Monday, March 29, 2010

1st Birthday

Our littlest boy turned one yesterday!


Yesterday morning I was remembering Silas' birth day. I remember being a week overdue. I remember that I was hoping to get induced that very day but ended up going in early after my water broke. I remember Erik & I both having a terrible cold (in fact, Erik was so sick that our doctor delivered Silas and then gave Erik a quick check-up right there in the hospital room). I remember how I wasn't surprised that Silas was a boy. I remember the nurses and doctor commending me for such a quick delivery (as if I had a choice in the matter, right?) I remember 2 luxurious nights in that beautiful hospital room while my Mom looked after the big brother & sister at home.

And, yes, I remember the pain. But, all of it together is such an incredibly good memory.


Silas is a contented kid for the most part. Now that he's on the move he's like a little man on a mission. There are no limits to what the kid can do now! I've been quite a bit more laid back about what I let him get into - maybe too much so. I let him happily sort through this craft bin for almost 2o minutes before realizing that a lid hadn't been screwed on tight to one of the paints. I'm still not sure how he didn't manage to get any on himself!


Silas loves to giggle and get in our jokes.
And he's super-duper ticklish.


And Silas is the loudest of our babies. No joke. I think he feels the need to have his voice heard above the other chaos in the house. If he didn't scream, we probably wouldn't ever feed him.
Or play with him.
So, I guess he's gotta get our attention somehow :)


Unfortunately he's been on a bit of a food strike lately. The staple foods that Micah and Keziah loved are just not working for him. Like fruit? Not a huge fan. I can usually get him to eat peanut-butter on bread, yogurt, sweet potatoes and his baby cereal. So, we've got the 4 food groups basically covered - but without a lot of wiggle room. He's on a 1/2 homo milk-1/2 formula bottle now and I'll continue to increase the milk and decrease the formula. Seems to be working so far.

I found him like this after he had been shaking his milk bottle...


As for other milestones and points of interest:
~ He's been sleeping 11-12 hour nights for a long time now, but usually has one token wake-up every night which is taken care of by a quick re-insertion of the soother.
~ He's been on 1 nap/day for the last couple of weeks. After several days of refusing his afternoon nap, I intentionally started keeping him up all morning. So far it's working - and I'm liking the extra freedom to go out in the mornings with the kids :)
~ His favourite past-times are watching Baby Mozart, jumping in his jolly jumper, chewing on straps and buckles, and playing with those little springy door stop things.
~ He has 8 teeth total and seems to be working on more.
~ I have no idea what he weighs, but tomorrow is his 12-month check-up. I'm curious to see how he compares to his siblings at this age.


We celebrated Silas' birthday last night during our weekly Toews family supper. The supper was also a farewell for Rosanna who is leaving at the end of this week for a 3 month mission trip.

It was pretty low key, but I made birthday cupcakes for dessert. I used a trick I learned from Kelly to dip my cupcakes in the icing instead of spreading it. I heated up the (store bought) icing in the microwave for about 10 seconds and stirred in some food colouring. I had made the cupcakes the day before and put them in the freezer. So, while they were still frozen, I dipped them in the warm liquid-y icing and swirled them just a bit to get an even coating. It worked great! Some of my cupcakes started to thaw and then it didn't work as well, so keeping them frozen is the key!

Maybe this isn't a new trick to all of you, but it was new to me and I'll never go back to regular spreading again :)

Then I decorated them with some white sprinkles and very cute Easter m&m's. Here are the miniature ones:


And the grown-up ones:


Silas was a big fan.


However, I learned that this wasn't his first cupcake. Erik confessed to feeding him a whole one the day before :P


"Oh, I think there's just a little more..."


Pure satisfaction.


Then it was time for a few presents. Cousin Caleb was eager to help Silas find his new Zebra.


A little bit stunned by all the action, I think.


We love you Siley-bear!

12 comments:

Bonnie said...

He is truly an "eat'em up, ridiculously, absolutely, completely adorable" kid! You must smooch those darling cheeks all day long :)

Happy Birthday little Silas!

Lindsay said...

he is SO cute :)

Anonymous said...

happy belated birthday, silas!

wow, one year! and he's one of a kind....perfect little brother i guess:)

have a great new year to come, big boy!

leslie

Wenona said...

Wow, 1 year old! Such a fun age! I love his cheeks - they look so kissable!
And GREAT idea for icing cupcakes - I'm totally going to keep that in mind for the future! Wow! Totally smart!

Kerri Kincaid said...

He is just sooo cute! Love the one of everyone on the couch and he is giggling! Makes me even more excited for another little boy in our family!
Happy Birthday, Silas!

Kathy's corner said...

Oh, I just can't believe how much he has grown. what a cutie. Give him a big hug from Granny.

kelly ens said...

super cute pictures :) amazing that he's already one!!!
i'm so glad the cupcake icing trick worked well for you. i know what you mean about the ones that start thawing though...i hope i remember that next time, and try to do them in a couple of batches while the others remain in the freezer. they sure look yummy!

KDees said...

What a cutie! Great recollection of his birth...it's amazing how many of those details remain so fresh in our minds!

Trev and Rebekah said...

You make great cupcakes!

Happy 1st birthday Silas!

The Keowns said...

happy birthday!
yep...something about the third kid, they are the loudest!

Anonymous said...

Oh. My. Goodness. Is he really ONE already?! Where is the time going?! Yikes! :) He's totally adorable, just like his big brother and sister!

Janelle said...

i did NOT know that trick, but i will now use it!
so glad you had a great b'day little cutie!!