Trick or Treat 2011

We went to WI for the weekend and got to go Trick-or-Treating... in the rain. (We went with Uncle Mike and a two other high school classmates - along with an 8 year old (punk rocker), a 6 year old (Green Lantern) and an 8 month old (Incredible Hulk).

Silas was pretty interested in the leaves.

Once home again in Iowa, mommy was unloading the car while the Trick or treaters were roaming the neighborhood so, we quickly got our Tigger and Pooh costumes on and headed outside for some pictures in the remaining daylight. The neighbor dogs were quite interested in joining us in our yard during mommy's photo-shoot. Silas was needing to be fed, but seemed content gnawing on a wrapped candybar.

Weekend getaway

Mommy and the little boys are headed to Nana & Papa's house... after Sydney wakes up!

Mommy has us all almost packed. Silas is nursed.

Super excited to meet baby Hank, witness how motherhood looks on my best friend Kerri and to see a bunch of my family!! YAY!

Bringing the camera... it will be a fun weekend! :)

Green beans went over GREAT, oatmeal not so much

Today, Silas tried green beans for the first time. Truth be told, when I opened the container, I was tempted to try them... as they actually smelled VERY GOOD.

Silas liked them a lot! He didn't even do the shiver-thing where he makes an icky face for new foods. He just opened his mouth for more! He seems to like his pureéd baby foods to be a little on the thicker side, rather than runny and having to slurp them off of a spoon. So, I have found that he likes when I mix the baby food with a little bit of his infant rice cereal.

Mike and I recalled that GREEN BEANS were always Sydney's favorite when he was little.

As for oatmeal, I made some regular oatmeal for breakfast this morning and shared it with Silas. Well, at least THAT was the intention to share it with Silas. His, obviously, was thinned out WAY MORE than mine was... his with breastmilk.

The little stinker... he would swallow the milky liquid part and continue to spit out all of the oatmeal chunks onto his chin. It made for some cute pictures; if you can call THAT cute. I ended up making some of the rice cereal with breastmilk and mixing it along with the oatmeal. Then, he would eat it.

So, after a few comical attempts, I would say that OATMEAL is NOT his favorite food.

Silas is a really good eater and a really good baby!

* * * * *

Edited: Added food photos of oatmeal, green beans (above) AND these snack info/photos (below).

While WE were eating dinner, we gave Silas a "cracker". They are really called Baby Mum-Mum's. In the "mom world" we call them surfboard crackers.

He liked them... something to hold onto... and chew on.

Kind of stuck to his wet, slimey hand though. :)

Oxymoron? CLEAN... Um, not so much!

So, it's not REALLY an oxymoron... like Jumbo Shrimp or Pretty Ugly... but it IS rather ironic, don't you think?

It made me giggle... as well as thankful for Clorox disinfecting spray!

Kids. They make me laugh!

House was suspiciously quiet, oh no!

I was nursing Silas in the living room recliner while Sydney was at the dining room table coloring with markers.

He had been connecting them end-to-end into long rods and then waving them around like a conductor of a symphony orchestra. Every once in a while, he would come into the living room and whack at the television screen. I thought nothing of it... kids will be kids.

Then, he went back to the dining room and I thought he was continuing to color on the roll of newsprint paper that was spread onto the table. Suddenly, I realized that the house was suspiciously quiet and that the singing and talking had stopped.

I asked "Sydney, whatcha doin?"

"Coloring rug with markers."

"What? Where? Coloring on paper?"

"No, color rug, mom!" he stated so matter-of-factly.

I flew out of the recliner - with Silas still attached to my boob - announcing "No, no, no! We ONLY color ON PAPER!!!"

Silas was along for the ride as I quickly scurried under the table to gather the markers. (Sydney, of course, knew that he was in trouble already and had started hoarding them to play a game of keep-away.)

Quickly, I announce "Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple."

Crap, I think to myself, we're missing 2 markers.

(I didn't really take inventory of the actual colors, but used that as a quick gauge to determine if I had all of them collected yet or not.)

I scanned the house, knowing that I had to find the two missing markers before Sydney did. Thankfully, I did just that.

"No!" he wailed. "Want color with markers!"

"All done. We color ONLY ON PAPER! That was naughty!"

