Memorial Day 2010

We spent our first Memorial Day in five years at home this year, and Silas had many firsts of his own!  Saturday was Silas' first trip to the beach.  That did not go very well.  He was overwhelmed by the whole environment, and just clung to Mom until we finally put him out of his misery and left, which is why we have no pictures of the day.  On Sunday, we decided to try something closer to home--the playground.  At first, Silas wasn't having any of it.  We put him in the swing, and he just screamed.  So, we took him out, and spent some time getting him to walk around and look at little things like mulch, bushes, leaves, etc...  Eventually, he calmed down enough to try the swing again and he loved it!  He would have stayed in there all day, but Mom was worried he might lose his breakfast.  :)

On Monday morning, we were visited by Brian's Aunt Mary and Uncle Phil.  Silas enjoyed showing off for them, and we had a nice lunch with them at Five Guys.  Unfortunately, Silas wouldn't sit still for any photos.  Later in the afternoon, after a nice long nap, Brian broke out the kiddie pool so we could start getting Silas acclimated to water.  He hated it at first, but again, after backing off and working up to it slowly, he eventually dropped his fears and we all had a blast! 

Happy Birthday, Brian!

Today is Brian's birthday, and Silas kicked it off by sleeping through the night again!  This is becoming a (glorious) habit.  :)
Silas and I had a morning of errands, including picking up cupcakes for Daddy's birthday celebration, and then spent the afternoon playing at home.  When Brian got home, the three of us went out to dinner.  We're so grateful that Silas is a "restaurant kid"--meaning that he loves the hustle and bustle of a restaurant, loves people watching, loves to try new foods, is easily amused by sugar packets and straws, etc.  Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures today, but here are some photos of Silas from yesterday during snack time:

He Did It!

Well, Silas exceeded our expectations by sleeping through the night last night with no wake-up calls for Mommy and Daddy.  We are so proud!

One month ago, we became a family when the orphanage assistant handed me our sweet little boy.  I can hardly believe that the kid chasing the dog through the living room right now is the same kid we met a month ago.  It's been an amazing month of joys and challenges.  We would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Sleeping Solo

Sunday marked Silas' transition to his "real" crib in his own room.  Until then, he'd been sleeping in a pack 'n play in our room.  Before that, he spent two weeks in hotel cribs with us.  So, it was probably a little intimidating for him to go from sleeping with people to being all alone in his own room.  When he was in the orphanage, Silas slept with all the other kids from his ward in one big room with the cribs all lined up end to end.  He's really done remarkably well all things considered.  We've equipped his room with an iPod of soothing music and a night light.  He does wake up several times, but can typically go back to sleep once he's been reassured by Mommy or Daddy.  Sunday night, we had wake up calls at 9:30 p.m., 11:00 p.m., 1:30 a.m., 3:30 a.m., and 5:30 a.m.  Last night was a little better with wake-ups at 12:30, 3:30, and 5:50.  Tired me is hoping we can cut that down to two tonight.  We shall see...

First Visit with Grampy

Silas enjoyed some quality time with his grandfather this weekend.  They had great fun, became fast friends, and Grampy was super helpful in putting together the cabinets for Silas' playroom.  Thanks, Dad!

He Walks!

Silas took his first steps unassisted today!  I'm so glad I had the video camera handy to capture the magic.  It's truly incredible how far he has come in four short weeks.  When we met Silas, he had very poor muscle tone, and barely had the ability to roll himself over from his back to his front.  When he would try to walk while holding the furniture, he couldn't move his right foot very well at all.  We wondered if something might be wrong neurologically.  But, it was just a lack of regular exercise.  Now, he's walking by himself.  Check it out here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQslMtnKd8Q

Feeling Better

After a couple of days on antibiotics, Silas is definitely feeling better.   He only woke once last night, and slept until almost 7:00 a.m.!  That's a big improvement over the hourly wake-up calls we were getting when his ears hurt.  His appetite has improved significantly as well.

Today, we spent a lot of the day running errands after Silas went to the lab to get his blood drawn.  I had a lot of anxiety over how the lab was going to accomplish this.  The tests the doctor ordered required them to get five vials of blood!  It's not like there are veins bulging from Silas' chubby little arm.  I had no idea how they were going to do it.  But, my worries were unfounded.  The phlebotomist used a butterfly needle and quickly found a vein.  Silas screamed bloody murder, but he was a trooper.  And once it was done, he was back to his smiley self.  I shudder to think of everything he went through before he came to us.  It must have been traumatic for him.  Hopefully, he's done being poked and prodded for a while.

Silas' grandpa is coming to visit him tomorrow!  We're very excited for them to meet.  I'm sure there will be lots of photos to come.  :)