pause) Yay?

*******************************

Camping

2010-10-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took Silas camping. It was our first camping experience since he's been mobile and I've got to say, it went pretty well. We purchased a new, larger tent that could accommodate our air mattress and his pack-n-play crib. We spent a lot of time talking with him about camping and showing him pictures of tents to the point that he was almost frothing at the mouth with excitement about getting to sleep in a tent himself.

We decided to try out a new (to us) campground near the Shenandoah National Park in Luray, Virginia. It was nice, although it seemed like everyone had the same idea we had of taking advantage of the mild weekend weather and nearly all the campsites were occupied with other folks. Silas, however, being a social butterfly, very much enjoyed getting to hang out with all "the peoples."

On our way up to Luray, we stopped and went apple-picking. Although, it turns out that the drought we've been having has somewhat devastated the area's apple crops and there wasn't much picking going on, sadly. We did buy a half-bushel of very delicious pre-picked apples, so it wasn't a total loss. We were also able to pick our own pumpkins, which Silas really enjoyed. Particularly when he figured out he could ride in the pumpkin wagon and carry his very own Silas-sized pumpkin. Despite the intense amount of planning that went into coordinating this weekend getaway, I forgot our camera. So, all we have are shots from Matt's iphone, sadly.

So, I'm not supposed to eat the apples with worms on them?

Before heading over to our campsite, we stopped at the legendary Apple House for some yummy sandwiches and even yummier apple doughnuts. Seriously, people, these things are worth driving an hour or so outside of DC for. They are that amazing.

We checked into our campsite after lunch on Saturday, and after being warned that there was a mama bear and two cubs on the property, we were told to enjoy our stay. We set the tent up and tried to get Si to take a nap, but, not surprisingly, he wasn't super stoked about falling asleep. We finally strapped him to my back in our trusty Ergo and went for a hike along the river, which knocked him right out.

Welcome to the Bat Cave

We had a blast that evening--running around, looking at bugs, throwing rocks, and jumping in and out of the tent. We grilled hotdogs for dinner and ate apples. Silas had his first s'more, which was a huge hit.

Pretty tasty

Mo' p'ease

After dinner, we read his books by the fire and dressed him in footie pajamas and a thick fleece and put him to bed by 7:30, covered in a thick flannel blanket. While he seemed pretty warm through the night, Matt and I froze our tails off. If there was an olympic medal for spooning, I'm pretty confident that Matt would have won it that night. In addition, I awoke around midnight convinced that I was hearing a growling bear just outside of our tent. I shook Matt awake in order to discuss our options and after listening for a few minutes, Matt announced that there was no bear--it was just the guy in the campsite next to us snoring. Although I remain staunch in my position that the noise I heard did not sound human, Matt's theory (or exhaustion) generally won out and we fell back asleep. Given that we weren't eaten in the night (nor was anyone nearby), it seems that Matt's hypothesis wasn't totally crazy.

Si woke a little earlier than normal--but perhaps that was due to the fact that I also forgot his overnight diapers and he was soaked and shivering. We all laid in our bed under the covers and sang songs until about 7:45 when we got up to make breakfast. We drank coffee, ate eggs, bacon, and apple donuts at our little picnic table outside the tent, which Silas seemed to really enjoy. After breakfast we spent about an hour throwing rocks into the river, which I'm pretty confident Silas could do all day long. We then packed everything up and headed back to DC in time to hang out with friends Sunday night.

Apple doughuts: almost as good as s'mores

Having some milk with my morning Elmo book

Action shots:

It was a really great weekend.

Silas, the Great Negotiator

2010-09-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

I know--this regular posting is just blowing your mind! This video was taken the same night as Silas's rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle." While not as cute, it's equally entertaining, in my opinion. It's very apparent he has two lawyers for parents.

And, yes, he got cookies (Fig Newmans) after this performance. My heart is not made of coal.

Winkle 'Tar

2010-09-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Silas's favorite song right now:

The End of Summer

2010-09-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hello! Sorry for the lack of blogging. Things have been a little hectic in these parts this summer. I can't believe it's over! We're all doing well, but for some reason, it seems like time has sped up and there's never enough. Matt switched jobs a couple of months ago, which probably has something to do with it. It's a great new job but it's less flexible hours, which means that I'm shouldering more of the childcare/housekeeping responsibilities, leaving a lot less time for picture taking and blogging. Also, we traveled a lot this summer. We were out of town every weekend in August, which I still haven't quite recovered from. I don't think I've seen the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper since spring.

Silas is still hilarious. He's talking up an absolute storm. Every time he enters a room, he looks around and says, "Hey, guys!" He's speaking in sentences like "Mama, anai hab mo kassup, pease?" [Mama, can I have more ketchup, please] and "Sowwy, Caca. No hit." [Sorry, Jessica--his nanny. No hit]. Matt will probably kill me for writing this but last night, as Silas was eating his black beans, he looked up at me and said, "F*ck." Shocked, I waited a beat and said, "What?" He repeated it and I paused for a minute trying to figure out how to respond. Then he said, "F*ck, pease!" Which is when I realized that he was asking for a fork. Whew.

He loves to count and sing songs. "Winkle" [Twinkle twinkle] is a favorite, as is "Wheels on the Bus" and "Old McDonald." He's been going to a kids music class for about six months now that is is favorite thing on earth. Whenever he's having a hard time with life, we stick this music class's cds in the stereo and it just calms him right down.

He's still loving his nanny. We feel very fortunate. He spends a lot of time with her family too--she has two little sisters and she lives with them and her parents, and she and Silas usually spend time at her house every afternoon. It's like Silas has two families, lucky boy.

We're definitely in the throes of the terrible twos and have been for a few months now. Having started with the terrible twos around 16 months, I think it's clear that Silas is a prodigy... or something. He can throw some pretty amazing fits. He's also figured out that a really loud high pitched scream in public is a good way to get whatever it is he wants at that minute. It's remarkably effective. I find that we are very good disciplinarians at home. Silas gets a warning, we count to three, and then he goes straight to timeout. If he has a tantrum, we ignore him and he quits or we distract him and he forgets whatever it was that turned his world upside down a few minutes earlier. Outside of the house, however, we tend to do whatever it takes to stop the screaming. Seriously, people, his screams will melt glass. I know how we're responding is bad, but short of staying home or going out in public and having everyone within earshot think that we're removing his toenails one-by-one, I'm not really sure how to handle it.

I try to tell myself that his willfulness and independence is a good thing. Probably most political and business leaders were all willful toddlers, right? Then it occurs to me that most violent criminals and evil dictators were also likely difficult children and then I start to worry.

Our main challenges right now, in addition to tantruming, are hitting and pushing. He's got a pretty solid aggressive streak. When he hits or pushes, he gets an immediate time out. No warning or counting--just straight to time out--which seems to be working a little. This phase is worrying me a lot, but I can't really blame him. I think he came by his aggressive streak naturally. In fact, the amount of energy I expend daily trying not to hit people I interact with would probably shock you. Unless you know me pretty well, in which case it wouldn't.

Oh well. We all have our crosses to bear. Silas and I must calm the beast within us. Matt just has to work hard on not smiling so much. Sometimes life seems unfair.

Now: photos that have nothing to do with anything written above. Congruity.... who needs it?

Bubbles and sidewalk chalk

Loving on my Mimi, celebrating her birthday

In Baltimore at the O's/Nats game with Uncle Haig and Aunt Adrienne

Loving on my Uncle Haig

Hanging out with my cousin, A.J.

Filling up the kiddie pool is Man's Work

What? Your dining room floor doesn't look like this after EVERY MEAL?

Chillin' with Big Papa

Walking Grand and Big Papa's dog, Deuce

Just plum tuckered out.

Punta Cana

2010-06-09T17:19:00.001-07:00

Roar!

A few weeks ago we took a family vacation to a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I (Matt) am starting a new job soon, and we were all sort of burnt out, so we figured it was a good time to make a break for the beach. With the help of a travel agent, we set our sights on a place that billed itself as great for young families: lots of activities for toddlers, no worries about annoying other guests at dinner time, but great beaches and mojitos for the parents.

We had a great flight down. For the long flight from Charlotte to the D.R., we sat in the back row of the plane, where we were able to snag an extra seat in between us. Our fellow travelers made funny faces and said hello to Silas while waiting for the bathroom, and he was his charming self, smiling back and being friendly. We let him watch a DVD -- the Pixar movie Cars -- and it was as effective as we hoped. He was totally captivated by the movie for its entire two-hour running time, only occasionally hooting and hollering when excited by the racing onscreen. We were so proud.

Upon arrival, the resort was everything we'd hoped: beautiful, incredibly kid-friendly, with outstanding food and drink. When we arrived, our room was outfitted with a stroller and a Pack-n-Play. The main restaurant had a "baby corner," a room with plenty of high chairs, easy access to kid food, special service, and most importantly, lots of other people with kids in high chairs so you weren't embarrassed when your kid decided to throw chicken nuggets on the floor or to bang his fork on the table in the middle of the meal. On every trip to the pool, Taylor and I tag-teamed: one of us splashing in the water with the Silas, the other in a lounge chair reading and drinking something with rum.

The resort had Baby Club, a daycare-type facility where you could drop your kids off for the whole day if you wanted. We weren't quite up for a full day without our buddy (nor was Silas, I suspect), but we usually left him there for an hour-and-a-half or in the afternoon. During this time, they would typically take Silas in a little buggy down to the beach with his buddies, where he enjoyed playing in the sand, and then for a snack in one of the restaurants.

And now I'm rolling in my six-fo

One day they told us that we should come to pick up Silas in the amphitheater, where all the children would be putting on a show for their parents. We were curious -- but a little skeptical -- about what sort of show a bunch of two-year-olds would be able to perform. When we arrived, we sat with all of the other excited parents of the preschool aged children. Silas's age group (~12-18 months) went first. One by one they came out (or were carried...or in Silas's case dragged) on stage. All of the other children were adorably dressed in cute little clown costumes. Silas, alas, was not. Let us preface this by telling you that it was easily 95 degrees that day and Silas is a truly hot-natured little boy. Even in the dead of winter, he can work up a serious sweat just by thinking hard. Although he was not in a clown costume, he was completely drenched in sweat and scowling, which made us think that a clown costume had been attempted for him until one of the teachers noticed his copious perspiration and felt sorry for him (and/or became afraid that he would die of heat stroke). Below is a picture we took with Taylor's cell phone during the performance. Silas and his anger are seated on the far right.

There were outdoor performances by local musicians on a few nights -- this may have been Silas' favorite part of the trip. He would get incredibly sweaty running around and dancing to the rhythm. The musicians seemed amused. Especially once they realized that Si is an extremely good tipper.

Do you guys know any Lynyrd Skynyrd?

I think I prefer apple juice

Hola!

On the last day of the trip, unfortunately, Silas came down with an extremely high fever (it got up to 104.8 degrees). Luckily, the resort had an on-site physician who, after gagging Silas with a tongue depressor and causing him to vomit ALL OVER Taylor, diagnosed him with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. (I told an exquisitely well-timed joke immediately after Silas soaked Taylor in vomit, but neither Taylor nor the doctor laughed. Taylor apparently has no sense of humor, and I firmly believe that a language barrier prevented the doctor from appreciating my hilarity.)

We lowered Silas's fever with cold wet towels and by alternating Motrin and Tylenol every three hours, but it was a harrowing evening. The doctor said that Silas was likely to have the fever for several days and could see no reason why he couldn't fly, so they sent us on our merry way home the next day.

To say the flight was miserable for us and Every. Other. Single. Person. On. That. Plane. would be a total understatement. Taylor and I were drenched in sweat as we attempted to distract Silas with the arsenal of toys, DVDs, books, craft projects, food, and drink that we brought with us, but Silas was just inconsolable. Inconsolable and royally ticked off. If anyone on that plane was thinking about procreating anytime soon, I'm sure they totally reconsidered after listening to Silas's wailing for four hours.

After dealing with nonstop screaming for the entire flight from Punta Cana to Charlotte, we then missed our connection to Dulles by mere minutes because OF COURSE WE DID. As I attempted to restrain Taylor from maiming the gate agent who wouldn't let us on our connecting plane, we realized that the two-hour break between flights was actually a blessing. We were able to have a somewhat leisurely dinner and Silas was able to make a few hundred laps around the terminal, which exhausted him sufficiently to allow him to fall asleep as soon as we got on the plane to Dulles.

Mother's Day

2010-05-11T16:40:00.001-07:00

Snuggling with my Mama on Mother's Day

We had a lovely Mother's Day this year. My parents came up for a visit and we spent the weekend hanging out, eating, and doing fun stuff as a family.

