"Chucky Cheez-Its"

 I can't believe my Micah is a little boy now. He's not a baby or a toddler.  He's a boy.  He's a 4-year-old. 

On his birthday, we celebrated as a family.  We'll have a party with his Pre-K classmates in early September. 

We went to the early service at church and then went straight over to "Chucky Cheez-Its", as Micah calls it.  We spent well over 3 hours eating pizza, playing games and riding the little rides. 

 

Silas even enjoyed riding some of the little rides.

Tom and I raked in the tickets playing skeeball.

After Chuck E. Cheese we took Micah to Toys R Us.  Leading up to his birthday, Micah would tell us he wanted this toy and that toy.  Everytime a new commercial came on, he wanted whatever it was they were advertising.  So, instead of us picking out his birthday present, we let him loose to choose one toy.

And this is what he picked out.  A great big dump truck.

He's so happy to be 4!  He tells me all the time, "I'm big now.  I'm four."

Happy 4th Birthday, Micah Deen!  We love you!

My first time to have pancakes

"They taste okay, but I'm not really into this whole sticky finger situation afterward."

Micah's 4-year-old portraits

Silas- 9 Months

Tidbits About Our Chunk

(Actually, Silas is just a few days shy of being 10 months old now, but I'll do a recap)

•  Weight on 7/26/12 was 18.72 lbs.  (34%)
•  Length on 7/26/12 was 29.2 in. (84%)
• Head circumference on 7/26/12 was 18 in (73%)
• He's wearing 12-18 month clothes
• Right after his 9 month portraits Tom made me trim his hair.  His once-cute comb over was reeling in lots of  "What a pretty little girl you have." compliments.  I only took a little off the top and around his ears.  I didn't have it in me to cut much more.
• He's self-feeding more table foods although he still prefers fruits over vegetables. 
• He's learned to crawl.
• He's still nursing, but we've cut down to just twice (sometimes 3 times) a day straight from the source.  He gets one bottle of breastmilk and two of formula at school. 
• Occasionally Silas will sleep through the night.  Not more than once a week, if that. But it's nice when he does. 
• He doesn't like to swing.  At Micah's soccer practice I put him in a swing on the playground and he just quivered with fear.  (The motor in Micah's baby swing broke and we never replaced it, so he'd never been in a swing before)
• He loves when Micah or I sing "You Are My Sunshine" to him. 

Routine

Life was good.  We were adjusting well.  We'd gotten into a routine. 

Our evenings were predictable. We'd have a staggered dinner.  Kids then adults.  Then we'd play for a half hour or so.  We combined bathtime to minimize the work load and then split up for pajamas and bedtime. 

And then BAM. Silas learned to crawl.  Total game changer.  He's into everything now.  We have to deal with Micah not wanting Silas to play with his toys.  Tom and I have to worry about Silas not eating Micah's smaller toys or anything else within his reach.  And now Silas likes to flip on his belly in the bathtub in what looks like an attempt to swim.  Did I mention diaper changes are even more challenging when a brightly colored toy is in his sight? 

It's all fun and we're excited that he's mobile, but gone are the days when you set him in the floor and walk away expecting him to be right there when you get back.

He started all of this crawling a little over a week ago, but here's a video of one of his first days of mobility.


I love his style.  It's a combination of army crawl and an inch worm.  He reaches as far as he can with his arms and hands and them uses his toes to grip the floor and raise his little butt in the air.

Silas - 9 month portraits

Sprinkler Park

We took the boys to the sprinkler park nearby.  It was Silas' first trip and he had an eventful time.

 There's a little potty humor in this photo of Micah.  I caught him at the right angle.