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

ah, silas lee. sixteen was the month that you took everything i had previously expected from a raising a baby and totally blew it out of the water.

you are an absolute joy to spend our days with. you took one of our wedding vows and adapted it into a dominating facet of your personality. how ridiculous is that?

and its completely not just us. one of my favorite parts of traveling with you this past month was taking you all over the world to meet people that probably never had a chance to encounter someone like you. and it was if you were so completely psyched to meet all of them too. the screaming teenagers, the trembling boys, the squishy grandmas who tugged your pant legs, the stern soldiers who squatted next to you while you played in the dirt, and the sticky faced toddlers who happily shared their lunches, you were just as intrigued by all of them. so, thank god, that it was the best idea ever to put you on a plane to asia.

thank you for proving us totally wrong when we decided to put no crazy expectations on the trip. everyday was exactly how it should of been. after sixteen months, we should have known that being the three of us for fifteen days uninterrupted would be fantastic.

this month, you really started to dance, you started to speak intelligibly (at least to us), you continued entertaining yourself while walking and looking for sticks to pick up and sidewalk cracks to dig into. and you started to look a hell of a lot more like your papa.

you've got this crazy gait (i think it resembles an overweight drag queen) and when you're walking with purpose you've always got one pointy finger extended as if at the ready to indicate any possible object of interest. when you find something interesting and you know there are people around you really, really want to make sure everyone else has a chance to check it out. at the aquarium, you'll spend half the time with your fingers touching the glass and the rest of your body turned around trying to get the person behind you to look at the crazy specimen.

so, once again, silas lee, it is really just the best thing ever to have you around. i am proud that you are sam's and my contribution to our family lineage. you have to be strong and unique to keep up with my side of the tree and i know you have it in you. all that and damn charming too. that must come from your paternal ancestors.

oh and let's not forget about the five more teeth.

seriously, kid, where do you find all the time to get so much done?