Here and Now: Silas

It is clear that I have lost most of my readers with my sporadic posting over the last year--but I don't feel bad since I've gained so many spammers!--so I figure I will just post some stuff that I want to remember and that my mom would like to read. And even though I'm on my third kid, I always forget what my kids do at what ages, so I'm putting this down so I can remember.

Silas is eight and a half months old. I'm loving this age so much. I forget with each child how much easier and fun it gets around now. Silas is pulling up on things and standing for a few seconds alone. He is a super fast crawler, bear-style, and loves to screech and howl while he crawls around like a madman. He loves pulling things out of containers, one by one, and dumping them on the floor. He eats with much gusto, and I think his favorite foods so far have been squash or sweet potato hunks, watermelon, and the ground beef/veggie layer of a shepherds pie that I made. I cannot feed him at all--he insists on doing it himself.

Silas is an outdoor guy. He is so, so happy crawling around outside, picking up sticks and leaves and dirt. He does pretty well with not putting things in his mouth. He especially loves it when his brothers get down on the ground with him and play and when they crawl through the tubes at the park with him.

He takes two naps a day, but seems to be moving towards one. Yesterday he slept in so I gave him one nap in the middle of the day. He was super tired by noon when he went down, and very tired also by 7 pm bedtime, but it worked out okay. He still goes to sleep laying with me and nursing/playing until he finally nods off. He sleeps on a futon on the floor. I don't know how many times a night he still wakes, since I usually sleep with him and don't much notice.

He is so joyful and fun to be around these days. He loves having someone sitting down on the floor playing with him. He screeches, "sings," and says "dada" and "uh-oh." He is into everything--he tries to get into the bathroom and climbed into the tub yesterday. He pulls all of the wipes out of the container with glee. He is a 21 pound whirlwind of joy and destruction.

Home

I need my tech support team (Craig) to help me with my new header. For now, just envision that the description of my blog is "One boy, one arm, and a beautiful landscape." That beautiful landscape is Alaska. Our trip was wonderful, even though Craig was sick for half of the trip. We didn't do a whole lot while we were up there, but we had a great trip nonetheless. We went on several small hikes, ate at our favorite restaurants, saw some movies, and just relaxed.

I don't usually miss Alaska too much, but once I get up there, I feel peaceful in a a way that I never quite do anywhere else. The fresh smell, the mountains, the dense and wild forests with scraggly trees and lush moss. My body knows it is home.

Of course, we only visit in the summer anymore. When I get homesick I just remember the nine months of snow and the darkness. I just picture driving everywhere I need to go. I just think of the swarms of mosquitoes that make the forests nearly impenetrable at certain times of the year. I look out at my huge garden full of tomatoes and I appreciate Ohio a little bit more. I walk to our farmer's market and to the pub and feel home here, too.

Life Goes On and On

Must. Post. We went on vacation to Alaska. But first, we all got really sick. We had a big family party for Henry's fifth and Luke's eighth birthdays. Then we came back home, and I got sick again. The boys started school. Silas is crawling and trying to talk. Life is whizzing by. And I plan on posting really, really soon.