11 Months!

I can't believe that Silas is about to be a year old! Before I get sentimental, I will spend this time thinking about this month.

Our little buddy is a moving machine. Though he flat out refuses to crawl on his hands a knees, he is constantly rocking the army crawl. This completely stresses Richard out, and he has declared that he WILL teach Silas to crawl properly even if it takes him until he is two. Silas has now gone from "has walked" to "can walk." Do not confuse this with "always chooses to walk alone" as he would rather hold onto your finger for comfort. He walks all over our living room without help and thinks it is hilarious to drop to his bottom so we will laugh and clap. Another skill he has finally mastered is going from laying to sitting- PRAISE THE LORD!! Man, he would wear us out! Si would slither to where he wanted to go and then whine until someone came to sit him up because he could not figure it out. This skill has made our lives much easier.

We have had another bout with illness. All I can figure out is that Richard and I bring it home from school to him since he doesn't go to daycare. Thankfully, as of today, our human vacuum has returned. He adored the chicken and fries at Chick fil a tonight. When he doesn't want the food you are feeding him, he holds up his hand to stop you, turns his head, and closes his eyes. The closed eyes are lovingly referred to as "Uncle Travis-ing" since Uncle Travis did that to ignore us while in the hospital. Silas has been doing that to ignore us since birth. Sadly, Uncle T was not around to see Si on this earth, but our little buddy definietly has some of his traits!

We are greatly struggling with a sippy cup. I am extremely nervous about taking the bottle away in 2 weeks, but everything I hear/read says go cold turkey and he will drink when he is thirsty. We will see... I got in a new cup today that looks more promising. Needless to say, I am savoring every single bottle feeding- most especially the snuggle time that comes with it.

Silas can say ball, night-night, bye-bye, e-i-e-i, a crude version of lawn mower (mawn mo mer), more, da-da, ma-ma, bok-bok, and make numerous growls for different animals. (He makes a different distinct growl noise for bear, shark, and tractor.) Si also will call the dogs and love anything when you say "Oh wee..." His receptive vocabulary astounds me daily. I think it is from all of the reading we do. He loves books and will usually choose a book over a toy. Si isn't content to read/look himself. He wants to snuggle in with you and turn the pages while you actually read it to him. Resolved as he is, Si will let you know exactly what book he wants you to read and will reject any subsitutions.

Currently, his favorite past-time, besides reading, is jumping on the bed. We have had 2 banged chins, but, as evident by this picture, it has not deterred him in the least.

Most of my pictures turn out like this lately. I am not sure how to remedy my problem lest I use a tazer or tranquilizer darts. Suggestions are much appreciated.

Silas loves to be outisde. We discovered his love for the Cozy Coupe at our neighbors' this week. Good thing his birthday is right around the corner! It is all beginning to come together, and I have it on the up and up that Gruncle Barry is making a wonderful wagon cake fit for a Birthday Boy!

We really, really, really, really, really, really, really struggled to get good pictures with John Brown. I took over 130 and only two, without smiles, were acceptable. Because of the noises Richard was making to help out, I had flash backs to our experience with Olan Mills. Maybe next month...