Saturday, February 10, 2007

What's in a Cry?

The ever popular Oprah Winfrey hosted a special on babies in one of her past shows, and brought in some proclaimed baby expert. Apparently the baby expert claims that you can tell what a baby wants by listening to their cries. Being a fan of Oprah Winfrey, Silas's Mom watched this particular episode intently, and even made Silas's Dad memorize the following types of cries as explained by the baby expert:

"Neh!" == I'm hungry
"Owh!" == I'm Sleepy
"Heh!" == I'm experiencing discomfort
"Eair!" == I have lower gas
"Ehh!" == I need to burp.

Every time Silas's dad is made to memorize these so called types of cries, he is reminded of all that yellow, green, and brown, mushy, oatmeal pooh that Silas is soooo good at putting out. After all, if you're going to come up with a theory of baby's cries, then you need to be more complete. What about the cry for "I need another beer ?!?", or the cry for "Please don't handle my groin with such cold hands !!!", or the cry for "Ouch! I'm going to make you pay for this in 2 years time by eating dirt, peeing on the carpet, and barfing on your favourite dress!" ?? Silas's Dad thinks most parents would be most interested in being able to identify that last type of cry.
Anyways, Silas's dad decided to carry out an experiment, to see whether Silas actually cries differently or not depending on his condition (sleepy, hungry, gassy, etc.).

Here is Silas complaining that he needs to be burped.

Here is Silas complaining that he needs to be fed.

Here is Silas complaining that he needs to sleep

Here is Silas complaining that he is experiencing discomfort.

Can you tell the difference ? Neither can Silas's dad.

Monday, February 5, 2007

This Guy Can Hurl


Do not be so easily deceived by the innocent looking face, because Silas has learned the art of hurling. We are not talking about some leftover milk dribbling down the side of his mouth. Nein, we are talking about projectiles being launched with high velocity out of his mouth.
After his double feeding, Silas usually would be held upright over his parent's shoulder and burped. However, on several distinct occasions, the burp was delayed. There was a heaving noise, and a wheezing noise. And then a big coughing noise, and before you know it, Silas's dad smells of milk barf. And rest assured, it is nothing like the curds and whey of which Little Miss Muffet is so fond.
Consequently, Silas's parents have now become more tenative and cautious when feeding his second meal. New feeding techniques and strategies have been developed to counteract this hurling as a result. It is only by great fortune that Silas has not yet learned how to use this as a weapon against his parents to demand what he wants.