Banging things!

Silvan has become a master at banging together the crystal heart and old spoon that hang above his changing table. He can also get his entire fist into his mouth!
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Silvan at three months

Silvan was three months old this week! This week, he was able to hold on to his first toy, boon companion green bean, and chew on it. His first tooth is starting to come out on his lower gum. He spends so much of the day singing delightedly that I call him my meadowlark.
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Wild Magick 2008

This weekend we loaded Silvan, all our magic stuff, costumes, and a million diapers, and went on our first camping trip; to Wild Magick, a celebration of the equinox at lothlorien nature sanctuary. I had just bought a vehicle, a baby-friendly jeep much different from my usual beat-up pickups, and we drove it around for the first time. We were all recovering from the flu, and Silvan began teething while we were camping. Hippie mamas gave us chilled carrots for him to gnaw.
Silvan crowed with delight to see the sun coming through the tent in the mornings. He is a natural camper. I danced barefoot around the fire in the dome with Silvan for the first time; he was rocked to sleep. We found ourselves being crotchety to the folks camped around us, who came with a keg and strobe light; it was my first time asking partiers to keep it down. We had a good time, wore ourselves out, and were happy to come back to our quiet farmhouse.
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Silvan at 11 weeks

We all packed up and headed out to the Baum family farmhouse in rural Illinois for the weekend of Silvan's 11th week. It was storming horribly, and part of a tree fell on the house, but we got to do all the things we like to do there; we had a cheeseburger at Britey's diner, and saw a movie at the theater where my grandpa was the projectionist back in the day. We found some good antiques in a new little shop. Silvan was interested in the farmhouse, and looked long and hard at the trees and horizon. He cried a lot in his carseat-- on the way home, we stopped at a grotto to the virgin and I fed him, sitting in a cave made of geodes, while Bruce stood watching over us.
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Silvan at nine weeks

Silvan seems more like a little boy, less like a baby, to me this week. We've been spending a lot of time at the local ymca; I've been trying to get myself back in shape and get some of the exercise that my work usually provides, and Silvan is getting used to the concept of water. Bruce walks around with him in the pool, showing him the patterns of light on water and introducing him to all the folks who are always asking to see him. Silvan clearly recognized himself in the ymca changing room mirror this week, and was mighty suspicious of what he saw.
Silvan and I attended a sample 'music together' class this week, and I decided it's just the thing for a musical little guy like him. Just a group of mamas singing together to their babies, with a lot of dancing and bouncing of babies. At one point we put all the babies in a circle on the floor, lying on yoga mats, and circled around them, singing, with colored flags. Silvan liked that a lot. We'll be taking these music classes until mid-Winter.
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Silvan at eight weeks

Silvan has been working on his hand-eye coordination this week, and can grab the fairy that hangs over his changing table. He has started learning to drink from a bottle, and seems to be a natural at it. At first, Bruce seemed to be the person Silvan looked to for learning about things and looking around, while I was Silvan's source of cuddling, comfort, and food. This polarization of roles seems to be evening out some; Silvan will sometimes sleep in Bruce's sling, as here, and spends a lot of time talking and looking at things with me. I've begun reading him books, and he shows some interest in the pictures.
Silvan had his two month checkup this week, and now weighs 13.5 pounds! All his eating is paying off, and he is becoming a fat, healthy baby.
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