Merry Christmas!

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone!

It is hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day go by so quick. I thought a lot about Christmas 2007 while I was pregnant last year- how Smalls would react, what Smalls would enjoy, how spoiled Smalls would get... Christmas was as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be. (Maybe a bit busier than hoped, but when isn't it?) As expected, Silas had some fun with the wrapping paper and bags, but he surprised me by being quite taken with the actual toys and presents he was given. He even seemed to figure out that a wrapped BIG box was something extra special. And he definitely got spoiled by everyone- lots of new books to read and toys with flashing lights and sounds and toys to help him with crawling. Thank you everyone for the many gifts.


We worried that Silas might get overwhelmed with all the parties and excitement and people, but our little guy thrived on it! He seemed to embrace it all.

Silas enjoyed his first taste of presents at Uncle Zach and Auntie Tanisha's Christmas Eve lunch with the rest of Josh's family. He got wired enough at the lunch that he decided to skip his afternoon nap and hung out in the nursery with Dad during the Christmas Eve church service.





After a brief nap back at home, he awoke ready for our traditional Christmas Eve European dinner with my parents and brother. And though he got long overdue for another nap, there was no way he was going to miss an opportunity to sit around the table or dive into some wrapping paper and presents!



Josh and I were excited to open our presents with Silas Christmas morning, but the little guy seemed a bit played out by then. He was not so keen to explore and get into things as the night before. By Christmas dinner time though, he was raring to go again and had a great time watching us all stay up late.


I was relieved to awake Boxing Day to a quiet, relaxed morning and get back into our normal routine. I think Silas enjoyed the slower pace too. Life is getting back to normal, but every so often it does seem like he looks at me wondering when the next party will be or where all the fun people are...

Meat Eater

For months Silas has been chewing on his fingers, everybody else's fingers, toys, paper, cups, phones, spoons... anything and everything. So for months, we have heard his Opa joke "Poor boy, please feed him- he's so hungry he's even eating his own hands! Don't worry grandson, one day they will let you have steak." Well that day has arrived! Silas started eating chicken mixed into his baby cereal last week and has since moved on to roast beef. So far he prefers the red meat. But funnily enough, Opa, his fingers and everybody else's still seem to be his most favourite thing of all to have in his mouth...

Our favourite stage yet...

Dearest Silas, your dad and I think you are in the funnest and most enjoyable phase of your life so far. The first week you were born was full of adrenaline surges and definitely memorable, and we loved your "Winston Churchill" and adorable pouty lip phases too. Now though, there are quick smiles (that involve your WHOLE face) for everyone and we can tickle and tease you to make you laugh. You are so curious about anything and everything, from new toys to new people (and continue to be oblivious to the concept of personal space) to new situations and don't want to miss a second of anything. You love being sung to, especially "Old Macdonald had a Farm," "Twinkle, twinkle Little Star," "The Wheels on the Bus," and "Jingle Bells" (with clapping). Everything from swimming and going underwater (and then spitting the gallon you swallowed out) to riding sitting in a shopping cart like a big boy is a new adventure. Even the way you throw a fit if we take away the remote or cordless phone before you've finished with it is cute. The way you demand an audience watch you sit on the floor to play with your stackable rings or jump in your Jolly Jumper makes us chuckle too. And although it's a habit we're breaking, the way you want us to hold your hands or rub your back until you fall asleep- and then how we'll return to find you up on your hands and knees howling when we leave you to cry it out, but will instantly calm down as we lay you back on your side and replace your soother- we will look back and see as endearing too. All our parent friends say it just gets better from this stage on, wow- how blessed we are!

He did it!

It's taken 6 months (and a bit of "crying it out"), but... Silas fell asleep at 10:00pm last night and did not wake for a feed until 6:30am!! Yipee!


(What woke me at 5:20am? Leaking and hugely engorged breasts. Yep, about as pleasant as it sounds.)

The Best and Worst of Times

Although Silas and I returned from our trip to Dallas over 10 days ago, I just have not felt rested enough to blog until now. (Actually I probably felt able to blog again 4 days ago, but life's getting busy with Christmas stuff now!)

