6 Months Old

Silas is 6 months old today. We are getting his 6 month pictures taken this afternoon by a friend so we will post them soon.
I realize we havn't been very consistent with making posts lately so I am going to take this opportunity to put up a bunch of pictures from the past few weeks! We hope you enjoy them!

More rice cereal, yum!

"Hi Mommy!"

Maybe if he looks real cute we'll give him a bite.

Silas cheered Paul up on a really stressful day.
"Look Daddy, I can play with these 'hands' too!"

Silas fell on his face but still didn't give up on trying to get his dog.

Just relaxing in the big chair.
He loves to try his sippy cup, it all just runs out of his mouth, pretty cute though.
First taste of sweet potatoes.Playing with his animals.
"Look, its the camera!"

"Maybe I can get it!"

"Just a little further."
"Got it!"
Playing with his rings
Sitting with mommy (just getting over his cold).
Silas kept staring at his toy box, so we just put him in, he didn't seem to mind. He just started playing with all the toys!

This is what Silas does when nobody is looking.

Cuddling with mommy.

Oops... he fell again.

What a sweet boy!

Baby Dedication

A couple of weeks ago we had Silas dedicated at church.

(For those who are not familiar with this, a baby dedication is an opportunity for the parents of the child to stand before the church and publicly declare that they intend to raise their child to know Jesus. It is also a chance to acknowledge that, ultimately, Silas belongs to God and he has only been entrusted to us to raise him into a godly man. And the people of the church then vow to help us do that in whatever way they can.)

(The man standing by us is one of Paul's mentors, Rico, who prayed over Silas during the dedication.)

Here are some pictures:

Silas did great. He was talking up a storm (and blowing raspberries) in front of the church and now everyone knows who the loud kid in the back is!

5 1/2 Months Old

Silas is 5 1/2 months old now. And always a joy. He is growing so fast, he just started to wear some of his 6-9 month clothes now! It seems like it was just a couple days ago that he was born and now he is starting to look like a little boy and we are starting to see his personality coming out. He loves to talk to us and has a ton to say, we just wish we could understand everything he is telling us! He has another cold right now and is not too happy when we are wiping his nose 50 times a day, poor boy.

Also, Paul is just reminding me of his love for books. Today I was reading him a story and he was actually trying to turn the pages and feel all the sensory things on the pages. His favorite book is a sensory book about trucks (it is red, which explains why he likes it so much). I think I read it to him about 10 times tonight!

Another exciting thing, we can put Silas in his stroller sitting up now! That means we don't have to haul the carseat up and down from the third floor when we go on walks! We went on a really nice walk today. It was about 60+ degrees outside today. The sun was in Silas' eyes when we were walking so he grabbed the brim of his hat and pulled it over his eyes so he could take a nap, it was so cute (we didn't have our camera though).

And now for the pictures:

Silas loves to hold on to your shirt, lean back as far as he can and look around

He is very interested in everything we are doing now, especially eating and drinking. He kept grabbing for my cup so I let him try.

Then we let him try a sippy cup. He enjoyed chewing on it
Silas is really close to rolling over from his back to his tummy (his arm always get in the way!). One day he was looking at the camera so I started moving it around behind him and he kept following it. He was so close and can do it with just a little bit of help, pretty soon!

Silas loves to play with these rings, they are easy to hold and great to chew on. He was shaking them and throwing them around. He was so happy here, notice the triple chin!

And here is a video of him playing with the rings

Make an online slide show at onetruemedia.com

26.2 Miles of Pure Joy

For one reason or another, I have decided to run my very first marathon this June 16th in Duluth, MN. Among those reasons is that since Joel and Phil are both running, I couldn't be the only Bratsch brother to not have run a marathon. Another reason is that I am not too bright.

I'm excited about the marathon - I used to be a long distance runner in high school, but it's been a long, long time since I've run consistently. So I'll try to keep the one or two of you that might be interested up to date on my training which officially starts on February 12th.

If anyone would feel so inclined, I would love some comments or emails where you can yell at me like you are my old high school track coach. Comments like "Lift your knees!" or "Get the piano off your back!" would be appreciated. Be creative.

Also, Jess pointed out the other day that I will be high-altitude training for this marathon which may give me that edge that I need to beat at least Phil. Ha.

5 Months Old

Silas recently turned 5 months old! I can't believe how fast it is going. He is starting to look more like a little boy every day. He has started to communicate with us in a new way recently, screaming and shrieking. It is really cute but really really loud! We are having fun with it though. We have also discovered that he has learned his name. He looks whenever Paul says his name, he doesn't do it for me much yet.

Silas' 5 month stats:
25 1/2 inches
14 lbs 8 ounces

So he is starting to fill out.

Here are some pictures of the past week or so:

Here is a night when Silas was being especially sweet

Silas loves to go upside-down, apparently he takes after Paul in this area. He will even push himself backwards if he wants to do it, we are having a lot of fun with it.

He has started sucking his bottom lip again, we are trying to stop it, but it is pretty cute.

Here is Silas right after a bath, Paul gave him a mohawk, pretty cute (Paul says rad)!

He is starting to sit up better

And his new favorite toy... The Bongos! He is actually really good at it

And one last announcement: Paul is training to run a marathon in June... it will be the three Bratsch men, Joel, Paul, and Phil!