While Sydney was sitting in his booster seat for a timeout and Silas was just hanging out waiting to finish nursing, I grabbed a butt wipe from the dispenser and started to frantically scrub the green stripes off of the dining room area rug. Thankfully, they were Crayola Washable ones.

I was relieved that he had contained his stripes to the burgundy part of the rug - instead of the tan decorative outer edge.

Just more proof that you can't trust a 2 year old!

Bucket List_26 items to achieve in my lifetime

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.

My Bucket List

As written on 10/24/11.

1. Experience the awe of the Grand Canyon; I'm told it is even bigger than I could ever imagine.

2. Ride in a hot air balloon.

3. Go to Alaska (or on an Alaskan cruise).

4. Go on a Polar Bear Expedition to Churchill, Manitoba.

5. Take dance lessons so that I can dance with my husband without looking like a frog in a blender.

6. Run a 1/2-marathon.

7. Walk or bike the entire 20 mile path around Geneva Lake in Lake Geneva, WI.

8. Photo-journal (at least) one year in my life.

9. Do the insane Hot Tub – Snow Bank – Hot Tub... my own version of a Polar Plunge.

10. See a Moonbow at Cumberland Falls, Kentucky.

11. Witness the incredible beauty of Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights.

12. Learn the art of massage.

13. Write a book.

14. Pay it Forward in a restaurant (selecting someone inside and secretly pay for their entire meal) or in a drivethrough (paying for the order behind me, as well as my own.)

15. Go on a Lodge-to-Lodge dog-sledding expedition. (I'm not courageous enough –like my husband - to sleep on a snowbank out in the wilderness, but a lodge sounds PERFECTLY FINE to me!)

16. Read the Harry Potter books. (Having little boys, this will likely make its way into our reading library someday.)

17. Read the Twilight books - to see what all the hype is about.

18. Visit Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

19. Try yoga at least once.

20. Take a cooking class.

21. Attempt to throw pottery on a wheel.

22. Live to see my kids graduate.

23. Swim with dolphins.

24. See the Statue of Liberty.

25. Ride on a SanFrancisco Cable Car.

26. Witness a whale swimming in the ocean.

It is AMAZING how much happiness comes from making a list like this.

Inspiration to put this list into being is from this website:

http://todaysmama.com/2011/10/just-ask-bucket-list-getaway-giveaway

Getting our hands dirty Pumpkin-style

I had looked online for Sesame Street pumpkins and found a design of "The Count". I did a little Photoshop magic and turned it into a template for us to use. (I think I was more excited than anyone was. It would be SO FUN!)

During the day, I poked holes into the pumpkin to designate the shapes and then colored the cut-outs with black crayon. Sydney seemed intrigued, but did not yet know what I had in store for us.

I asked Sydney "Do you want to get your hands dirty with mom tonight?"

His ears perked up.

I remind you that I am NOT one who likes to get my hands dirty, but somehow, having two little boys, I am starting to get out of my comfort zone and am learning HOW to get dirty. (Mike still teases me about the day that I got dirt under my fingernails while pulling weeds and how bothered I was by the event; I was more concerned with sticking those dirty hands into the baby's mouth to break suction when breastfeeding.) Sydney MUST be my child though... he, too, seemed a little apprehensive about reaching inside the pumpkin to touch the seeds and unknown slime.

Look, proof of my dirty hands!

Sydney would not touch inside the pumpkin with his bare hands. He announced "Nih-knee _cared." (Translation: Sydney scared.)

He would, however, use the pumpkin scraping tool to reach inside the pumpkin so, I am proud of him for that. Someday, we'll laugh at this picture - since it looks like he's afraid to hold the scraper, too. (It's not like it is covered in poop or anything.) He's normally WAY MORE EXCITED to hold and use tools. The "mess factor" must have been throwing him off.

We encouraged Sydney to SMELL IT. "What's it smell like?"

"Pumpkin." he replies - so matter-of-factly.

Sydney supervises as I attempt to carve our intricate design from our pumpkin. I've never done one so fancy before so, I was a little nervous. It didn't help that Sydney kept hugging and hanging on my arm while I tried to ever-so-carefully carve and remove pumpkin flesh from my templated design.

While I was busy carving, Sydney picked up our expensive fancy camera off of the table and announced "Take picture mommy daddy!" Mike approached him and he started to have a fit, thinking that Mike would take the camera away. Instead, Mike showed him which button to push and made sure that the camera was turned on. We both DUCKED to be in his picture:

For not even being two-and-a-half yet, I think he did pretty darned well!

