He's recently been upgraded into SIZE 4 diapers because the 3's looked like they were digging into his hips/thighs. He's also wearing 12 month Polartec footie pajamas, which he's filling out nicely; unfortunately, the 18 month jammies are WAY TOO LONG in the leg for him. (I'm hoping that they will shrink a little in the wash.)
For clothes, he's wearing mostly 12 month sizes right now.
At 7 months old, he weighed in at 20#6 ounces. At 8 months old, he weighed in at 20#15.3 ounces, but I'm convinced that if I would have nursed him - he would have been well over the 21# mark - knowing that previous before/after nursings have indicated that he's taking at least 5-6 ounces at a feeding.
Silas has BRIGHT BLUE EYES and sandy blonde hair. The hair on the top of his head almost has a FUZZY appearance.
He has THREE TEETH: 2 bottom middle and 1 lateral incisor (left) upper.
He's a GREAT EATER! We read in a parenting magazine that you can introduce table foods... finger foods... sooner, rather than later because babies have a fantastic gag reflex and will NOT choke. So, shortly after reading that, we tried a hunk of ripe avocado and he didn't choke. We moved on to some canned vegetables... green beans... and he didn't choke. He likes the peaches and pears from fruit cocktail, but I do dice them up into smaller pieces for him. He likes to hold a slivered 1/4 of a banana and feed himself that as well. We've recently discovered that he's protesting the mesh bag feeders now that he knows he likes solids. He's liked black beans (mashed down a little to break it into two), blueberries (halved) and blackberries (quartered). Canned yams and canned asparagus spears were also a hit. Basically, the kid will eat just about anything! (He didn't seem overly interested in an Organic Mac & Cheese though; I don't blame him... as I didn't care for the taste either.) He also likes to feed himself oatmeal off of his tray.
He's recently started clapping. He'll do it if we announce "YAY!" in a cheery tone or sometimes if we say/sing "Pat-a-Cake". It makes him very proud. Sometimes, when we say BYE-BYE, he has a hitting/waving motion; we're still working on that.
He likes to play Peek-A-Boo. If we put a burp rag/cloth over his head, he will pull it off and we announce "Peek-a-Boo" as he unveils his HUGE GRIN!
He started crawling on December 5th. By the 13th, we found him on the steps. (This week, he managed to get up the bottom three triangular-shaped wedge steps, which are bigger... all on his own. He forgets though and falls down easily.) I don't really like to encourage steps... not yet!
He's also pulling himself to a stand ALL THE TIME! He's even starting to master squats already. You can tell he REALLY wants to catch up to his big brother!
Silas ADORES Sydney!!! He LOVES to watch him and smiles from ear-to-ear whenever he gets to watch his brother. They are SO STINKING CUTE TOGETHER!
Silas is a thumb-sucker... his right thumb exclusively. He has a chapped chin because of it. (I just started putting Lanolin for chapped, dry nipples on his chin and it seems to be working VERY WELL!)
He likes to flirt with the cute baby in the mirror. He has an incredibly happy disposition!
He goes down for a nap - tired, but awake. Same with bedtime most nights. He is MUCH EASIER than Sydney ever was. When he is tired, he will whimper/cry and lay his head down on the floor. (Sydney NEVER did that!) Silas is a VERY EASY BABY!
He still wakes (most nights) to eat - at least once in the night. He's strictly business and goes right back to sleep so, I can't complain too much. Lately, he's been making it from 8pm-4/5am and then after a quick snack goes back to bed until 7-8am. He's pretty content; sometimes, we find him just laying in his bed - on his back - with his thumb in his mouth, just looking around. As soon as he sees us, he SMILES and scurries to a stand.
He's starting to cruise along furniture. He also falls down a lot, but that is because he pulls himself to a stand a lot. He's showing more interest in wanting to walk - that's for sure! (Sydney is excited for when they will be able to run and chase each other. For now, they make due with crawling and it is pretty cute to watch.) He also runs into the legs of the table and chairs because he doesn't know to look FORWARD when he crawls; it is kind of funny to see him get stuck. (He has started to figure out how to navigate reasonably well though... as we're finding that he's managing to squeeze into tighter spaces (i.e. around the edge of the playpen to get to the stairs). He's got LOTS of drive and determination, it seems! He's SO PROUD!
He can swipe the glasses off of your face in .2 seconds. He's SO QUICK and you can tell that he thinks it is funny. He also has a "thing" for grabbing and pulling on ears, as if they are a handle. To him, I suppose, they ARE! He's often got sharp fingernails (since it is near-impossible to get the two boys napping at the same time so that I can trim them in daylight hours.)
Silas LOVES to check under the dining room table for stuff to eat. Well, he likes to eat anything he finds. He is a very oral baby! He tends to like to chew on paper, too. YUCK! He chews on most toys as well.
Silas and Otto (our shy cat) are buddies. Otto hops up while we're nursing. Silas smiles when he feels the cat's fur or when he hears him purring. Otto will also (sometimes) let Silas pet him when he's crawling around on the floor; Otto didn't ever do that once Sydney was mobile.
He has been a FANTASTIC ADDITION to our family! I can't imagine our lives without him. It feels like he's always been here; our transition from one-to-two went flawlessly! I'm starting to think that he IS: THE HAPPIEST KID EVER!
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On 1.5.12, he ate his first MEAT (fish)! Sydney and I made a recipe out of our Baby/Toddler Cookbook. It had cod, potatoes, carrots, juice from one orange, a little cheddar cheese and a dollop of butter - cooked and blended. And the verdict: HE LIKED IT! (I also gave him some couscous, which I thought would be something that he could feed himself. It sounded like a good idea at the time and he really seemed to enjoy it, but it was A HUGE MESS to clean up!)
This same day, he also swiped the ground turkey meat sloppy joe sample right out of Sydney's hand while they rode side-by-side in the shopping cart at Sam's Club. He had a little on his nose, chin and hand so, I think he DID get a taste of it.
