time flies...and doesn't.

Time passing after you have a baby is a lot like it is after marriage...On one hand, it seems like just yesterday when your world changed forever. On the other hand, it's awfully hard to remember what it was like before this special person became such a vital part of your world.

That's how we feel about Silas. We are immensely thankful for this good gift from the Lord. Not a day goes by when Silas fails to brings us unspeakable joy. Here's what he's been up to lately:

• Laughing and squealing with delight. Especially right before bed. It makes it really hard to leave him in his crib. :)
• Rolling from stomach to back, but not from back to stomach yet. And when he does roll, I'm pretty sure it's by accident. He gets exasperated really quickly on his tummy. As a matter of fact, he is whining right now during his "tummy time". Sometimes he gets mad enough that his flailing somehow propels him to his back. Oops, there he goes now! So basically, he's strong enough but not smart enough yet to do it consistently. I guess he's kind of a late bloomer...It's okay with me, though! :)
• Almost sitting up. And by almost I mean...not really. When I try to sit him up it immediately results in what looks like some kind of yoga move, where his torso slowly goes between his legs and his forehead touches the ground. :)
• Loves singing. Whenever we're making a looong car trip (which is often) and he starts fussing, all we have to do is turn on the radio. It almost always does the trick. He especially loves Mommy's singing; I can always get a smile out of him that way!
• Is dumbfounded by the camera. We have to be really sneaky about taking pictures or videos. As soon as Si sees the camera, whatever he's doing comes to a complete halt, and he just stares blankly at the weird contraption in front of mom or dad's face.
• Likes being read to. When he's fussy in the evenings, I often read a few board books to him...He sits so still and pays attention to every word, examining the pictures closely.
• Eating solid foods. This is a big deal! We started him on rice cereal Friday, 3 days after he officially turned 6 months old. (You can see the first few bites in the video below.) His face was really startled and confused at first at the plastic thing Mom kept shoving into his mouth, but he gobbled it right up! So far, he's finished the whole bowl of cereal every time! We mix the cereal with a little apple juice and water, at the pediatrician's recommendation. I think he really likes the sweetness of it.
• Weighing in officially at 15 lbs. 14 oz. A little less than we thought from the bathroom scale. He's also 26 inches long. 25th percentile for weight, 50th for height. The pediatrician says he's really healthy.
• Sleeping 11 or 12 hours at night. Hooray! :) Eating 4 times a day, taking 2 two-hour naps a day.

Rough night two nights ago. Silas woke up 3 times during the night screaming. Nathan was like, he has never been like this before. I was like, are you kidding? Where were you 5 months ago? But seriously, it was really unusual for him.

We thought maybe he was cutting his first tooth, but today he seems fine, and I can't feel anything in there...

We got to visit Nathan's sister, Liz, and her husband, Joshua, in Greenville, South Carolina last weekend. It was so much fun! We loved getting to see where they live, meet their friends, go to their church, and spend lots of time getting to know each other better as couples. Unfortunately, I only took one picture all weekend! :(

Nathan and I still haven't settled on a church. I'm trying to be discreet in writing about this, because we love all six (yes, six) churches we've visited and don't want to say anything negative or critical about any of them. You can ask me more about it if you're really curious. :) We're trusting the Lord that he is sovereign over this decision and praying for clarity...We have 3 weeks before we'll be here for church again, so we have a little breathing room. We'll be visiting DC next week. (Yay!)

Silas just loves his Aunt Liz...