Letter to the Birhday Boy (Part 2)

Dearest Isaiah, Little Buddy, Silly Goose, Isaías, Zy,

I don't know how you'll ever learn your name with so many to choose from...

In Part 1 of your Birthday Letter I shared some things you don't particularly love such as crawling, bottles, and being far from Momma. I don't like being far from you either Buddy and here are 10 reasons why I love you so much I could burst:

10. You've never been a fragile little thing. I'm sure a petite delicate baby would be just as loveable, but as I'm a tad clumsy and a bit careless, I appreciate that you're a sturdy little dude, weighing in at 23lbs 10oz (83rd%) and 30.5 inches tall (76th%) at your one-year checkup.

9. In some ways you're super easy. You travel like a champ, having visited 13 states, many on multiple occasions, and two countries in your first year. You never wanted to be fed baby food, which was frustrating at first, but then we realized how much simpler meals are just putting scraps of everything on your tray and letting you eat with us; steak, mushrooms, veggies, you name it. Beans, cheese, and berries are some of your current favorites. What's next, hot wings and a beer?

8. Your curiosity is inspiring. As you explore the great big world around you, I too see things I haven't paid attention to in a long time; the way the sunlight dances between the leaves of a tree, the way the wind blows through your outstretched fingers on a walk. I can't wait to examine everything outside with you this spring, I'll probably pass on eating all the bugs with you though, (I've already extracted the first ladybug from your mouth.)

7. You're resourceful just like your daddy. It's possible all babies are learning this quickly, but when you figured out how to work the water fountain at the airport, or how to flush the toilet at home, I envisioned you 25 years from now as an engineer or an inventor. With the size of your head, we're hopeful you'll cure cancer.

6. You also take after me a bit. When Daddy and Sissy seemed so different that it drove me nuts sometimes, I prayed you would be a little more like me. Not only do you promise to have my dimples, and you already charm us with my classic one eyebrow raise, you also seem to be a morning person. It will be lovely not to have to drag you out of bed every day.

5. You're SO funny. I don't think I ever would have believed it if someone told me that we'd all prefer staring at you over screens, especially Angie. But now we just sit around the table long after we've finished eating and laugh at you making a mess, babbling about who knows what, mimicking us, feeding the dog, and cracking yourself up. You bring so much joy into our home and our family.

4. Solving the little puzzle that is you, makes me feel special for knowing you better than anyone and having the keys to your heart. You should have come with a manual that said "When he's fussy on long car trips, sing him The Wheels on the Bus, but every part of the bus must go Vroom, Vroom, Vroom no matter how ridiculous or redundant that sounds." But you didn't, so these are the quirks we discover when learning the unique mini-person God made for us, for Him.

3. You're oh so soft. You're irresistibly kissable and squeezable, and you enjoy being smooched and hugged about as much as we enjoy nuzzling you. I need to go Beso your Face-o right now! (You're going to have some stellar Spanglish!

2. Your softness soften us all. I pray the rough spots you've melted away on me, never harden again. You're generous, silly, sweet, and gentle; all the things that I'm not naturally. Well all except maybe patient, we'll have to work on that one together.

1. "We love, because He first loved us," -1 John 4:10. You teach me about God. My instinctive unconditional love for you now, reminds me of the love the Lord lavishes on us so undeservedly. I'll never love you like He does, but thank you for helping me love more like Christ. As you start to tell me "No", and throw food to the dog as I'm telling you not to, or disobey me much more flagrantly than that, my love will become even more altruistic. For now your cuddles and smiles more than compensate for the lost sleep, the loads of laundry, and the horrors of childbirth.

My dearest Isaiah, thank you for making the world a better and brighter place. All my love to you, forever and ever.

How could I not love you covered in frosting!!

"What? I thought the newspapers and the acorns would look nice on the floor."

Angie can't wait till your able to get around on her own and help her pester me, so she's helping you walk every chance she gets.

Tearing up the hardwoods; either inspecting Daddy's work for flaws, or looking for ways to improve on it.

Even when you damage the only nice new piece of furniture in the house, we love you.

"Momma, did you want me to take this bumper off the hearth so Daddy can feel useful putting it back on?"

How could we not laugh more with you in our lives?!

We tried to encourage a transitional object, Lovey, that was soft and cuddly, but you prefer your security toothbrush.

Mi Amor, always be you, God thinks He made you just perfect, and we agree.

