life's a ball...

So, once again, I'm a little behind in posting. 'Tis the season. But I wanted to share this video of Silas playing in his ball pit. I think it is pretty hilarious. I took this a month ago - we've been having such warm weather, though it is finally getting chilly in Phoenix (which I, for one, LOVE!).

check out the video

And I wanted to revisit Silas' love of boxes. If anything, I'd say it's growing...

And one more quick box video. This one is actually from November too. Grammie sent him an early xmas gift - a seat so he can ride on the back of my bike! And while we've all been enjoying that bike seat - the box was definitely the most exciting part of the gift at first. We played in the 'box tunnel' for weeks...

we're walking!

yes - it is official. Silas has launched himself into the fast-paced, vertical world of walking. oh boy. he reeeeeeally likes to walk. Check it out for yourself:

Now - people keep saying that once they start walking they loose their baby fat. But in Silas' case, I think he's going to have to put in a lot of miles! We'll see...

Happy Birthday!!!

In some ways, it is hard to believe that our baby is now one year old. But on the other hand...his awareness of the world around him, his ability to actually communicate (beyond crying) and his enthusiasm for exploring his surroundings is so astounding, hitting this milestone seems appropriate. He isn't really a baby anymore. And he's probably days or maybe a couple weeks away from officially walking.

Anyhow - we had a fun, 'colors' themed birthday party for his last Saturday afternoon. The weather here is still pretty hot (mid-90's), but it worked out well considering Silas spent half the party in his diaper (which was initially because he sat on his slice of pizza and then because we stripped him down for the ceremonial first cupcake).

Click here to check out the video!

Silas actually had a yucky cold and kinda started out in a daze (as seen below). But he warmed up as we got going and was such a champ - most people never even knew he was feeling bad.There was a prize for the person who was able to wear the most of their favorite color. It wasn't much of a competition, though, because my mom blew us all away....right down to her purple bra & panties (which she was showing off, of course!).Maybe I should have had a prize for the most creative way to wear your party hat...unicorn style? I also loved how M&M was sportin' her Obama button. Go Obama!! Jake was so dang cute in his hat too...So - this posting might've been a lot more interesting, but Matt & I basically didn't take any pictures (we were too busy!) and are relying on the generosity of others. There is some video we haven't had a chance to review yet and maybe I'll be able to upload something soon. But, lucky for us, my brother-in-law, Preston, is a fantastic photographer and created a slideshow of his pics. So instead of copying them all into my blog - I'm going to let you go right to the source. Enjoy!

Click here to go to Preston's Flickr slideshow.

PS - Note that these last 2 posts are out of order. Silas' birthday did come before Halloween. But in my frenzy to finally update the blog...it just worked out this way!

El Raton

We had a little Halloween party in our front yard with our neighbors last night - it was a hoot! Silas dressed up as a little (or rather quite large) mouse - actually in a costume my mom made for me when I was 3 years old!

He also had a party at his daycare last week - where they said (in Spanish) he was such a cute little 'raton'. And then this was the following discussion:

"NO - he isn't a rat. He is a mouse!" exclaimed Julie.

"A raton is a mouse." said Maria, the daycare provider.

"Oh" said a bewildered Julie. "So what is the word for rat?"

"Raton!"

We all laughed. And actually, according the the Spanish-English dictionary, "rata" is technically the word for rat. But whatever. I had the same experience in Guadalajara with limons (which commonly refers to both lemons & limes).

So here is our little raton...

The pirate & the fencer: And the hungry little mousey.

Tour de Fat

I'm getting behind in my blogs - so I thought I'd just do a quickie on the 'Tour de Fat'...party because the pictures are so hilarious! These are from a little pre-Fat Tire Festival bike parade we were in with our friends. It was so fun!

This was acutally a couple weeks before Halloween - but we had fun dressing up for the occassion just the same! I love how you can see the glitter on Silas' face (some of which is still in his hair!). And notice how Charlene, I mean Strawberry Shortcake, managed to wear her hat on of her bike helmet!

We borrowed this bike trailer from our neighbors. I realized, after the fact, it was kind of ambitious of me to try at the bike trailer for the very first time in a parade with a couple hundred other people. oh well - it all worked out!Silas even managed to take a nap in the trailer...

wow - a real watermelon!

