Silas at Eighteen Months (and One Day)

What can I tell you about Silas? He is little Mr. Sunshine, sweetness perrsonified. Sure, he's learned the word "no," and he's not afraid to use it, particularly when he's getting his diaper changed or being strapped into his carseat. But he also blows kisses, hugs people around their legs (includung an elderly woman at Sears -- it totally made her day), and brightly says "O-KHAY!" in response to every question.

His feet are (not so) little loaves of bread. His hair actually forms boing-boing curls in the back when it's humid outside. His eyes are bluer than blue. His thighs are chunky and oh-so-squishable. He's ticklish, particularly under his chin, and I love to hear him giggle. He reminds me of an Eloise Wilkins illustration.

He splashes in the bath with such enthusiasm that the entire floor gets soaked (and cries like his heart is breaking when it's time to get out). He's starting to bring us books to read (though his attention span isn't super long), and he laughed really hard the first time I read him Sandra Boynton's "Blue Hat, Green Hat" ("Blue hat, green hat, red hat, oops!"). When you ask him, "How big is Silas?" his arms automatically fly straight up over his head.

He is thrilled to play outside with the big kids, and so far his favorite things to do are throw and chase balls, and sit in the playhouse with Henry and the neighbor girls. He likes to hand people things -- while we're waiting for Henry to come out of school at the end of the day, he keeps himself busy picking up pebbles and giving them to all the moms.

He's getting braver with Venus, patting her occasionally but often touching her with a toy instead. But he's completely uninterested in dogs that pass by outside. (I may turn out to be the only one in the family who likes animals.)

He never really picked up any sign language, but he makes his needs known anyway. He's added a few words to his speech -- down, shoe, Daddy (dy-ee) and oh, man! He often mimics words or sounds with perfect inflection. And every time a phone rings (or he hears a noise that could be a phone ringing) he says, "Ha-woe!" So.damn.adorable.

Man, I love this age.