Ready for the Snow

Environment Canada says Vernon might receive our first snowfall of the winter today...



Good thing we are ready for it when it comes!

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween this year, I wanted to dress Silas up as a character he liked. He has quite a fascination with Elmo and Barney at the moment, but Josh adamantly refused to dress him in either of those costumes. So we decided to dress him up as a carpenter. He absolutely adored wearing overalls like Josh and having a toolbelt like Josh and sporting a bit of beard stubble like Josh- as soon as he put his overalls on, he ran to the mirror pointing to himself and shouting "Daddy!" He initially turned around in circles (like a dog chasing his tail) trying to put his hammer in its holder, but had it all figured out by the end of the night. There is a good chance you will continue to see pictures of Silas in this costume- it was the first thing he asked for when he woke up Saturday morning and he was content to wear it all day and night again.



Halloween has reminded us just how fast kids grow up. It is incredible to think how much Silas has changed since last Halloween when he was our cute little Yoda who couldn't even sit up. Now he is our rambunctious little carpenter toddler who loves to run around carrying his hammer, and can actually say the word "hammer" (he practically says a new word every day now),and adored wearing the toolbelt and overalls because he actually knows that those are what his dad wears to work.

Sigh, what will he be capable of next Halloween?! At least he still makes a pretty cute Yoda!

Botched Job

We have yet to figure out who Silas gets his fine, thin hair from. As much as I did not want to trim any of Silas' hair (it had pretty much taken him 17 of his 17 months of life to grow it as long as it was!), it was undeniable our child was getting a bad mullet coupled with some bad combovers.



And so we pulled out Josh's hair clippers. And Silas cried the whole way through his haircut. And we're still crying about the terrible cowlicks and uneven patches and scraggly long strands we seem to have cut into it. I am pretty sure next time we will pay the $10 for a professional haircut- at the rate Silas grows hair though, he might not need another cut for another 17 months!

Davison's Orchard

Davison's Orchard is a family owned orchard and farm in Vernon. Over the years they have added a little produce market, gift shop, bakery, restaurant, playground and petting zoo to their property. They grow the biggest variety of apples I know of (ever tried a "Honey Crisp" or "Mutsu"?) and make the most delicious fruit pies I have ever eaten (yum, yum for "Apple Crate Berry" ones). They have pick-your-own vegetable patches and in September you can go on apple picking rides, while in October you can ride out to the Pumpkin Patch. Though Davison's is a quaint little place, before having kids, I hardly went there as it is also quite a major tourist trap as well! Weekends are packed up there and the apples, fruit pies, vegetables and pumpkins are undeniably pricey.



However, over the past few months Davison's has become one of mine and Silas' favourite places to visit! We love meeting up there for playdates. The kids adore the playground with the half buried tractors and us moms enjoy great Chai teas or lattes. Silas is not at all shy around the animals and loves feeding the goats and donkeys and sheep. A sheep nibbled his fingers by accident once, but he promptly hit its nose in protest! He had a great time apple picking with Lauren and grabbed apples both off the trees and off the ground, tasting them all. He got quite perplexed when we came upon rows of trees that had already been emptied though!



Davison's closes for the season at the end of the month. We will surely miss it over the winter and look forward to its spring reopening.

We love the Sexton's

Josh, Silas and I just returned from visiting the Sexton's in Saskatoon. Josh and Riley met at Canadian Bible College in Regina. As a young punk first attending CBC, Josh never figured he would ever live in Saskatchewan or want to visit it after graduation. But we are so blessed by Riley and Candra's friendship and so privileged to be Gabriella's godparents (their eldest daughter), that as long as they are in Saskatchewan, we will be making appearances there too!



Silas had a fantastic weekend. Going up and down the staircase may have been his highlight, but he also could not get enough of Ella and Malachi (Eve at six months old was not quite old enough to be interesting to him, I guess). He loved following the kids around and they were wonderful about not getting frustrated as he destroyed every train track Malachi made and every tea party Ella hosted.

Riley and Candra, you are an awesome couple and an awesome couple of parents. You truly love us well. Thank you.



God reminded us this weekend that He has introduced us to some pretty cool people in our lives (among them, the Sexton's and Lauren, Seth, Andrea and Zoey who visited us at the Calgary airport during our stopover from Saskatoon to Kelowna, all our Alberta Pioneer buds and the community of supportive pals and family that has developed for us here in Vernon)- people who really know us, care for us and support us. Thank you all for a soul rejuvenating weekend.

Twins?

