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

every once in awhile sam and i get to talking about other places in this world that we might want to live. other towns, states and countries that we'd like to check out in our lifetime, see what they're all about and what our lives would be like there. now that silas is in the picture we have whole new things to consider: outdoor space, clean bodies of water, and opportunities to learn how to shovel and rake. we have to remind ourselves that chicago isn't the be all end all, there is a whole world out there to explore. but then we have days like today: when the snowflakes are big and fluffy, the sun shines every few moments, and everyone we come across seems to be in an excellent mood. and chicago really does seem like the best place ever to be. especially right now.

we'd hardly even walked in the door at the butterfly haven and sam had a bug on his head.

silas tries to fit the whole fist in at the nature museum.

baby's got some things to say about wandering around the zoo in the snow

silas meets his nicknamesake

making sure he stays awake long enough to see the crocodile.

silas passed out napping right after staring at the pygmy hippo

and missed the giraffes saying hello.

but he woke up happy for an early dinner at d'agostinos.

sunday morning with papa

now that we have him, we often wonder what silas will look like as he grows older.

every night when we lay silas down to sleep, it's anyone's guess what time he'll wake up again. he's shown us that he can sleep through the night. but he doesn't seem to prefer it. usually he wakes up only about twice during the night to nurse, barely opens his eyes and is back asleep before sam can get him back into bed with a clean diaper. there are often nights of unpredictability when silas decides to wake up hungry every two hours. but then he'll be like this when the alarm goes off:

so stinking happy. he'll lay in bed watching papa get ready for work, doze off for twenty or so minutes and then just gurgle and coo at the ceiling fan until i pry my eyes open. i wonder how long he's been awake and when he'll learn how to make breakfast, but most often i just roll over and start our morning conversation and nuzzling, postponing the moment that i actually swing my feet out of bed. because, really, what's the rush?

he tries so very hard to roll over, but according to the baby books that ain't gonna happen this month. he gets the knee over and he's an expert on arching his back to see behind him but all that other coordination just isn't there yet.

but don't even get us started on silas not following along the baby syllabus. on sunday evening, after silas attended a very rocking birthday party for one year old twins, we put him down for his 5pm, late afternoon nap. he slept and slept. sam went to the gym, i did some yoga at home. silas kept sleeping so i laid on the floor for awhile and meditated while sam made dinner. silas kept sleeping so sam and i ate an uninterrupted dinner and watched the amazing race. silas kept sleeping & sleeping. every four hours i would wake him up to nurse and he would barely open his eyes. finally at 4am, i had a feeling something was up. stuck my finger in my baby's mouth and sure enough - a very sharp, very pointy, very white little tooth is sticking out of his bottom gum. well, damn. baby's got a tooth. it's like he's an actual person who's going to eat corn on the cob one day. crazy.

supporting a 4.5 month old baby under the armpits so he can bounce his waking hours away was starting to take a toll on me. so last weekend we scooted closer to plastic wonder babyland and bought silas a doorway bouncer. he loves it because it makes a creaky spring noise, we love it because i can put it in the closet when he's not using it. but most of all it deserves a place in our home because of just how smiley & serious silas is in it. it has the same effect on him as the bathtub, he really enjoys it but he takes all that fun very seriously. but the best is when he is in it bouncing and twirling and bouncing away without a care in the world but still looking over and laughing at us every couple minutes. it's almost as if he knows how ridiculous it is to be our baby.

miss georgia has been much in demand lately, so our weekday dates have turned into weeknight rendezvous. last night eliza, dave and georgia hosted silas and i while sam had to put in a late night at the office. we feasted, we drank and the babies did what they do best: staring at each other, drooling, and general poking each other in the face. wednesday nights don't get much better.

g hanging loose, silas in his grandpa pants

g shows off her tai chi

making sure there's really teeth in there.

at breakfast on saturday morning, i proposed the idea of a weekend away to my family. sam enthusiastically agreed and silas stared at me crazy eyed with the promise of staying awake until we strapped him in the car seat. so within the hour we were packed up and on our way to madison, wisconsin. silas slept the entire drive and sam & i had a full two and a half hours of uninterrupted conversation (a minivacation in and of itself!).

after battling the st. patrick's day revelers, we sit down to some excellent sandwiches.