Silas travelled just awesomely. He napped great during our flights and in the airports and played quite contentedly on the plane. His favourite toys during the flights: the orange juice container, ice in a cup, the safety brochure and paper napkins. There were a couple melt downs (only a couple!), so nothing like I feared. As a CBC writer seated behind us reassured me, "He's only acting his age."

Sadly, the week we spent in Dallas did not go as expected. After about 10 hours of travelling, Silas arrived at my cousins' house quite happy to meet his new relatives and play, all smiles and happy cooing.

Upon waking the next morning though, he seemed to say to me, "Uhh Mom, what the heck are we still doing here?!? Where's my crib, where's my living room with my bouncy seat and exersaucer?! I don't like this!!" He proceeded to make strange until the day before we left. If I was away from him for more than 10 minutes, he would have a cry reminiscent of a colic outburst.

He also teethed something fierce during the week- complete with sore gums, runny nose, changes in bowel movements and unstoppable drooling- though he still does not have any teeth to show for it. And Silas also awoke with a major fever his 3rd night and caught a wicked cough and cold that he's just recovered from. Needless to say he, and therefore I, did not sleep well during the week. When it wasn't the waking up every 2-3 hours disturbing my sleep, it was his Darth Vader league snoring and breathing that would make me toss and turn (and eventually need earplugs).

I definitely did not get to leave the little guy with my mom and head out for some marathon Christmas shopping sessions (we went, but thinking clearly and purposefully about what to buy was near impossible with a fussy Silas in a Baby Bjorn, the lack of sleep and my increased stress level) or long walks or bike rides or nights out with my cousins. However, our week in Dallas did reconfirm the importance of praying in ALL times about everything and as a mom to have anticipations versus expectations.

I could not have hoped for better company to spend such a trying and tough week with though! It has probably been 10 years or so since my cousins and I were all together- at that time only Wilfred was married. Now all 3 of us are married, with kids! Alvin and his wife Huey Pin, with their 2 1/2 year old son Ezra, Wilfred and Emma with their little 2 month old Timothy, my mom and Uncle Thiam Hock and Emma's father were all so understanding and supportive of the difficult time Silas and I were having. Thank you for taking Silas to give me little breaks even if it meant he would have a freak out and for the hugs and reassurances when I had my own crying episodes. You are all wonderful, patient, loving, caring people.

There here were happy times and laughs too, like when Silas watched the mahjong games and Ezra play with a train set. But I guess at this age, like his Opa says, sometimes the best/easiest place for a baby to be is at home...

A Glimpse into the Future?

Before becoming a mom, I never knew that babies were truly born with their own personalities. Silas has a friend Lexa who is 2 months older and a friend Evan who is 2 weeks older than him. We all go to the same church and so spend time hanging out and joking about how this threesome will grow up together. Lexa is a little tank and just tough! At only 8 months old, she crawls (and has been doing that for 2 months already) and pulls herself up to standing (her mom learned that about a month ago when Lexa climbed out of her crib) and she is saying words ("Hi Dad," "Bye bye," and "Boo"). She will definitely be the dominant one out of our 3 kids and will decide what game and when the 3 of them will be playing. Evan is a mellow kid. Whenever they are riding in the backseat and Silas is having another car tantrum freakout, Evan will look at him as if to say "C'mon, seriously, haven't you figured it out by now? We're in the car, we're going for a ride. They always stop eventually and let us out. Haven't you learned that it's way more pleasant if you just sit and chill?!?" When you lay Silas and Evan down on the floor together, Silas will twist his body about, crane his neck in every direction and kick his legs like crazy. Evan will just... lie there. Evan will be the easy going one out of the 3 kids, he'll probably never want to play with Lexa or Silas unless they're reading a book or doing a puzzle. We figure Silas will be the intense, up one minute and down the next, spazzy kind of kid. He will probably be high energy, with an attention span on the shorter side of things like his Dad wanting to play hide and seek and Star Wars and Transformers and do it at the waterpark and at the playground with Lego.

Last night, Lexa and her parents came over for dinner. She crawled over to Silas in his exersaucer, hauled herself up and snatched the soother right out of his mouth (you can see it in her hand). To his credit, Silas didn't spaz out though- instead he wondered how his friend had a soother that looked so similar to the one he usually sucked on. We were able to slip him another one...unfortunately Lexa eventually got a hold of that one too!

