Easter

We had a very special First Easter with Silas. He was so excited to find his eggs and put them in his basket! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!

Celebrating the warm weather!

We've been having very warm days this April! It's been in the 90's most afternoons.

Silas really enjoyed crawling around in his splash pool!

Splashing in the pool is just as fun as splashing in the bathtub!

Mommy and Silas play together in the water

Mommy splashes Silas!

Although he looks like he's frowning here, he absolutely loved the water!

Silas splashes himself!

Sad day for the Willingham family

This weekend has be long, over whelming, and sad.


Today we said good-bye to our puppy pal, Asher.

Asher has been getting more and more aggressive in the last few months. We noticed changes in him when I fell pregnant with Silas in 2009. He was glued to my side until Silas was born. When we brought Silas home, Asher was so protective of him. Thing were good. But then there were more changes. It started with barking at strangers, then charging people we know and then suddenly snapping at people. We started separating him from people who came over, but then he snapped at Josh. Then this morning while Josh was on the couch with his mom drinking coffee, Asher bit Silas.

It was unprovoked. Silas was sitting next to Asher and was patting him gently and then out of the blue he turned around and snapped. Josh was watching the two of them and said it was like any other time Silas would pet him. This time Asher turn and snapped in his face, his teeth grazing Silas' face.

No skin was broken and Silas is physically alright, but afraid to go near Asher.

I was upstairs when it happened. I heard Asher bark and then Silas cry and Josh yelling. He came up a few moments latter and told me Asher had bit my son.

I ran down stairs and collected Silas from Donna, my MIL, and called my dad, who was a dog handler in the military. His suggestion was to contact the shelter we adopted Asher from and seek assistance, as his behavior was out of characteristic for a Lab.

I knew the only option was to find him another home. I couldn't have an animal in the house that I couldn't trust with my child. Although I knew and still know that this was the right decision, it didn't make it easier for me. We've had Asher for almost four years. He is just as much apart of our family as any other member, but I can't keep an animal that bites or is aggressive with children.

Fortunately the shelter we adopted him from is No Kill and when I explained what had happened they told us that the safest situation was to surrender him to the shelter.

Mema came over to pick up Silas because my MIL was feeling unwell. I cried on my mom's shoulder when she got home. I cried into Josh's chest. I cried the entire time I gathered Asher's belongings. His pet bed, bowls, toys, food, and treats. I cried in the shower as I cleaned myself up. Asher appeared so remorseful. He walked with his tail between his legs and hung his head low. I cried as we loaded him and his things into the car. I cried all the way to the shelter. I cried as we filled out paperwork and when a shelter employee came in to interview us about Asher.

They let us spend some time alone with him as they set up a kennel for him. We hugged him and shook hands and let him give us kisses. When the employee returned for him she assured us they would find him a good home and would even ask his new family to give us occasional updates.

As we left Asher tried to follow us and a new bout of crying started. I feel awful that we left him, but what were we suppose to do?

I hope his new family contacts us. He really is a good dog, just not good for little kiddos.

Good bye pal.

I month shy of a year

Silas is 11 months old today!

 He doesn't believe it either.

 But then I told him he was going to be a year old next month and he was going to have a big dinosaur party and he got very excited!

Then he started waving good bye. This is something new he's learned just recently, and he doesn't quite know which hand he likes to wave with better.



We tried to get him to pose some more, but he was pretty much done.

Oh and he cut a second tooth!!

Hanging out at Bubby and Honey's

 Silas gets to hang out at Bubby and Honey's house Wednesday - Friday will Mommy goes to work.

Since I had the camera with me from the trip to the DBG, I took a few of Silas before I left for work.

Bubby and Honey got Silas his very own laptop to play with!

He also has a really cool ball that is much smaller than his red one, and easier to play with!

I think he enjoys beating on the screen door more than anything else though!

And crawling in circles on the floor!

Silas loves hanging out at Honey and Bubby's house.

Silas at the Botanical Garden

 Silas and I have been trying to go places to walk around early in the mornings. This week we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens.

 We went with our good friend Nikki! Silas loves Nikki. She tries to come with us when we go out because she like to walk around too!

 We had a really good time in the butterfly exhibit. We spent a lot of time looking at all of the butterflies. Silas was so fascinated by all the brilliant colors!

 There were a lot of people in the butterfly enclosure so it was a little crowded. Silas has the tolerance for large crowds like his mom. Not much.

 Silas makes a beautiful butterfly!

 So does Nikki!

 I don't know about me though! I look awful squinty! The sun was out in full force!

This little guy was such a show off. Silas was laughing at him as he posed for us!

We had a good time and are glad we have a membership. We are looking forward to going again soon!

Silas at the park

 We went to Rio Vista park in Peoria! The weather was beautiful, but chilly. It had rained the day before and cooled the air down quite a bit.

 The Sand was perfect for digging in and crawling around and "walking" barefoot.

 We even took his big red ball and rolled it around. We made a few friends who wanted to play too.

 After a while, we decided to check out the equipment, but we prefered to crawl on the spongey play area.

We had a good time at the park. We went down a few slides and swung together on one of the big kid swings. I can't wait until he is walking on his own and able to use the equipment so I can snap pictures of him playing!

10 months old!

Today Silas is 10 months old!

Why does it seem like this year is slipping from my fingers? Silas is such a big boy now. He is crawling up a storm and going faster than I ever thought he'd be able to. His babbling has increased and he constantly has something to say! It sounds like he is saying several words already, but we know it's just the way his sounds form and they have no meaning yet. I know that once he really calls me Mama and means it, I'll probably cry.

His favorite toys right now are balls. He has several that he plays with including large ping pong type balls and nubby sensory ones. He also likes to play with the cats' ball toys that have bells in them. He zooms across the room for them and gets a kick out of it when he throws them!

I wonder if he'll start walking before his first birthday. He is pulling himself on everything and he can also stand unassisted for nearly half a minute until he realizes what he is doing and then he falls down.

He takes his hair brushing routine very seriously!

Who's a big boy? Me! That's who!

 

Silas loves the wheels on his truck!

O.k. Mom and Dad. We're done here!





Longer out than in

 

This was me 41 weeks and 2 days ago, when Silas was still in the Womb. 

This is Silas, 41 weeks and 2 days ago; just minutes old!

Silas has officially been outside of the womb longer than he was in!

I can hardly believe what a difference 41 weeks makes.

When Silas was born he was 8lbs 7oz and 20.5 inch long.

Now he 9 months, 1 week and 5 days old. He is 20lbs 8oz and 29.25 inches long.

Before I know it he is going to be a year old and walking. Already he is cruising around the house on his hands and knees like he's been doing it forever.

And he is finally cutting a tooth! It's small, sharp, and not quite fully out, but it's there!

He is becoming such a big boy.

This is Silas' newest toy. He loves it!

Mommy found him this swing at Wal-Mart and Daddy helped us install it. Silas spent nearly an hour enjoying his swing. He was giggling and laughing and enjoying the wind in his hair.

Daddy is sure that he has a buddy for roller coaster rides when he gets older!