A Birthday Letter to My Favorite Mama's Boy (Part 1)

They said we couldn't spoil a newborn. I'm not sure who "they" are, or what their credentials were, but we have certainly proven them wrong. We didn't set out to make a point, or to spoil you for that matter, it just kind of happened.

Isaiah, as you end this first fabulous year of your life, I could easily use clichés like "I've enjoyed every minute of it," or "I wouldn't change a thing." But I prefer to delve a little deeper and explore how I really feel. We do vulnerable around here. Has the word "TransPARENTcy" been coined? If not, I'm coining it. Maybe I'll change the blog name to TransPARENThood, since that's all I write about anymore...

It would certainly be true that I have enjoyed every snuggle, and if cuddling you too much is what's ruined you and stuck you to me like Winnie the Pooh on a honey jar, then I might not do anything differently if given a second chance. I never thought my long kinda-bony arms would be so cozy. Being soft in places one usually works to tone is not generally a compliment, but I'm flattered by how much time you like to spend held close to me, even as you're becoming more and more eager to be on the move.

As for night time...well, we might try a slightly different approach if you're ever blessed with a baby brother or sister. Don't get me wrong, those all-night snuggle sessions are sweet too, but this waking up every hour routine is growing tiresome. I'm sure it doesn't help that when you do sleep in your crib for a bit, I usually tell you how much I missed you when I finally rescue you. You're so thoughtful to not want me to miss you for long.

Other ways you're spoiled are mostly just ways you've chosen not to behave like other babies. There are a few baby things you apparently think are ridiculous, and consequently plan to skip completely, and here's what I gather is your reasoning:

Bottles - "Why settle for plastic or glass when Mommy has liquid gold on tap for me? Sippy cups and other drinking devices are inferior as well, I'm taking Mommy to college!"

Pacifiers - "Again, plastic or Mommy?? I'm no fool."

Baby Food - "I'll have what you're having please. I've got 8 teeth, why do you keep offering me mushy stuff? Also, I have 10 fingers, why must you insist on silverware?"

Cribs - "Have I mentioned I prefer Mommy? Even though she's toning up from carrying me around all the time, she's still softer than any crib mattress that meets all those silly safety regulations."

Diapers - "That potty chair is pretty awesome. I think I prefer to stay clean and dry instead of sitting in my own filth, thanks."

Baby Toys - "Give me a good wooden spoon, a spatula, a toothbrush, and maybe a few doggy chew toys and I'm set. Throw in a pot and I'm a happy one-man boy band!"

Crawling - "I'm not in any hurry, and there is a ton of dog hair on the floor around here, so I'm fine to just scoot on my bum until I can walk around like the big people."

Church Nursery - "Why do you keep putting me in that room with all those babies?" Just like Ruby, our dog who doesn't know she's a dog, Zy seems to think he's an adult, and prefers to hang out with the grown-ups.

Strangers - "In a year or two you're not gonna want me to be comfortable going with people I don't know, so why are you always handing me to them now?" He's right, his stranger anxiety will be useful someday, we should appreciate it more.

Naps - "I may not be in a hurry, but there is still a lot to do, mainly keeping Mommy from getting any work done all day."

Isaiah, I'm so honored that you've chosen me to attach to, I'm pretty addicted to you too. I will do my best not to let you down, figuratively that is, I am going to have to let you down literally sometimes. But seriously, having you look up to me inspires me to be my best self. Thank you for making me a better person just by watching my every move and learning how to do life from what you see.

No matter how much I comfort you by reminding you that "I will never leave your or forsake you," (Hebrews 13:5) there is only One who you can trust completely and forever. Daddy and I will take the best care of you we humanly can, but, although it breaks my heart a bit to say it, we will fail you. I pray we never fail in pointing you to Jesus who you can always lean on.

For now you can lean on me though...

Driving like this may not be the safest, but on long road trips, when the front seat just feels too far away for you, we do what we have to do.

Even Sesame Street is better cuddled next to Mommy.

As long as you're touching Mommy you can even sleep standing up.

Watching you learn is the sweetest adventure.

I'm gonna take advantage of every minute you want to be in my arms. You make every day as bright as an afternoon in Florida!

Not Sure Who's Grown More These 11 Months, Him or Me

Oh, my little baby's basically all grown up! When does he become a Toddler, when he starts toddling unassisted? Right now, I'd say he's more of a Tumbler, but he's been circling the coffee table on his own for a few minutes now looking for choking hazards to ingest. The world is apparently chock full of irresistibly appetizing choking hazards, who knew?!

