Silas is One

We made it! Silas is one. 

We love this ball of joy who has stretched us as parents. We thought one child could change your life but we never expected the second child to flip your world upside down. It seems it's all to teach you surrender and complete dependence on God. Parenting one, you feel like you have some sort of control. Parenting two and it's snatched from your hands in an instant and all of a sudden it's been a year and you have absolutely no idea what just happen and how you survived. I know... I can't help but be honest.



We love Silas with all our hearts. Our family feel full because of him. He brings laughter, joy and resilience into our home. He teaches us that even though things can be hard, they are good. There are no shortcuts to any places worth going to. God is faithful.

We chose the name Silas because of the description we came across of Silas in Acts: "A leader among men". He's living up to his name. He knows what he wants and he'll let you know about it until he gets it. He's determined. Yet, when he's in our arms, there's nothing more that he wants but to be carried around, all day. I think he likes a "grown up" view. He also likes to be taller than his brother. He also likes to be close to mommy and daddy. 

He's feisty and lets Harrison have it. Harrison likes to cuddle, Silas sees it as smothering and pushes, pulls hair and screams at Harrison. I'm not worried about him fending himself. Maybe this comes natural to the second child.

He loves balls, soccer balls in particular. He also loves to "master" a toy. he observes it and catches on quickly as to how it works. He will not sit still for books unless he can turn the pages and quickly. Books with one word on each page and a bright colorful picture are great. He has very little tolerance for car seats, strollers and vegtables. He loves fruit, salty snacks like turkey, Cheetos (yes I've given this child Cheetos, don't judge, you would too if he was yours) and popcorn. He doesn't care for milk or juice but enjoys lemon flavored water??? Yes... He does...

He has six teeth and a beautiful smile that melts your heart. He would prefer that you sit on the ground while he plays. He'll crawl over to cuddle with you every once in a while (these are some of my favorite moments of the day) and he'll bring items over to you so that he can show you them. He loves to put things away and share with others. He's very chatty but has not used a word "correctly" yet. He likes to make lots of sounds and loves music.

He mastered stairs just shortly after he mastered crawling. He actually took THREE STEPS by himself from the train table in Harrison's room to me and to Nathan on Wednesday. On Saturday he took SIX. He's gaining momentum and trying hard to stand up and walk from a sitting position rather than pulling himself up on objects. I had a feeling this little guys would take his first steps before he turned a year old (he wouldn't stop moving when I was pregnant with him). He loves tossing Bentley's ball for him and picking on Bentley. He loves to take all soft items and rub them on his face. He sleeps face down on a furry pet pillow with his blankets.

Silas gives kisses, lots of them and likes to dance inside his crib with the support of the rails. He will not chat in his crib, when he's awake he would prefer to not be alone so he screams until someone arrives to rescue him (okay... about 95% of the time). He is social and hates to be separated from anyone, ever.

Today was so much fun! We celebrated well. We started off not so good but ended brilliantly. We didn't tell Harrison what we were up to which killed him. He helped us wrap the presents on Saturday night and since then he's relentlessly asked that Silas open them. We kept reminding him that they were for his brother and not for him (of course they will share them but you get the "idea"). When I woke up this morning I didn't want to get out of bed... My second cold of the month was on it's second day and it had hit hard. I work on Monday and Wednesday mornings at CCU (filling in until they fill another Advisor position), so I went in congested and just all around gross. I left early to head home and rest but it broke my heart to think that we couldn't stick to our tradition, a fun outing to celebrate. So we woke them up from their naps and rushed them to the Children's museum. Silas took it all in while Harrison ran around yelling he's usual quotes "see this?" "Daddy, do you see something? See it?" "Mommy, ahhhhhh." He's far from a shy quiet reserved child. He's enthralled with everything and waves hello to everyone (on Friday he asked a woman in the Target check out line where she lived. We discussed "personal questions" on the way home). Then we headed to Noodles where Silas devoured his favorite, Mac N' Cheese. Then home to cake which he didn't hesitate to enjoy. He went straight to a bath, took a bottle break and then opened his presents.

I'm thankful for such a wonderful day as a family, celebrating one of our greatest gifts from the Lord: Silas Nathaniel Jones. Born one year ago today; October 29th, 2012.

Love, Us