Oh, what he can do!

Literally a couple days after my last post, Silas started walking!! He had taken a couple steps about a month or two ago and then nothing. Nada. Then one day I set him down on his feet and he took off. I can't believe how much this little man has changed just in the last week. He has started talking and I mean TALKING. Jibberish of course, but he goes to town. He loves taking my phone and holding it up to his neck (it's close enough to the ear, right?) and talking complete jibberish. We often tell him to call his Aunt Kellee or (his future bride) Vivian. Who knows who he thinks he's talking to, but they're definitely getting an ear-full.

Yesterday he started saying "ball" but it comes about "bole" and in slow motion which is pretty funny. And today he was playing peek-a-boo with Jake and started saying "boo", again in slow motion with the ooooo really drawn out. So cute!! So far Silas knows how to say ball, boo, bye bye, hi, mama, mom, dad, dada, and hi. He often greets people at restaurants or in public when they walk in the door with "hi" and says "bye" when they leave. He waves to cars as they go by when we're out in the driveway and says hi or bye.

I'm really amazed at words that he understands. When he can't verbalize what he wants, he points. When we talk about Jamis and Max, he looks directly at the one we're talking about. He knows blankie, drink (and where it's located, which is in the fridge), puppy, no, sit down, stand up. He coughs and laughs on demand and when he does something and we tell him to do it again, he usually does. Silas loves opening doors, turning lights on and off and doing pretty much anything independently.

He goes up and down the stairs effortlessly and has no fear when it comes to slides. In fact, he walks right up slides, turns himself around, and goes down feet first and did that without us even showing him! Much to Jake's liking, he has taken to his golf clubs and loves hitting little plastic balls around the house.

Silas LOVES being outside. The other day we were playing in the driveway and he kept wanting to crawl around in the garage. Since it's so dirty, I kept bringing him back out until he starting getting frustrated. I picked up and asked him what he wanted in the garage. He kept pointing to his stroller so I put him and took him for a walk. He had a grin on his face the entire time as if that was exactly what he'd been wanting all along. What a smart kid!!

This morning the three of us went down to the farmer's market. It was about 11:30am, the sun was shining and it was really warming up. Silas was sweaty and tired threw one of his first "tamtrums" - as in fussing, kicking, wiggling, etc. Jake and I looked at each other and just had to laugh. Who was this kid? We were loving the jibberish talk that he started this week but what's with the throwing fits? This is a new thing for him - when he doesn't get his way or something is taken away from him, he goes into fit mode. Oooooh boy. I'd heard people say after their child's first birthday, it was like a switch was turned on and suddenly they had a very different child. We are not ready for this stage, but I don't think we really have a choice. :)

So family and friends, please pray for Jake and I as parents. God has placed this truly amazing child in our care and we want nothing more to raise a polite, sweet, respectful, and God-fearing child. I know he will test every last bit of patience in us (me in particular, I'm not an overly abundant patient person) and push us to our limit at times so please pray for patience, wisdom, and guidance. :)