We were all VERY PLEASED with our pumpkin this year. Here is our final outcome:

We also used our seeds and baked them in a "Halloweeny recipe". Neither Mike or I thought that Sydney would like to eat the toasted pumpkin seeds, but he announced "_ike dem. _runchy!" (Translation: Like them. Crunchy!") WHO KNEW?!?

Pumpkin Carving 2011 was, indeed, great fun!

EDITED: Only wish that we would have done it out of foam... as it appears to be ROTTING and growing mold quickly. Poor Sydney is sad each morning to see that it is NOT DARK OUTSIDE because he wants to "make pumpkin spooky again".

Every. Day. Request...

Every day this week, Sydney has announced his wakening by yelling "Mommy!"

Then, once rescued from behind the babygate in his room, he asks "Where daddy is, mommy?"

"Daddy is at work, honey."

"Want eat french fries daddy at work. Want cheeseburger french fries daddy at work, mommy."

THIS has been his waking request Every. Single. Day!

• • •

We get a McDouble and a small french fry - both off of the Dollar Menu at McD's.

McD's is sometimes our Monday treat because we normally go to the library for story time and then, venture to the grocery store since we're already out & about. By the time we're done shopping, it is often time for lunch - yet we have LOTS of food to put away. So, THIS is sometimes our Monday lunch while Mommy puts the groceries away and naptime can still remain reasonably unaltered.

Giggles... out of control!

Tonight, Silas and Mike were sitting on the floor and Mike was playing catch with Sydney. Silas thought that THIS was THE FUNNIEST THING IN THE WORLD!!! He kept giggling and giggling and giggling!

Naturally, our video camera IS charged, but the hard drive is now full and I hadn't been able to locate the proper cords to get it downloaded since before Silas was born.

I tried to see if my cell phone could take video, but I couldn't see any options like that.

I noticed that there appears to be a VIDEO mode on our new camera, but whenever I would attempt to capture video, it would just take a really blurry photograph. (See above.)

I ended up pulling out our old digital camera, replacing the batteries with fresh ones and attempting to capture the absolutely ADORABLE case of the giggles, but Silas wasn't finding "catch" to be nearly as entertaining anymore.

Mental note: Attempt to download video camera again so that it is useful to us again soon.

New food for Silas - AVOCADO/guacamole

Silas is READY... and waiting to try new food!

First reaction... make a horrible face and shiver, much like mommy does when she tries almost any kind of alcohol.

Make a funny face, wondering what in the heck was THAT?

Hey, that's not bad. It's pretty good, actually! What do you call that?

Mmmm! I like it a lot! I'll just wait here and fuss until you thaw some more out of the freezer since big brother Sydney ate the rest of it with his tortilla chips.

Mmmm! Silas liked his smooth mixture of avocado/guacamole with breastmilk. FANTASTIC!

Poop! Looks like...

I ran a load of laundry upstairs and dumped it onto the bed. Then, I hear the frantic announcement from downstairs "Poop! Poop!"

I scurry downstairs to find Sydney peering up our stairway from behind the babygate.

"Well, don't just stand there. Run!" I announce.

"No. Did it." he says as his naked little butt proudly runs towards one of our potty chairs . "_ook!"

"You did it all by yourself?!?" I ask. "Good job!!!"

Hovering over his potty chair, admiring his work, he announces "_ook! SSsssssssss! Ssssssssss! ssssssssss! _ooks _ike big _nake!"

(Translation: Look! Sssss - hissing sound - Looks like (a) big snake!)

• • • • • • •

It's his new thing... he analyzes everything, pondering what it looks like. As he takes a bite out of crackers or toast, he contemplates the shape and announces what he thinks it looks like. He's also into the phase where he asks A MILLION QUESTIONS!!! There is PLENTY of brain activity going on in his head, that's for sure!

Felt like a horrible mother

Silas was laying on a blanket on the living room floor playing with toys. He's very good about getting toys into his mouth and has discovered that he can pivot himself on the floor to reach more and more toys. Sydney was also busy playing in the living room and watching Iowa Public Television/PBS. They had been entertaining each other very well all morning long - watching each other, giggling, etc.

