Word to your Mama

Judah is getting words! So far, he has mama, uh-oh, this, that, and dada. And he has a lot of babble, which our pediatrician describes as "learning the music before you know they lyrics." Sweet!

The best Thank You

Dear Charis. She's so wonderful, generally kind and helpful. She loves going to church. But I cannot see to get her excited about praying--she is just not amenable to the idea (no pun intended. okay, maybe I intended the pun just a little), and will in fact say "AMEN!" while I am praying in an apparent attemt to curtail my conversation.

For a week or two, I've been asking her who she wants to pray for each night, and her standard response, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is Diego. Dora's adventurous cousin. One night I did end up praying that somehow God would use Diego to help His children learn about and appreciate His creation, but I'm pretty sure that line of reasoning was lost on my two year old, and Abe mentioned that he didn't really think it was a good idea for me to be praying for a cartoon character. So we've been encouraging her to pray for others with needs--a growing baby in the belly (you know who you are), mommy's friend Stephanie who is thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, Great-grandma who fell and bruised her kidneys and may have broken a rib... but still, she thinks it is sort of a game, and continues to be silly even as I am praying.

So I told her that a very important part of our day is saying Thank You to God, who gives us all good things. I told her that we need to appreciate what he gives and does for us, and named some of her favorite things--food to eat, friends to play with, our family, a nice home, a church to belong to... After I had finished my mini-speech, Charis looked at me for a minute, as if piecing together what I had just said, looked up towards the ceiling and said, "THANK YOU, GOD!"

Doctor, Doctor, Mr. MD

We've been to the pediatrician's office a couple of times in the past two weeks. Fun stuff.

Visit #1: The kids had both had cold-like symptoms for about a week and a half when we woke up that Wednesday. Both were still couchy, snotty, drippy, and late in the afternon, Charis' eyes looked a little bloodshot. "Do they look pink to you?" I asked Abe. "Not really. I think they're okay." "Okay, I guess she can go to church tonight, then!"

When we picked her up from her wednesday night class, the conversation changed. "Do her eyes look pink to you?" Abe said. "Oh, dear." I replied.

That night, I called Abe's mom to see if she would be available to go with me to the pediatrician's office. I asked Charis if she wanted to talk to Yia Yia on the phone. "Charis, tell Yia Yia what color you eyes are." "BLUE!" "And...?" "PINK!"

When I called the pediatrician's office the next day, they asked me if her ears also hurt. I asked, and she said no, so we went to the appointment, and I figured pink eye was it. But no, she also had an ear infetion, so obviously she has a high tolerance for pain. We were prescribed eye drops (a two-year-old's FAVORITE THING) and ten days of amoxicillin (free at our pharmacy!). I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone with the parents of all of her classmates apologizing for any sickness she may had unwittingly spread.

Thankfully, perhaps due in part to my hyper-sanitizing, no one else got the funk.

But we returned to the office today for...

Visit #2: Judah's 12-month well-baby. He is in excellent health, right on track in everything! He was 23-odd pounds, and 29-odd inches, 50th percentile all the way. He got shots, which made him very clingy and needy the rest of the day, poor kid (and mom). We're glad he checked out okay!

One more thing: Charis has learned a new trick. The other night, I was putting her to bed, reading her a Curious George story, when she said randomly, "Two mommies!" What on earth...? I wondered. I looked over at my beautiful, precious, flawless daughter, and her eyes were crossed like some sort of goofy teenager. It completely creeps Abe out!

Fun on a Friday

One thing I will always look back on fondly is our Friday Afternoon Fun. It's never planned, but occasionally we'll all end up on the big bed, tickling, wrestling, laughing, and just generally being goofy. Here are some photos from a recent Friday.

channeling Mr. Potatohead

let's put our heads together and see what we come up with

junior birdgirl

no...they love it.

Judah's party and other stuff

Well, I've been waiting to post because I sincerely believed I could upload the many videos from Judah's birthday party (including every digital representation of him eating his cake), butI have tried, and failed. So rather than wait any longer, I thought I should at least mention his party, even if I don't have the most fun pictures to show for it.

It was a "traffic" theme, with decorations including red/yellow/green balloon stoplights and other red/yellow/green things. He had cupcakes made by Grandma Donna (devil's food and angel's food--for whichever way people were leaning that day) frosted red, yellow, or green, with m&m stoplights on them. He LOVED his chocolate cake! Judah had about 28 guests, counting the kids. Other food included: bbq cola meatballs, ham and pickle roll-ups, veggies and dip, and various chips and snacks. Judah ate loads. This picture, above, is Judah opening an outlet cover for his bedroom. Arguably his favorite gift all day, it was also the only one he could really get close to, since his big sister and her bigger friends did all the unwrapping for him. He didn't seem to mind.

It being a theme party, he received many theme-related gifts--lots of books about trucks and also actual toy trucks. He also received quite a few items of clothing and some bath toys, which we have been putting to good use!

A present...for me to open!?!?!?

Um...no. Just an empty bag...

The next day, we dedicated Judah at church. Both sets of grandmas and grandpas were there, along with a great aunt and a lot of other aunties and uncles.

It was a busy weekend, and I wish I had better pictures to show for it, but most of them are on actual film. Can you imagine that? How...dark ages.