Finger Foods, Baseball, and much, much more!

Silas loves to play with Paul. They have a fun game where Paul hides his face in the ground and Silas pushes on his head until he lifts it up. Silas laughs and laughs and they do it again!Si is getting so much better at being on his tummy. He was actually laughing and playing on his tummy today. Last night he turned himself half-way around in a circle to face me (I started by his feet) Maybe he will crawl someday!?Silas has started eating some finger foods. I think it is his favorite part of the day! He eats saltine crackers and cheerios really well. Here is a video (notice the tongue at the end--see previous post.)

Bath time is still one of Silas' favorite parts of the day. He really likes to sit up and splash around in the tub. I still have to hold him, mainly because he gets so wild he almost tips over all the time.

Well, baseball season has started and the Twins are doing well... Paul and Silas love to play catch with his giant Twins baseball.

Here is some video of them playing. Silas gets so excited, his legs start kicking all over.

Wearing Daddy's baseball cap.

Here he didn't know how to get it off yet... he just figured it out the other day.

Wearing Paul's sunglasses... he looks like a little gangster.

If you aren't able to see the videos we have posted, click on the link below and it should take you to a site where you can view them.

SILAS VIDEOS

Catching up!

A couple weeks ago we had Isaiah over to play. Silas wasn't quite sure if it was okay for Isaiah to play with his toys. He kept his eye on him the entire time he was here. Silas is obsessed with Isaiah's head. He kept grabbing at it and tickling his ear. Eventually Isaiah got sick of it and pushed Silas over.

Then a couple days later, we went to Isaiah's house... Isaiah got Silas back!We got some exciting mail a little while back. My cousin, Josh, sent us his Flat Stanley! So we went out on a little road trip to take pictures with Stanley durring his visit to Colorado.
When we were driving into the mountains we saw a big horn sheep right along the side of the road! It was really neat, we had never seen one so close before.
We also received a letter from my cousin Eric and really enjoyed replying to that as well.

So... when Isaiah, who is a month older than Silas, was over he taught Silas a new trick:
Now Silas sticks his tongue out at everyone and everything!!! It is really cute. And we just have to laugh sometimes because he has such a little tongue that half the people don't even realize he is doing it.

Grandpa and Grandma Bratsch

Last week Grandpa and Grandma Bratsch came to visit. We were nervous that Silas wouldn't remember them and since he is starting to have some stranger anxiety we didn't know what would happened. But as soon as they walked through the door he was reaching for them and dishing out the smiles. We had such a great time with them here.

Spending time with Grandpa and Grandma:

We went for a walk at Hudson Gardens which is a garden right next to the seminary. For Christmas we got a pass from Grandpa and Grandma, we are really excited to be able to go over in the summer and see all the flowers in bloom.

On Wednesday we went to the zoo. Silas did such a great job. He enjoyed seeing the bears, monkeys, kids...

and the fence posts!!

On Thusday we went to Grandpa and Grandma's hotel and Silas went swimming for the first time! He was a little nervous at first (it was much bigger than his bathtub) and he got a little scared when I disappeared under the water and then came up looking different. But over all he did really well and was even kicking his feet.

Thanks for the great vist Grandpa and Grandma!

Just having fun!

Silas has been sleeping through the night again! It only took 3 nights! It is so nice not to have to be up with him through out the night. Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and advice.

Play Time:

Silas is eating my slipper that my Great Grandma Budhan made for me:

He loves to help Paul with his homework, especially if it is on the computer.

Showing off his new jacket. It has been so cold here lately and we have even had snow the past couple days... what happened to spring?

Silas found his toes recently...

And of course that means they go in his mouth.

7 Months Old

And now for the 7 Month Stats:

Height: 27 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 16 lbs 2 1/2 oz. (25 %)

Head: 17 1/2 inches (75%)

So, the past 2 nights Silas was awake for about 2 hours in the middle of the night. He wasn't crying, he wasn't hungry, he didn't have a dirty diaper, nothing... so Paul and I are exhausted from being up with him. This is so unlike him to be this way. (However, he still has only slept through the night 2 times since Christmas.) Everyone keeps telling me he is little and I shouldn't expect him to sleep through the night... but I know he can, he did it when he was 2 months old and now he is seven, shouldn't he be able to sleep longer?

Anyway, he has been getting harder and harder to be put down to sleep, always wanting to be rocked to sleep or something, even though I have always tried not to do this, without letting him "cry it out". I had always felt like "cry it out" was really harsh and unnecessary and was very adamant that I would NEVER do it. So... today, feeling completely lost and confused about what to do, I decided to call my friend/cousin's wife, Ashley to see what she had to say (she has a little girl a little older than Silas and has a lot of younger siblings so I knew she had some experience). After explaining the situation to her she said that she started to let Suzie (her little girl) cry it out and after 3 days she can put herself to sleep. She explained all the benefits and suggested we try it. She admitted that it is hard but convinced me too that it is best for all of is in the long run if Silas gets some sleep again. I said we would give it a try, and that I would call her for support if it was too difficult.

At the first nap, I rocked Silas just until he started to seem sleepy (yawning). Then I layed him down told him that I love him and walked out. He SCREAMED and screamed and screamed. Paul and I camped out outside the door to his bedroom. I went in a couple times just to reassure him, but never picked him up. He screamed for 35 minutes and then fell asleep. At his second nap, he only cried 10 minutes. Then was bed time, the time I was dreading most. We followed the same bed time routine but I kept his lamp on to help him stay awake better until it was time to get into bed. After feeding him, I turned off the light and rocked him for about a minute and put him in his crib. He SCREAMED for 25 minutes. It was awful. So now we are looking toward the night, hoping he will sleep well.

I know that a lot of people let their babies cry it out, but I never thought I would be one of them. What if he needs me? How would I know if I have vowed not to go in. Will he still trust me, will he even cry if something is wrong. I don't know. I am just not sure what to do. But I do know that he needs to start to sleep again, for the sake of all of us. Does anyone have any advice, encouragement, want to explain why I should or should not do this? But I'm sure I am over reacting anyway, it is just so hard to hear him cry and to refuse him the comfort he desires.