Saturday morning we all went to Silas's swimming lessons. He takes lessons offered by the county at a local indoor pool. He's in the 6 month - 18 month-old class, which pretty much makes him the oldest kid there. Because it's the baby class, a parent participates with each child, which means I get to go swimming each Saturday morning too! The first class was a little hairy. The water was fah-reezing and all the other children were screaming. Plus it had been close to a year since Silas was last in a pool, so the whole experience was a little jolting. This week, however, the lesson went great. He enjoyed all of the exercises and wasn't scared to put his face in the water at all. Grand and Big Papa were very impressed with his swimming abilities.

Posing before swim class in my sweet board shorts

Intently listening to the swimming instructor while Grand takes hundreds of embarrassing pictures

The thing I like about swimming the most: all the water a kid could possibly drink

After nap on Saturday, we all headed out to the Air and Space Museum out near Dulles airport. The only person more excited than Silas about all of planes and space equipment was Big Papa. Silas ran around and got himself good and exhausted and loved pointing and talking about the "ay-panes." He particularly liked the museum control tower, set opposite of the actual control tower at Dulles, where you can watch the planes take off and land from the airport and hear some of the dialogue between the pilots and the air traffic controllers.

The ride back from the museum was a little less than pleasant--Silas was exhausted and not at all interested in being strapped into his carseat for 30-40 minutes and his awesome parents failed him in not bringing any pacifiers and/or other distracting toys. Lesson learned.

I like the "ay-panes" just as much as I like running around in here

Posing outside the Air and Space Museum with my family

Sunday we all went to church and then to Mother's Day brunch. Silas (and Daddy) made me a beautiful bouquet of paper flowers and promised that we could pick out some bushes for our side yard as my present.

A masterpiece, if I do say so myself. Daddy helped me a little bit.

Silas got to spend time with Grand and Big Papa and even helped Grand do some weeding in the front yard. I also got to take an amazing nap and, afterwards, a long walk with my boys to and from the library.

I don't know if you can tell by these shots, but I really played an integral role in this whole 'weeding' process

That night, Big Papa made some delicious spaghetti sauce for Silas (and put some in the fridge for Matt and I to eat this week), and Big Papa and Grand babysat while Matt and I went on a much-needed date that did not involve wrestling an ornery 18 month-old into and out of a highchair and picking up handfuls of food off the floor once the meal was over.

My compliments to the chef...

...and the chef's lovely assistant

It was a perfect day.

And now, I just wanted to share one of Silas's drawings. His absolute favorite thing to do (other than watch Blue's Clues, obviously) is to color or "daw" (draw). He constantly asks "I daw? I daw? I daw?" and will sit and color for HOURS. He is currently (weirdly) obsessed with drawing small circles, which, in my completely unbiased and totally humble opinion, seems super advanced and indicative of true artistic genius. But, what do I know?

They Grow Up So Fast...

2010-05-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

You may remember Silas's buddy, Sam, from a post last year. What a difference a year makes.

Sunday Morning Scribbling

2010-04-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Silas does some drawing before church

Silas 5-0

2010-04-20T17:26:00.001-07:00

I'm going to need to see your license and registration, ma'am.

Yes, Silas is still alive, as are we. We've just been really slack about posting for any number of reasons recently. But we're back! With pictures! And (probably boring to people who aren't related to us) updates! Here are some very informative bullets!

Nanny: Silas has a new, completely amazing and wonderful nanny. I'd post pictures of the two of them, but I haven't yet asked her permission. Silas loves her and we love her and her family has kind of adopted Silas too--he plays with her sisters in the afternoon and snuggles with her mom. Could this boy have it any better, I ask you?

Nap: we've finally transitioned to one afternoon nap. I'm only including this because I know at some point with Silas's future siblings (don't worry, I'm not pregnant) I'm going to want to remember when we made the transition and how it worked. It took a while. Starting around February, he just sort of started skipping his afternoon nap. He'd go down for his morning nap like clockwork but often wouldn't fall asleep for his second nap. I did an embarrassing amount of internet research on the whole transition from two naps to one process. My mom even came up and spent two weeks trying to implement various approaches during the period when we were between nannies. The process was pretty much what I imagine Hell is like. Silas was miserable and cranky and we were miserable and cranky and I was doing that neurotic thing where I think every stage or phase Silas is going through is permanent and "OH MY GOD, PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BE HIS PERSONALITY." Finally, during the new nanny's first or second week, she just cold turkeyed him into taking one nap. She kept him super busy and distracted in the morning during his usual naptime and he'd catch a second wind, then she'd feed him lunch and put him down. He took really short naps (45 min) for the first couple of weeks and then suddenly, he started sleeping for longer and (heavens part and harp music plays) we're finally in a good place nap-wise. He goes down around 12:30 and usually sleeps for 1.5 to 2 hours. Huzzah!

Snuggling with my elephant is hard work

Eating: generally, Silas is still a good eater, but he's starting to get a little more picky and fickle about foods he previously liked. He's not as into vegetables as he once was--he'll still eat peas, sometimes asparagus, a couple of carrots here and there, collards, fried okra (he'll eat his weight in fried okra), and the occasional green bean. He's decided he hates all lunch meat, blueberries (seriously, who doesn't like blueberries?), spinach, apples that aren't Gala, and strawberries. I've been tricking him into eating blueberries, strawberries and spinach by including these ingredients in his morning smoothies, so I'm pretty proud of myself for coming up with that plan. He eats a lot, but given that he's constantly on the move, I guess he's burning off a lot too.

Disposition: we've entered a more.... challenging phase with respect to Silas's disposition recently. I'm pretty sure it's all completely normal (and if not normal, then it's karma to punish me for being a difficult toddler), but the Buddy has started expressing some serious displeasure with certain aspects of his life, including coming indoors, being made to wear a diaper, being told he cannot pull out all of the cat's fur, being told he cannot dismantle Daddy's expensive sound system, being told he cannot place client calls on my blackberry, being made to eat anything he thinks might be "hot," having to hold someone's hand, having to leave the park, and being told not to slam doors. He's developed this ear-piercing scream coupled with furious foot stomping and the throwing (at you) of any movable objects nearby. It truly takes all of our self control not to laugh at him, which we've discovered can make a bad tantrum truly awful. If you don't believe me, check out the expression on his face below:

A visit with the lovely Mara and Miss Mollie

Dad, I don't care what you say, I'm NOT coming inside!

Talking: he talks constantly. He's got what seems like 100 words: ball, hat, plop, apple, pig, bah (sheep), moo (cow), neigh (horse), roar, lion, light, sky, airplane, oatmeal, banana, yogurt, baby, please, thank you, Blue (Blue's Clues), Elmo, Dah (Grand), Papa, Mimi, Scott, moon, star, bus, car, bird, eight, truck, dog, cat, more, milk ("nilk"), Jessica, and more. He loves to very excitedly and at top volume shout out the things he sees when we're on walks or in the car: "BBBBUUUUHHHH!!!!!" [bus] "DDDOOOOOGGGG!!! "DDDAAAARRRRR" [car]. He'd be a very useful companion for a slightly hard of hearing blind person. Today he said "I pooed." We're very proud.

We've signed him up for a music class and a toddler gymnastics class, which he's really enjoying. I'll get the nanny to take some pictures for you guys!

Visit to the zoo: March 2010:

Seeing this "eh-fan" for the first time really blew Silas's mind

The mama gorilla brought the baby to meet me

Yes, that's me playing on a giant pizza. What your zoo doesn't have a giant pizza?

Playing Prevent-the-Toddler-from-Seriously-Injuring-Himself with Mama

Pictures from Easter 2010:

The Easter Bunny brought me an Aquadoodle!

Mama, trying to explain the finer points of Easter egg hunting to me

I definitely have the technique down pat

Mimi sharing my excitement in all the bounty

Hey, is there something in these eggs?

Cracking one open....

THE EASTER BUNNY PUTS CHOCOLATE IN THE EGGS, PEOPLE!

Maybe Mama should have put me in my Easter outfit AFTER the egg hunt

Arts & Crafts

2010-02-22T16:03:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's resolutions was to do more crafty-type things, which I've always enjoyed but never really made time for. Also, my mom gave me a new sewing machine for Christmas, so that's definitely inspired me to spend a little more time being creative these days. Also, I find it's a lot easier to justify spending time making fun little things for Silas than I ever could on making stuff for myself.

Disclaimer: I have neither time, talent, nor patience, so, if I can make any of these things, I'm sure anyone else could.

Below are some pics of recent projects and links to any tutorials or patterns I used:

Toddler Tie Shirt: Pattern and tutorial at Saltwater Kids
Toddler belt: Tutorial at Prudent Baby

I'll admit, I'm a little addicted to the tie t-shirt, belt combo.

Silas's favorite (felt) food
Waffles and bacon: my own "pattern" (obviously)
Apples: Pattern from Umecrafts

Silas's Sonata

2010-02-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

I can't tell if my favorite part is when he dramatically pauses or when he cracks himself up.

Happy President's Day

2010-02-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

Last night, I got the urge to make Silas something to commemorate President's Day, so using this tutorial, I made him this fabulous shirt.

Of course, we had to take him to the Lincoln Memorial to show off his festive duds.

Happy President's Day!

Please make it stop: Snoverkill

2010-02-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

Silas's face when he saw that we had more snow.

So, we got some more snow. Approximately 14 additional inches, in fact. This in addition to 50mph wind gusts that took the original 25 inches and created 4 to 8 foot sand dune-like snow drifts.

Taken at the tail-end of the blizzard.
Remember our walkway that we just shoveled?

The balcony off of our kitchen

As a result, in addition to having been completely homebound all weekend long, we have been stuck in the house with poor Silas all day for the past two days as well, and, I think it's starting to get to all of us.

Because both Matt and I are expected to work on snow days--despite the actual blizzard warning, my office didn't even close (I know! I LOVE being a lawyer at a big firm in DC on days like this!), we tag team. One of us plays with and watches Silas for a couple of hours while the other works and/or shovels snow and then we switch. Occasionally, we've had overlapping conference calls, which has been fun. During one of Matt's calls yesterday, Silas repeatedly tried to grab the phone out of his hand while screaming "buboh, buboh!" (bubbles). During one of my calls today, I had to pause the discussion of Medicaid prescription drug rebates to fish crayon bits out of Silas's mouth. To any of our coworkers who read this blog, we apologize. It's stressful and exhausting, but, to be honest, both Matt and I are really enjoying all of this extra time the the Buddy.

Silas seems to have really had a good time the last couple of days. We all spent yesterday in our pajamas, watching the wind whip huge quantities of snow down our street and marveling at the "white out" conditions. After we read every book he owns 25 times, played blocks, played pretend picnic, located all missing puzzle pieces, put puzzles together, distributed puzzle pieces throughout the house to be found later, built towers of blocks, repeatedly and loudly knocked down towers of blocks, and watched videos of elephants on YouTube, I honestly ran out of things to do. That is, until I wondered if my son would perhaps have the same love of office supplies that I do.

Why, yes. Yes, he does:

You should see what I can do with some post-it notes and a highlighter

He's also enjoyed coloring (with a paci in place in an attempt to prevent his having the crayons as a snack)

And playing the piano

Let's see, I think I remember this chord...

Don't let them fool you. This snow stuff is terrible. As soon as it melts, I'm moving to Florida.

Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, SNOMG! Part I

2010-02-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

So we've been dealing with a little bit of weather here in the last week or so. Good thing Silas loves the snow. Hahahaha. Er, wait. Homeboy hates snow with a burning passion, which is, honestly, a little inconvenient right now.

This weekend, starting Friday night, we got walloped with approximately 25" of snow. Here's Matt working to shovel the walk mid-snowstorm Saturday morning.

We ended up having to shovel at least twice more, taking turns shoveling and entertaining Mr. Anti-Winter Wonderland, using our neighbor's snow shovel, because amazing planners we are, we DON'T YET OWN A SNOW SHOVEL.

Once we got the walkway and sidewalk properly shoveled, Sir Silas deigned to venture out of the house without pitching a complete fit. Here we are leaving the house for a short walk down the street.

Please hurry up and take the picture, Mother.

Why, yes, the snow is indeed quite high.

Fine, let's take a walk

My, that shadow is handsome!

Mama made chocolate toffee bars to reward me for going outside!

I was a big fan

Currently, we're experiencing a second major snow event, "Snoverkill," as it's being termed here. I'll post later about our adventures enduring the current blizzard outside.

Snow!

2010-01-30T13:57:00.001-08:00

Today we tried, Lord we tried, to get Silas to play in the snow. We dressed him in baby ski bibs that I bought at an awesome second-hand children's store in Greenville, NC and we laced up his baby Timberlands, a present from his cousin, A.J.

At first he seemed interested.

Look at the pretty, white snow. It's so fluffy-looking!

I think I might like to go out there.

Hmmm. This...isn't so bad.

Look, this stuff is kind of fun to play with!

And right after that picture was taken, he face-planted directly into the snow. And I had one of those transcedental parenting moments: Should I help my child up or should I take his picture in this humiliating (but hilarious) moment of need?

