Silas 7 months

Since last month, Silas’ world has taken on a new dimension.  No longer does he have to play on his stomach or back, but he can sit on his own! This gives him a whole different view of what is around him as well as giving him two hands to explore with. It seems he is a lot more happy and a lot less bored since this accomplishment.

Otherwise things are continuing as usual.  He is still sleeping through the night but is rising a bit earlier between 6:45 and 7:15am. His daily routine is much like it was last month except he is trying lots of different types of solid foods and in general eating more solids. He only nurses 3 times a day now: morning, noon and evening, but still goes to sleep at 7:30 every night. We often check on him before we ourselves go to bed and usually find him all scrunched up at the head of the bed. I guess he likes to cozy up to the rails to sleep.
In general Silas is still a very happy and smiley little boy. He loves attention and being social and likes to give out charming smiles across the room. We feel so blessed to have him in our lives, he sure does make us smile a lot!

Notable traits at 7 months:
1) Silas can sit on his own without tipping over. He enjoys this position very much but is still eager to stand and likes to stand up against the half wall we have in the entry way.

2) Eats lots of solids: Mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, peas, avocado, rugbrød, whole milk, oatmeal, bananas, apples, pears, liverpostej (liver paste), fish. The food can not come fast enough for Silas. He loves to eat and eats large portions. 

3) Talks a lot! He definitely knows how to interrupt a conversation if he doesn’t feel involved. His noises seem happy and excited.

4) Coos when eating. Very soft and sweet Mmmm sounds.

5) Laughs at us being silly. He can tell when we are trying to make him laugh and he usually humors us with an all out laugh.

6) Loves taking baths. He splashes around and spills tons of water out of the tub. He can now grab his bath toys without them floating away and likes to splash them hard against the water as violently as possible while showing us a huge grin.

7) Has had his first cold. Just a running/stuffy nose and a slight cough. We  didn’t notice a fever and definitely didn’t notice much of a change in his mood. He was still the happy go lucky Silas who doesn’t like to get his face wiped.

8) Gets bored and knows how to show it. His old toys are just too boring, and after max 5 minutes he starts whining and wanting something more challenging. Good thing he got some new toys for Christmas.

9) Continues to like music.  He loves to “sing” and has his own way of “singing” along to the piano or guitar with some shrill tones. He also loves to play his own little guitar…okay maybe he can’t play it, but he does seem fascinated with pulling the strings.

10) Has learned to make a blubbering sound…he especially loves to do it WHILE he is eating. (see video)

11) Weighs 19.8 lbs (9 kg) and is 28.3 inches (72 cm)





Silas along shopping - sitting in the cart!



Silas blubbering

My First Christmas

I had an amazing first Christmas.  It started already December 23rd where I opened my first present.  The mail people had made a few mistakes with their deliveries, so my Mom and Dad had guessed each others presents during the day and decided to have a little pre-Christmas Eve present opening that night.  I got to open the biggest present under the tree (probably because it would have been hard to fit in our Yaris) and it was a scooter! I rode around on it a bit before going to bed.

The next morning it was Christmas Eve and I went with Dad to church.  Mommy was singing so she was already there and although I didn’t wake up from my nap until after she sang O' Holy Night, I did get to hear her play Horn and sing too.

After church we headed down to Farmors (Grandma) to have lunch and begin the Christmas festivities. I fell asleep on the way down but was awake and ready to open my presents right away when we arrived, but my parents made me wait. Dad and Farmor went to a differnet church service and I stayed at home with Mom so I could rest and really be ready for the night ahead.

I woke up just as Farmor and Dad got back and before I knew it all the food was ready.  I was so excited to try all the new food items I had been smelling all day, but I just got the same old mashed potatoes with carrots :( … Maybe next year I will get to eat the pork roast, duck, 3 types of potatoes, red cabbage and gravy!

Finally the adults were done with the main course and I got to open my presents. I opened four gifts, even though I could see that there were still a few others for me under the tree. It was so fun to get my hands on the paper, especially the ribbon. I got a plastic bib, a walker that has lots of lights, music and buttons, a colorful train and a baby Einstein keyboard with some songs I could recognize and lots of bright lights.  After I opened each present I didn’t get much time to play with it before my parents were shoving a new one at me, but I was really happy for my new toys! I was definitely not ready for bed but Mom and Dad put me to bed anyway. At some point  I fell asleep and dreamed about my toys.

<><><><><><>

<>

<><><><><><>

At one point during the night I dreamt that I heard Christmas carols being sung. Some were in English and some in Danish and in my mind it looked like this.

The next day Mom and Dad told me that they had a great night. Mom was especially excited because she finally found the almond in the rice pudding this year and won a beautiful salad utensil set. They had opened lots of presents from family members and they even had some more for me! See…..

Christmas day was also a lot of fun. We went to church in the morning and I loved singing along to all the Christmas songs. Then when we got home Santa had come and I had some packages in my stocking!

I spent the rest of the day playing with my new toys while Mom, Dad and Farmor ate a lot of leftovers and relaxed.

 Around dinner time my cousins Lukas and Nikolaj came and they showed me some of their new presents. After another delicious meal of mashed potatoes and carrots I went to bed while the adults stayed up eating candy and playing games.