At the end of August, we bid a sad farewell to our dear friends Steve, Anetha and Evan Kashuba as they moved up to Prince George. We shed many tears and have missed them terribly since. Thankfully, Steve's family lives in Vernon so we know they won't be able to stay away too long.



Last weekend, Silas and I travelled up there to spend four days with them. It was awesome to reconnect with them and see them in their new surroundings. We are quite sure Silas and Evan remembered each other and each seemed to adore being around another toddler 24/7. Evan graciously shared his toys and taught Silas to pet instead of cower from Anetha's parents' cat. It warmed our hearts to tote the two of them around together again. They are so darn cute together, many people even asked us if they were twins.



Thank you Kashuba's and Monkman's for hosting us and can't wait to see you again soon!

Only a matter of time...

Karen the Klutz has struck again. We headed out early this morning on the boat with a couple friends. I was third in to the water, the light morning drizzle had subsided, the sun was peeking out, the water calm- no better time for me to improve at wakeskating. I completed a 180, went in and out of the wake a few times, but as I tried to link up two 180's, I fell. I actually thought "Oh, oh, I've never fallen off the front of the board before... hope it doesn't hit me when I surface..." But unfortunately, here I am, three stitches above my right eyebrow later:

Days with Dad

My current work schedule has me working every other weekend, which means every other Saturday and Sunday Silas hangs one-on-one with Josh. They relax from the normal routine and sleep in (which more consists of Josh trying to get a bit more sleep by having Silas run around our bedroom fetching his hats or socks or playing with the phone), visit friends (Josh says it's a great technique to avoid having to entertain Silas himself) and get dirty playing in the garage or inside Josh's truck. They have a great time bonding together.

Josh is the first to admit the weekends can sometimes get chaotic. When I called home Saturday he answered, "Uhh, how do you do this?! Breakfast is all over the floor, there's clothes and toys everywhere, neither of us are fully dressed, it's pretty much time for lunch and I am quite sure Silas has a poopy diaper."

The day ended perfectly too: I arrived home from work to find Josh exhausted on the couch (clothes and toys everywhere) and to hear Silas fussing in his room though he should have been napping. I peeked in on Silas and found him standing up naked in his crib with the diaper he had pulled off laying in the middle of the room. Just as Josh arrived to survey this newest chaos, Silas promptly peed all over his mattress. Nothing to do but laugh!

What else has Silas been up to?

With going back to work and the busyness of summer trips to the beach, visits to the park and attending weddings, I have just not been able to keep up with blogging. But I have really missed commenting on our family's quirks and changes as Silas grows.



I think Josh and I are almost ready to leave "baby" behind and move on to calling Silas a "toddler." A hard transition though! It is, however, undeniable that he toddles everywhere, loves to climb, likes to babble and is starting to demand instead of request- with subsequent mini head-thrown-back, foot-stomping, back-arched tantrums if those demands are denied. Silas can also point to his nose, toes, tummy, hands and feet. We are working on eyes and ears, but he most definitely knows where his "weiner" is too. He has discovered animal noises as well and can "moo," "bah", "sniff" (coupled with nose scrunching to represent a mouse ) and "neigh" (although it admittedly sounds more like a Morgan Hawkes cackle). Silas continues to be a tough kid who barely fusses if he slips off dad's skateboard or trips onto the ground or slips facefirst into the lake or his baby pool . He obviously can't get enough of the water hose either!

A Summer of Weddings and Boating

Belated congrats to Michael and Crystal who married at the end of July and, more timely, congrats to Simone and Johnny who had a Canadian wedding ceremony and reception last weekend (they got married in Austria last March)! And that brings us to the end of the six weddings we attended this summer. While we doubt Silas will miss getting dressed up and shushed quiet for the weddings, it was a pleasure to be at each one. We delight in the commitments our friends have vowed to.




We have also had a blast boating this summer. We bought a Malibu 180, a "family run around" boat back in July and have relished the fun of living on the lake with a boat. It is awesome inviting friends over before work or on the weekend for a morning ski (or wakeboard or wakeskate) and hitting up water calmer than glass. Or going out for a quick rip after dinner. Or tossing my brother or Austrian niece around on the tube like rag dolls. And who could ever forget Seth Stimpson being dragged as a human "torpedo"? I've learned to 180 on the wakeskateboard, but Josh with his ollies and frontside/backside 180s and 360s in and over the wake is the one to be admired.



