Climb Time and Water Wonders

I wanted to give you a couple of snapshots of the kids. This first one is my illustration of the fact that Judah can now climb stairs without any assistance. On this day, I followed him at a small distance taking pictures, just to document it. [My brother bemoans the fact that my parents' picture-taking--or perhaps just picture developing--habits dropped off significantly between their first and second child, so I want to make sure my son won't have the same thing to whine about. :) ] Anyway, I digress. So there I was, snapping away, holding steady as Judah kept advancing. It finally occurred to me that if he should fall, I was too far away to do anything, so I moved closer. About 10 seconds after this picture was taken (and you'll note that he's at the top of the stairs), he looked back over his shoulder, and his body followed. He tumbled down about four stairs before I caught him mid-air and upside-down. He was a little shaken, but otherwise fine, and I was thankful the Holy Spirit had moved me to move closer!

These next two pictures were taken when we went swimming with Yia-Yia and Auntie M. They are a good illustration of the kids' differing responses to water. You'll see that Judah doesn't hold on at all--indeed, he gives the impression that if you'd only let go, he'd swim away. He splashes and laughs and just generally seems to be having the time of his life. I wish we could take him swimming more often, if only to encourage this kind of joy.

Charis, on the other hand, loves water where she can touch the bottom--like in a bathtub or kiddie pool. But get her in water more than 3 feet deep, and she keeps a death-grip on whomever is holding her. If you let her go, I think she'd panic. No, check that--if you let her go, she panics a lot. I suppose she does warm up to the idea somwehat the longer she's in the water, but she's still very timid. I have a feeling that swimming lessons will be very important for her.

It's yet another illustration of how every kid is unique--here we have two kids with the same parents, growing up in the same house, but in regard to water and swimming, they are polar opposites. It's such a joy to see how God has made them to be individuals, and wonderful to be able to encourage their uniqueness. I know that at their tender ages, my kids have only just begun to reveal to us who they are, and that makes me look ahead with anticipation to knowing them more and more fully.