Y'all, it took everything I had in me, but I put my camera down and picked my screaming baby up. And lo, was he upset.

I finally got him calmed down. With my stash of emergency chocolate.

If you weren't giving me chocolate right now, we would not be speaking, woman.

Still kickin'

2010-01-24T05:24:00.000-08:00

Hamming it up with a waffle

Sorry about the lack of posting. Now that Silas is so mobile, we rarely have a stretch of time in which to write blog entries. But as I type, Matt is baby-wrangling, so hopefully this will be a somewhat substantive entry. I hope you guys don't mind bullets though.

Things that have happened since we last talked:

Nanny vacation and time with Uncle Haig. Silas's nanny went on vacation to Romania for two weeks and while she was gone, Uncle Haig (my brother) generously offered to take vacation from his job with the Carolina Mudcats to watch Silas on the days that we had to work before and after Christmas. Other than the diaper changes, the contents of which, according to Haig, could have sparked international incidents, the boys had a great time together playing and occasionally watching Sports Center. Silas LOVED having some quality time with Uncle Haig and Uncle Haig now has a remarkable command of baby sign language.

Christmas! We drove down to NC to visit with our families and had a lovely time visiting with folks we haven't seen in a while, including Silas's great aunt Donna (my dad's sister) and uncle Jack, Fran and Rosie (our former neighbors), the Balls, and a bunch of other people I'm probably going to get in trouble for not mentioning. Our Christmas celebration(s) were lovely if exhausting. And Silas has certainly enjoyed all of his wonderful Christmas presents--especially the books. Given the difficulties getting down there and back, however (see next bullet), we're pretty sure we're going to try to celebrate Christmas in Arlington next year.

I think that Santa guy has a lot in common with my Big Papa

Stocking stuffers!

Loving my new T-ball set

Emergency room. Yes, you read that right. On the way down to NC for Christmas, Silas came down with the croup very suddenly and very acutely. It was terrifying. Given he was having so much trouble breathing, we used our GPS to find the nearest emergency room and pulled into Nash County Hospital at 11:30pm on the night before Christmas Eve. 4.5 hours worth of steriods and breathing treatments later, we were back in the car on the way to my parents' house. Silas was exhausted but okay, but Uncle Haig may be scarred for life from the things he witnessed in the waiting room during those 4 and a half hours. Have I mentioned what a good uncle he is?

Weaning. Silas is officially weaned now and I think I'm taking it much harder than he is. We weaned him very slowly to minimize the trauma for the both of us and he's handling it wonderfully, although it seems like he's constantly getting sick (and then giving the crud-du-jour to us, of course). He's still allergic to cow's milk though, so we weaned him to sippy cups of soy milk. Every so often we test out regular milk to see if he's grown out of his allergy, but so far no dice (see diaper contents of doom and international incidents, as described above).

New Year's. We had our good friends Jim and Ginny and John and Heather over for New Year's. I made braised short ribs and goat cheese polenta that were pretty delicious, if I do say so myself, and Heather made delicious molten chocolate mini cakes that would make you slap your mother. We all stayed up way too late, but we really had a great time, as we always do with those guys.

Eating black eyed peas for good luck

Birmingham visit. Last weekend, MLK weekend, we flew down to Birmingham, AL to visit with Matt's dad (Silas's Papa), stepmom (Nana), step-nephew (A.J.) and various other family members. Despite having an ear infection and conjunctivitis and generally looking like Ebola baby, Silas handled the flight down there fine although melted down a little once we got to Matt's dad's house. He love love loved spending time with his cousins A.J. and Kahlen, playing on the trampoline, and being spoiled with kisses from his Nana. Despite the fact that more than half the adults ended up with a terrible stomach virus (including me...on the plane ride home), it was a really great trip and we're looking forward to A.J., Angela's, and Papa and Nana's visit in March.

With my cousin A.J. and his awesome trampoline in the background

Dad and Papa lounging

Talking. Silas talks constantly. Most of it is nonsense, but every so often he throws in real words (used correctly in context) and it blows our freaking minds. He'll bring us his Animals book and say "animos?" Around noon he'll look at us and ask "unch?" He says dog--"dah," duck--"duh," milk--"nilk," outside--"ows-eye," breakfast--"breh-fa," hat--"hat," waffle--"waffa," opposites (the name of one of his favorite books)--"oppos," and lots more that I can't think of right now.

Waffas waffas and more waffas

Walking and getting around. He's walking like a professional these days. He even runs sometimes and although 8 times out of 10 that ends in face-plants and tears, he's definitely getting more coordinated.
Kisses. This is my favorite new development. Silas is a lover not a fighter. He LOVES to give kisses and when the mood strikes--even if he really doesn't know you very well--he purses his lips, makes an exaggerated "mmmmm" sounds and leans in for a kiss right on the lips. It tends to take certain people by surprise, so consider yourself warned. Come to think of it, maybe this is why we're all constantly getting sick.

Want a slightly snotty kiss?

Pardon our lack of posting

2010-01-02T06:13:00.000-08:00

We have been dealing with a certain mess-maker. We promise to update about Silas's first real Christmas soon!

What? I have lots of things I need ziplocks for.

I Hate the Snow

2009-12-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

We're in the midst of a major snowstorm that threatens to dump two feet of snow here. We've had a really nice cozy morning watching kids run by with sleds, eating homemade pancakes, and staying warm.

Taylor decided, in the interest of "making memories," that it would be a good idea to wrap Silas up in a million layers and take him out in the snow. He wore pajama pants under some waterproof pants tucked into baby Timberlands along with a shirt, a hoodie, a jacket, a scarf, a hat, and mittens. This outfit was pretty unpopular even before we took him outside into the wet, cold snow.

I guess it will be a few more years before he thinks it is fun to play in the snow.

Family Photo Shoot

2009-12-09T19:27:00.001-08:00

We had some great family photos taken by Steve Maxwell. Enjoy!

Note to self

2009-12-03T15:42:00.001-08:00

Tonight, Matt learned the hard way that Silas, spaghetti and the "Where's Your Head" game shouldn't mix. Now, we're off to take a bath.

Silas's Bathtub Dissertation

2009-12-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

The boy talks nonstop. No idea what he's saying most of the time, but I'm pretty sure it's hilarious.

Happy Turkey Day

2009-11-27T17:01:00.000-08:00

Turkey + Collards + Pumpkin Pie = Yum Yum Yum

I fought the Lego table and the Lego table won

2009-11-17T17:39:00.000-08:00

Since our last substantive entry, Silas

Learned some new signs ("eat," "cereal," "dog")

Still loving "fish" though

Discovered his love of apples

Visited with one of the great loves of his life, our friend Julia, and her girls, Karla and Dayana

Showed no fear in the face of a dragon

No camera tilt here at all--that's me scaling a 45 degree hill

Shared a hat with Uncle Haig

Ate the heck out of some collards (next to apples and bananas, his favorite food)

Got a haircut (by Mama, during a scintillating episode of Blue's Clues, which was the only way we could get him to be still long enough for the trim)

Before front

Before back

After front

After back

Visited the pumpkin patch

No, seriously--I saw a pumpkin over there that was this big

Went crazy over some birthday balloons

Had a bumpin' birthday party

Ate some banana cake (made, shaped and iced to look like a pumpkin by his Grand)

Spent some quality time with his extended family

Practiced his walking

Ate a couple of leaves

Ate an entire apple (skin and all) by himself and pitched a fit when we wouldn't let him have the core

And lost a fight with the corner of the Lego table at daycare.

OUCH

Next up, Silas's nanny starts next Monday--please think good thoughts that the transition goes well!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

Yoda I am.

May the force be with you.

Happy Birthday, Silas

2009-10-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

A year ago, I took the day off work. I went to the Starbucks to get coffee first thing in the morning, and ended up in a full-on hug with a woman who, when she asked what my plans were for the day, was informed that my pregnant wife was set to be induced that evening.

After I brought home the coffee, Taylor and I didn't do much but get ready and worry for most of the day. This worrying became so intense that despite the fact that Taylor was on bedrest, upon witnessing her total hysteria over the fact that we didn't have any pants for the baby, I acquiesced in her desire to visit the Target to purchase some for our forthcoming newborn. (Taylor had broken down in tears -- convinced that she was a terrible mother and that our new baby would no doubt become hypothermic without many, many pairs of pants.)

The doctors had instructed Taylor to eat a big meal before checking into the hospital around 10 p.m. Around 8 o'clock, we went to Five Guys to get giant, sloppy hamburgers for dinner. Upon seeing Taylor's ginormous belly, our fellow diners appeared somewhat concerned that they would be witnesses to the miracle of life right there in the middle of the restaurant.

After finishing dinner without incident, we nervously (but excitedly) checked into the hospital. Around midnight, the nurses gave Taylor a dose of Cervidil, beginning the laboring process. We fell asleep in fits and starts until 3 in the morning, when Taylor awoke with contractions. I continued to sleep for a few more hours until the contractions became more intense.

The doctor arrived around 7, broke Taylor's water, and ran an IV of Pitocin. Soon thereafter, my brothers and Jon Miles arrived to set up camp in the hospital waiting room, optimistically (and wrongly) expecting the baby to be born quickly.

Taylor and I had taken a natural childbirthing class. Although the induction was far from natural, Taylor hoped to avoid any pain medication. She instead labored in our darkened hospital room for hours, listening to soothing music and rejecting (with increasing anger) my repeated offers to provide her with a wet washcloth.

Every few hours, a doctor would arrive to check Taylor's progress, and upon being dissatisfied with that progress, increase the flow of Pitocin. Taylor was in real pain by early afternoon. She would writhe in the bed for several minutes during intense contractions and then collapse for the 45 seconds of respite in between. Eventually, the pain led Taylor to vomit, and the tension caused by the pain had halted any progress entirely. The doctors recommended an epidural with the hope that Taylor would relax and continue moving toward delivery.

At 4 p.m. and 7 centimeters, Taylor agreed to accept the epidural. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist did not arrive for another hour, and -- according to Taylor -- he and I were inappropriately chatty when he should have been focused on inserting the needle. When the anesthesia did take effect, Taylor was the one who became inappropriate. Her euphoria led to great praise of the doctor and the drugs he administered; Taylor both (1) suggested that she should express her gratitude by kissing the doctor on the mouth (although acknowledging that she was not in her most alluring condition); and (2) raised the possibility of purchasing as many epidurals as possible and "giving them to our friends as Christmas presents."

Soon after Taylor received the epidural, her labor slowed and had soon completed stopped. Although she was dilated 8 centimeters, the baby hadn't dropped much: the doctor's recommended a c-section. Luckily, in the hour before Taylor was to receive the c-section, her mom -- who had been scheduled to come several days after birth but had been unable to restrain herself from jumping in the car and driving up from North Carolina -- arrived at the hospital. (I don't know if Taylor or I was more relieved to have her there.)

As they wheeled Taylor from the laboring room to the operating room, she began reciting our life story to the doctors in the hopes that establishing a personal connection would inspire them to try really hard to make sure that she and the baby were okay. She told them that we were high school sweethearts who had been together since we were 15 years old. She told them that we had been married 7 years. She told them about how hard her pregnancy had been, and how excited we were about meeting our first baby.

They split us up once we reached the OR. Taylor was taken in the operating room to be prepared for the procedure, while I was given scrubs, shoe covers, a hat, and mask, and then left in the hallway with instructions to wait to be called in. After a long wait, they invited me to sit next to Taylor's head as they got to the crucial point of the operation.

Taylor was shivering so hard when I sat down next to her. The anesthesia was causing her to shake like crazy, but they could not give her any calming medications until the baby was born. Once they had made the incision, the obstetrician and the surgical assistant (whose services we were not reimbursed for -- thanks, Cigna) each dug in and pulled hard away from one another to separate Taylor's muscles.

Just then, they scooped out our baby and lifted it to show me. I sputtered, "It's a ... BOY!" (We didn't know the gender.) While the continued to work on Taylor, I went across the room with the nurses while they cleaned and inspected our beautiful boy.

As they continued to work on Taylor, I went with the baby as the nurses and doctors checked him out. As soon as we were able, I brought him over to meet his Mama. We agreed on the name Silas David. Taylor kissed him before they gave her a strong dose of Demerol and sent Silas and me to recovery while they finished the c-section. When Taylor finally joined us, it was clear that we were a happy, complete (for now) family. Happy birthday, Silas. It's been a wonderful, wonderful year.

P.S. Don't worry. Silas got the first dose of the H1N1 vaccine on Saturday.

Just Stay Calm....

2009-10-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

We've have a bit of a development this week:

(Excuse the poor quality of the photos--Mama was a little excited)

Pray for us. He's walking.

Dude, Where's My Head?

