It seems like a long time since my last big update…Well, here we go.
When we left off, it was early December, 2011. We had just narrowly survived Thanksgiving and were slouching toward winter. And now the winter is about over…spring is around the corner! Let’s rewind the clock…
At 13 months, I deemed Silas old enough to ride in the little car-attached-to-the-grocery-cart thing. He was THRILLED. I kind of wish I hadn’t started this, because he always wants it, and those things are just awful to steer.
As an early Christmas present to ourselves (with some help from Dad and Robyn), we had some major work done at the house–insulation, drywall, painting, flooring. The house looks awesome, and is much warmer now.
Silas likes to help.
Here are some of our improvements (the walls really aren’t this yellow, but I just couldn’t get the color temperatures right).
For those in the Harrisonburg area, we used Sam’s Construction, and they were wonderful. I highly recommend them.
Silas was actually able to participate somewhat in our Christmas preparations this year, which was really fun. He liked opening the doors on the Advent calendar.
Still not quite big enough to wrap presents…
Grandpa Frisbee taught Silas about Hanukkah. It’s a holiday with spinning toys!
Silas enjoyed all the madness at Nanny and Pap’s house. I think we had 21 people there!
In fact, I think he enjoyed the Christmas madness everywhere. He got a lot of attention, being the first grandkid and all.
I guess this was a boring book…
Already knows that cheek pinches are awful Grandma things.
Downtime with Daddy:
It can be tiring to entertain SIX grandparents!
One of my favorite gifts I made this year was a “Silas: Year 1” photo album.
Aunt Katie made Silas his own pie.
He liked it.
I know he’s getting a LITTLE old for potty pictures, but I loved this so much…My grandma Betty got him some washcloth puppets for Christmas, and for a while, he insisted that every appendage had to be bepuppeted in order to spend any time on the potty.
He calls shoes, socks, gloves, and puppets “shooooz.”
Here are a few Christmas gifts that I’m thinking of making for my etsy shop…What do you think? Would you buy them?
I made a new diaper bag for Silas. If I had a do-over, I would use canvas for the inside fabric, or some interfacing. It’s a little too floppy.
Lillian and Elisabeth got these cute capes. The lining is some test dye work from Robyn that she was done with. I might have to learn shibori so I can make more!
Silas really is into music. He loves pianos–and he doesn’t just mash them. Sometimes he does one or two fingers at a time, and really seems to be experimenting with attack and volume. Am I becoming one of THOSE moms? … sorry.
I love how easily entertained he is. A bowl of rice and a measuring cup kept him busy for an hour…and sweeping it up was fun, too. This Montessori-inspired stuff rocks. Attention-span building FTW!
Silas continues to have a total crush on Pam Mandigo, the Great American Playwright. Here they are in a moment of shared bliss:
He’s finally learning to be gentle with the cat. She…didn’t totally hate this. Much.
International man of mystery chatting on his shoe phone.
It hasn’t been a very snowy winter in Virginia. We got a dusting, and an excuse to wear the gnome suit.
It’s been warm enough for lots of outside play time, which is wonderful. I’ve even let him play outside unsupervised a bit–and he loves it. I think he knows that it’s special when I’m not following him around every minute. Irresponsible? Maybe…but I’m not going to stop any time soon.
Dad got Silas a tricycle for Christmas.
He can’t quite reach the pedals. Luckily, it comes with a handle.
Now, we’re in Michigan. I haven’t taken many pictures up here–Silas keeps my hands very busy! We stopped at the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum on the way. I highly recommend it. They had tons of cool stuff, like this sand-covered lighttable.
Our hosts, Linda and Steve, are very sweet with Silas. They even let him play their guitar (which he loves)
Mom and Gary just visited (and we went to the circus!). I’ll post some pictures from that next time…
Oh, and JC is coming tomorrow. I’m so excited. This single-parenting thing is for the birds.
Special thanks to Katie Smith, Alex Heimbuch, Wendy Werner, and Linda Namenye for your photos!
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