t h e . r i d i c u l o u s . p a n d a

i guess this should be more than obvious to me, but it's almost as though every one of our moments with silas is filled with a first. in between alarms and burps this morning, silas awarded sam and i with his first intentional, direct eye contact smile. the best part was that sam and i were already snorting at a joke we had made at the baby's expense. it was if silas decided to drop his squished up due to the pain of a trapped burp moment to join us in our laughter. needless to say, it was pretty damn cool.

first bath with papa.

just when i figured life with silas was getting run of the mill
for everyone else, we got all sorts of popular again...

georgia shows off her hair follicle mastery while silas wows with his neck muscles.

snorting into the lambswool after lunch with brad.

helping shovel off the hyundai after the first snow dump.

saturday breakfast with friends

sarah and silas

matt and henry christen our front lawn with its first snowball fight

sunday night. he was awake just long enough to eat and take a bath.
then he fell asleep on the changing table before we could get his pajamas on.

monday at dusk.

tuesday morning, waking up happy.

lessons in sweetness from georgia.

she really uses that five day age difference to her advantage.

i wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole situation either.

if only they could crawl, their escape plan
would have been much more successful.

silas is quickly growing out of his clothes before we
have a chance to put them on him. i guess all this
growing means we're doing something right.

friday evening sunset

waking up slow

aunt kim, in person!

some days i really just don't feel like leaving the house.
silas doesn't seem to care one way or another.

the past two days with silas have been all sorts of different. he doesn't hesitate to flash us his big gummy grin, most often after his middle of the night diaper changes. he has started to look at me out of the corner of his eyes when he starts to fuss as if to say "act swiftly, mama, and we can avoid this whole crying business."

look closely and you can see him growing older

taking a minute to collect ourselves before the bath

1st swimming lesson with papa

two parties in two days...

we say "hasta luego" to lauren y chris

silas rocks the tie on saturday night

he'll usually wake up happy.

but nobody makes silas smile like sam...
click here for the pudding.

sam and silas

we save the face and head massage for last
because that's when he really blisses out.

tuesday with georgia...
the call from BabyCommand comes down to tilt right

silas knows it's not even worth the effort to try and look cute next to her

silas lee, you are two months old. two months of you in our lives.
how ridiculously lucky are we?

you are finally starting to grow on us. a little bit of eye contact and
a few small smirks of amusement have opened up a whole new part
of my heart. when we lay you down in bed at night and kiss your hands
as you fall asleep, part of me can't wait for you to wake up to eat
because i know you will see your sleepy smile again.

this month, i think sam and i finally started to figure out what all
your crying is about. one cry for hunger, one cry for sleepy, one cry
for "you're blocking my view of the ceiling fan," one scream for
waking up before you were completely ready, one cry for getting out
of the bath before you are satisifed and your most frequent cry to just be held.

you are so very happy when you are standing and bouncing, bouncing,
bouncing in our laps and when you first wake up in the morning and
are still laying lazy in bed with us. now you've started to talk, make
noises, in response to us and because of faces we make.

this month, we left you with your first official baby sitters, brad and kelly,
when we went to sam's company holiday party. brad also introduced you to a
stuffed penguin that has almost usurped the ceiling fan as your bestest
friend. when i think you're working on a burp over my shoulder, you're
really just smiling and cooing at the penguin.

your papa and i always talk about how fortunate we are that you are the
person that has moved into our lives. how fun you are, how it already
seems like you have your own sneaky sense of humor and how you wrinkle
your brow in serious contemplation at the world around you.

but yesterday when we were dressing you after your two month
checkup (13 lbs, 25"!) it occurred to me that you got it pretty good too.
two parents, standing over you, getting in each other's way trying to
change your diaper, snap up your pajamas, put on your hooded sweatshirt.
two parents singing quiet songs to you, telling you how brave you were
while getting your first vaccinations. your papa and i always waiting for
the other to show the first sign of fatigue while holding you so we
can step in and have a turn. and now, you are sleeping fast asleep with your
heavy breathing in your sling while i type away. silas lee, we are so completely
fascinated by you. thanks for being the most perfect litte baby for us.

the holiday weekend.

rachel and doug come all the way out from seattle to meet silas.
silas promptly falls asleep on doug and stays that way for the
remainder of their visit. apparently doug is quite comfy.

christmas eve morning at home.

christmas morning with my parents.

taking a break from the festivities.

silas entertained his second cousins on saturday. owen and clay were immediately
on his good side when they showed up at our doorstep with baby's first sabres
hockey set (stick, puck and matching softball). excellent!

i got to pick out silas's outfit for sunday.

click here for silas's comments on 2006.
(give it a sec to load, it's a quicktime movie)