As for Silas, he's a pretty big fan of the boat too. He gets pumped up when we reach for his lifejacket. He jumps wild with excitement on the driver's seat as we get going and he "helps" Dad steer. Every so often the boat's vibrations will lull him to sleep and he will pass out for a nap, but he is usually happiest when yelling at us for having our hands on his steering wheel and when attempting to access that elusive throttle.

No Longer in his 20's

Well, Josh turned 30 yesterday! Going to bed the night before his birthday, he moaned "This is the last night of my twenties, wouldn't it be really old of me if I didn't stay up all night or something?" Josh, if you are even half as fun, charming, energetic, adventurous and loving in your thirties as you've been in your twenties, you will never be in danger of being called "old." You are mine and Silas' most favourite person in the world. We love you and are so blessed by you. Happy Birthday!

PS- Enjoy your new boat!!

13 Months Old Already?!?

Unbelievable... but a whole month has passed since Silas' first birthday. We had a ton of friends and family join us to celebrate the day. Thank you! Auntie Lauren even came up from Calgary and kept me sane as we prepared chicken wings and salads and veggies and fruit and cupcakes for the party. Not so easy as we were also managing a Silas who literally decided to ditch crawling in favour of walking full-time the morning of his party, but who also somehow grew just tall enough overnight to no longer be able to pass under the kitchen island where we working without clipping hishead. While we offered Silas a special cupcake at the party, this birthday boy was definitely more content to munch on a chicken wing or a corn on the cob.



The next weekend the Stimpson's dropped in for a visit on their way to Victoria and, on June 7, helped Josh and I celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. We hired Grandad Brian (Josh's dad) to "babysit" Silas and Zoey (we had him arrive after the kids were asleep) and hit up the town. A big thanks to Grandad as I was thrilled for a date sans kids.



The following weekend we met up with the Stimpson's again, on the ferry, to travel over to Vancouver Island to attend James and Karen's beautiful wedding. We were so happy to go out to celebrate their marriage. Silas travelled just wonderfully. (A far easier trip than last summer when we brought 3 month old Silas to Josh's Aunt Dusty's 40th birthday in Duncan. We spent much of that weekend in the car listening to baby lullaby CD's over and over trying to keep his crying at bay.) This trip we stayed with Dean and Karen, Josh's aunt and uncle, played with Jonah, their 4 month old son, and cruised around the island hanging with our awesome Alberta crowd of friends and enjoying all the wedding festivities. Silas tolerated it all well, was completely mesmerized by a clarinet player at the wedding reception and delighted in tasting the salty ocean rocks at the beach. When we did arrive back in Vernon, he was however elated to be home and bounded from room to room all smiles as if to say "Oh, I recognize this couch and this bed and this kitchen and... look, it's my truck and my crib too!"




We've spent the last two weekends at weddings as well and extend our congratulations to Katy and Toby and Jeff and Cheryl. May your lives and marriages be blessed with joy. Enjoy this summer as newlyweds. Like us, I'm sure you're looking forward to relaxing at the beach and in the lake soon- but hmmm, maybe the beach with a 13 month old toddler who loves to eat sand and has no fear of deep water won't be as chill as I think... Happy Summer's to everyone anyway!

Happy 1st Birthday Silas Trystan Nikolaus Langner!

Return to Cougar Canyon

On this night last year, Josh, Lauren and I hiked into Cougar Canyon. As they finished their last rock climb, I started the trek back up to the car. I stopped to pee and suddenly had to exclaim "I'm not even kidding guys, but my water just broke!!"



With that, Josh zoomed down the rock face and we "dashed" to the car (as much as you can dash when you're 39 weeks pregnant, going into labour and having to stop about every 20 feet to let more water break).



Josh, Silas and I hiked back out to Cougar Canyon last night to reminisce. Smalls has developed from a little fetus kicking around my womb to an almost one year old Silas who can just about kick a ball walking around. That is truly one of God's miracles. Josh and I had no idea how completely helpless and dependent a newborn really is when born- they cannot roll, they can barely turn their head to the side, they are stuck in whatever position you place them in. (And to think Jesus became that for us...)



What a year and what a ride it has been... thank you, God.

Watermelon Junkie

So, Silas is a big fan of watermelon too...

Corn Addict

A couple weeks ago we had steak, corn and potatoes for dinner. Silas went MAD over the corn. Tantrums if we tried to take a cob away.

I wasn't sure if Silas would remember, so I tried to keep him from seeing the corn we were having tonight until after his rice and broccoli and potatoes. He was quite antsy with during dinner though, I swear he must have spied the corn in the veggie steamer!

