Seven months with Silas

"Making the decision to have a child—it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body."

-Elizabeth Stone

 

Sickness has invaded our house for the last couple of weeks... which has pushed the monthly post farther down on my to-do list. I was determined to get it posted before the the 3rd rolls around again. So here it is... pardon any jumbled half-thoughts! And, I wrote as if it were actually September 3...

What's Silas up to?
This month Silas moved up to the big baby class at daycare. As his daycare teacher says, "For a baby who can't crawl, he sure can get around." If you leave him alone for a few minutes, he'll end up under something. He pulls himself forward with his arms, army crawl-style. But he won't go after a toy that's more than a few scoots away, even if he ends up pushing it forward and continues after it. He'll go the farthest for a cell phone screen; he'll end up doing laps around the living room floor chasing it. However if another toy gets in his path, he is totally stumped.

We celebrated Silas' 6th month birthday with his first solid foods: sweet potatoes and roasted squash. I was impressed with the baby-led weaning approach, so we've been giving Silas table food since we started. He hasn't ingested much, but we've already seen an improvement about how much he gets in his mouth and how much less he gags. Right now his favorites are green beans, plums, and corn on the cob.

I was leery about letting him eat solid foods at daycare. When his teachers bugged me about letting him eat food, I explained what we were doing at home, but I didn't expect that they would want to deal with it during the day. However, his teacher was interested in the baby-led weaning approach and has been willing to try it. Following "strict" instructions from us to guide them, Silas' teachers offered to start feeding him snacks. They were amazed how well he did with strips of banana on the first day.

Silas definitely knows his name; I love to call out his name and watch him whip his head around. Silas always looks to Mama when he's sad, but looks for Daddy when he's happy. By the end of the month, we have entered the full-fledged separation anxiety phase. He wants Mama and only Mama. Daddy is only good if Mama is right there with them.

Silas went on his first road trip this month, up to Ohio for one of our best college friend's wedding. We broke up the trip into two parts on the way there, but made the long haul back in one day. Surrounded by his favorite toys (monkey, Sophie the giraffe, a rattle, and toy cell phone), Silas rode pretty well, although on the way back, he was a little bit whinier.

By the time we got home, his eyes were goopy, his nose was running, and he had a fever over 101. At the pediatrician the next day, he was diagnosed with a double ear infection and double pinkeye. Neither the oral antibiotics nor the eye drops seemed to work very fast (although trying to wrestle a baby down to give him medicine is not the most efficient form of treatment), and he was out of daycare (Rob and I took turns out of work) for the whole week. He looked and felt pretty pitiful. Finally five days and a new antibiotic later the fever broke, and as Rob said, "we got our boy back."

From mama's perspective...
The ear infection at the end of the month did a number on us. I wrote about some of those feelings in one of the last posts. I'm really grateful that my job and workplace is flexible enough to occasionally let me work from home or bring Silas with me. As pitiful as he was, I enjoyed being home with him once again. Although my introverted self was (and still am) eager for some alone time, I also wish that he could come alongside me everyday.

This month I struggled with pumping enough milk. The day care teachers told me that they were having a hard time making three bottles stretch all day, which felt awful to hear. We've had to dig into our frozen stash a bit, I've had to squeeze in extra pumping sessions in the morning and evenings, and I'm taking fenugreek supplements three times a day. All of it makes me anxious which probably doesn't help my supply at all.

It's so weird to think that Silas is closer to a year old than to his birth. And yet I already can't really remember what it felt like to hold and cuddle a newborn.

A few of his favorites...

1. Chicco Caddy Hook On Chair :: We received this as a hand-me-down and opted to use it instead of purchasing a free-standing highchair. It's great because Silas can pull right up the table, and we can pull the fabric seat off and throw it in the wash. Unfortunately he is a very messy eater, and sometimes it's absolutely gross before we get around to laundry, which means we're considering buying something that wipes down easier, but this seems to be working pretty well.
2. Baby Einstein Rock 'N Roll Guitar :: After seeing how much my nephew loved his Baby Einstein piano, I was looking for a similar toy that plays real songs rather than kids' diddies. What a neat surprise when Aunt Callie sent us this guitar! Silas loves it! And, we love it, too because he is easily distracted by it, which is perfect when he's about to scoot into something that he's not supposed to get into.  
3. Fresh Starts Baby Food Prep Steamer :: At this point Silas is only eating a few green beans at a time, so it seems a bit over the top to pull out a huge pot to prepare his dinner. This little tool is my favorite because all it takes is 70-90 seconds in the microwave and the veggie is soft and ready for little man to eat. Although we try to feed him some of the same things that we're eating, I often supplement his plate with steamed green beans, butternut squash, carrots, and broccoli. 
4. Summer Infant Tiny Diner Portable Placemat :: I can't say enough wonderful things about the trough on this placemat. It's perfect for restaurant... saving us from cleaning up a huge mess on the floor. It also rolls up nicely to fit in the diaper bag. Unfortunately the suction cups don't work everywhere, but that hasn't caused too much trouble so far.
5. Bumkins Super Bib :: I can't say enough great things about these bibs. Baby-led weaning is definitely not for the neat freak (although who's kidding, neither are purees!), and the Super Bibs are big enough that they cover most of his front. These bibs are great because they wipe clean, and they have a pocket in front; after a meal, it's always amazing to discover what 's hiding in there.
6. Baby-Led Weaning :: This is the book that started it all. My sister let me borrow it, and the premise makes a lot of sense to me, both from a scientific/developmental and parenting perspective. If you're interested in this concept, I would also recommend the website/Instagram account Baby-Led Weaning Ideas/@blwideas; I've found some great meal ideas from her feeds