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.