smiles!

I can't believe 3 weeks have passed since I last posted pictures!!! Time is just flying, and Silas is growing and changing every day. Thanks so much for all your prayers during our scouting trip to Louisville and our travels in Ohio. It was a blessing to be with our family, but it is also wonderful to be home at last. Nathan's Aunt Joyce and Uncle Dave came to visit for a long weekend; it was fun to introduce them to Silas and spend time with them! Nathan left for Toronto on Monday; he is on a trip with our senior pastor, Mark Dever, to do a Pastors Conference and will get back tomorrow evening. I really hate it when he's away, but I'm thankful he gets this opportunity to spend time with Mark and to be encouraged by the work going on in Toronto.

And now for the updates on Silas...He has been way more alert and responsive in the last week or so. It's much easier to wake him for feedings, and he rarely falls asleep while eating now. Hooray! His reflux was really bad while in Ohio. I think the combination of his schedule being off and us transferring him from car seat to sling to stroller constantly might have done this. I had a prescription waiting at the pharmacy, but now that we're back home his reflux has been so much better that I decided not to pick it up after all. Everything I read tells me that as long as his spitting up isn't interfering with feeding or making him fussy, it's nothing to worry about.

Some of Silas' newest tricks:

• Kicking- He has just discovered this activity and loves to do it while lying on his back.
• Holding his head up- Whenever we hold him, he throws his head back to look up. He is getting stronger and stronger!
• Getting distracted while eating- He sometimes has feedings where he is just so excited to look at everything that he constantly bobs off and on.
• Interest in toys- Silas especially loves the little car hanging from his infant seat that you can pull down and then it vibrates as it climbs its way back up to the top. On the car ride from Ohio, he kept fussing unless I was pulling the toy car...My arms fell asleep several times playing this game.
• Tracking- He has started tracking objects with his eyes when you move them back and forth in front of his face.
• Cooing- More and more, he makes cute little noises and exclamations when playing.
• SMILING!- After many weeks of wondering if his smiles are real, I am finally convinced that they are. He has smiled at me at least twelve times today, especially when I get right up in his face to talk really sweetly and smile hugely. I hope to catch this on camera someday very soon...

Silas meets Great Aunt Joyce

My sister Alyssa and our very proud parents.

Great-great-great Aunt Ruth

I think this is just before he messed his pants and got it all over Great-Grandma Neva...She sure was a good sport!

Silas meets his Great-great-grandma Meredith. She was accused of "hogging" him the rest of the evening. :)

We did some sightseeing with Nathan's Aunt Joyce and Uncle Dave.

Aunt Liz meets Silas.