Then on the 26th we drove up to Farfar (Grandpa) and Hanne’s house. They had an awesome tree that I got to examine closely with Farfar. Also I got to sit in Farfars newly renovated Mini cooper! Wow! I had a great day laughing and on the way home I was so tired I fell asleep right away.  It was fun to celebrate Christmas for the first time and to spend time with family.

Oh and I forgot to include that Silas had his début on "stage" as he posed as baby Jesus in the still picture Nativity Story at our church.

Getting into the Christmas spirit

These past few weeks have been full of December fun and traditions.  Although the real reason for Christmas doesn’t have anything to do with candy, trees, decorations, etc…it is still fun to have these types of traditions and to make new ones!
A few weeks ago we got our tree and this one is much bigger than the last one! Is has the traditional colored lights and crazy ornaments and we enjoy it every night.

Then last Sunday Søren turned 27 and we celebrated his birthday by going to Esbjerg and making the annual batch of candy (aka Confections or Konfekt) Every year we go to Inger’s house and make “konfekt” with Ulla, Peter and the boys.  Again this year we made TONS and tried a new recipe along with the good old must-haves. Søren enjoyed getting to be with family for his birthday and also the big American breakfast I made for him.

Happy Birthday Søren

Ulla and Inger making "konfekt"

The boys taking a break

On Tuesday I tried something new.  I made a Christmas decoration for the first time.  Every year a bunch of women from our church get together and make Christmas decorations together.  There were a lot of experienced women there, so I got a lot of advice and I think the result turned out pretty great! I even got inspired that night to try to spruce up our pots by the door and put together something that is at least prettier than the old shriveled flowers that were there before!

My decoration ---the picture does not capture it's true beauty

Otherwise we have enjoyed a few Christmas Parties (Julefrokost – a Christmas tradition where you eat very traditional Danish food like herring, sausages, red cabbage, roast, etc.) The first was a work party and we had fun with colleagues.  Then the next day we had a party with our small group from church.  Lots of good food in one weekend! Tomorrow I am going to a Christmas party with my Show Choir too.

December is a wonderful time of year…even if it is dark by 4:30pm! We look forward to celebrating the 4th Sunday of Advent tomorrow and celebrating the preparation for the birth of Christ and the real reason for the season!

Silas 6 months

Happy half Birthday Silas.  I can’t believe 6 months has passed since Silas was born. Just this morning we were reminiscing about where we were a half year ago today.  It was an amazing day and although in many ways it feels like an eternity ago, it also feels just like yesterday. But there is no doubt that Silas has changed a lot since that day as well.  The biggest changes this past month are probably that he is becoming a bit more clingy, especially to Mom. He whines if I leave the room, or if he is playing fine by himself and then suddenly sees me. In general he doesn’t enjoy playing  by himself as much as before and usually wants someone to play with him instead.  It seems that he is just bored laying on his back or stomach and instead wants to be sitting or standing all the time – and these things still require adult supervision/support.

The other big change is with his language – no he hasn’t begun cussing- but he has begun to add some consonant sounds to his vocabulary. He can now say B, D, M, and N sounds. I think it sounds like he says DADDA sometimes, but since that isn’t how you say father in Danish, Søren doesn’t seem too impressed.

Daily routine:
7:30 – 8:30: Wake up – talking excessively in his crib until he whines to get out. Change diaper, play a little bit, and then time for breakfast with Mom.

10 am: Morning snack of avocado, banana or applesauce

12 pm: A quick lunch with Mom and then time for a nap

2 pm: Up from the nap and time to play

3:30pm: Another afternoon snack with Mom before a little nap

6:00pm: Dinner time consisting of rice porridge, corn porridge or the latest sweet potatoes or mashed
potatoes with green beans

7:15 pm: Night time snack with Mom and then time for bed

*In general Silas seems to be needing less and less sleep during the day, so that means we get a lot more playtime in.

Notable traits at 6 months:
1) Can roll over from his back to his stomach, although he is pretty lazy and doesn’t do it very often.  We are still working on stomach to back which I think he will enjoy a lot when he does figure it out, as he often whines when he gets tired of being on his stomach.

2) Flirt – Yes he is a big flirt.  He likes to smile really big and then when you smile back he quickly turns his head away and buries it in his shoulder. Then just as quickly he turns back around with the biggest smile!

3) Can sleep for 12-13 hours straight.  The past few weeks he has been sleeping from about 7:30pm to 7:30am without waking up during the night!

4) Can also go 13 hours without eating. Yes he has managed without nursing in the middle of the night for over 2 weeks now!

5) He has been able to hold toys for a while, but now he can look for and retrieve a dropped toy.

6) He can reach out for a hug with both arms.

7) Along with the hugs come big, open mouthed, slobbery kisses all over your cheek, neck, arm, wherever.  He often does it right after we have just kissed him.

8) Smile for the camera. Not too many more stone faced pictures, it actually seems like he is posing for the camera now.

9) Weighs 18.3 lbs (8.3 kg) and is 27.5 inches (70cm)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

Yes, December is almost here and that means time to decorate for Christmas.  Søren and I had a great evening listening to Christmas music and Christmas decorating our house for the first time. We even have a few trees lit outside. It just creates such a cozy feeling in our home as we are reminded about the hope and joy that Christ brings with this magical season.

The gift calendar that I got from my friends - there is a package for each day starting December 1st until the 24th

Silas is in the hockey mood -Go Wild!

Silas posing in front of the village