This little video cracks me up - it is such 'classic Silas' (at 11 months...). You get to see a bunch of his signature moves:

1. The 'ohhhhh' face (which I think he only does at the very beginning, but it is one of his favorite faces. and I know where he got it because I realized I do it too. all the time. now it's a game and we'll do it back and forth and make each other giggle.)
2. The 360 degree leg spin
3. The cock-eyed crab crawl (which is the only way to crawl if you're Silas)
4. The general happy baby babble.

And I love that it features a watermelon. Hope you like it too!

Click here to watch the video

Part Two - North Carolina

The thing about this part of our trip is that I don't have many photos to share because I forgot my camera. Well, to be more specific, I remembered my camera but left the battery in the charger in the wall at home. It was a bummer - but considering we were only home for 2 nights - not surprising. Anyhow, we spent the first half of the trip in the western NC mountains with my parents. And the second half of the trip we spent in Raleigh with Matt's family (his mom & sister live there). In Raleigh, we got to go to Makayla's christening, which was extra special since Matt is her godfather.

Other than that, we really just hung out and had lots of great quality time with Matt's family. His parents get to watch Makayla pretty often and they have a whole collection of pink and purple baby gear to show for it. Silas liked it too...

Hurricane season - part one

Fortunately - hurricane season isn't much of an issue in AZ. But 2008 will go down in record as far as I'm concerned because it feels like we've experienced it this year. And in a sense...we have. The hurricane I'd like to call 'September' swept into our lives when we received word that Matt's grandfather passed away and we promptly flew up to northern Michigan. Grandpa had a good long life and was surrounded by family who loved him. But still...it's hard. The up-side is that we had an unexpected opportunity to get together with all of Matt's family - including 2 other new babies we hadn't met yet!

For starters, I have to say that our little boy was a world-class, cross-country traveler. Especially considering our extremely early morning flight (note: boy in pj's) and the start of a yucky cold (note: boogies dripping out of nose...lucky for you I won't share what else was frequently leaking).

Matt's sister Kelly and her baby, Makayla (this first meeting of the new cousins): Baby Caitlin (who just turned one - happy birthday Caitlin!!) with Mom, Cris.

More playtime with cousins (or at least around the cousins...this toy was very exciting for Silas and allowed him to practice standing and playing at the same time. A big hit, as you can see!!).

Did I mention that Matt's grandma lives on this gorgeous lake? It was such a nice reprieve from the still-sweltering heat in Phoenix.

But the reprieve wasn't over! We only went home for 3 short days (one of which I used to give notice at my job because I got a new, part-time job, woo hoo!!!) before we whisked off to North Carolina for a pre-planned vacation. More on that trip in part two...

just a few quicky moments...

We, of course, think our son is a super genius. But now we have proof - reading National Geographic at 9 1/2 months old!

Silas has been practicing talking. a lot. He shows wonderful potential to be the next great motor mouth in his family. If only the coughing wouldn't get in the way...

Silas has definitely been enjoying this fun, rockin' toy from Grandma & Grandpa Harrison...

P.S. Sorry this video is sideways. Try not to get a crick in your neck...

Success in the pines!

We went on our first official family camping trip last weekend and I'm happy to report that it was a success! (Karen & I actually tried camping with Silas a few weeks back, but he woke up at midnight and would not go back to sleep so we ended up driving home at 3am. I'm so glad to have moved past that and confirmed that Silas is truly a happy camper!)

Anyhow, we went up near the Bear Jaw/Abineau Trailhead outside of Flagstaff with some friends. The weather & scenery was beautiful and the company was grand! Francesca & Esme were so sweet with Silas - I think he really enjoyed their company. You'll have to bear with me on this one - I took lots of photos and am having trouble narrowing them down so I'm going to post quite a few...

Did I mention Silas loves this hiking backpack? Everytime we popped him in it this weekend he laughed and laughed and kicked his legs with joy!

Giggle Box

I know everyone says that kids often enjoy the box more than its contents, but it was so fun to experience it firsthand through Silas' eyes! As you can see below, he had a blast playing in his new box...

You can even see a little video of Silas giggling (or maybe more like belly laughing) in the box...