knitting puffed sleeves and lace

I keep thinking it would be so great to knit something for Charlie...and then lace or pretty puffed sleeves seem to sneak off my needles instead. I can't. stop. making girly things.
For a few moments of insanity (and because I wanted to see how they looked being worn), I tried using Charlie as my model. The somewhat disturbing results were not due to my knitting!

He was not enthused with being forced to wear girl clothes.

(Nor was his father...)

(Isn't this a cute top, though? I really love how the sleeves turned out.)

Run away, run away!

The valid question: why are boys clothes so boring that I'm even tempted to knit girls clothes and try them on my son in the first place? I need to find some serious boy inspiration over here!

how language evolves

It all started with a little mud outside. I washed Charlie's hands in the kitchen sink and I taught him the sign for washing your hands, which is rubbing your hands together. Charlie really liked washing his hands, so he remembered the sign. One thing led to another. First he was running over and asking to wash his hands every time I turned on the faucet. And he was no longer content to just have his hands washed, he wanted to play. Then that turned into ten or more minutes of me holding him over the sink and my back rebelled. So I sat him on the side of the sink and he dumped water all over his clothes. The short of it is that now the "wash my hands" sign really is the "please strip off all my clothes and let me play for a least 20 minutes in the sink with all the sponges and everything else I can reach" sign.

Spring Cleaning

I've started including Charlie in my tasks around the house. It makes him really happy and proud of himself.

He always carries his diaper to the trash after I change it, and he asks to mop the floor a lot.

We did some dusting the other morning...

Charlie helped by supplying the paper towels.

He helped and he helped...

He helped thoroughly!

It was fun. Which says a lot about the perks of having Charlie keep you company while you are cleaning!

When the day is over, and sleep quenches Charlie's activity, I go to my computer and think. Tonight, as he lies in the next room with his cheeks sagging into the sheets, and his lips puckering open in the smallest of snores, I wish that one-year-olds could understand apologies. I've not been the mother I wish I'd been today.

It's been a hard couple days around here. Charlie has been sick with a cold and hasn't been eating or playing well. He wants to be held anytime I'm not down on the floor playing with him.

I have been clinging too--clinging to my desire to get just one task accomplished without having to pick him up in the middle. God's sanctifying work? Revealing how being a parent can bring out the toddler in me. I pray that tomorrow I'm kinder, more patient and above all loving as I raise this little man to know and love the LORD.

Still, with all the "together-time," we've had some moments of joy, he and I. They are God's mercy, in reminding me that all is not lost. Here are some pictures of this Mama's hope tonight--offered up in thankfulness for the ongoing process of God's redemption!

Mr. Trouble

I've started to develop an ear for quiet. Quiet = trouble. If Charlie is quiet for too long, something has him completely fascinated. Sometimes it is harmless--like reading his books in his room or taking all the clothes out of his laundry hamper. Usually it's TROUBLE--like pulling all the kleenex out of a box, or tearing the jackets off the books on the shelves one little tiny teeny piece at a time.

Today it meant he had snuck out onto the balcony and was having a grand time tea partying with the potted plants! (There were even clods of dirt in his diaper!!!)

the tree-wherin I notice, watch, examine and appreciate more ordinary things because of Charlie.

The tree out of Charlie's window is a beautiful tree, filled with robins and turtle doves and a family of squirrels. The robins wake him up every morning. The turtle doves make sounds like owls and say "hoo hoo." The squirrels freeze on the branches until Charlie has had his fill of looking and then scamper up and away.

Under the tree is the garbage dumpster where, Monday and Thursday mornings, the garbage truck comes to collect the trash. It is a complicated process. We watch it all. And then lean to the left to watch its back end turn up the street. Charlie waves because it is, after all, going "bye bye."

Still leaning to the left you can just see traffic out on the road. Lots of cars go by. And there are buses and trucks and firetrucks from the fire station around the corner.

There's also a dog that we can't see across the street that barks a lot. It makes Charlie run to the window to look. Sometimes dogs go by on the sidewalk too. If they aren't already barking, Charlie barks for them.

The tree's branches wave in the wind. When this happens, Charlie blows out the screen at the tree too. He does this because I told him once that the wind was blowing. He does not blow neatly. He blows enthusiastically. He blows until there is spit dripping down his chin.

Now, don't you love Charlie's tree too?

...He is Risen Indeed!

I love the church calendar and intentionally choosing to make certain days special--set apart. For me, Easter is the phrases "the Lord is Risen, He is risen indeed!" repeating, responding, and resounding all day long. I love waking up with them, using them to praise God in church, rejoicing in Christ's power and victory over sin, and falling asleep with them.

We made this Easter "set apart" with hot cross buns for breakfast, a roast chicken for lunch, a trip to Starbucks and an afternoon at the park.
But best of all, we celebrated by making the decision to skip Charlie's morning nap and put him in the nursery at church. An odd way to celebrate Easter, you might say, but it was just right for our little family! (Charlie's morning nap comes squarely during church time and we usually do an awkward "wake-him-up-early-so-that-he-can-get-a-little-nap-in-before-church" juggling dance that invariably means one or both of us are late to the first part of the service. ) So this Easter Sunday, Jonathan and I worshiped the Lord together and uninterrupted the entire service for the first time since Charlie was born!
AND, to add luxury to deliciousness, there were no bad consequences to this decision. Charlie fell asleep in the car on the way home, transferred to his bed where he proceeded to take a full nap and then he woke up in a delightful mood and stayed that way all afternoon.

And all that was above and beyond my salvation through His resurection! God sure knows how to give this Mama good gifts!

Christ is Risen . . .
. . . He is risen INDEED!