2009-10-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

Mama and Daddy, I truly appreciate all of the laundry that you do for me.
[I figure that while I'm writing the captions, I should really take advantage of it]

Being a dual working family has meant that it's been a little more difficult for us to post regularly (I'm not quite sure why this is, since I was the one posting most of the time even while Matt was at home, but still... Maybe it has something to do with the millions of pounds of laundry Matt and I are seemingly buried by each weekend). Silas just had his 11 month birthday, which means that we're gearing up for the 1 year birthday party extravaganza. I think we'll do something on Halloween with lots of little kids in costumes. I'm excited.

Silas just amazes us every day with each new skill he picks up. It's like a light was suddenly switched on. He's signing new words--he can do "more," "all done," "milk," and, inexplicably, "fish." "Fish" might be his favorite. Whenever we see a picture of a fish or talk about the fish mobile at day care, Silas signs fish VERY enthusiastically. His obsession with balls continues although he also is recently obsessed with electrical appliances (our stereo receiver, in particular) and outlets. He's still unbelievably happy and smiley most of the time, but he has also started throwing these very dramatic mini tantrums, when, for example, he is told he can't stick his fingers into light sockets. The tantrums involve throwing himself to the ground, burying his head and sobbing...for about 30 seconds. It's so over the top that is hard not to laugh at him.

We think he's talking a little bit too. He'll say "ba" (ball) and "mama" and "dada" and sometimes it seems to actually understand that he's talking about us. He's also saying a word here and there, repeating whatever it is we say--like "apple" and "up" and "good." He hasn't said these unprompted on his own though, so I think they probably don't count. He also randomly babbles ALL. DAY. LONG. The conversations he has occur with other babies at day care, inanimate objects, adults, and his reflection in the mirror. They're complete with hand gestures and pauses for response. I think once he figures out a few more words, we should probably get used to not being able to get a word in edgewise.

His favorite new trick is the "Silas, where's your head?" game. Sometimes when he wants applause, he'll just randomly pat his head and then look at us like "I'm good, right?" He also--and this is probably annoying to everyone he does this too--will randomly climb into the laps of other parents visiting their children at daycare for a quick snuggle or to get a better look at whatever book they're reading to THEIR OWN CHILD. A mom will have her baby on her right knee and Silas will crawl right over and situate himself on her left knee like "Welp, this spot looked open and y'all know I love Corduroy, so carry on." I know I should probably do something about it, but it really cracks me up.

We've got 4 teeth and counting. His front teeth are a little...large it seems, even given the size of his head, but his Uncle Haig's teeth were the same way (he answered to "Chipmunk" in middle school) and I think it may mean that he'll turn out to be a big guy with big, in proportion, teeth.

I'm pretty proud of these chompers.

He's standing unaided a little these days. That is, until he remembers that he's not holding onto anything and then he'll carefully sit down and look at us with an expression that seems to say, "Whew, that was close." He's also dancing a lot--particularly to the European techno dance music ringtones of the handyman we used recently--see the end of the video below when the guy's cell phone goes off.

Silas and Taylor Scramble

2009-09-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Silas LOVES to be chased. We fear he'll be running with the bulls in Pamplona in about 20 years.

Back to reality

2009-09-09T17:27:00.001-07:00

Daddy thinks I should have a haircut, but Mama loves my curls

This is Taylor. Matt wants to post soon about what it's been like going back to work (this week marks his third week back in the saddle) and ending his tenure as a stay-at-home dad. In the meantime, however, (no pressure, Matt) I wanted to let you know what's been going on in the whirlwind life of Silas Jones.

First off, SiJo has two more teeth to speak of and, by the look of his swollen, angry gums, a couple more on the way. He's handling it in stride and has only gotten a little fussy (and bite-y) a few times, for which I am very appreciative.

Teeth are good for smiling

More importantly, this child is ready to walk. Did your eyes deceive you? Nope. Silas is really focusing all of his energies these days on pulling up, cruising furniture, inexplicably letting go of whatever it is that he's holding onto, and then face-planting. We're just now getting used to the idea of his crawling, so the thought of him walking has filled us with cold dread, particularly given that I've only managed to install two baby gates (which only involved approximately 24 extraneous holes in our walls, some professional sailor-style cursing, 2 bottles of wine, and 10.4 hours of my time).

Naked Standing Time--my favorite!

He's also finally picked up some of the sign language from the Baby Signing Time DVDs he's been watching when Mama and Daddy need some downtime. He's figured out the sign for "more" and makes it when he wants more food and more pushes in the swing. He also may be saying "Ba" for ball, but since he says "Ba" pretty constantly even when there's no ball, we may be attributing this amazing verbal development to genius he does not actually have. The best though is that he finally figured out how to say "Mama" this week. Like "Ba," he probably doesn't know that I'm Mama yet, but sometimes it really does seem like he knows as he says "Mama" while reaching for me, and then I pretty much melt into a big puddle on the floor. I'm really going to be in trouble when he asks me for a car.

I love you, Mama. (Mama: sob)

He's having a great time at day care. According to his teachers, he's constantly on the move, trying to get to things he's not supposed to and attempting to headbutt or poke all of the other defenseless infants in their faces. As one of his teachers, very kindly put it, Silas is a very "social" baby.

My buddy, Emily, at daycare

Since we last updated, we took Silas to his first concert--Public Enemy, Weezer, and a number of other bands at the Virgin Mobile Festival. Don't worry. He wore "earmuffs" to protect his hearing from loud music and exposure to Flavor Flav. Apparently, they make this product for folks who like to take their babies to the firing range. (I know! Why didn't WE think of taking Silas to a firing range? Here we've been dragging this poor child to museums and parks and the occasional concert. What were we thinking?) Surprisingly, the earmuffs come in a number of colors--Matt selected "camouflage" for our little guy. Silas seemed to tolerate them pretty well and really enjoyed people watching and listening to the music, I think.

Yeah, I'm cool.

Aunt Liz showing off Silas's Public Enemy T-shirt

My family!

We also took a day-trip to Baltimore with the Armijos and young Miss Lucy, where we ate the greatest crabcakes I've ever had, rode a boat, and visited the fabulous American Visionary Art Museum, which may be the best art museum I've ever been to. We had a great time and both babies behaved wonderfully and, thanks to our trusty Ergo, Silas even napped well.

I'm on a BOAT.

This is some art I can really get behind...or in front of.

One Year Ago

2009-08-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

A year ago this week, the 28th week of Taylor’s pregnancy, I (Matt) sent this message to family and friends:

Unfortunately, they've decided they will probably admit Taylor to the hospital for at least a couple of days. On Friday, at a regular dr appt, she had really high blood pressure, so they sent us to triage at the hospital. Her blood pressure dropped pretty quickly, and they chalked it up to white coat syndrome. Today we went back to the ob for another bp check, and again really high. We're back in triage at the hospital, and the ob said we should prepare to be admitted for at least a few days. We'll see if that actually pans out. I'll keep you all posted as frequently as I can, but in the meantime, we'd appreciate your prayers. Taylor feels fine, but is worried of course.

With a little research, I quickly made the startling discovery that Taylor’s high blood pressure would only get worse through the pregnancy. To avoid potentially devastating risks, Taylor would be best served by delivering the baby as soon as possible. Her doctors later told us that prolonging the pregnancy could lead to seizures, blood clots, or hemorrhage from placental abruption. But while Taylor would benefit from immediate delivery, the baby—who we jokingly referred to as “Cletus the Fetus”—was nowhere near ready to be born. He weighed just over two pounds.

On the day Taylor was admitted to the High-Risk Perinatal Unit, I wasn’t allowed to spend the night at the hospital, so returned to our empty home. The situation seemed so dire. I poured myself a very tall drink, turned off all the lights, and began listening to the music that Taylor and I had listened to when we began dating fourteen years before. I sobbed. I remember thinking, “My God. My whole life is in that hospital room.” For hours, I walked through our house in the dark praying for the safety of my wife and our baby.

Taylor spent the next week in the hospital, suffering through dozens of tests related to her blood pressure, gestational diabetes, and early contractions. For all the awfulness of the stay, Taylor seemed most upset about the hospital food. On what turned out to be her last day in the hospital, she threatened:

I will stage an insurrection if they do not let me out today. Breakfast just arrived: half a small english muffin, dry cheerios, dry cornflakes, black coffee.

When we learned that Taylor would finally be discharged, I wrote to friends and family:

Taylor is going home today. Her blood pressure and glucose are great. More contractions this morning (so slight that Taylor could not feel them), so more terbutaline. She will be on bedrest at home -- can go to the bathroom, make herself lunch, eat dinner at the table, work in a reclining position in bed -- but no leaving the house except for doctor’s appointments. They said they would be willing to reevaluate the limits of the bedrest after some period of time. Gay is with Taylor at the hospital today and I am back at work (but distracted). Taylor is having another sonogram before she leaves to make sure that the contractions are not having any effect on the cervix.

That final sonogram gave us a small glimpse in what was to come. Taylor wrote:

We got 3D ultrasound pics. Almost makes the hospital stay worth it. Team Jones makes a very cute baby.

One year later, it is easy to dismiss our worries from a year ago as overwrought or histrionic. After a long and difficult period of bedrest, our boy was born at full term in perfect health and Taylor’s blood sugar and blood pressure promptly returned to normal. I find that looking back on how low we once were, however, is a helpful reminder of how greatly we have been blessed.

Frequent Flyer

2009-08-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy summer. Rather than being content to sit at home in Arlington, Silas has been a frequent traveler, making two recent trips to the beach and twice hosting grandparents. Here's the rundown:

In late July, Mimi came to visit for three days. The first night, she and Scott babysat so that Matt and Taylor could enjoy a night at the ballpark. Mimi was also here to observe our visit from the knowledgeable folks at Safe Start Baby, who did a thorough babyproofing assessment of our home and provided an exhaustive report (for a remarkably reasonable price) that explained every way in which our home is entirely inhospitable to a child. Apparently, nearly every item in our home poses a choking, suffocation, drowning, tipping, crushing, or poisoning hazard. Not surprisingly, Safe Start is more than happy to provide and install a vast number of babyproofing products for the bargain basement price of eleventy bajillion dollars. Matt is not handling this well. To help respond to this enormous range of dangers, Mimi helped Matt do some shopping for replacement furniture.

Snuggling with my Mimi

She gives good hugs

Following Mimi's visit, we left for vacation at San Destin, Florida with Papa (Matt's dad), Nana Donna (Matt's stepmom), Uncle Russ and Aunt Morgan, Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Lauren, Uncle Brian, Aunt Angela, and cousins Anthony/A.J. and Kahlen. To get there, Silas took his first plane ride, and like any good traveler, he spent a lot of time flirting with the stewardesses and demanding more drinks.

Seriously--he did a great job. We were prepared for it to be awful--we had bags (note the PLURAL) with new toys, juice (he's never had juice before, and, let me tell you, IT. ROCKED. HIS. WORLD), iPhone applications for babies, extra pacis, teething tablets, teething gel, teething rings, a faux blackberry, a faux remote, and many books, but all he wanted to do was bang the free plastic cups on the tray table and play peekaboo with the flight attendants. We even received a number of compliments on how well he behaved (as if we even had anything to do with it).

Why were you guys so worried? I'm cool.

Excuse me, miss? My drink could use a little topping off, please.

Once we arrived in Destin, we grabbed our rental and Silas's Uncle Russ and Aunt Morgan who were also on our plane and we all headed to ... the outlet mall right near the resort where we were staying. Silas was again a trooper and put up with a solid 2 hours of shopping before we headed back to the resort to meet up with all the rest of the family.

Thank God. My entourage has arrived.

Silas LOVED LOVED LOVED meeting his cousins Anthony a.k.a. AJ (Matt's stepsister Angela's son) and Kahlen (Matt's stepbrother Jeremy's daughter). Cousin Anthony was very protective and helpful -- he read Silas books and helped him play with toys, in addition to providing some seriously good snuggles. Cousin Kahlen showed Silas how much fun it is to play in the pool and also introduced Silas to the awesomeness that is old school Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Don't worry Silas, AJ is watching over your paci

Watching Cousin Kahlen play in the grass

They're cousins. Identical cousins and you'll find....

Papa providing AJ with a tutorial on holding baby Silas

Silas also loved spending time with his Papa and Nana Donna. Nana Donna even babysat one day while Taylor and Aunt Morgan went for pedicures and Matt, Uncle Russ, and Papa played golf. It was heaven! In addition to having some good quality time with his cousins and grandparents, Silas also finally got to meet his Aunt Angela, Uncles Brian ("Robots don't feel pain, Jerry") and Jeremy, and Aunt Lauren. In addition, Uncle Russ and Aunt Morgan were also there doting on the Buddy. Let's just say that the boy was NOT starved for snuggles and love while we were there.

I gotta hang out with you people more often!

I like this lady!

I miss you guys!

Body Movin', Pt. 2

2009-08-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, we wrote about Silas's desperate attempts to crawl. Success!