hiking out to UW's picnic point - there's firewood and in ground firepits just waiting for someone to show up with matches. genius!

sam considers joining the ice fishermen.

drinking some fat squirrel ale after swimming in the hotel pool.

saturday nights take on whole new levels of entertainment with a baby and a holiday inn express.

silas made it clear that he wanted to be with papa at the arboretum.

sunday morning sunlight.

stretching his legs on the boardwalk.

all in all, an excellent trip. we had sunny, beautiful weather. silas was in fantastic spirits, especially when he styled out in his swim trunks in the pool. there's nothing like a weekend in wisconsin to rejuvenate the spirit and replenish the cheese drawer in the fridge.

well, holy jalapenos. silas lee, you are five months old.
five months. what to say? what to write? oh, yes, i know. silas lee, we are exhausted.

the past month has been chock full like we never understood chock full to mean before. yep, we've been busy just hanging out around the house (exploring every room, drawer, closet, wall hanging, mirror & good spots to just laze about for awhile),

going for walks, adapting our going out clothes to the warmer weather, practicing yoga, meeting friends at the library and riding the train.

but, you've also conquered a ton of new stuff this month: we started a fitness class that more often than not is more like a personal trainer for mama. nobody shows up for class, and I get to benchpress you forty times while you laugh with Martha, the instructor, like mama trying to get in shape is just the funniest thing your little baby brain could ever imagine. you've been to the nature museum, the mca, the lincoln park zoo (twice!), & for a weekend away in wisconsin. but the big thing is the teeth.

oh my, how the teeth have changed your every day. everything you touch goes right the mouth. everything i give you comes back with teeth marks in it: your rattles, puzzle pieces, potatoes.

so, because of all these changes, you just aren't sleeping. well, okay, let me rephrase that, you are sleeping but you're fighting it with every ounce of your being and you wake up every two hours just to cry hello and either bounce with papa or eat some more. why do you wake? why? this is the question that sam and i have presented to each other the most over the past month. why? the answer: no idea. the books tell us this is why babies wake up: they get teeth or their teeth hurt or they learn a new skill or they're ready for more than just breastmilk or they are now light sleepers or a general growth spurt. sam and i say yes to all of these reasons. we note your recent rollovers from back to front and the one time you rolled from front to back and scared the bejesus out of yourself. we started giving you tastes of banana in the mornings and a spoonful or two of rice cereal at night. in typical silas fashion, you don't get overly geeked out about either, just real contemplative.

so, you wake up alot and then you go right back to bed. no biggie right? except, your mama isn't sleeping. that's right, the champion sleeper of the family has lost her touch. i lay awake waiting for you to wake up, wondering if we're messing you up with all our various attempts at parenting. you're sleeping fast asleep. your papa's snoring and i'm trying to recite complete movies from start to finish in an attempt to lull myself to sleep.

yesterday morning, i finally turned to your papa and said "we need a crib. now." so in typical sam fashion, he had a crib set up and ready to go within six hours. we laid you down and you looked around. you looked at us. you found the mirror (thanks, priya!) that we attached to the rail. you promptly flipped onto your side, grabbed the mirror with both hands and fell asleep. just like that. amen.

so there you go. i guess you're all right with all the changes. you might skip your afternoon nap for a week or two, but it certainly won't stop you from being in the best mood ever for the rest of the time. charming everyone you meet, giving the slow smirk to the deserving and the patient.

sam and i were talking the other night about the craziness of this all. i asked him if he thought we had decided to have a baby to soon and he answered quite simply, if we would have waited we wouldn't have you. and you, silas lee, are what matters.

silas has been rolling to his side lately but he's never really done the complete 180. that is until today. click here to see how mama's taste in music inspires the baby to conquer milestones.

silas wasn't about to let the month of march go without aceing that sitting up nonsense.

sam and i went out to dinner for the first time in five months courtesy of these two crazy monkeys. we forgot to take a picture of them with the baby and by the time andrea & chris left he was sleeping fast asleep not to wake again until 5am.

that's right, 5am. when i woke to silas's eh's & ah's after eight hours of pure baby sleep i was so elated that i promptly woke sam up so i could have someone to hear me say "holy sh*t, god bless the babysitters."

saturday afternoon with my loves. and this is why it's hard to go and take time to myself on the weekends. how can any errands, random wanderings or the gym compete with sitting around and staring at this?