Scene of the Crime

We had some unexpected nocturnal visitors two nights ago. Samuel woke up at 1am on Tuesday and while I was putting him back to sleep I heard a loud noise that I could not readily identify right outside his window. I naturally assumed it was the child thief that I always hear in the middle of the night coming to steal Samuel (because let's be honest, who wouldn't be lurking around in our suburban town breaking into houses specifically to steal little boys who wake up multiple times in the night. I think I read too much Roald Dahl as a child).

The unidentifiable ruckus was followed by the sound of splashing water and the clicking of plastic toys. As any reasonable person knows, child thieves do not swim in kiddy pools, so I peered out the window to see three fluffy tails sticking out of Samuel's wading pool. Baby raccoons were frolicking in the water and playing with the baby toys. They were so boisterous they managed to spread the toys halfway around the yard.

I sent Steve to scare them off. When he opened the sliding glass door, two of them scurried a couple of feet away, but the mama showed up and seemed to be about to mosey into our kitchen. Steve shut the door and left them to their devices. They became fans of Steve's footwear, and he now needs a new pair of flip flops. I regret not being awake enough to take pictures at the time but here are some before and after shots.

first words, first steps

I have been ruminating on this post for a long time. In fact, there has been some existential angst in our household regarding the topic of "firsts."

How does one define "first word"? And if you want to get really deep, what qualifies as a word? Does the sound just need to have intention, or does it need to be a real English word? Does it count if only your parents can understand you? Do you have to be able to use it on cue? What if you say it only once? What if you use that same word for many things? What if you say a word that no one can understand? What if you say it in a forest and no one can hear? What if you say them on a train, on a boat... oops, wrong story.

Likewise, when are you truly walking? Is it when you have taken your first two steps? When you can retrieve something by using walking as locomotion? When you can walk across the room? Or when you use walking as your main form of transportation? These are the difficult questions that plague Steve and I when we aren't too tired to think.

Perhaps Samuel's first word was dog. He uttered what his doting parents believe to be doggy and kitty as early as 11 months. That said, he called just about everything that he liked doggy, including me, for about two months, at which point the word disappeared from his lexicon rarely to be heard again. In the past four months, we have heard what we believe to be any number of words, including but not limited to: help, please, up, no, yes, mommy, daddy, nose, this, keys, music, raspberry (I know, we're crazy, but it was clear as day), kitty and happy. We believe his first really intentional phrase was "No no no," which actually meant, "Give that to me," because that is what I always say to him before I rip knives, scissors, ice picks and other dangerous objects out of his hands. "Nose" is currently his most consistent and reliable word, and I think we can attribute it's use to Grandpa Tom who never fails to ask Samuel where his is.

On the subject of walking, it is similarly difficult to pinpoint the "first" moment in time. Again, Samuel's first steps took place at about 11 months. He was getting to a standing position on his own even earlier than that. It wasn't until about 13 months that he started really walking, however, and within two weeks, he quit crawling altogether.

At some point, I hope to add some walking video to this post. If I ever get some talking action I will add that as well.

Amazing Park Feats: Ode to the Camera Phone

After going to the museum and zoo we stopped by the park that is right next door for the first time. It is not a great playground because there is very little shade and today was a pretty hot day, but Samuel needed some extra play time and so the gang (Kathy, Jesse, Shannon, Sophia, Eric, Lillian, Samuel and I) proceeded on to the park.

As I was sitting on the other side of the park from Samuel I saw his torso begin to disappear as his legs moved off the ground. Unbelievably, he was climbing this ladder on the play structure. Even more surprising is the fact that he was doing this with no encouragement from me, and without me in sight.

I went to make sure that he was not going to fall to his death, then promptly realized that Steve needed to see this. Whatever did we do before camera phones? I sent this picture to Steve while he sat at lunch with his coworkers. Coincidentally he was bragging about how Samuel was going to be a rock climber due to his proclivity to scale every item of furniture in the house. Perfect timing!

first teeth

People began to tell us that Samuel was teething when he was 4 months old. It only took another 9 months for his first teeth to show up. Contrary to popular belief, a baby can be cranky and drool, and NOT be teething.

I used to tell Steve that the late teeth came from his side of the family as Grandma Susan likes to recount how the dentist told her she was a liar when she told him how old Judith was and she still didn't have teeth.

However, as you can see from these pictures, it's pretty clear these teeth are all Silberman. After perusing my baby book I found that I didn't get my first teeth until 13 months, either.

Simcha Celebration

Auntie Janet and Uncle Nate hosted a party this weekend to celebrate Shana's new home and engagement, Josh's pending move to NYC to pursue his theater career, and Abby's graduate degree.

It was pretty cool to see all the little ones playing together. If you'd like to see more photos, go to our smugmug page.

a true california native

Samuel, a true Californian, has started his love of the automobile at the tender age of 14 months. While he still has no desire to sit in his car seat, he is ready to start driver's ed. In addition to steering, shifting and trying to take off the emergency brake, he can open the car door from the inside on his own.

the oregon trail

Family vacation in Sunriver, Oregon. Grandma Joan and Grandpa Lou graciously watched Samuel while the rest of us went on a rafting trip (Steve's first). The rapids were fun; I even swallowed my caution and went down a rapids (with Lauren holding my hand, and only after Lena did it too) sans boat. Samuel indulged his love of bicycles, and found a new love of swimming. All in all, we had a great time. Thanks Joan and Dad!