Long, Lean, and Slightly Top-Heavy

2009-08-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

Silas had his 9 month doctor's appointment on Saturday and he measured 29.5 inches (95th percentile), weighed in at 21 lbs (50th percentile), and has a head so large, it's no longer even on the growth charts. (He's got lots of brains and other important stuff in there, you know.) No worries. He comes from a long and happy line of big-headed people (i.e., the Haigwoods).

While at the doctor's office, the fire alarm went off in the middle of the appointment. Silas REALLY enjoyed watching the firemen (and firewoman!) in their big raincoats and hats. Everyone else who evacuated the building enjoyed watching the naked baby in the parking lot lose his mind with happiness over the big red fire truck.

Once the alarm was turned off and we were given the all-clear to re-enter the building, Silas's appointment picked up where it left off and, according to the pediatrician, he's doing great. He's eating well and meeting all of the milestones on time. We're going to watch his big head (seriously), which may require some follow-up, but I'm honestly not too worried about it.

Soon, we'll post pictures and an update of Silas's first plane trip to Destin, FL and the fun times he had with his Nana Donna, Papa, and COUSINS!!!!

Life is a Swimming Pool Full of Plastic Balls

2009-07-31T08:25:00.001-07:00

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'

2009-07-21T18:31:00.000-07:00

Silas really wants to crawl.

Art Lover

2009-07-20T10:14:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-14T12:08:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

My mama says I'm mighty handsome!

Bed Head

2009-07-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

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

Wet Hot American Summer

2009-07-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

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.

More pics

2009-06-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday

2009-06-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

I was messing around with our camera tonight just before putting Silas down and couldn't resist posting this picture. Happy Friday, everybody!

Shot Down

2009-06-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Poor Silas. His attempts at wooing Miss Lucy were not well received, it appears. Maybe he needs to work on his pick-up lines. Check out their first interaction. Also, we're working with him to control his anger (or at least his wild flailing) in the face of rejection.

Birthdays!

2009-06-14T05:46:00.000-07:00

I'm only a little sneaky

Sorry for the delay in posting -- we've had a busy couple of weeks here at the Jones household. We're all doing great, especially Silas. He's babbling up a storm, flirting with just about anyone he meets, doing this awesome neck-snuggle thing when he gets tired or overwhelmed, and generally being the most fun ever. He's not crawling yet, but he's "rocking" and acting like, if he could just figure out how crawling worked exactly, he'd be zooming all over the place. He is currently obsessed with remote controls, Blackberries (the gadget, not the fruit), and pinching. Yeah, I'm not so much a fan of that last one, but ... at least he's developmentally on track. Woot woot. No teeth yet, but that doesn't stop us from deciding that every bout of fussiness, biting, or drooling is because he's teething. He's eating all sorts of delicious foods, including broccoli, asparagus, acorn squash, peaches, pears, puffs, lemons, sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce, oatmeal, rice cereal, and even peas. Given that he's currently weighing in at around 20 lbs or so, he's obviously a big fan of food.

Anyway, back to the events of the past few weeks: Last weekend, we all headed down to North Carolina to celebrate Silas's Mimi's birthday and Silas's Great Grand's 90th birthday. Silas behaved very well in the car and we only stopped once to nurse on the way down despite the TERRIBLE traffic and the hard-driving downpour. Once we made it to NC safely, we had an amazing time. Friday night, we all headed to Mimi's house and grilled steak, baked potatoes, and ate ice cream cake. Silas got some good snuggling time with his Uncle Russ and and Aunt Morgan as well as his Mimi, before heading down to bed in Mimi's Pack-N-Play. Hilariously, Mimi's air conditioning was on the fritz, and Silas is under the best conditions the sweatiest baby in the history of the world. To compensate, we put Silas to bed in only his diaper with the windows open and the ceiling fan at its maximum speed. Despite these efforts, Silas lived up to his reputation by sweating like a pig. Apparently, it's very hard work being a baby these days.

Happy Birthday, Mimi!

Saturday, we spent the morning with Silas's Grand and Big Papa. I don't know if we've told you guys about this yet, but Silas has a special place in his heart for Big Papa. Also, Big Papa loves Silas far more than he loves us, his children, so it's a match made in heaven.

Visiting with my Grand and Big Papa

Hey, I think we go to the same barber

For lunch, we headed out to Bath, NC for Great Grand's birthday celebration at my uncle Tom David's and Aunt Sarah's river house. Silas got some quality snuggles from his Great Aunts Annie-B and Sarah, cousins, Stancell and Turner, and even the birthday girl herself! He received so much attention, he was plum tuckered out, and we had to utilize the laundry basket trick for an impromptu nap in the bathroom.

Yeah, this is the lady who gives me french fries

I'm loving all this attention!

Grand, Great Grand and Uncle Tom David and Aunt Annie-B

Naptime

We all gave Great Grand a charm bracelet for her birthday. Everyone picked out an individual charm to represent ourselves. I gave her knitting needles and a ball of yarn because she taught me how to knit when I was little, Matt gave her a Democratic donkey because the two of them always talk politics and are both Big. Democrats. And Silas gave her a little silver baby shoe because...well, he's a baby. The bracelet was a big hit.

Sunday, Silas spent some quality time with Big Papa watching golfers on the golf course before taking his very first golf card ride. He was a big fan, obviously. He also got to take a tour of the Brook Valley Country Club to meet all of Big Papa's buddies.

Hanging with Big Papa on the deck

Learning the difference between a birdie and a bogie

Mama, can we get one of these for our house?

Big Papa, you sure have a lot of buddies

Before we headed out of town, we headed to the only Indian restaurant (that I'm aware of) in Greenville that we always try to patronize when we're in town in hopes it will stay in business. We ate with Grand and Mimi and had a lovely visit before we headed back to D.C.

Silas has really been enjoying his time with Daddy during the week. They have lots of fun adventures which often include Matt dropping some form of breakable item in the grocery store -- most recently a jar of sauerkraut -- while wearing Silas in the Ergo baby carrier. Luckily, everyone is very charmed by both Silas and Matt and usually someone offers to help him clean up. They have taken in baseball games, gone on walks, had lunch with friends, and enjoyed some quiet time playing in the sunshine in the front yard.

Going incognito with my pops

Soon, we're hoping to sign Silas up for swimming lessons, given his obvious love for water--see previous entry re baths. We'll let you know how that goes!

Seriously, where is my blog?

Splashing Silas

2009-06-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

The Great Outdoors

2009-05-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of the long Memorial Day weekend by heading about 3 and 1/2 hours outside D.C. to Highland County, Virginia to camp with friends from church.

As soon as we arrived Saturday afternoon, we headed with the group to the nearby Bullpasture Gorge. This involved strapping Silas into the Ergo baby carrier and carrying him across a suspended bridge to the banks of the Bullpasture River, where a wooden ladder up a tree led to a platform and a rope swing where one could clutch the rope tightly, fly out above the river, and drop into the water below.

After several other young men had done so, I (Matt) decided to show young Silas -- and the assembled group -- how daring and fearless I could be. I hopped up the ladder, grabbed the rope, jumped off the platform -- and precipitously dropped. Before I could appreciate why those standing onshore were gasping and shrieking, my feet, shins, and knees had dragged across the rocks in the shallowest part of the river.

The principal casualty of this accident, other than my pride, was my right knee, which was somewhat bloodied and bruised. I consider myself lucky that I did not break a bone, although Taylor almost busted a rib laughing at me.

Upon returning to the campsite, we saw that most of our fellow campers had already pitched their tents along the side of the river that bisected the 75-acre farm where we were staying.

Concerned that Silas' nighttime theatrics might disturb our fellow campers, we set up our tent at the far end of the camp, hoping that the distance would allow the other campers to sleep soundly.

To our great surprise, there was little need for such concern given that Silas slept far better in the wilderness in a laundry basket than he does in his climate-controlled bedroom on his organic sheets in his Asian hardwood crib while Mozart plays in the background.

Each night, we set Silas to bed at the appointed hour in a regular laundry basket stuffed with a flat pillow. The basket fit his 19-pound frame perfectly and provided an ideal sleeping surface for him. Around 1:30 or 2 a.m., as the temperature dropped in the mountainous country, we brought Silas onto the air mattress with us for warmth.

Silas loved the trip. He enjoyed the sound of the river, the dirty farm dogs wandering about, and the many campers eager to hold him and play with him. Perhaps his only difficulty on the trip -- of which he seemed oblivious -- was the quite unusual sunburn he incurred as a result of his father's attempt to avoid getting sunscreen in his eyes. This gap in sunscreen application led Silas to develop red circles around each of his eyes that contrast sharply with the rest of his face, where SPF 50 protected his thin, pale skin. He looks like a raccoon.

To sum up (and to indulge Taylor's obsession with puns): Silas was one happy camper.

Silas' Dedication

2009-05-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

The big event in Silas' life last week was his dedication at our church. It was a very special day where we were happy to host family and friends for the dedication itself and a big brunch at the house.

Silas (and his father, who is quickly tiring of Bright Baby: First Words) was very pleased to get some new books as gifts.

There was lots of babbling and squeals of delight. Silas made some funny noises also.

P.S. A big shout out to our friends Caroline and Enrique, whose daughter Lucy was born last week.

Adventures in Babysitting

2009-05-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

Taylor here. According to Matt, he's too "intimidated by my blogging skills" (read: lazy) to update very regularly.

Things have been going well in the Jones household. I've made the transition to working fairly massive-emotional-breakdown-free and Matt has been a superstar as a stay-at-home parent. Seriously... He's much better at this job than I was. The first few days were a little hard on him (and Silas), but now, they have an awesome routine going. Matt has even gotten Silas to a place where he naps regularly and goes down without a massive battle of wills. And Silas seems really happy.

Good times!

That doesn't mean that the two of them haven't had any amusing adventures, however. The penalty for making your wife write the blog entry this week: she's going to tell the four people that read it about some of your more hilarious moments in parenting.

Adventure #1: Like I said, the napping situation is much improved. But this was not the case when Matt first took over. The first few days, Silas fought each nap with every ounce of will in his tiny 17lb body. Matt, reasonably concluding that this situation was untenable, perused the fifteen baby sleep books I had purchased when I was at home with him dealing with the nap situation myself and decided to try out the "Pick Up Put Down" method of sleep training. This method requires you to lay the baby in his crib for naps and once he starts crying, you may pick him up. You may only hold him, however, for as long as it takes for him to stop crying. At that point, you have to put him back in the crib immediately. If he starts crying, pick him back up. Once he stops, lay him down. Rinse. Repeat. Matt tried this... 45 times. When (shockingly) it didn't work, Matt decided to try the one thing that the sleep training book described as a "last resort."

He climbed into the crib with Silas. Yes, folks, my husband hauled his 160lb body into our child's tiny crib. When I inquired as to how he got out of the crib without waking Silas up, he looked at me like I was crazy and explained that he stayed in the crib for the duration of the nap and just fell asleep himself.

Yes, honey, I'm the one that's crazy here. You're a thirty year-old man who just napped in a crib.

(Thanks to Matt for being a good sport and reenacting the scenes from this week's adventures so that I could document them for the blog)

Adventure #2: Yesterday, Matt decided to do some straightening up while Silas played on his playmat in the living room. As he cleaned up the kitchen, he noticed that the trash needed to be taken out. He grabbed the trashbag, headed down the basement stairs right out the back door to where our outside trashcans are and he shut the door behind him. When he tried to go back inside, he realized that the door was locked. He ran around to the front door and found that it was locked as well. Right around that time, he heard Silas start to cry, alone, by himself in the living room. So, Matt did what any reasonable, completely panicked parent would do. He scaled the side of the house, and shimmied in through a window that no adult man should be able to fit through, destroying the screen and knocking over several glass picture frames in the process. And Silas was fine. He was probably only alone for five minutes or less.

I knew Matt's monkey-like ability to climb would come in handy one day

I don't know, that's a really tiny window.

And still, he fits through it. Huh.

We also had a great visit from our friends Julia, Dayana, and Karla this week. Silas got some cute clothes, a growth chart with a dinosaur on it, and some sweet sweet kisses.

Peas Are for Suckers

2009-05-05T14:22:00.001-07:00

Among the foods that Silas has sampled to date, he has been quite clear about which is his least favorite: peas. It is unclear whether the taste or the texture offends him more, but each feeding of peas invariably produces cringing, spitting, and gagging. Here's a video of our second attempt, and Silas' typical reaction.

Silas' Six Month Doctor's Visit

2009-04-28T11:25:00.001-07:00

After four more shots, Silas is lobbying against returning for the nine-month appointment.

Current weight: 17lbs, 1 oz.
Current length: 28 inches.

