Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's what we're thankful for:

Silas had a wonderful first Thanksgiving with family.  We hosted Silas' Aunt Jessica, Uncle Carl, Great Aunt Mary, and Great Uncle Phil.   Mimi and Uncle Mike were supposed to join, too, but ended up having to cancel on Wednesday because Mimi had the stomach flu.  Needless to say, there was lots of fun and food and attention for Silas.  We sat down for our traditional turkey dinner at around 3 p.m.  Silas had some turkey and corn on his plate, which he proceeded to hurl across the dining room.  Thank goodness for the hungry dogs who were working clean up patrol during dinner.  Silas favorite food from the day was the cranberry sauce.  Not much of a surprise.  Our little man has quite a sweet tooth.

The day after Thanksgiving was very low key and relaxing.  Silas took a nice long nap and went for a walk in the park with his Dad and Josie.  Unfortunately, while out walking, he fell face first onto a brick pillar at the park, and now has a respectable gash under his right eye.   (Just in time for Santa photos! :))  Brian said he didn't even cry.  Such a tough guy!

We'll be decorating the house for Christmas this weekend, and will post photos when we're done.  Can't wait to see Silas' reaction to the decorated Christmas tree.

Just When We Thought We Were Out of the Woods

Silas went to the ENT for another round of audiology testing today.  Unfortunately, the tests were inconclusive, and he is going to have to go through a sedated brainstem test to determine with certainty the extent of any hearing loss he may have.  Based on the results of the tests thus far, the doctor suspects that Silas might have some nerve deafness in his left ear.  While the right ear appears to be closer to normal.  The doctor told us that any hearing loss Silas has will probably be minor, but he may need a hearing aid to assist with learning and communication.  He'll undergo the procedure on December 9.  Since he'll already be under anesthesia for the test, the ENT doc decided to also replace Silas' ear tubes (again).  This time he will use "permanent" tubes, which will not fall out on their own.

Other than that, Silas is continuing to do well.  We had a couple of great nights this week where Silas slept past 6:30 a.m.  Let's hope that keeps up!

Here are a couple of new photos from Silas' daycare teachers.  Love that they do this for us.

How Far We've Come

This week, we got to spend a little time reflecting on how far we've come since April 26, 2010.  We met with our new social worker to do the first of two post-placement reports required by China.   We spent 90 minutes talking about our trip to China, and meeting Silas, and discussing his development.  It never ceases to amaze us when we think of the progress Silas is making every day.

One thing that has frustrated Silas (and Brian) for months is his inability to say "Da Da."  Of course, the palate is integral in making "d" sounds, so it's not surprising that he has had some trouble.  A few days ago, though, Silas hopped into bed with us to watch his 6AM cartoon.  He leaned over to his dad, said "DA DA" as clear as day and gave him a big squeeze.  It was heartwarming to say the least.  Since then, he has been trying to recreate the word, and we hear him practicing in his bed in the morning.  He starts with a "na na na na....nya nya nya..." and eventually gets up to "da da da."  It's adorable to hear him working at it so intently.

Here are some new photos taken by Silas' daycare teachers.  These ones of him dancing with his little friend, Sophia, just kill me.  

Following in the footsteps of his Grampy Jim.
(The hat says "MAIL.")

 Wonder what they are discussing....

Happy Halloween!!

We had a wonderful Halloween weekend.  Silas' "Aunt" Taysha and "Uncle" Aaron came to visit, and spoiled Silas rotten.  Seriously, there's almost no living with him now.  ;)  On Sunday, we had a whole crew come over for some trick or treating on our street.  It was insane.  We had 12 kids ranging in age from 6 months to 5 years, and all their parents, all trick or treating together.  So much fun!

Silas was a little nervous at first.  He wasn't sure about the costume, but he eventually got used to it.  Good thing we didn't get anything with a hat or a mask, or that probably would have been it.  He was very nervous about all the activity around initially, but after going to a few houses, he got the hang of it.

Every time someone gave him a piece of candy, he insisted on holding it in his hand.  When he got to the next house, he'd take a new piece of candy, and put the old (melted) one in the bowl.  It was hilarious.  Needless to say, this system didn't net him very much candy, but it was fun to watch, and he's too young for candy anyway.

Here are some photos from the weekend:

"No, Silas, it's not trick or trade!"

On a mission...

Spooky shot...

Has it Really Been Half a Year?

Brian and I have been sitting here marveling at how six months have passed since we first met our little "Chun-Chun" in China.  It's remarkable to us how effortlessly we have bonded with this incredible child, and transitioned into the role of parents.   Not to say we haven't had our challenges.  Remember the "sleep strike?"  The lack of sleep has probably been the hardest thing about the last six months, but we'd do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant we could be parents to the Peanut.  Not sure what we did to deserve him, but we're grateful every day--even the hard ones!

Then:

Now:

A Rare Still Moment

Caught this photo tonight of Silas sitting with his dad, eating a banana.  Adorable, right?

It's not often Silas is sitting still these days.  We observed this weekend that, basically when Silas isn't asleep or in the car seat or stroller, he's moving.  Constantly moving.  It's pretty remarkable.

Silas is still having a great time in daycare.  His teachers have reported that Silas loves sliding down the slide, practicing music time, and "no-no's"--meaning he likes to do what he's told not do.   One of his new favorite songs is the "Hokey Pokey."  We've been trying to get it on video, but Silas is very aware of the camera.  Here's a little snippet I was able to catch last weekend.  He's got the "put your right foot in" part down.  We just need to work on the rest!  Click here to see the video.

In other news, last Friday, Silas' ENT found that his ear tubes were clear!  That was a huge relief knowing that Silas is probably hearing normally now (he'll be retested in a couple of weeks), and won't need another surgery right away.  This is also great because Silas starts speech therapy this week.  He's already coming along with his speech on his own.  He recently added "yeah" to his vocabulary, which is so funny when he says it in response to a question, and he's working on "L" and "N" sounds. But we're hoping the therapy will give him the tools to make sounds he hasn't been able to figure out on his own.   We'll see!

The Many Faces of Silas

Yesterday, we took Silas back up to the corn farm for some fall-themed photos.  Unfortunately, he fell asleep in car again.  We woke him up when we got there, but much like his mom, Silas is a slow "waker-upper."  He looks a little shell-shocked in these photos, but he really did have fun.  We bought a big pumpkin and some more delicious corn on the cob!  Best corn we've had in Florida, bar none.  We thought only New England had good corn!

Of course, at bedtime, Silas was feeling very photogenic.  I pulled out the camera while he was eating his bedtime fig newtons, and he was mugging it up like crazy!  He never ceases to crack us up!