"This Too Shall Pass"

When my friend Katy spent the year after high school in Brazil, she would often repeat the quote "This too shall pass" as she dealt with homesickness and all the other challenges and adjustments that come with living away from home.

It's something I've also repeated a lot to myself since becoming a mom. Reassuring myself that yes, colic does end and no, Silas will not always have to be rocked to sleep and yes, phases of multiple night wakenings do improve.

And yes thankfully, it did not take Silas another 4 1/2 months to get back onto our preferred sleeping schedule! It seems he has adjusted to eating rice cereal (although Josh and I are not comfortable with not-just-pure-breast-milk bowel movements yet). Thank God that Silas is again sleeping around 10:00pm, with a feed between 4:00 and 5:00am and a wake up between 8:00 and 9:ooam. There's often 1 or 2 soother replacements during the night and sometimes he joins me in bed around 7:00am so I can secure another hour or so of sleep, but our little guy is definitely sleeping in longer stretches and more able to soothe himself when he stirs.

I think Silas is ready for a second helping of rice cereal during the day, but we will probably wait until December to add that in. He and I leave Sunday for Dallas, Texas to visit my cousins there for a week. We'll be sharing a room with Grandma Doris and I don't think she'd appreciate a return of multiple night wakenings. We'll try to keep things as normal as possible for little Silas.

And speaking of travelling, I would totally appreciate prayers for patience (for both me and Silas) as we spend Sunday on planes and in airports, for quiet places to calm down in (Silas doesn't do too well with crowds for too long), as easy a transition as possible into staying at a new house for a week and then readjusting to life back at home, and for Josh, me and Silas as we have not been apart so long yet. Thank you!

PS- Yes, Silas is sleeping on his side. When he was 3 weeks old, I let him sleep on his tummy. I think it helped his colic and it was the only way to get more than a 2hour stretch of sleep out of him. When he was about 3 months, he suddenly objected to that position and his since preferred side sleeping.

An End in Sight?

From right about when the books said it could start, at about 6 weeks old, Silas has been King of Spitting Up. He has left his DNA on almost every piece of furniture, article of clothing and inch of carpet in our house. We are pretty sure our house has an "Eau de Dairy" fragrance about it. But just as the books said, as Silas approaches 6 months old, the spit ups are lessening!

Since Sunday, our little boy has been regurgitating only 1-2 times after feedings- a huge improvement on the normal 6-7 lake-sized puddles he usually produces! Yesterday, he only needed 2 bibs to get through the day and over the past 3 days, he and I have only worn 1 outfit per day. I am surprised by how joyful I am at the thought that Silas' spitting up may be nearing its end, but I really am quite excited. I am also relieved we do not have to buy stocks in a bib company and that we can finally hire some carpet cleaners.

Half an hour after his morning feed and still no spit up!

With only Bib#2 at 7:30pm!

Welcome to Life Outside the Womb, Zoey!

Congratulations to Seth and Andrea on the birth of little Baby Stimpson! Welcome to parenthood, we are soo excited for and have so much faith in you. Josh and I have been checking for e-mail or facebook or blog updates almost hourly waiting for the first glimpse of their beautiful baby girl and now can't stop checking her out :) I introduced Silas to Zoey this morning... not too unexpectedly, I don't think he realized the significance of the picture I was showing him. Hmm, I'm sure when he meets her he'll be all about touching and exploring her face though. And maybe in 15 years or so he'll be even more interested in his Godparents' pretty little daughter???

Daylight Savings TIme

Usually the day I look forward to the most during the fall, I dreaded turning the clocks back 1 hour this year. It took us 4 1/2 months to achieve Silas' sleep routine of 10:00pm bedtime, 4:00am feeding and 8:30am wake up, a routine that Josh and I were pretty OK with. I figured Silas would be oblivious of daylight savings time and would start waking up around 7:00am and I would not get to enjoy sleeping in that little bit. Thankfully after only one night of sleeping at 9:00pm and waking at 7:00am, Silas was back on track.

Now if only he'll get used to eating solids and stop waking up at 1:00am, 3:30am and 6:30am... Lord, please let it not take another 4 1/2 months!

Not just Mommy's Milk anymore...