There's a New Sheriff in Town

2009-04-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Today marks the first day that I (Matt) stayed home to care for Silas. Thanks to an extraordinarily generous parental leave policy, I will be spending the next 18 weeks -- now through the end of August -- at home each day to be with him, handling the naps, mealtimes, diapers, and strolls. You will all be relieved to hear that Taylor will maintain principal blog-authoring duties, but from time to time I will take advantage of the flexibility of my new day job by catching you up on Silas' activities.

After Day One, my conclusion is this: Babies. Are. Hard. It may take a few years to get the hang of this child-rearing thing.

As a lawyer at a big firm, I am accustomed to billing to clients in six-minute increments (tenths of an hour). For the next four months, I will have a single client who will not demand such detailed recordkeeping. But it's tough to break old habits, so here is a bill reflecting some of what Silas and I did today:

0.2 -- Negotiate terms of napping arrangement with client
0.2 -- Teleconference with T. Jones re response to crying
0.3 -- Review and analyze contents of excrement collection garment
0.4 -- Revise terms of napping arrangement with client
0.6 -- Confer with client re The Very Hungry Caterpillar
0.5 -- Review materials produced by T. Jones; distribute same to client
1.1 -- Revise terms of napping arrangement with client
0.3 -- Advise client re desirability of burping
0.2 -- Review and analyze contents of excrement collection garment
0.4 -- Review documents re dinosaurs with client; remove documents from client's mouth
1.3 -- Finalize terms of napping arrangement with client

******

Beyond this major change, Silas' recent adventures have included a trip to Great Falls, Virginia for a hike and a cook-out with friends on the first hot weekend of the year.

He has also recently learned the value of a sippy-cup, and the difficulty of holding onto said sippy-cup.

Ahhh, I like....

Oops, dropped it....

It went that-a-way...

Just out of reach...

Back off, cat!

*****

Coming soon: a video of Silas eating, and promptly spitting out, peas.

Silas, Unswaddled

2009-04-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

Totally off-topic, but GO MUDCATS! My uncle Haig works for the team--I'm a big fan!

First things first: Silas had an AWESOME week at daycare and I had a pretty good week at work. Apparently, Silas loves the attention he gets from the different ladies that work at the daycare and has a blast observing all of the other kids and activity occurring all around him. He was happy and smiley and sweet and napped like a champ all week long. He especially loves one of the ladies who works at the daycare, Trina, and spent many hours snuggling with her and laughing and talking. I had thought I would be jealous of any child care provider that he appeared especially fond of, but instead (so far at least) I'm thrilled that someone else appears to think my kid is as awesome as I do!

Me and my daycare buddies (Miss Trina is in the center) and that's my buddy, Isaac, on the far right

Mama and her friend Jamie took Isaac and me out for a lunch date on Thursday.
(Thanks to Jamie for the pictures)

Work went pretty well for me too. It was pretty surreal to be back and to start in on some of the projects that have been waiting for me. Weirdly, except for the pictures of Silas in my office, I often felt like nothing, including me, had changed in the last eight months since I've been there. It felt like I had never left. Also weird was being away from Silas for such long periods of time and not really knowing what he was doing at any given moment. I think I hadn't really thought of us as separate people yet and it's just now starting to sink in. Given that I went down to nurse him three times each day and left between 5 and 5:30pm, I wasn't super productive this week (at least by DC lawfirm associate standards), but I think that easing myself into it and giving Silas and myself some time to adjust is probably best for everyone--I don't get totally overwhelmed and suddenly decide that this whole full-time working mom thing is impossible and Silas can transition from being with me all of the time, to seeing me at least three times during the day, to just seeing me in the morning and when I get home from work during the time that Matt stays home with him.

In other news, Silas successfully slept unswaddled all night long last night. And. It. Was. Glorious. Yes, we were the people still swaddling our almost-six month-old, but he seemed to really need it. Every once in a while, we would unswaddle one or both of his arms and he would wake up every hour on the hour or, worse, fail to fall asleep at all. However, for the last week or two, even while swaddled, he's been waking up a lot during the night, requiring us to get up and replace his paci and/or pick him and walk him around for a half-hour or so until he falls back asleep. We couldn't figure out what was going on and know better than to try to let him just cry it out (Silas is a big fan of the "nuclear option" response to our trying to get him to cry it out, which involves getting so hysterical that he throws up and takes at least an hour or so to calm down even after we've given in and and picked him up and/or attempted to nurse him back into sanity, etc.). Two nights ago, he woke us up SIX times during the night and Matt and I were nearing the ends of our sleep-deprived ropes.

Last night, as I was putting him down to sleep at 7:15, I noticed he was already kind of sweaty and decided to forgo the swaddle, at least until he woke us up for the first time. Except he didn't. He slept without a peep until his normal early morning feeding around 4:30. He didn't wake himself up with his flailing arms (and flail he did--we watched him on the video monitor, and, honestly, it's amazing he still has skin on his face) or if he did, he settled himself right back to sleep. Maybe he finally grew out of feeling comforted by the swaddle and instead was just generally ticked off by the straightjacket-ness of it every time he stirred in the night. Who knows? But I'm excited to see if this whole unswaddled situation works again tonight. I'll keep you updated.

This picture has nothing to do with sleeping or swaddling, but Look! I found my feet! Trust me, they are delicious!

Also, Silas has finally moved on from rice cereal to...applesauce, bananas and sweet potatoes. Although Silas loves his rice cereal, it has a tendency to...stop him up, if you know what I mean. Quite honestly, Boy Wonder was in serious need of some fiber. So, on the advice of my good friend and co-worker Jamie, I purchased this fabulous machine that steams and purees fruits and vegetables and spent the last few nights making batch after batch of pureed apples, pears, carrots and sweet potatoes. It's incredibly addictive, and Silas appears to really love the result. So far, he's partaken of the applesauce (verdict: scream-between-each-mouthful-because-it-is-just-so-tasty delicious) and the sweet potatoes (verdict: not quite as awesome as applesauce, but still pretty awesome). Pretty soon, he's going to be peeling his own oranges and eating sushi with chopsticks.

Silas's version of the "Horn Aplenty"

My compliments to the chef!

Our Last Week

2009-04-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

This is is Silas's and my last week together before I go back to work. I have really enjoyed my maternity leave and being able to have so much time with him. I'm a little scared about how we will both deal with my working full time starting Monday, but I'm also excited about returning to work, especially given that I haven't actually been at work since August due to my being on bedrest so long before Silas was born. As many of you know, Silas will spend the first two weeks at the Child Care Center at my work, where I'll be able to see him (and nurse him) several times each day if I want to. Starting April 27, Matt will be on paternity leave for the next 18 weeks and will take over the child care/stay-at-home dad/spouse responsibilities, which we are both very excited about. At his request, I am busily compiling lists of various jobs and routines for Matt, including an average day's schedule of napping, eating, and playing; a list of household chores; recipes for meals we eat often; and potential projects for Matt to tackle if he's feeling industrious, including writing some of these blog entries. I'm sure he'll have some great stories to share.

We've had a lot of adventures in the last couple of weeks and I took some fabulous pictures to document those adventures. Unfortunately, I also accidentally deleted all of those pictures before uploading them last night, so, really, you'll just have to take my word for it. We've enjoyed the nice weather and have gone on lots of walks.

Heading out on the town with my Mama and my shades.

Scoping out the ladies and showing off my mad swinging skillz.

We've had playdates with our friends JJ and Sean, Betsy and Sam, and our college friends Alex and Meghan and their future twins, Buster and Guster (Meghan is 14 weeks pregnant, and I'm pretty confident they're not actually naming the babies Buster and Guster, especially given that they don't know the sexes yet). UNC won the NCAA championship, and, although Silas didn't stay up for the game, he practiced his Tarheels cheers and songs and wore his lucky Carolina shirt on each game day. I'm pretty sure his lucky shirt is responsible for our win, honestly.

WHOSE HOUSE???? HEELS HOUSE!!!!

On the developmental front, Silas has finally started sitting up on his own using his arms to support himself. This is known as "tripodding" and Matt has been VERY stressed out about Silas mastering this skill for some time. Silas had tripodded for me for a few seconds here and there early in the week, but was usually too tired or grumpy to demonstrate his new skill for Matt when he got home in the evenings. On Wednesday, however, Matt, Silas and I stopped by the Child Care Center at my work to drop off Silas's paperwork, to get a good tour, and to play for a little while, and Silas took one look at his new buddies Isaac and Mackenzie and their sitting skills (they're both around 7 months) and tripodded like a champion for several minutes while Matt hooted, shouted general words of encouragement, and demanded high fives from every adult in the room. I'm kind of amazed that the Child Care Center ladies are still agreeing to take care of him after that display, but they assure me that they've seen worse.

From the dense foliage of the TinyLove! playmat, one can barely make out a juvenile human practicing holding himself erect in a sitting position.

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? The guy who can SIT BY HIMSELF, that's who!

Ignore this one. Mama just wanted to document my bald spot. Have I mentioned that she's evil?

Regarding napping (also known as "THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE"), Silas has regressed significantly and has refused to nap in his crib for the last couple of weeks, despite my dogged attempts to get him to. Seriously, people, I put him down in his crib for each nap and usually approximately one hour of jibber jabber/fussing/full blown screaming/swaddling/unswaddling/rocking/crying-it-out/singing/walking around later, give up and put him in his swing, carseat, or stroller to get him to sleep. I'm pretty concerned about what is going to happen next week at day care, but I guess we'll just have to see. During our tour of the Center they asked us if Silas was allergic to anything. Matt's response: "Just napping." They can't say we didn't warn them, I guess. Please think good thoughts that Silas gets with the program and naps really well for them next week so that they can all appreciate what a sweet, funny little person he really is.

Seriously, do you think anyone can resist this love machine?

He is also picking up new sounds. Hilariously, as soon as he learns a new consonant, that's pretty much all he says for the next several days. First, he got "da" down. For the next five days, all we heard from him all day long was, "Da dadada DADAda daaaadadada DA DA dada." Obviously he hasn't made the connection that Matt is his "dada," but that hasn't stopped Matt from being very superior about "dada" being uttered before "mama." Now, Silas has moved onto "ba" and everything is "BABABabababaaa ba BAba abbbaBABAba ba" all day long. I'm feeling pretty good that "ma" will be along shortly. Even if not, I'm pretty comfortable with my current position as the favorite (i.e., the food source) to let Matt gloat a little over Silas saying "dada" before "mama"--I'm magnanimous like that.

The Cure for a Case of the Mondays

2009-03-30T12:00:00.001-07:00

I don't know why I think this video is so hilarious, but I (obviously) do. Sorry for the maniacal laughter in the background.

March Madness

2009-03-28T05:30:00.001-07:00

Who is this "Cookie Monster" person of which you speak?

Things have been pretty busy here at the Jones house for the past few weeks. Last weekend, Matt and I took our first overnight "vacation" away from the baby and my parents came up to babysit. According to my mom (who would totally lie to me about this), Silas was a dream baby while we were gone. He ate fine out of the bottle, he went to sleep at night and stayed asleep, and, most disconcertingly, he napped great. All I have to say to that is: If that is true, well then, what the heck am I doing wrong? Don't get me wrong, I'm very relieved that he behaved well for his grandparents and I'm glad that their weekend was pleasant, but why does this child only lose his mind for me? Why can everyone else in the universe, including Matt, put him down for a nap these days with no problems, but I have to spend 45 minutes to an hour just getting him to fall asleep, just to get him to sleep for 30 to 40 minutes. It's EXHAUSTING.

Who's exhausted? Not me!

Back to our lovely evening away (which, clearly, I could probably use more of). Matt and I stayed at a small inn in Washington, VA and ate a lovely, lovely dinner, complete with too rich food and too much wine. It was heaven. Unfortunately, we didn't realize until we made it all the way out to the small town where we were staying (approximately two hours outside of DC), that there was no cell phone service in the area, which caused a mild panic in both of us as we realized that my parents could potentially have trouble reaching us. We calmed ourselves down by giving them a call, letting them know of the situation, providing them every possible number that they might need to contact us at, and checking in with them ourselves, you know, only ten to twelve times during the 24 hours that we gone. We also left them a list of instructions that was (I am not exaggerating) five pages, single-spaced. They were incredibly good sports about it all, though, and Silas really did seem like he'd had a great time when we got back to town on Saturday.

I miss my Grand and Big Papa already!

We've also been watching lots of basketball lately, which has been fun. We try not to let Silas watch television too often for fear that it will rot his brain, cause ADHD, or turn him into a juvenile delinquent, but we always let him watch basketball games. We have to get that kid good and indoctrinated before he has a chance to pick a different team to root for (i.e., Dook).

Watching the ACC tourney with my daddy.

Last night, our good friend Liz came over, and Aunt Liz babysat for a bit, while Matt and I went out for a date, which was lovely. We came back in time to all watch the UNC game together, which started at 10pm, and, despite the fact that all three of us fell asleep during the game at multiple points (man, we're old), the Heels won! We plan to lay low for the rest of the weekend, relaxing and preparing for Sunday's game.