I had run upstairs to grab the laundry hamper and gather a few pieces of miscellaneous clothes off the floor, hoping that one of these days I would catch up on ALL of the wash. (The playpen was FILLED with clean clothes, waiting patiently to be folded.)

While I was upstairs, I suddenly hear the baby cry. Specifically, a HURT CRY.

I run downstairs as fast as I can, asking "Sydney, why is the baby crying?"

Sydney runs over to Silas, stands next to him, announces "Jump _ike dis!" and jumps onto the baby's back. Of course, Silas WAILS and I freak out!

I grab Sydney by the arm. "No! No!" I yell. "We NEVER jump on the baby! You'll hurt him! He's just a baby!" I put Sydney in his timeout chair and quickly go back to tend to Silas.

Silas stops crying almost as soon as I pick him up. "I hope we didn't hurt inside of his belly!" I announce.

"He'll be OK mom." Sydney assures me from his timeout chair. "My belly be OK, too." (Sydney lifts his shirt to show me his belly button.)

I felt like a horrible mother! Not only did Silas get hurt once, but Sydney repeated it to show me how Silas was hurt in the first place. Jeesh, sorry I asked!

So, WHY would he jump on his brother? The night before, Mike laid on the living room floor and allowed Sydney to jump and climb all over him. Sydney was having a great time jumping on Mike's back. So, Sydney obviously didn't know that we CAN'T jump on people because it was OK last night.

Silas, all 19.2 pounds of him, appears to be OK, but I still felt badly. Just more proof that two year olds can't really be trusted for having good judgement.

• • • • •

Sydney has been VERY RAMBUNCTIOUS lately! I can't imagine what it'll be like once winter's cabin fever sets in. These past few days, I have been convinced that Sydney is trying out for the circus. He's been busy doing acrobatics, jumping and climbing everything! (Man, do little boys make a mom nervous; remember, I was a kid who preferred to sit at the table reading books and coloring... I was NOT a climber!)

Can't wait to meet you, Hank!

I do NOT use my cell phone all that often. Apparently, I'm told "that's weird". I was also told that it is EVEN WEIRDER that we have a home telephone and that we do not access the internet from our cell phones. (Whatever.) When I made my (latest) cell phone purchase, I stated that I wanted it for an alarm clock, an occasional telephone call and a few text messages from time to time. In our house, we live the simple life.

This morning, while nursing Silas and simultaneously reading library books to Sydney, I heard my cell phone chime that I had a message. After that book was done, I got up and checked my phone, discovering that I had 3 new text messages.

2 messages from my best friend, Kerri - sent around 5am and again around 6am. Then, one from high school friend Jen.

"H*ly $hit!" I exclaimed as I read Kerri's messages. I felt as if I couldn't scroll the arrow down the tiny screen fast enough to see what was going on... She woke around midnight with severe bleeding and landed herself in the hospital; that she was suffering from placental abruption; that her bleeding was now more stable and the baby appears to be fine; that she was going to have an emergency c-section... that TODAY is going to be Baby Day!

A little flustered, I called Mike at work and apologized: Honey, I might have accidently taught Sydney a new word today so, if he proudly announces "H*ly $hit", I am sorry.

I later got a message indicating that Baby Hank was born a little after 7am, but Kerri hadn't seen/held him yet.

Later, I got a picture and learned that Kerri STILL hadn't seen or held him yet.

Pathetically, I forwarded Kerri's text/photo to my brother and asked him to email it to me so that I could SEE the picture of Hank. Thankfully, he complied.

I kept wondering WHY hasn't Kerri seen her baby?

I kept checking Facebook - stalking her family members - hoping for a status update, but all day long - there were none.

FINALLY, Kerri called me and I was SO RELIEVED to hear her voice! (I had been anxious all day - wondering what was going on and feeling so helpless so far away.) I believe Hank was born at 36.5 weeks gestation. Kerri was currently on bedrest - stuck in a prone position because of her spinal during c-section. The baby was on oxygen for his immature lungs and under heat lamps in a different area of the hospital. THAT is why Kerri hadn't yet met Hank.

She sounded SO disappointed. Being a mother myself, I can't imagine going for HOURS without meeting my new son. How heart-breaking for Kerri!

Kerri said that they were monitoring Hank closely and hoped that he would be breathing better by this evening or else he MAY have to go to a different hospital.

