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

my dear friend julie and her family made a surprise visit last week.

kai stays close to his papa, but sneaks a glance at me

silas warmed up to juergen in about three seconds. kai acknowledged his good judge of character by sharing lap space.

garfield park in the evening - attending the sugar from the sun opening.

silas makes a run for the azaleas.

china has spoiled our son into thinking where there is the sound of gurgling water, there will be fish.

the plants in the background are descendents of azaleas from the world's columbian exposition of 1893. now that is family photo worthy.

band practice is going to be difficult when the keyboard players live in different continents.

soaking up the silly vibes.

taking advantage of the afternoon sunlight.

the urban jungle.

silas helps out with sam's snot phobia.

giving your kid dumb hairdos is a requirement in our parenting pamphlet.

a weekend with amma puts silas in a very happy place.

pointing out the fish to papa.

the chameleon does his best silas impression.

three generations after three hours of fish.

the best possible place to be.

sam's windowsill still life. anybody want to buy a jade plant?

olivia puts up with silas, the beginning of a tradition.

guess who slept until 10am?

their harmonies might need a little work.

silas is currently late napping off an afternoon visit to the nature village. i shot this picture before he had soaked himself to the armpits with melted snow puddle stick splashing.

it was all her idea.

olivia smells spring a comin'

the alien invasion passes us by.

sarah is usually the one responsible for getting us out of the house.

silas looks for airplanes while his pants freeze.

just when i thought folding laundry was going to be our big excitement for wednesday night, silas pointed out his bike helmet in the basement. we've been emphasizing saying "yes" as of late. so when i pointed to his bicycle seat and asked him if he wanted to go for a ride, i had to take his vigorous single head nod seriously.

i turned the helmet around to face the right side before we officially set off, no worries there b-rad.

i may be all giddy because i just watched the season premiere of the bachelor or i might just be happy that silas seemed to snap out of his bummer of a fever just long enough tonight to play crazy with his papa for an hour before bed. regardless, here's just a few photos from our weekend...

friday afternoon, going, going. not even peanut noodles can keep this kid from falling asleep in his high chair. peanut noodles!

silas holds off on sweeping up just long enough to hear eliza's tale.

apparently band practice starts at the crack of saturday when the boys are home alone.

sam takes the best pictures of silas lee. i should know, i've seen thousands.

he finally hands over the damn camera.

this time around, he (silas or sam, take your pick) only found the bean mildly amusing.

if i only would have packed my babyskates.

after the homer/hopper show, my companions take in the protest.

because i try to take after my mother at least a little bit, i spend the first few moments of every morning trying to pay attention to what my instincts are telling me to do with the day. (my mother does this intuition stuff all of the time. it's why she gets out of bed in the middle of the night to look at the moon, why she shows up at our condo at seven am on a random tuesday.) i couldn't think of anything else but garfield park this morning, so after breakfast silas and i headed out.

adjusting to the humidity.

if you're thinking, "gee, he looks like he's about to go headfirst into a pile of rocks." you are one smart cookie.

this was all her idea. silas is still waiting for the placard in the rock to do something fancier.

desert house in bloom.

having a snack on the lawn.

the women and their cattle flanking the greenhouses.

toddler advancing. this was a great spot to stand and watch the city go by: hawks and seagulls overhead, the green line to the right of us, an actual train to the left and a whole group of crazy ten year old boys playing football all around us.

azaleas on the inside.

we got out in the morning just before silas's nap. it took him about fifteen minutes to walk a whole two blocks in the snowstorm. he would have been quicker but he was so fascinated by his trail on the snowy sidewalk that he had to keep stopping to inspect our prints.

the rest of the day we watched the flakes fall, played indoor hockey and made a calzone.

the view from the changing table.

baby's first self-portrait.

now that he knows how the camera works, there's no holding back his artistic expression.

because nothing says religious holiday like a backyard of fresh snow and a sunny day.

i may have enjoyed this activity a bit much.

silas sits back while his papa does all the work and his grandparents craft the snowman.

has anyone seen grandpa?

dyeing easter eggs on the kitchen counter.

the family discusses design ideas.

a bit of light reading at breakfast.

the train repairmen do some fine tuning.

silas figured out the easter egg hunt idea awful quick. if he only had bigger hands he could've kept up with his cousins.

the booty, moments before the deviling.

silas works off residual energy at the slots. and just how long does a baby have to stand around before a cocktail waitress comes around?

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Silas. Before you were born, I had no idea what kind of father I would be. I had high hopes that I would kick ass, but you never really know. I knew Katie was going to be an amazing mother. She's honest, responsible, organized and super fun. But as for me, it remained to be seen.
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You have been here for seventeen months. You can walk. You can talk. You prefer fish and buses and brooms and balloons. You really like grapes. You're just so much fun. I only get to spend about two hours with you on weekdays, but it's two hours of squealing, running, throwing, roaring, laughing and bubbles.
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I get to put you to bed every night. I get to pick you up in the ridiculous morning and calm you back to sleep. I get to take you to the park, to the diner. I look for you when I walk in the door because I know how happy you're going to be to see me. It makes my head implode.
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I am stunned by your good looks. I am envious of your openness with everyone. It takes you approximately three seconds to get comfortable with new people. It sometimes takes me three months. I love your cleverness, your memory, your fascination with precise tasks. I just really love to hang out with you.
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I think I only get to be a father as you define it, and I totally kick ass. Thanks SIlas Lee, you are excellent. papa
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almost every day of the week, there's at least one chicago institution that has free admission. on monday, it's the revamped Chicago History Museum. my previous impression of the place was that it was interesting but not quite engaging enough to bring a toddler. the renovation is incredible, silas had a blast. there are sporadically placed buttons, bright displays, dioramas with a handy ledge and lots of music stations. we could have spent the entire day there but i need to nap in the afternoon.

silas embraces all things abraham lincoln.

as good a spot as any for practicing the sign for "hot"

taking the el to the columbian exposition.

lunch break in the cafe.

silas completes his hot dog. for some reason the mustard really pissed him off.

what's the point of walking by the zoo if you don't stop in to moo at the dairy cows?