Whose house? HEELS' HOUSE!

In other news, I start back to work two weeks from Monday, so I'm trying to get in as much good quality snuggle time with the little man before that happens. Also, Silas turns five months old today. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by!

Silas's First Food

2009-03-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

Per our pediatrician's advice, we started Silas on a little rice cereal to try to help with his reflux symptoms. First, we put a little in a bottle with a lot of breast milk. This was not well-received. We waited a couple of days, and it occurred to me that my preference for thick and chunky vs. watered down oatmeal, grits, etc. may have been passed along to my son. So I made him a big bowl of thick and gooey rice cereal the other night, and, lo, he was a BIG fan. Once he figured out the whole spoon thing, he spent the entire rest of the meal with his mouth wide open begging for more, and was very disappointed to learn the concept of "all gone."

What happened to that wonderful deliciousness, woman?

The video, in my totally unbiased opinion, is really cute and involves none of the horrible facial expressions and/or accompanying baby cuss words from the last photo above. PROMISE.

People, Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Best Friend

2009-03-18T06:40:00.001-07:00

This picture was too cute not to post. It's from a play date a month or so ago that Silas had with his buddy, Sam.

Redesign

2009-03-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

We played around a little with the blog today and redesigned some elements. I hope it doesn't throw anyone off. All the content is still here, don't worry! Hope you like it.

Trip to Greenville and Visit from the Haigwoods

2009-03-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

Gosh, Mama. Do you think you used enough parentheticals in this entry?

Last weekend, Silas and I made our first solo car trip to North Carolina and, I must say, it went spectacularly. Silas was wonderful in the car. We left Arlington around 11am on Friday morning, stopped once in Emporia, VA to nurse and made to Greenville, NC around 3:45pm. There was little traffic, Silas either slept or played quietly in the backseat, and it would have been the perfect trip if I hadn't realized about an hour-and-a-half into the car ride that I had left our suitcase with all of Silas's and my clothes in it for the weekend back in Arlington. I blame the lack of caffeine in my life right now. I freaked out and called my mom from the road, who assured me that as long as we had the important stuff (i.e., Silas's Magic Chair, a.k.a., the "crutch," medicines, etc.), we could get enough stuff to tide us over for the weekend at Target when we got to Greenville.

We got to Greenville with plenty of time to make it to Target, where I shopped and participated in a conference call for work (look at me multi-tasking!). I needed non-maternity clothing that actually fits me because, alas, I'm still working on losing the baby weight, and Silas needed 6-9 month clothes (see last entry), so although it was certainly inconvenient, it wasn't a waste of money.

Saturday was extremely relaxing. Silas and I spent the day on my parents' deck enjoying the 78-degree weather. Silas's great grandmother and Mimi came over for visits and he spent some quality time with his Uncle Haig who came to town from Raleigh for the occasion. Saturday night, after putting Silas to bed, we ate ribs (nom nom nom) and I played gin for a couple of hours with my dad, and as bad as this will likely damage his ego, I won a set and he won a set, but I definitely won by a bigger margin.

Hey, buddy, get your own vibrating chair!

I've never been outside without sleeves on before!

I think there may be some family resemblance here.

Yep, Grand figured out that I am ticklish.

Watching baseball for the first time with my Uncle Haig.

Baseball almost makes Tummy Time tolerable.

Sunday, I went to church with my mom while my dad watched Boy Wonder. Apparently Silas screamed much of the time we were gone, unfortunately. After church, Silas, my mom, and I headed to my grandmother's retirement community for lunch, where Silas was such a big hit, it took us almost two solid hours to eat between visits to our table from my grandmother's friends and neighbors.

Sunday afternoon was the Duke - Carolina game. Although I had left both Silas's and my UNC t-shirts at home, I made sure the outfits we bought at Target contained some Carolina Blue, and Silas and headed to my Uncle Tom David's house where we watched the game with him and my grandmother, who, inexplicably pulled for Duke, despite the fact that her son and two of her grandchildren attended UNC. Sadly for her, Carolina whomped up on Duke and Silas stared in amazement as his Great Uncle Tom David and I hooted and hollered and slapped each other high fives.

Go Heels! Beat those Dookies!

Wait a minute. You actually LIKE Coach K? And we're related?!?

After the game, Silas's Mimi came by again and gave him such a good, pre-bedtime snuggle that he fell asleep in about five seconds after I took him upstairs for bed. Despite the change to daylight savings time, we woke up nice and early the next morning and we were on the road back to D.C. by 8:30. Silas again did a great job in the car on the way back, although traffic wasn't as awesome as it had been on the way down, but, still, we made it back home by 2pm.

Besides Matt, who missed Silas TERRIBLY while we were gone, waiting for us at home was Silas's great aunt (and my aunt) Sarah (Tom David's wife, for those of you following along at home) and first cousin once removed (my first cousin and Sarah and Tom David's daughter) Stancell, who were in town for Stancell's spring break (from UNC!). We had a great time hanging out with them Monday night, eating the AMAZING shrimp they brought us from NC, and telling stories. Tuesday, the four of us (Matt had to work) headed out to the National Zoo, where we saw all kinds of animals, including the new baby gorilla born in January. We spent a long time in the Great Ape house watching the mama gorilla, while I nursed Silas and she nursed her baby. My chest is significantly less hairy than hers, but the other similarities were quite startling. We then held Silas up to the window to watch the mama, baby, and other gorillas and he hooted and waved his arms and was generally very excited. The mama gorilla watched him very closely and I'm sure was as impressed by his cuteness as I was by the adorableness of her little one.

That night, Matt stayed home with Silas for some boy-time while Sarah and Stancell and I headed out to dinner. Our boy had some major issues that evening, whether it was gas, reflux, exhaustion, or teething, I don't know, but there was some MAJOR unhappiness all night long. Once we got back from dinner, I slept in Silas's room so that I could soothe him when he fussed and so that Matt could get some sleep. Despite a very rough night, he appeared to be fine in the morning and we ran some quick errands with Sarah and Stancell and headed to El Pollo Rico (delicious!) for lunch before they headed back down to NC.

I'm sensing an easy mark.

Hey, so it looks like you have some french fries left, Aunt Sarah (Shorty sees them too).

Oh, I LIKE these french fries!

Wait! You're leaving? Where will I get some more of those french fries?

As far as Silas's sleeping goes, we're doing much better. He's falling asleep at night around 7:30 and usually sleeping until 7 or 7:30 the next morning. His naps are more regular (still short) and he usually goes down without much fussing. Most of the time, I don't have to rock or walk him to sleep. I usually just rock him for a few minutes, sing one song, lay him down, swaddle him and he falls asleep on his own in a few minutes. (Although I definitely rely on one of the most brilliant baby inventions of all time to ensure that this process goes smoothly--it VIBRATES the crib mattress!) If he's overtired or super nap-resistant, we move him to the swing, where he naps like a champ (it's good to have a back-up plan).

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

For the most part, he's much less fussy and generally back to his easy-going first three months self, for which we are VERY thankful. His pediatrician did diagnose him with reflux at his last appointment and noted that it may have been the cause of at least some of his fussiness and sleep issues. She recommended we start him on rice cereal soon, which we have tried a couple of times so far, but plan do more of this week. We'll keep you posted!

Big Punisher

2009-03-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

At his four month doctor's visit last week, our (not so little) little one weighed in at 15 lbs, 4 oz and measured 26.5 inches.

I'll update on our trip to NC and visit from Aunt Sarah and Cousin Stancell later today or tomorrow.

Snow Day!

2009-03-02T08:28:00.001-08:00

(I know! Two posts in one day--crazy, huh?)

Just chillin' in the snow (get it? "Chillin'"??? It's really cold outside!)

Yeah, someone should probably call social services. Somebody left a baby in the snow.

Can't say I'm a big fan of this "snow" stuff.

Mimi's Visit and Goodbye to Uncle Russ and Aunt Morgan

2009-03-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

You're going to save this picture and show it to my girlfriend one day, aren't you?

We had a fabulous time when Silas's Mimi visited us over President's Day weekend. She arrived on Saturday, Valentine's Day, and we spent a leisurely day together catching up and then ate dinner together that evening. Sunday, we took Mimi for her first (and Silas's first ex-utero) visit to Gravelly Point to watch the planes take off and land at Reagan National Airport and to walk along the Potomac enjoying excellent views of all of the monuments. We had a good time, but, honestly, Silas really didn't know what to make of the planes taking off and landing so closely.

Sunday night, Mimi graciously offered to babysit while Matt and I went out to celebrate a belated Valentine's Day. We had a scrumptious dinner at Michel Richard's Central, enjoyed a bottle of wine, and probably only spent 90% of that time talking about Silas. Uncle Russ and Aunt Morgan came by to spend some extra time with Mimi and also to help with Silas.

This weekend Uncle Russ and Aunt Morgan headed back home to Durham, NC after spending the last six months living here in D.C. We are certainly going to miss them and our "Family Night" dinners. It was so nice having them here while I was on bed rest (they visited and brought food!) and during the first four months of Silas's life. We're still holding out hope that they'll decide that they loved it here too much and need to move back.

Silas is doing a little better on the sleep front. We've gotten his bedtime adjusted; so now, he goes to bed sometime between 7:30 and 8pm each night. He usually wakes up a couple of times each night and needs to be reswaddled and re-pacifiered, but doesn't wake up for a meal until around 4 or 5am. Then, I usually nurse him in his room, reswaddle and lay him back down until 6:30 or 7am, when he wakes up for the day. Naps, however, are another story. He still takes super-short naps (40 minutes or less) about four times each day, but getting him to fall asleep for these naps requires steps so complicated it seems akin to launching the space shuttle. If we fail to convince him to take a nap, the entire rest of the day will likely be punctuated by his sad little, exhausted sobbing and often my frustrated, less little, exhausted sobbing. I purchased my third baby sleep book last week and will attempt to implement its suggestions this weekend. Scanning it, this book seems much more in line with Matt's and my views (and tolerances for screaming) on parenting and am hopeful that we will get naps under control in the next few weeks.

Napping is for FOOLs! I have very important work to do.

This weekend, Silas and I are making our first road trip without Matt (pray for me) and heading down to NC to visit his grandparents and Great-Grand. Next week, his Great Aunt Sarah and first cousin once removed Stancell are coming to visit and we're all very excited.

One Year Ago

2009-02-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

One year ago, Matt and I discovered that I was pregnant. We had just bought and moved into our first house and one week later we found out we were expecting. We have good timing like that. At first we were pretty shocked. I guess we were officially trying, but we both expected and planned for it to take a lot longer than it did. We were so shocked, in fact, that I took approximately 4 pregnancy tests that first day and then three more over the course of the next several weeks. We told our mothers pretty much immediately. Then we waited a few weeks and told our fathers, siblings, and certain close friends. Still, not announcing the pregnancy to other friends and coworkers was the hardest secret I've ever had to keep.

Matt took my being pregnant very seriously. He purchased and read a number of books on pregnancy, including the scary What to Expect When You're Expecting, which, in my mind, should be renamed to the 1001 Things That Can Go Wrong When You're Expecting. I had morning sickness all day long for about eight weeks and threw up in some pretty random places. I had heartburn and back pain and needed to use the bathroom every five and half minutes and, honestly, really hated being pregnant. That was before I was hospitalized for various other pregnancy complications and ended up on bed rest for the last ten weeks of the pregnancy.

But, oh boy, did we love the result. And, crazily enough, I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

The Death of Tummy-Time

2009-02-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

The other night, during Silas's tummy-time, I broke out the camera for a photo shoot and lo, Silas decided to show us a little something the little sneak has been working on....

Why hello, Mama. This tummy-time thing sure is swell. I'm a big fan, really!

Seriously, why are you looking at me funny? Nothing happening here. No, siree!

Hahahaha, suckers!

Silas's Sunshine

2009-02-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

Silas loves to sing along to songs, as you can see below. Currently, he's just about as off-key as his Mama....

Sleep and Stuff

2009-02-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

Again, sorry for the delay in posting. For some reason, the past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for me motivation-wise. I think I'm still recovering from mastitis and getting used to Silas's more alert status. I never realized how difficult being at home all day long with a baby is. Stay-at-home moms deserve some serious respect.

Silas is doing great. He's absorbing information and noticing everything around him. He's started grabbing for toys (and actually making contact). He laughs and even tries to sing along to songs when Matt and I serenade him.

During the last week or so, we enjoyed Silas's first snow. I took him outside for a minute to experience it, but couldn't figure out how to get pictures of our adventure without just laying him down in the snow, which I thought he probably wouldn't appreciate. We also had a "playdate" with Silas's buddy, Sam, and Sam's mom Betsy, our good friends from church. Despite the frigid temperatures here, we took the boys for a brisk walk in their carriers (Betsy and I are both of the put-a-hat-on-them-and-bundle-them-up-and-they're-fine parenting philosophy). Both boys fell asleep and Betsy and I were able to enjoy a nice cup of tea and conversation with another adult. It was lovely.