He once again went to town when we handed one cob and then another over. What a two-fister!

Almost a Walker

At eleven months old Silas started taking steps. He would suddenly be standing without holding on (stunning both us and himself). And then he started attempting the couch to coffee table hands free. From those first couple of independent steps he can now walk about 15 feet, but is not a "walker" yet. Crawling's still faster for Silas and wins out if time is of the essence- like dashing for the opened fridge or garbage can under the sink.

One year later...

One year ago tonight, I was very excited. It was the night before my last shift at work, before the start of my maternity leave.



Tonight, however, is the last night of my mat leave. Impossible to believe a whole year has passed! Grandma Doris and Opa have graciously agreed to watch Silas during the week for us. Knowing how well he did with them while we were in Hawaii really puts my mind at ease, but I still feel bad having another secret bulldozer we are going to hit him with tomorrow.



Just after Silas was born, I almost craved work because life with a newborn was definitely harder than any physio work I had ever done. Thank God it is no longer so. I do not exactly want to return to work, but can accept it. Silas has a comfortable day and night routine, he eats well, has spent days away from us and sleeps through the night. It is also nice to feel okay about knowing life could be a bit rocky as we all get used to me working. Thank God for this peace (or perhaps obliviousness?) we have. We pray Silas will continue to thrive, we are thankful for the many who have gone before us and we pray I will be an asset at work and home.

Reunited!

We returned to Vernon yesterday after an awesome time in Hawaii. We had so much fun surfing and snorkeling and surfing and not worrying about baby naps, snacks or bedtimes and surfing and hiking and surfing and touring and surfing and watching a sunrise from a dormant volcano and surfing.





But we were only able to enjoy ourselves so much because Silas was also having a great time with Grandma Doris! Our little guy did not freak out when he woke up and we were gone. In fact, Grandma says he only seemed to miss us a couple times during the week. Otherwise, Silas got spoiled just as any grandson should- staying up late, sleeping in late, falling asleep beside Grandma on the couch, playing with paper towel rolls (because as Opa says "It's a cheap way to buy a couple minutes of peace!"), learning adorable new gestures and words and being played with all day! What a blessing that everything went so well!





Silas was nervous when he met us at the airport. We had prepared ourselves for this and so didn't completely fall apart as he clung to Grandma Doris. He did quickly warm back up to us, although did lodge the occasional protests like "Uh, I should be eating dinner at Grandma and Opa's right now!" or "Oh no, I don't fall asleep on my own any more..." We are pretty much back into our routine though and once again having a ton of fun with our little man.

Goodbye Silas...

Back at the beginning of March, our good friends Steve and Anetha Kashuba (Evan's parents) invited us to join them on a Hawaii vacation in early May. A vacation of with just the 4 of us- no babies! Steve's aunt had given them a Time Share to use to cover accomodations and by flying down on Aeromiles, Josh and I knew we would likely never have another chance to travel to Hawaii so cheaply. Also having just survived readjusting Silas to life in Canada, we were feeling quite ready for a break (and yes, feeling like we even might have deserved one!) With Grandma Doris generously agreeing to babysit Silas while we were away, we excitedly planned our 6 day getaway.



But sigh, the day has arrived for us to leave our little boy! Silas has gotten to be so much fun in the past month and with cries that are much easier to understand and now that he totally sleeps through the night and naps well, he's a real joy to be around! Could you leave a kid who gets such a kick out of hanging in his dad's truck?

It is very hard to leave him this morning. For the past week, everytime he smiles or giggles with us, I feel a pang of guilt. We knew we were about to hit him with a huge bulldozer of a change to life as he knows it, but he has been completely oblivious. We had to sneak out early this morning before he awoke to catch our plane and my heart aches to think how he will cry when neither Josh nor I are there to greet him at 6:30am. Let's hope his excitement at getting to see Grandma Doris so early in the day, wins out. I hate to think of him searching the rooms in our house for us. (Grandma Doris, you are taking on so much for us- thank you, thank you again.)




Little Silas, we love you endlessly and will miss you constantly. But you have already grown up so fast and we are pretty sure that you are ready for this step on the journey toward independence (sob, sob). You love your Opa and Grandma Doris and all the visitors who come our way, we know they will all take such loving care of you. We pray that, as people say, this time apart will be harder on us than you and that it will help us to be better, more rested and rejuvenated parents. We will feel lost without you (can we really go into a room without babyproofing it?) but we promise we'll be hugging and kissing and tickling you again soon. Bye, bye little one.

