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.