Silas - 11 Months!

What a fun month this was with you, Silas!  Disney World, eating actual food and standing up!
 

You continue to be such a funny little boy.  This month you decided to just skip baby foods all together and went straight to table food.  On 1/17, you ate your first green bean (your first time eating table food) and also climbed all the way up Grandma’s stairs by yourself!  Both were huge, but especially the eating thing since thus far you've not wanted much of anything besides milk.  Aside from green beans (at any temperature), you also tried and liked turkey, lime, scrambled eggs and shredded chicken.  

Surprisingly you are less distracted while you nurse now, and while you used to prefer to have something to play with while you ate, now you’re content just to eat.

When you’re really happy, one of my favorite things you say now is, “took-a-took-a-took-a-took”.  You say it really quickly with a huge grin on your face…I love it!  I also remember Caleb doing the same thing, which is pretty cute.  It took me awhile, but I've since realized that this is what you say when you are tickling yourself--like "tickle tickle tickle", and you'll often say it while you rub your tummy gently during a diaper change.

We had so much fun going to Disney World this month!  It was almost an entire day's drive to get there, but we broke it up into two days.  You did such a great job traveling and loved being there.  You were pretty much perfect in terms of napping whenever you needed to--in the stroller, in your Baby Bjorn or in my arms.  You also really enjoyed the rides as you rode around on me in your Baby Bjorn.  You were, however, really scared of the characters and seemed to feel especially betrayed when they came up behind you during our character breakfast at Chef Mickey's.  There was often the look of uncertainty, which was quickly followed by tears of terror.

You went through a spell of 2-3 weeks during and after Disney World that you didn’t nap very well.  You basically didn’t want me to leave the room so would be fine as long as I was in there but then would start crying as soon as I tried to leave.  I’m not sure if it was the change in environment or simply getting used to sleeping on me at the parks, but I’m thankful you've gotten back into a normal napping routine!  We also eliminated your third nap this month, which I'm sure affected things to some extent.  Like clockwork, you wake up regularly at 7:30 a.m.  You'll usually just sit in your crib quietly for quite awhile, though, and we often wouldn't even know you were awake if it weren't for looking at your video monitor.

When you want someone to love on you or give you kisses, you'll lean forward and tip the top of your head forward until you get to them.  At this point, you expect us to kiss your head.  Then you’ll sit back up and smile, wait a second and do it again.  Some fun things you learned to do this month were to wave, and you also stood up by yourself for the first time on 2/12.

You're pretty content to play with anything, but you really LOVE your fire truck and balls (like a beach ball or large bouncy ball).  You also LOVED playing with the lightsaber that we got from our hotel at DisneyWorld, though all of them broke fairly quickly.

You wear 6-12 Month clothes, a Size 3 diaper and still only have 2 teeth.  You also still adore your brother and sister and even seem to love them more each day!  It's such a blessing to see how much the three of you love each other, and I pray that love continues to deepen over time!

Oh, Silas!  The time with you is going by so fast, but what a joyous gift from the Lord you are!  May you one day soon truly know His joy by trusting in Jesus!

(Click here to see more pictures of Silas.)

 

Silas - 10 Months!

Oh, Silas!!  I can't get over how close you are to the one year mark!  The last 10 months with you have gone by way too fast! 

This month you got to experience your first Christmas.  I’m amazed at how well you did at leaving the Christmas tree alone, though you always made a beeline for a Honduran nativity scene that we kept on the bottom shelf of a side table.  You loved putting those pieces in your mouth--especially baby Jesus!  Speaking of, everything continues to go into your mouth, including the wrapping paper on Christmas.

Though you tend to put so many things in your mouth, most of the time you still refuse to be fed baby food--it doesn't really matter what it is.  I know it will come, but I'm baffled at your lack of interest in food so far!  

You really like to chew on the handle of my brush, and you still often turn your tongue vertically in your mouth.  I wish I could manage to get a picture of that because it's so cute!

This month, you often crossed the fingers on your right hand by putting your middle finger on top of your pointer finger.  You learned to clap on January 1, and you also started cruising this month.  It's crazy how quickly you're growing up!

I love how when you hear one of us come in the door, you get excited and start laughing and quickly crawling to the door to greet us.  It brings back such fond memories of Caleb doing the same thing when he heard the garage door open at our house in Louisville.  So much about you reminds me of both Caleb and Evie.

Speaking of, like your brother and sister, you've always seemed to enjoy a good beat, but you seem to be dancing more and more now. As soon as you hear music, you'll get a huge smile and start bouncing up and down.

During the day, you usually just hang out and play with your brother and sister.  You also spend a lot of your day just following either me or them around the house.  Despite your love for being around everyone, you're also very content just to sit and play by yourself too.  Your favorite toys right now are your activity table and anything you can pull out of the dishwasher.  You love to crawl and sit on the dishwasher door.  For a couple months now, you have also really loved swinging when we go to the park.

You talk quite a bit, but "muh muh" and "deh deh" are the most common things you say.  

While we're at church, you've started napping in Daddy’s office instead of on me in your Baby Bjorn.  This seems like such a big boy thing but also one that I'm surprised didn't happen quite awhile ago.

Oh, how you love your brother and sister, and oh, how they adore you!  It blesses my heart so much to watch y'all delight in one another!  I pray that this will always be so!!

You still only have two teeth, take 3 naps a day, wear either 6-12 Month or 9 Month clothes and Size 3 diapers.

Thankfully, you seem to be learning what "No" means. So far you seem to be obeying well with a simple "No," but I know that won't always be the case.

At this point, you are definitely a mommy's boy but also love to be around other people.  People are always commenting on how happy and smiley you are and continue to ask if you ever cry.  Honestly, you don't cry much.  You'll fuss some, but the only time I can think of that you actually cry is if you have to have your diaper changed right after you wake up.

Sweet boy, you are such a precious gift to this family!  We love you so much!!

(Click here to see more pictures of Silas.)