Other than his super sturdy legs keeping him upright for most of his waking hours, his mouth is his busiest body part. If it doesn't have a huge grin on it, it's likely stuffed with his thumb going in or his tongue sticking out. But one thing his mouth is always full of now is TEETH! His first 2 appeared right at 6 months, then his top 2 followed at 9 months. A couple days after Christmas we looked in his mouth and there were all the sudden 3 more! His 8th little nubbin just broke through, and now gnawing on a soft juicy pear with all those incisors is one of his favorite things to do.

Other current favorites include bath time, pulling everything out from drawers or cabinets, cruising, babbling, keeping Mommy from getting work done, and anything with Sissy, or as he calls her "Issy!"

We're still traveling together; toting his portable high chair, potty chair, and toy box to Florida last week and Georgia next week. But his sidekicking days are numbered, as he can't be kept still or quiet, and it's going to be impossible to baby-proof the whole veterinary world. I don't take for granted one minute that I've had with this precious guy. God has truly blessed me to be able to do the two jobs I love so much, serving as a CVM Region Rep and serving as a mommy, at the same time.

Baby Einstein

Make believe with Issy.

Using those incisors on a star fruit at ECHO in Florida.

If you ask him what the lion says, and he's in the right mood, he just might ROAR back at you. :)

Filling that huge head with some book learnin'.

Still not crawling, but scooting backwards enough to get himself into some tight spots, like this one.

The Art of Neighboring

There are a lot of lost arts. Origami, whittling, sporting suspenders and a bowtie... Okay, I kinda just made those up, but I wouldn't mind a little more of those in my life. And I definitely wouldn't mind a little more time on a front porch swing with a glass of lemonade and a neighbor. One of the biggest tragedies of our convenience era of garages and privacy fences is the loss of neighboring.

What if we took Jesus literally when He said to "love your neighbors as yourself"? In the book The Art of Neighboring the authors explore the idea that if we loved our literal neighbors it would have the potential to change not only our neighborhoods, but our communities, cities, and eventually impact the world. 

For the past year, we've been testing this theory out through Southeast Christian Church's Love Where You Are groups, and I think the hypothesis is proving correct! Since last January, we've been hanging out with our neighbors and finding out just how much we have in common with the people within walking distance.

Of course there's the traditional borrowing of a cup of sugar, or a chainsaw, when the need may arise, but it's gone so much deeper than that. It's been beautiful to share in each other's celebrations and trials. We squealed with joy together as we cut into the gender reveal cake for one neighbor's fifth baby, and learned their only girl was finally getting a sister. We cried together when a brother lost his job...again. We cried together over the publishing of one neighbor's first book, and later her cancer free diagnosis. We've prayed together for our health, our kids, our families, our work, and our neighbors. We've even prayed in Spanish.

We pulled out all our craft supplies (yes, even glitter), and made Christmas cards together for a local nursing home, then we delivered them with caroliong.

Another time we got out a different kind of glitter and decorated Christmas cookies for our neighbors.

When our next door neighbor, who we'd yet to really connect with passed away tragically, it hit me pretty hard. It was so heavy on my heart that here we were intentionally neighboring and we hadn't been able to love the ones closest to us. It renewed my resolve to love those near us well, and we look forward to welcoming our new neighbors with an open home.

One of the best parts of doing life with these folks, is studying God's Word with them and looking for ways to live it out together. I hope you have the opportunity to build a rich community with those right outside your front door, it's such a blessing to go for a walk and find two neighbors sharing coffee on their front porch and stop for a visit.

You'll have to excuse me now, I've got a Saturday morning running date, with a neighbor!

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[There is no commandment greater than these.” - Matthew 12:30-31

What's Your Word?

We're not big on resolutions around here. Goals aren't really my thing. But I don't mind a plan at all, and I do love a good theme. So with the beginning of a fresh new year we have a few ideas in mind.

First, we've pulled out the Bible in a Year for Kids in Spanish. When Angie initially moved in with me, which was exactly 5 years ago yesterday, we enjoyed reading this Bible together through 2010. This time, we've got some new additions in the house, Jon, Isaiah, and Teolinda, to introduce it to. It's a beautifully illustrated book that gives us the opportunity to keep up our Spanish while we study God's Word together daily.