PS- Please do not take your first steps while we are away!

At the Playground

Now that spring-like weather is back again, let me tell you about a day Silas and I enjoyed two weeks ago (and one we're looking forward to doing again soon).
After our Mother Goose singing program, we headed off to the park with Lexa, Evan and their moms.



It didn't take Silas long to get down and dirty in the sand.



He also enjoyed zooming down the tunnel away from Mom. Evan and Lexa were not big fans, but who can blame them when crazy Silas goes clambering all up and over them?



As always, Silas enjoyed the swings (but let me apologize again to Lexa for scaring her with a swing ride at Silas speed!) and trying to figure out how to go UP the slide too.


Just when he thought he couldn't possibly have more fun, Silas met the ducks of Polson Park. As expected, I spent most of the time keeping Silas out of the water.

Calgary is too cold!

We spent last weekend in Calgary celebrating the marriage of Russ and Karen Watts. I laughed, thinking "Good 'ol Calgary," when we heard it would unfortunately be snowing the whole weekend- but the -21 degree windchills and constantly blowing snow and dead of winter road and driving conditions were horrible! Sure, it was chillier than normal when we landed back in Kelowna, but the hills were green, the sun shining and there wasn't any snow on the ground. Seriously, what's keeping you all out there, move here!



(Thank you Grandma Doris for once again sparing Silas a long card ride and treating all of us with flights to Calgary.)

Thank you to the Stimpson's for hosting us during our weekend. Thanks for the fun swim and not bedgrudging the trail of toys, clothes, remotes, phones, opened cupboards and food scraps that Silas seems to forever leave in his wake. Or the forgotten purses and carseats too! (And kudos to Mokiee for not getting frustrated with a baby who would swipe and want to play, but cry as soon as she moved toward him.) It was wonderful to catch up with you and all the rest of our former Calgary crew. We definitely miss being around you all.



Last weekend in Calgary reminded me we've come a long way with our formerly colicky little boy. We first travelled to Calgary with Silas when he was 6 weeks old. We were terrified of EVERTYHING then- travelling to and from airports with him, being "trapped" on a plane for a WHOLE hour with him, being without a bouncing exercise ball. It was so nice to feel calm before and during this last trip. Thank you God that parenting really does get easier!

Silas and Grizzlor

Up until a few weeks ago, Silas was only interested in soft, chewy plastic toys. No interest at all in plush toys or stuffed animals. Around the time we started letting him cry himself to sleep, it became obvious he wanted some sort of toy to cuddle. Initially he only liked to hold a Robeez shoe, but then he became quite fond of a teddy bear. Or as Josh says, "The bear's name is Grizzlor- it's not a teddy bear, it's a grizzly bear he has to tame!" Nowadays wherever Silas the Mighty is, Grizzlor is likely close by. A bit of an homage to Calvin and Hobbes we guess.

You know you're a parent when...

When we were about 10 months pregnant, Josh and I were given this "Pop'n Sing Apple" toy for Smalls. After testing it out and hearing the jarring melodies, we were pretty sure we'd need to save the toy for trips to Grandma's house. But as diaper changes have become quite the wrestling match, I'm always trying to distract Silas with toys. I reluctantly reached for the dreaded apple the other day, bracing myself for the ear splitting music I remembered. You know how I know we're parents- we didn't even flinch when "Pop Goes the Weasel" played. This toy seemed no different from the others Silas has been playing with. I guess we no longer have those pre-baby "virgin" ears.

Is this Normal?

Back at the beginning of March, Silas went through a major 5 day teething bout. The works: snotty nose, drooling lips, bright red cheeks, a mouth and entire head that felt as hot as fire and wanting only to be held and cuddled (which is highly unusual for our active little guy).

Of course we did not see a glimpse of his new left upper tooth until about 2-3 weeks later. (We agree with the experts who say the most painful part of teething seems to be new teeth moving through the gums rather than breaking out of them.) The teething bout was so intense, we hoped Silas would cut more than just the one and assumed he would cut his top front teeth (his central incisors)at the same time like he did with the bottom two.

Silas' top front left tooth is now almost visible whenever he smiles and he has cut two more teeth... his top left eye tooth (upper lateral incisor) and his bottom left lateral incisor tooth! We're quite sure it's nothing to worry about yet, but do wonder what he's got against growing teeth on the right side of his mouth!

Where's Silas?

Hmmm, if we're wondering where Silas may have disappeared to, there's a good chance we'll find him here...