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...

Swinging Away

We took Silas to the park for his first swing ride yesterday.




He's been a pretty fearless boy- loves being carried upside down and getting thrown up high and being "zoomed" around like an airplane then crash landing onto the bed or couch. He definitely loved the thrill of a swing too, underducks and all.

He likes posing

A couple weeks ago, Josh had Silas for the evening. To distract him long enough to finish doing dishes, Josh opened up the fridge for Silas to go at it. At first Silas seemed stunned, not quite believing this usually off limit area was his to explore.



(He had triumphed over Josh in the diaper change department too, hence the no pants and undone onesie.)

As Silas reached into the refrigerator, he was miffed to hear Josh behind him. That is until he heard the click of the camera... and turned around all smiles to strike a few poses.

Christ Has Risen!

Happy Easter everyone! We hope you had a nice weekend celebrating the death and resurrection of our Saviour.

Last Easter James, Karen and Morgan visited us. We had some relaxing dinners and lazy mornings and anticipated Smalls' upcoming debut... Quite different from the 6:30am starts to the day and busy mornings filled with diaper changes (usually 2), pancake making while carrying a refusing-to-be-put-down 10 month old in one arm, baths to make up for the missed ones from the night before, packing enough food and toys and clothes for a morning and afternoon out, dashing off to church, spending half the service in the nursery admist the organized chaos of 15 other playing toddlers and teaching Silas the difference between touching versus eating sand at a picnic lunch that now make up life with Silas.

But as we reflect back on how different the Easter's were, we are reminded about how much more we have learned about God's love over the past 10 months.

Silas has confirmed how intricately and lovingly God created us. I marvel at what Silas can now do and what more he will be able to do (soon we'll see him walk, run, jump and by the time he's 3 or 4 he'll be able to tell us zebras live in Africa!) And God has worked out these achievements in such perfect timing... so both the baby and parents could be ready for it! And it seems so smiles, coos, hugs, kisses and saying "Dad" come at just the times when parents might need the encouragement.

We thank you God for the grace and patience that you, our perfect Father, have with us as parents. We pray that one day Silas and the other young ones in our life, Ella, Malachi, Evan, Lexa, Zoey, Jasper, Naomi and Tessa, will rejoice in the gift of your Son too.

The day Josh has been Waiting for

Our friend Becky spoiled Silas with 2 pairs of Baby Vans shoes- definitely some of Josh's ultimate favourite baby gifts.







Silas can fit into the first pair now!



Thanks again, Becky!

9 months old

Silas is 9 months old today. Like other things mom have said (that are mostly always true), the past nine months have just flown by!! With pregnancy usually considered 9 months long, it's like Silas has now lived outside the womb for as long as he was inside it. (And it's also kinda neat that Silas is also 39 weeks and 3 days old today and he was 39 weeks and 3 days "old" when he was born.)

Wow, we spent our first night together nine months ago... so much has changed since then! Thankfully, I'm not as scared or apprehensive as then and we definitely understand each other a lot better now, but you're still as special as you were May 28, 2007.

We love you everyday, Silas.

Breaking Bad Habits

We have been back home in Vernon for two weeks now. Once again Silas travelled extremely well on the long flights home. Unfortunately, the transition back to life here has not been as smooth as adjusting to life in Singapore was. It took about a week for Silas to recover from his jet lag. Now we are finding the bigger issue is teaching our little guy to sleep by himself. The three of us shared a room in Singapore and Silas got very used to us being there every time he stirred or fussed during the night. He sometimes wakes up every hour now looking for us, wanting his soother, needing to be patted back to sleep. Although we understand why it's happening, it's taking its toll. We spent about a month in Singapore, so maybe it will take a month to break the habit?! We welcome any suggestions you may have...

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day!

(Yes we arrived back to Canada four days ago, but we'll update on that later.)

Thank you to Grandma Meow Meow for being Silas' Valentine's date and watching him while we went out for dinner! Especially since the end of the evening got a bit exhausting for both of you.

PS- It's blurry in the picture, but Silas somehow got a heart-shaped scratch on his forehead today.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy (Chinese) New Year everyone!

Today is the first day of this year's Chinese lunar calendar. All the festivities surrounding this time of year are quite like the Christmas time celebrations back home.

Twenty four of our family members gathered for a traditional New Year's Eve "Reunion Dinner" at Uncle Francis' house last night. We feasted on a steamboat dinner, with claypot "New Year" fish and noodle dishes to savour as well, that took Auntie Julie and her team of helpers (including Grandma Doris and our very own Joshuah Langner) about 10 hours to prepare. Auntie Julie also treated us to homemade almond and pineapple cookies and some layered cakes that took 6 hours to bake. And just like at Christmas for us, snacks also litter the coffee tables here- dried fruit, barbecued pork, dried cuttlefish, chocolates, candies and nuts are all available to ensure we gain the traditional 5kg of holiday weight.

After dinner, we watched the Singapore Chinatown countdown to midnight and fireworks display on TV and left Uncle Francis' shortly after, leaving him and a few other uncles to play and gamble at mahjong and cards until 3:00am.

This morning we awoke, dressed Silas in his New Year duds and began our visiting. (Everyone gets the first two days of Chinese New Year off work.) We stopped in at Eric's parents' flat (Uncle Stephen and Auntie Annie) where my mom is staying while in Singapore. As we will do throughout the new year season, we exchanged 2 oranges (for prosperity), with best wishes and blessings for the new year, with each elder present. And as we are married, Josh and I gave "Ang Bao" (red envelopes with money inside) to Eric's younger brothers. It was a chance for Silas to receive his first Chinese New Year ang bao's too.

Because my grandparents are no longer living, we then travelled to Uncle Thiam Hock's flat (he is my eldest uncle). We met up with my Uncle Francis and his family there. After exchanging oranges, giving (to our younger relatives) and receiving (Silas is starting to become quite interested in the red packets) ang pow's and indulging in more goodies, Josh, Silas and I headed back home for a nap and quiet time.

Tonight, my Auntie Siew Geok will welcome about 50(!) of us relatives to her house for dinner and, of course, more mahjong and cards.

Chinese New Year celebrations will continue for the next two weeks, so for Josh, Silas and I our final days in Singapore will end as they began- with lots more fun visiting and eating!

PS- Thank you to Eric and Priscilla for teaching us about the new year customs. And thank you to everyone else for being patient with us as we blundered our way through them!