We're hoping as the year progresses that Isaiah gets more interested in the stories.

Along with the Bible for kiddos, I have another stack of books I look forward to digging into in 2016, as time and the baby who chews everything within reach, including pages, allow.

But, my real change for 2016 can be summed up in just one word. You may remember that last year, I chose the word gentle to focus on. And although it was a rough start, and nothing about natural childbirth was "gentle," something quickly came over me that made gentleness second nature. I almost feel like it was cheating to have a newborn around when I was trying to work on gentleness. I haven't conquered my quick temper, or harsh tongue with others by any means, I've even found myself yelling at Angie in the other room to get her act together while nursing the tiny munchkin in my arms, but toward him I am a soft, mushy puddle.

Now, Isaiah has entered this stage which I have not read about, but can only imagine is a normal phase for all, or most, babies. One in which, he is so close to mobile, but so far from stable. This juxtaposition leads to regular tumbles, and frequent scooping ups into my arms, where I hold a crying hurt, startled, or scared baby close to my chest until he regains his confidence that the world is not against him. (I did not finish typing that sentence without having to go do just this, as he had head-butted his sister while they played.) My gentle is the Ying to Zy's currently clumsy Yang.

The arrival of our bundle of joy also helped Angie with her word for 2015, "Happy," which comes almost as naturally to her when he's around as gentleness comes to me. And praise the Lord, the word I had for our family, "Peace" has been more evident in our home in 2015 than ever before.

This year, we've each chosen new areas to challenge ourselves with. Since watching the latest Cinderella movie, Angie and I have been reminding ourselves to "Have courage and be kind." And thus, Angie has admirably decided her word for 2016, in a tumultuous final year of middle school, will be "Brave."

My word came to me as I was reading a National Geographic article about the beloved Pope Francis. Simple, unassuming, rock star, revolutionary, radical, and informal are all words used to describe the new Pope but for some reason the word "Warm" was the description that stood out to me profoundly. This is probably my favorite line from the article:

“If you asked anybody on the street, ‘What’s the Catholic Church for and against?’ you would’ve gotten, ‘It’s against gay marriage, against birth control’—all this stuff. Now if you ask people, they’ll say, ‘Oh, the pope—he’s the guy who loves the poor and doesn’t live in a palace.’ That’s an extraordinary achievement for such an old institution. I jokingly say that Harvard Business School could use him to teach rebranding."

If Christianity needs rebranding, and it probably does, then I think a little more warmth is exactly what's called for.

From my end, as an Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging personality on the Myers Briggs spectrum, Darth Vader and I don't often have the word "warm" used in the same sentence as our names. 

So, after changing to flannel sheets on our bed for added warmth, :) I started by singing and dancing with the kiddos a little more, writing Jon an impromptu list of all the things I appreciate about him, and being conscious of my tone of voice. I'm not sure "Warm" is going to be as easy for me as "Gentle" turned out to be, but I definitely think it's a word that would have been used to describe Jesus, so it's at least worth a year's effort.

What's your word for 2016??

10 Months-Old and Full of Christmas Wonder

On his 10-month birthday, my little man woke up sounding like Darth Vader. I'm afraid instead of a creative plea to be taken to the new Star Wars movie, he's come down with his first cold. Mama's magical antibodies could only keep him healthy for so long I suppose. It was bound to happen, but I would not have chosen Christmas week for his first illness if given options.

Other than sounding like a snoring dinosaur when he breathes, he's handling it remarkably well. First thing this morning he wanted to show off his two latest tricks; sweetly waving at me as he did his business on the potty. The precious waving just began a few days ago, and is especially heart-melting when it sounds like he's accompanying it with "Hola" or "Chau." Other words we're all pretty convinced we're hearing are "Dada," "Mama," and "Doggy," but we're all pretty biased too.

He's still not mobile, and both he and I are still very okay with that. But he loves his standing up toys now and is pulling himself up better and better all the time. On our hardwood floors he will sometimes scoot, but in reverse on accident, so that's understandably a bit frustrating for him.

If all he wants for Christmas is his 2 front teeth, then he must be one content little dude, cause he's got both top and bottom front teeth now.

Angie was super stoked to give Zy his first Christmas present, and he was pretty thrilled to receive it! Notice also, the success of my mom's first knit sweater attempt. I don't know if he makes the sweater look so good or if it makes him even handsomer, probably both.