I laughed when Kerri couldn't answer the question of "What's Hank's middle name?" (She said they hadn't agreed on one yet - being that they still had time before he was due.)

This evening, I got an update call from a high school friend (Jenny) who reported that when she was at the hospital visiting, Kerri was FINALLY wheeled in to meet Hank. YAY! That's some of the best news I've heard all day! (Jen also emailed me a couple of pictures of the little man.)

Now, I am SUPER EXCITED to see Kerri and meet little Hank! (He sure looks cute!!!)

Congratulations Kerri and Greg! He's adorable!!! And I can't wait to meet him!

• • • • • • •

My twin brother is ALSO a resident of the very same hospital tonight. Mike had surgery at 5pm on a broken collarbone. (He was in a motorcycle accident over the weekend, requiring scheduled surgery today.) His wife, Karin, reported (around 8pm) that he was still in recovery, but surgery had gone well. He's got a plate and a whole mess of screws holding himself together. The doctor assured her that surgery was the best option as his break would NOT have healed well on its own, which was discovered once they got inside. I guess it was a pretty good (bad) break.

We're hoping for a speedy recovery!

Dogs lick in Sydney's world of HAPPY

Armed with a pile of books, Sydney announced "Want _ake dese books to Nana Papa's house. Read 'em _ere. Nana Papa _ike dese books, I tink."

Translation: Want (to) take these books to Nana & Papa's house (to) read them there. Nana and Papa (would) like these books, I think.

He shows me the pile of books: The cow loves cookies, Bears new friend, Bear wants more, Bear feels scared, AND Flow & Ebb save a baby seal.

"Nana and Papa WOULD like these books," I say. "Papa would especially like the book about the dog."

Picking up another book, Sydney announces "Papa _ould _ike dis one, too den. _ee, gog here, too!" (Showing me a book about how Dinosaurs love dogs.)

Translation: Papa would like this one, too then. See, (a) dog here, too!

"I _ike you, mommy!" (I like you mommy!) Sydney says as I help him put his big boy pants on.

He hugs me and then...

he LICKS my cheek!

"Did you LICK ME?" I ask.

"I a gog, mommy! I _ike you! Bea-moo _icks Nih-knee, too!"

Translation: I'm a dog, mommy! I like you. Beamer licks Sydney, too!"

What's for supper?

Today, we went to the grocery store and decided that we were going to make Chicken Fajitas for supper. We picked up some refried beans and discussed spanish rice as well.

I told Sydney that we have some dirty rice at home and that we would make that for supper. He looked worried, but I assured him that it isn't REALLY dirty and that he would like it.

He helped make it.

Then, at the dinner table, he asked "Dis acky rice?" (This icky rice?)

I laughed. "Not acky, buddy... it's called dirty rice."

"Not acky?"

"Not acky. Try it."

"Mmmm, good dirty rice."

Silas eats SQUASH!

Silas is a BIG BOY now!

When baby is between 4 and 6 months old, can sit up reasonably well and shows an interest in food – he is likely READY for foods! (One week ago, we started him on infant rice cereal and he handled that just fine.)

We COULD have done oatmeal next, but we thought that some REAL FOOD (you know, something that actually TASTES like something other than wallpaper paste) would be more fun.

First vegetable for Silas: SQUASH

(We served it out of this sauce cup, just to be sure that he would like it - instead of contaminating the entire jar. Turns out, he liked it JUST FINE!)

Bib - check. Spoon - check. First REAL Food - check. Older brother to help feed baby - check. Looks like all of the boys are ready for feeding time... Sydney, Grandpa Lowell, Silas and Daddy.

Silas appears to like it A LOT. He watches very intently wherever the spoon is going. He's very grabby, too; they give him his own spoon to hold.

By the end, he was resembling a baby bird, hanging his mouth open while waiting for more food to be dropped in. He ate half of the jar of squash; he likely would have eaten more, but we thought it was best to be more gradual... didn't want him to get a belly-ache from too much of a foreign substance.

• • • • •

For the record, he has been busy clawing at his face a lot this past week. I like to trim his nails when he is sleeping; however, I was finding it difficult to find the time where both boys were sleeping at the same time - where proper light was still available. FINALLY, I got the chance to cut his nails.

Aunt Sue would be proud

My boys love, Love, LOVE each other! They share countless giggles, smiles, hugs and kisses in a day - as well as sharing toys with each other.

