Silvan at 10 Months

In late April and early May, Silvan grew by leaps and bounds. This was the month that he learned to crawl by scooting across the floor, pulling himself with his hands clasped before him. Soon after he began crawling, Silvan learned to pull himself up on the low furniture in the house. He is now able to get into all kinds of mischief, as you can see:

This month we took Silvan to Elf Fest at Lothlorien for the first time. He got to show off his fairy wings and magic star wand, and crawl around naked with forget-me-nots painted on his face. All the hippies remarked upon how pretty he was, and he had a fabulous time. He crowed with delight to see the trees through the top of the tent in the mornings. We also spent most of May in the garden, pulling Silvan in the wagon. Our May garden altar, and a little faerie:

And the boys in the garden, constructing the new woven fence to keep the chickens out:

We brought home our first peacocks this month. Hera and Argus are babies, and nervous, but they are getting used to their new home:

Everything is blooming and beautiful out here on River Road, and we're planning to have a wonderful summer.
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Silvan at Nine Months

Silvan has been getting more active, and we've had less time to keep up with recording his progress. Here are some pictures and highlights of Silvan at nine months, going into his first Spring.
Early in Silvan's ninth month, we all took a trip to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. Silvan got to sit on a bed of moss-- his first time sitting right on the ground.

Now Silvan spends much of his time in the clover, or the mud, scratching delicately at plants, rocks, and sticks with his little hands.

We have been gathering dandelions in the meadow:

And we found Silvan's first swing in an antique shop and hung it in a tree:

We were busy learning to care for our new goats and our ducks and spring chickens during this time, as well as putting up fence and planting the garden. Silvan had to spend part of his time helping us work by waiting patiently, which he is good at. Silvan has a playpen set up on the porch, where he plays with his bell and xylophone:

He also spent much of April and May sitting out on a blanket, often accompanied by Daisy, who loves and watches over him (and shares his snacks, incidentally).

This has been a magical Spring for all of us, so far. It is so joyful to watch Silvan discovering the world as it wakes up-- seeing the hummingbird come back from Mexico for the first time, and his first azure butterflies, and the new baby chicks hatched by our good hen Puff. I will always remember our first Spring with Silvan.
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Weeks 30 & 31-- Gila Monster!

Silvan has learned how to hiss like a Gila Monster! Everyone is suitably impressed and terrified when he does so.
He is getting more and more rosy-cheeked, and his new baby hair is coming in blonde.
During these weeks we holed up at home until we all got pretty antsy. Silvan started eating some finger foods, like steamed apples, and got better at crawling a few inches (if one of us pushes on his feet).
We also slept a lot in our big down comforter.

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Silvan at 29 weeks

Bruce's sister Faith came to visit over Martin Luther King day, and brought with her this wonderful bunny hat which she found in the street (apparently, run over multiple times). We had fun dressing Silvan as a bunny, and cooing.

This week we also discovered the baby playroom at the library. Silvan loves watching the little ones toddle around, and one baby even came over to play with him-- that was awesome!
We watched Obama's inauguration on the computer, and Silvan drooled happily. I feel so much better about raising Silvan in this country, now.
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Silvan at seven months

Silvan is seven months old already! He is having a fabulous Winter, and becoming more and more his own person. He loves having one of Bruce's pretty scarves draped over him, and can almost get his foot into his mouth. Silvan weighed 18 pounds in early January, and is lengthening out. He has begun reacting gleefully to Teletubbies. We spend our weekends dragging around antique shops and greenhouses.

I went back to painting houses this month, and Silvan started staying home with Yifot sometimes. They are very fond of each other, and Silvan is doing great with the new arrangement. We all can't wait for Spring, when the seeds come in the mail and the trips to the zoo begin!
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26 & 27

We continue to fall behind - as I write this, a 7-month-old Silvan kicks and gurgles on a blanket by the fire. Even so, I soldier on.









Silvan is constantly growing - he's added several consonants to his verbal repertoire, he can confidently feed himself from a bottle and, less confidently, with a spoon. He's done some sippy cup work. Also, he gets up to some pretty fancy acrobatics in his bouncy chair (courtesy of his Aunt Ann).









It occurred to me that a majority of the pictures on this blog show Silvan and me together. This merely reflect the fact that jd is quicker with the camera - in actual fact Silvan spends much more time with jd than with myself. In an effort to correct the record, I've included the following pictures.




And, just to round things out, here's a shot of Silvan with jd's brother, whom we affectionately refer to as 'Psycho Uncle Mike'.

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Stay up late

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Week 25: Silvan's first Solstice, Hannukah, and Christmas

This week, Silvan got to celebrate three different winter rituals. We're not sure he made much distinction between them: all three involved shiny wrapping paper, which he loves. We started the week with our observation of the Solstice. Silvan has been enjoying our live Solstice tree all month, and on this day we opened all our presents together as a new little family.

We also lit our first candle for Hannukah on the Solstice. We're celebrating Hannukah with Yifot this year. She taught us how to make latkes, and we ate them until we got sick. Yif has this awesome militant menorah from her folks in Israel:

When our celebrations were winding down later in the week, Bruce's parents came out from Dodge City, along with two chihuahuas and their puppies, to celebrate Christmas with us. This was their first time meeting Silvan. He was very taken with his Grandpa Zink's beard, and with his Grandma's hair and glasses.

We all spent a lot of time talking, and Bruce cooked clam chowder and roasted a duck.

Bruce's father taught us to make candles out of tangerines, and his mother taught Yif some knitting tricks.

Silvan was pleased with his toys, the lights and candles, and the attention. We are all about tired out.

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Weeks 23 and 24: Big city

Look what Silvan can do with a potato these days:

Silvan is definitely not a newborn anymore. We decided it was time to take him to the city for the first time. Bruce, Yifot, and I are all fugitive Cincinnati folks, so we loaded up and headed there for the weekend. Silvan got to experience his first hotel room, his first time waiting to cross at a light, and his first breakfast at the Proud Rooster (vicariously):

Silvan got to take a close look at a gazillion plants at the Krohn Conservatory. He also had the honor of being carried around and made much of by the storied proprietor of Sitwells Coffeehouse, our friend Lisa.
This visit also marked Silvan's first attendance at a punk basement show. Several punks commented on his hairstyle.
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Silvan at 22 Weeks

Silvan is looking like a little boy to me lately. His chin is emerging from his neck fat, giving him a pointy, pretty fox face. He has begun holding a toy in each hand, and can fish his pacifier from a pile of blocks with something like grace.
This week, we got a long-tie carrier to lug Silvan around in. We're having a lot of fun experimenting with different ways of wearing Silvan in it. He loves spending the day riding around on my stomach, watching all the totally boring things I do.
Also this week, Silvan ate his first mango. He was extremely pleased by it.
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21 Weeks: Baby's First Thanksgiving

This week, we loaded up the jeep with Silvan, Yifot, Daisy dog, and all our myriad stuff, and headed off to Missouri to have Thanksgiving with my folks. Silvan did great on his longest journey yet, provided we stopped at diners and antique shops periodically.

My folks, as usual, grabbed Silvan up and I didn't see much of him for a few days. Silvan has decided that his Grandpa is really funny (possibly, funny looking). There was a lot of hysterical laughter from Silvan, and a nice walk on the rock beach by their little house deep in the woods.
Silvan got to meet his great-grandparents, Jim and Gretchen, for the first time. He was very interested in his great-grandma, and held his great-grandpa's finger in his little hand.

I was more grateful for the things in my life this year than I can remember ever being.
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