Earlier this month, he traveled to Seattle with me like a rockstar. I was pretty worried about trying to work out there for a week with him, but God provided many awesome co-workers to help entertain him, and a temperament of gold for this little traveler. This weekend he'll add Iowa to his list of states, as we celebrate the birth of another precious baby, Jesus!

"Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given." -Isaiah 9:6

(I think Isaiah likes hearing his name in church so much during Christmas season.)

First World Solutions

Having lived overseas for an extended period, I've done culture shock. Having returned from overseas after such periods, I'm also familiar with its cousin reverse culture shock. But this week, seeing the U.S. through the eyes of our Bolivian guest, Teolinda, I'm experiencing something different from both of those. What's the word for viewing your own world through new eyes? I think maybe the word should be "grateful."

Here in North America, we gripe about ridiculous things so often that our friends have to give us a reality check by reminding us of our "First World Problems." But what if, at least for a little while, before the Thanksgiving glow wears off, we didn't dwell on our First World Problems, but appreciated some serious First World Solutions. I don't flatter myself that #FWS is going to become a thing, but for a moment, I'd like to recognize just how good we have it. 

Here are the things Teolinda has experienced for the first time this week:

Dishwasher - In the developing world, a dishwasher is a person with a sponge, and the water is so limited that it's only used to rinse the dishes. I'm still working on getting her to use it.

Clothes Dryer - When her sisters used to live with us in Bolivia, they washed their clothes by hand, a washer was a luxury, a dryer was unheard of. Now, she's intrigued by both commonplace appliances here. Not only, does the dryer save the time and effort of hanging things to dry, but she recognized right away the softness she'd been missing all along, and I'd been under-appreciating.

Self Check-Out - Do whaaat? She was pretty blown away by this First World Solution to long grocery store lines.

Expressways - Just days after Teolinda arrived in the U.S. we loaded her up in the car for our first road trip, to add Georgia to her list of the states she's visited. She was mesmerized by the roads. "Are all your roads like this? Where is the dirt?" Then with a chuckle, "All our roads have cows and chickens meandering on and around them..." Oh man, do we take our interstates for granted!

Heated Car Seats - Cause it is way too much to ask to wait 3.5 minutes for the rest of the car to heat up, we need our buns warmed immediately!

Crock Pot - I threw some spaghetti squash in the crock pot one of her first nights here, and totally forgot to tell her what I was doing. It wasn't till we were eating hours later, that I realized how confusing cooking by plugging a pot into the wall and leaving it all day, must seem.

Thanksgiving Dinner - Possibly the culinary definition of excess. We had 25 mouths to feed with our Thanksgiving feast, and afterwards, you could barely tell it had been touched. I tried hard to find a translation for "feast" in Spanish, but I don't even think Teolinda could wrap her head around having so much extra food, we never came up with a Latin equivalent.

Apple Pie - Appropriately, we introduced her to two of the most American things her first week here; Thanksgiving and Apple Pie. Apple Pie is definitely the solution to the first world problem of not having enough desserts to binge on after the most gluttonous meal of the year!

Pretzels - I don't even think she knew she needed a savory alternative to potato chips, but now she probably doesn't know how she lived so long without them.

Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels - As if pretzels didn't rock her world enough, then we introduced her to the peanut butter filled variety. #mindblown

Candy Corn - Turns out candy corn is not an acquired taste, Teolinda took to it straight away. Unfortunately, she's gonna have to wait almost a year to get another fix. #FWP (Never mind, Jon just reminded me you can get candy corn all year long. #FWS)

Ping Pong - Because we have dryers, dishwashers, crock pots, and paved roads saving us so much time, we have room in our schedules (not to mention our houses) for such a treat as table tennis.

Black Olives - Black olives may not fit perfectly into the first world solutions category, but they are certainly a luxury I am thankful for when reminded that Bolivia only has green olives.

Golf Carts - Not that walking around golf courses, or retirement communities is a struggle in developing countries, but a tiny car to get you to the grocery store, or the next tee, is an invention that should not be overlooked as an innovation that has saved many well... steps.

So, seriously, guys, let's quit our bellyaching and look around, we've got it pretty good. Let's look for things to rejoice in this season, and maybe like Teolinda's amazement at all our treasures, it will be contagious...

Angie taking us for a spin around Peachtree City in Jon's grandparents' golf cart.

Teaching Teolinda the art of apple pie baking.

Luxuriating in the gorgeous lake views and a peaceful paddle boat ride.