I was touched when Sydney leaned over his brother earlier. At first, I thought he was giving him a kiss. However, I soon discovered that Sydney was giving BUTTERFLY KISSES to Silas!

(Aunt Sue would be SO PROUD! Butterfly kisses are "her special thing" with Sydney. She also gave him the Farmer/tractor set for Christmas last year and THAT gets used EVERY DAY!)

Now that Silas is starting to sit up on his own, Sydney has started helping to make sure that his baby brother doesn't tip over. He also is very good about making sure that his brother has a toy to play with. (Silas REALLY likes the horse from Sydney's Farmer/tractor set because it fits nicely in his chubby hand while still allowing him plenty of HORSE to chew on, but really any of these toys work perfectly fine.)

Stall tactics for bedtime

Sydney is becoming the master of stall-tactics at bedtime... or so he thinks.

The stall tactic of "Where's Elmo? Where's Tigger? Where's Pooh?" has been compromised now that Mommy has declared that ONLY ELMO sleeps in bed with Sydney.

What used to be a "blanket-on, blanket-off" routine has (thankfully) fizzled out.

He is starting to forget his belly button fetish completely; he used to need a "belly button hug" where he would lift his shirt and press his belly button against mine while we sat in the recliner.

"Gink, gink!" (Drink) is also quite popular.

Also, remembering that he hasn't hugged or kiss the baby... or Daddy is fun to try.

Additional bedtime story requests have been a hit... as well as begging for "more Tinkle _tar, more Tinkle _tar please." And when all else fails... "mommy, hum it! Hum Tinkle _tar!"

Now that he's in a big boy bed, it seems that he suffers from some sort of magnetic polarity problems where he is UNABLE to get (and stay) in his bed. He's also QUITE annoyed when we use a babygate to keep him in his room.

With the potty training endeavor, a whole new stall tactic has been presented. He's figured out that if he tells us he has to go potty, we will (usually) take him to the bathroom. Sometimes, however, we call his bluff.

Tonight, he DID ask to go potty and he DID perform. I praised him and sent him back to bed. Less than a minute later, with a big grin on his face, he announced "Go poop now."

I reminded him that he JUST went to the bathroom.

"No, mom! Need poop now."

So, he ventured into the bathroom to pass some gas. When I called his bluff and removed him, he kept assuring me that he had to poop.

What great fun! I let him sit on the toilet for 5 minutes while I sat in the office on the computer. He sang quietly for most of that time. Eventually, I gave him a ONE MINUTE WARNING and let him know that he would have to poop in the morning when the sun is shining.

He climbed onto the bed in the office and pretended to sleep there. Three seconds later, I scooped him up and carried him to his bed where I laid him in it and covered him with his blanket. Before he had a chance to argue, I informed him "You stay in this bed. I will see you in the morning when the sun shines."

At last... around 9:30pm... he stayed in his bed. (It seems like the perfect place to attempt to dream up some new stall tactics to try another time, don't you think?)

Sydney writes his name: SYD

While Sydney was watching tv, I handed him a pen and a birthday card and asked him to write his name.

First, he made a Y:

Then, he made a D:

Then, I told him that he forgot the S. He moved the pen carefully to the place where the S should be and attempted to draw an S:

Then, he handed the card back to me and announced "Watch Elmo now."

Sorry to have bothered you, buddy. Mommy and Daddy are REALLY PROUD of you! (We decided we had to scan it, for sure!) Sydney, You did a FANTASTIC JOB writing your name:

Sydney writes his name (SYD) on 10.14.11 at 28 months, 3 weeks old.

New skill for Silas - SITTING

This afternoon, while Sydney was napping, Mommy and Silas were busy...

working on some new skills!

Silas sat - all by himself - for a few minutes before doing a faceplant onto the living room floor. Of course, Mommy was sitting very close by to guide and protect him during his fall.

And just like riding a bike or a horse... we got right back up again.

He really liked reaching and playing with toys, too.

When Sydney woke up from his nap, I was pretty excited to show him his baby brother's new(est) skill.

Sydney was pretty excited to see Silas sitting up. That is one step closer to Silas becoming a playmate for Sydney. (We talk about how Silas has to learn how to do so many new things so that he can someday be big - just like his brother.)

It was a good day!

How about...

a Blast from the Past?

2.12.09 - Sydney wears the same outfit.