Case de Jones in the snow

I apparently spoke to soon in my last post when I told you all of Silas's amazing sleeping skills. Up until the last week and a half or so, Silas slept between 7.5-9 hours a night--usually 11pm or midnight until 7 or 8am. It was lovely. In the past several nights, however, Boy Wonder has regressed. He goes down for good usually around midnight, then wakes at 2:00, 4:00, and 6:00. I thought maybe he was having a growth spurt and required extra sustenance during the night, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Exhausted, I sought advice from a good friend who has a two year-old. She offered the following wisdom:

1) Silas needs to sleep in his own room. Silas has been sleeping in a cradle in our bedroom since he was born. I've made noises about moving him to his nursery crib at night, but Matt resisted because he liked the fact that the baby was so close to us. I also like having him nearby, but I think I sleep more lightly than Matt and wake up whenever Silas makes any noise.

2) Silas needs to go to bed before midnight. Preferably around 8pm or so. This seems like a no-brainer, but, honestly, up until my friend said something, it hadn't occurred to me. I knew other babies went to bed early, but just assumed that my baby liked to stay up late (dur).

3) Silas doesn't need our immediate attention when he wakes up in the middle of the night. He shouldn't be hungry and needs to learn to put himself back to sleep. We should at least give him a few minutes to settle himself back down before we interfere.

A few nights ago, Matt finally agreed to put Silas down to sleep in his own room. (Matt did, however, spend the evening on the sofa in Silas's room so that Silas wouldn't "wake up alone"). We also put him to bed at 10pm. He did wake up and fuss a little around 2:00 and 4:00, but settled back down when Matt replaced his pacifier. He woke up for breakfast around 6:30 and then slept until 10--nursing off and on in the bed with me. Each night since, we've put him to bed a little earlier. He's almost stopped waking up in the wee hours and usually sleeps until 6 or so, has a little breakfast and sleeps again until 9. It's still not a perfect situation, but it's much improved from the last few days and appears to be a step in the right direction.

Sleep problem? What sleep problem?

This weekend, our good friend and Matt's college roomate, Justin, is in town. Silas very much enjoyed snuggling with and talking to his Uncle Justin. The two spent some quality time together in their jammies, and we had lots of adventures together, including Silas's first public ear-splitting scream-fest (my fault: the perfume/cologne section at Sephora seriously overstimulated the child), first karaoke experience (Uncle Justin: "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns & Roses and "Irreplaceable" by Beyonce; Matt: "I Want it That Way" by the Backstreet Boys), and oyster roast/low country boil/UNC basketball party at our friend Will McKinney's. Silas generally behaved himself during all outings (except the Sephora trip, but, again, that was understandable) and was a joy.

Just two dudes hanging in their jammies.

I love my Uncle Justin!

Silas enjoying Dayana's visit

I still love me some baths!

This tummy-time thing isn't so bad.

I take that back. It sucks.

This weekend, Silas's Mimi (Matt's mom) comes to town to visit and babysit, so that Matt and I can celebrate Valentine's day. I'll post pictures next week.

Silas Tells Matt a Story

2009-02-07T18:04:00.001-08:00

Check out Silas's storytelling abilities. I'm drafting another, longer post now--should be up shortly.

Back in the Saddle

2009-01-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Awww, I missed you guys too!

Sorry for the lag in posting! We've had a lot of adventures in the last two weeks since, including out-of-town visitors, the inauguration, and a raging case of mastitis (whoo hoo!).

First, we've been closely following UNC basketball like the good Tarheels that we are. Silas has a number of Carolina ensembles given to us by various good friends and relatives. For the Boston College game, our good friend Liz came over and we taught Silas the basics of UNC fan-manship, watched the game, yelled at the television, and commiserated with one another after the crushing loss.

Check out my UNC duds

Getting a pre-game pep talk from my UNC Rammie

Go Heels!

I'm already learning the fight song

Silas also had a visit from his good buddy, Sam. Sam's parents were moving and, given that Sam is only six months old and not likely able to lift many boxes, he came over to play with Silas. Sam and Silas enjoyed some quality time together, and we enjoyed playing and snuggling with Sam and watching him try out some of Silas's toys that Silas is just a little too small for.

Mind if I gnaw on your feet a little, buddy?

Hey!

Just breakin' it in for you, Silas

I'm plum tuckered out from all of the fun!

Last week, Silas and I visited my co-worker Jamie and her baby, Isaac. Silas was very interested in Isaac's toys and very excited about the teething ring and diapers that Jamie and Isaac graciously gave to us. I very much enjoyed chatting with another mom and we hung out, nursed our boys, and ate lunch.

To celebrate the Inauguration of President Obama, Silas's Grand and our good friend Earline came up to stay with us. They watched Boy Wonder while Matt and I attended the North Carolina Society Ball with Uncles Scott and Russ and Aunt Morgan. Matt and I really enjoyed getting dressed up and going out on the town and are now finally in the market for a good teenaged baby-sitter so that we can make that happen more often. Grand and Earline had tickets to see the inauguration, but were unfortunately part of the Purple Ticket Tunnel of Doom fiasco and were unable to get into the event. All was not lost, however; Matt tivoed the inauguration, and so we were all able to watch it together (while staying warm) once they got back to the house that morning.

Just hangin' with my lady friends.

Man, you give good snuggles, Earline!

Aunt Morgan and Uncles Russ and Scott celebrate with us

Clearly having a blast!

On the developmental front, Silas is moving ahead in leaps and bounds. He's discovered that he has hands and that they can do things. Often we find him attempting to cram his entire fist in his mouth. He's also figured out how to grab his toys, which, remarkably, also usually find their way to his mouth.

(Channeling Golem) Keep away from my Precious

Silas currently spends his days snuggling, eating, pooping and sleeping, and actually slept almost nine straight hours the past several nights. He still very much enjoys "talking" and we have several "conversations" each day. He has also started chatting with his toys--particularly the cats attached to his bouncy seat and the fish on the mobile attached to his cradle. We've got a great video that I promise to post later this week.

Yep, this is where my good looks come from

Nom nom nomnom

Just chillin'

This week, we're going to practice sitting up, reading, riding in the stroller, and Silas's comedy routine. He really needs to work on his timing.

What are you talking about? I'm hilarious.

Two-Month Doctor's Visit

2009-01-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

At two months old, I'm still a wee little man

Monday Silas had his two-month doctor's visit. He is now 22 1/2 inches and 12 lbs 4 oz. Our boy loves to eat! Given that I'm currently his only source of sustenance, I'm mighty proud of the two of us! In addition to being measured and weighed, Silas also received five immunizations--four shots and one oral vaccine. It was terrible. I think I cried as much as he did. Matt couldn't make it to this doctor's appointment (he has come to all of the other ones) because he had a filing due Monday night. He felt so badly about it, however, he came home early Tuesday to help clean the house in preparation for a visit from my Aunt Ann and cousin Mack. As I left the house to run to the grocery store, I heard Matt explain to Silas as he loaded the dishwasher, "See, buddy, Daddy is modeling positive gender roles."

Silas and cousin Mack

In addition to seeing my aunt and cousin, since New Year's Day, we also had a visit from my college roommate Whitney. She and I had a great time catching up and Silas loved giving her some of his signature snuggles.

We also finally took down our Christmas decorations, which is always depressing. For the sake of posterity, I'm posting some pictures--if only to inspire me to open up the boxes and do it all over again next year.

I enjoyed my new camera this week, taking lots of pictures of Boy Wonder and his various facial expressions. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Hel-LO, ladies

Who me?

I'm innocent, I swear it!

Read my (lower) lip, I'm not pleased with this current situation.

Seriously, woman, put down that camera and give me my lunch!

Who is this 'Silas' person and where is my blog?

Christmas and New Year's

2009-01-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

I look silly

The Jones family sojourned to North Carolina for Christmas this year. Silas and I rode down with Gran and Great-Gran Sunday December 21. On the way down, we stopped and toured the Frank Lloyd Wright Pope-Leahy house just south of DC. I popped Silas in his sling and he slept through the entire experience, although I like to think that he absorbed some of the information and architectural significance anyway. The docent who led the tour was very impressed by the fact that our group consisted of four generations--Great-Gran, Gran, me and Silas. I wish I had asked him to take a picture of us.

Silas has been a great traveler so far. He slept most of the way down to NC--we only stopped once to nurse. With the use of our fabulous "Hooter Hider" nursing cover, he and I are able to breastfeed fairly incognito and have at a variety of fast food establishments and Starbucks (Mama needs her caffeine) along the I-95 corridor.

Once in NC, we made the rounds. First we visited our good friends, Kerri, Mike, and Elliott Flinchbaugh, who very kindly gave Silas a copy of What if Bees Made Cheese?, a book written in honor of Kerri's sister, the proceeds of which go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. The book is great and is available at www.lulu.com. Elliott also kindly gave Silas some of his "baby" toys, which Silas has really enjoyed.

Matt arrived in NC in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve. Both Taylor and Silas were really glad to see him, especially since it appears that Silas can't sleep without his daddy's snores to lull him through the night. We're incredibly thankful that, generally, Silas is an excellent sleeper (he takes after his mama in this regard). Since he was about six weeks old, he's slept a solid stretch of six hours each night--generally midnight to 6 am. He actually slept almost eight hours a few nights ago, and may have gone longer, but I was feeling a little "uncomfortable" and woke him up for his breakfast.

Silas enjoyed some quality time with his Gran and Big Papa, his uncle Haig, his Mimi, Uncle Russ, Aunt Morgan, and Uncle Scott. He also got a visit from our good friends Worth and Liz, Missy and Blake, and Fran and Pat. He practiced smiling and cooing and generally charmed the pants off of anyone who spent any time with him.

On Christmas Day, we dressed Silas in the Christmas outfit sent to him by his great Aunt Judy and we all headed down to the Pamlico River to celebrate Christmas with great Uncle Tom David, Silas's namesake, great Aunt Sarah, first cousins once removed (not to get technical or anything) Stancell and Turner, and Great-Gran. Great-Gran gave Silas a bottle of milk I pumped earlier in the day so that I could enjoy a Christmas bloody Mary. We ate oysters and grilled Boston Butt (pork) and Santa was good to everyone, especially Silas, who had so many toys, books, and clothes, we could hardly fit them all in the car for the drive home.

That evening, we headed to Matt's mom's (Silas's Mimi's) house to celebrate with Mimi, Uncle Russ, Aunt Morgan, and Uncle Scott. We decorated the tree, ate a lovely dinner of standing rib roast, yorkshire puddings, green beans and pumpkin pie, and opened still more presents. Mimi even made Silas a jester hat, matching ones that she had sewn for everyone else to wear in our annual Christmas portraits. I'd post the Christmas portrait, but I have been forbidden, upon penalty of death, for fear that such photo would make its way onto Facebook and ruin the chances of a certain bachelor uncle to impress the ladies. Just imagine Silas's hat on all of us, who are also wearing matching UNC t-shirts.

We left NC to head back up to DC on December 29, and once again, Silas was a dream baby. We only stopped to nurse and change him once, at a Subway (Matt and I started our New Year's diet a few days early) just outside of Richmond.

On New Year's Eve we hosted old friends Uncle John, Aunt Heather, Uncle Jim and Aunt Ginny. We all watched the UNC basketball game, ate, drank, and were generally merry.

Cheers!

Today, we all went to a New Year's Day party at our good friends, Nate and Suzzanne's apartment. As the only baby at the party (yes, we're apparently those people), Silas was the star, at least until the hostess broke out the accordion she received for Christmas and one of the other guests demonstrated his honest-to-god accordion-playing skills. Silas was appropriately upstaged, but promises to make a better showing next year--perhaps having picked up the harpsichord or the mouth organ.

Matt gave me a new camera for Christmas, so hopefully, you will detect a marked improvement in the quality of photos posted here. If not, don't tell him. I think he spent a lot of money.

Visit with the Grans

2008-12-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

Silas's Gran and Great-Gran came up for a visit this weekend and also to baby-sit Boy Wonder while his parents went to a concert and partied like they did before Silas's arrival. Gran and Great-Gran got some good snuggling time in with Silas, despite his extreme sleepiness.

Silas also got a visit from our good friends Uncle John and Aunt Heather. They gave him an awesome bib imparting a good life lesson, and despite the expression on his face in some of these pictures, Silas really enjoyed seeing them.

Silas and Taylor rode with Gran and Great-Gran down to North Carolina for the holidays. He did a very good job sleeping the whole way down (but, don't worry, he made up for it by not sleeping at all that night). Matt will be joining us here Tuesday night. Happy holidays!