As alluded to, to keep Silas entertained while we sat around visiting with friends during our weekend in Calgary, we let him suck on different foods. By the end of the weekend, he was pretty proficient at gumming crackers, bread and grapes. I even spotted a grape peel in his poopie diaper. Needless to say, he's developed quite a taste for solid food- he now smiles big and gets excited whenever we open the fridge.

Yesterday I sat him down for a bowl of pablum. He instantly directed the spoon to his mouth and wasn't shy about eating out of the bowl or off his bib either. He even asked for seconds. I guess he's growing up and the weaning process has begun... sigh, it does make me a bit sad.

And yes, that is Silas sitting in a Bumbo on a raised surface. And yes, I did turn my back for a second in which he wriggled out and landed face first on the counter. And yes, I've learned my lesson and the Bumbo now stays on the floor and I thank God he wasn't seriously hurt. But no, I don't think the chairs need to be recalled- it was my negligent parenting!

Happy Hallowe'en!

When Silas was born, some of the first things commented were:
1) Wow, he's a boy!
2) Wow, he's got none of Karen's dark features.
3) Wow, he looks exactly like Josh!
4) Wow, he's, uhh, inherited Josh's big ears. Wow, they're, uhh, Yoda-league size.

Thus, the inspiration for our little man's first Hallowe'en costume (and ours as well since we are continually reminded our world revolves around him). But we're sure the master Jedi would agree "Cute Silas is, yes." Since we did end up having to order the costume in from the US, Silas has gotten quite used to donning the little ensemble. He basically lived in it yesterday- it's awesome how oblivious he is of his flopping green headress. We're proud to say Silas won best costume at our youth group party yesterday; yeah, we'll wait until he can at least walk before we take him house to house trick or treating gathering candy for us.

A huge thank you to the Stimpson's for hosting us last weekend in Calgary and to Baby Stimpson for letting Silas crash in her room! It really helped him stay on schedule . Congrats to Mokiee and Roxy for good behaviour around a baby, little Baby Stimpson will enjoy them immensely. Thank you also to all you friends who came by to hang out and visit- and for entertaining and holding our son, even if it meant your fingers might get dirty while pacifying him with a piece of bread or a grape or a carrot. We loved reconnecting again; thank you for continuing to include us in your community, we treasure the bond and closeness we share in Christ.

PS- Josh is dressed up as George Lucas.

5 months ago today...

At this time exactly five months ago, Josh and I were in the delievery room. I was writhing with the pains of back labour, Josh was discussing Dicaprio's accent in "Blood Diamonds" with the on-call (South African) obstetrician and we were both thinking any future children we might have would most definitely need to come by way of adoption because we sure could not going to go through this again!

But a spinal anesthetic and a pair of forceps and just 5 short, though long, hours later we welcomed Silas Trystan Nikolaus Langner (formerly known simply as "Smalls") into life outside the womb.

We have never worked harder than in the past 5 months, especially not on so little sleep! Thank you so much to family (especially Grandma Doris) and friends who helped and prayed us through Silas' colic and for your continued love, faith, encouragement, support, prayers and babysitting.

Our lives are very different now than 5 months ago, but little Silas, we would never trade for them back. I deeply understand what my friends words, "A baby is the best thing to happen to 2 people" and "Your heart now lives outside your body." It may be crazy hormones still, but as I write that I am close to bawling.

Now your colic was something else, and you're still an intense, high strung little boy, but your smiles and chatter and laughs are some of God's most beautiful creations. You have changed so much, so quickly (although 11+ weeks of colic does not necessarily fly by) and while we do not want to forget a single milestone or quirk or adventure, your dad and I just are not journallers or scrapbookers.

So, we offer this blog to you. Thank you to your godmothers for the encouragement. Besides, now we get to share you with more people too, because as your dad says "Who couldn't think that Silas is the cutest baby in the world?" Plus, it will also be a way to track the "running tab" you have with us; you currently owe me an extra 5-6 hours of sleep per night x 153 nights- as you get older, I'll accept repayment in the form of massages or chores done while I sit on the couch or we'll call it even if you just continue to wake up no more than once a night! You'll have to negotiate repayment for missed climbing, biking, camping and fishing trips with your father though.

Silas, before you, your dad was my favourite. Now you are too. We love you and we thank God for you daily.