helping

Jonathan and I are realizing that being helpful is very important to Charlie’s mental health. He fusses and frets when we are trying to get a job done, but as soon as he has a related task to do all is again right in the world.  Sometimes letting Charlie help is a joy.   Sometimes it means means letting go of efficiency, which can be hard on the die-hard optimizers that we are. 

Laundry is a prime example….I took a picture story the other day.  Try not to count, as I was at the time, all the extra effort and minutes that it took for Charlie to ‘help’ me!   Because once we were done, his little chest puffed up and there was an important swagger in his walk all the way back up those stairs! 

I’m realizing that the struggle between my own convenience and loving someone else is actually a life lesson I need to learn.  This is good, this is God disciplining me, and I am learning.  It makes me truly be in awe that the Lord lets us, no, wants us to help him in bringing the kingdom of God.  Wouldn’t it be so much easier—so much more convenient-- for him to just do it for us?  Yet wouldn’t we miss out on SO much learning about who He is?! How he loves us!  Thank goodness it is much better than I love Charlie, I’m thinking!

Charlie and Alaythia sitting in a tree….

Ok, so my title is probably a little misleading, but Charlie has become fast friends with the little girl I babysit two mornings a week.  She is a little older, a little bossier, a little smaller, and has a spunky personality to match her cute button nose.  Charlie is smitten with her, and she with him.   They are both learning good lessons about taking turns and sharing…about asking before grabbing.  I’m learning toddler friendships have their own unique sets of rules.  Imitation is the name of the game.  I know that they love each other because of the way they watch each other across the table at snack time.  If Charlie eats a gold fish, so does Alaythia.  If Alaythia needs more cheese, so does Charlie.  And if anyone is drinking milk, then everyone had better be drinking milk.  All that to say, for better or for worse, they are inseparable in their hours together.  Here are a couple “case in point”  pictures.   Are they not just adorable? 

the art of imitation

The best thing about this little scene is that no one suggested it to Charlie, he just wandered in while Jonathan was doing some reading for class.  He stopped to watch for a few seconds and then went to his room, got a couple of his own books, plonked himself right down and ‘read’ with Dada for the next  20 minutes! 

Why you should never leave a toddler to eat lunch alone…..

Why yes, that is half a banana smeared all over his head and hair, the placemat and table.  And it is true, his plate and cup have both disappeared.  And I’m really not sure how to estimate how much peanut butter and jelly actually made it inside.   I will never try to load the dishwasher while he is eating again!  Until next time, I mean! 

Fun Day

Now that we are into the swing of Fall semester, Charlie and I only have one morning a week that is utterly free of any weekly scheduled activity.  On Thursdays we can choose to do anything we want to!  Last Thursday we met our friends Ashley and Nathan (‘Nay-nay’) to explore the Children’s Zoo.  It is free if you get there before 10am.  Which is quite easy to do considering we have an alarm clock named Charlie that wakes us up at 6:30 every morning.  We had such a good time that I forgot to take many pictures, but here are a few from our escapades.  

Here are the boys, sitting on frogs, totally fascinated by people watching.It was only 70, and the water was very cold, but Charlie was undeterred.  Every time he went through a fountain he hugged himself and yelled back at us, “code”  (cold)!  Nathan was much wiser about keeping his clothes on and staying dry!There was also a goat-petting area.  We lost track of Nathan and Ashley entirely once Charlie realized there was so much work to be done.   He petted the baby goats.  He tried to feed the goats  a rock….that was a hard concept to grasp, for some reason.  “Goats don’t eat rocks?”“Well if the goats won’t eat it, I guess I’ll eat it then!”  (Followed by a horrified, “Charlie, take that out of your mouth!”  from his Mama—there were goat droppings all over!)And, once we found the basket of brushes, Charlie was very enthusiastic about getting those goats brushed!   They were such docile animals!  We rounded out the morning with some spelunking.  Then Nathan got very very wet in a waterfall, but sad to say, we were too busy laughing at it all to take a picture! All that to say, I love the St. Louis Zoo and I LOVE getting to spend time with Ashley and Nathan! 

First Sentence

Charlie presented me with a book this morning and said his first sentence. "I want to read." Although it really sounded more like, "I wanda t weed." Jonathan was there to witness. We agree it is a great sentence to start off with!

Experiencing the Sabbath

When Jonathan and I first started seminary two years ago, we committed ourselves to doing no work whatsoever on Sunday.  It has been a tradition that has blessed us so much.  Today was no different, except that for some reason, I was inspired to take some pictures so I thought I’d share our Sabbath with you.

We slept all night to the accompaniment of thunder and rain pouring against our windows.  It was still pouring when we got up.  We loved the rain this morning--cozy grey that just wrapped us up in peace.  Then Charlie woke up, humming to himself in bed.  When Jonathan went into check on him, Charlie informed him that he was cold.   First wonder of the day: communication with our son!  What a delight this new found skill is proving to be for all of us!   (It turned out he had wet his entire outfit and bed, no wonder he was cold, and even more wonder that he didn’t wake up screaming.)   Then, while the boys discussed the mechanics of locomotives, bulldozers and excavators in the comfy chair in Charlie’s room, I mixed together a batch of maple walnut scones.  Add a few scrambled eggs, a cup of tea, and a good discussion about John 13 by the light of candles and I do declare there is no better way to start a Sunday!  Then we worshiped at church.  Our pastor is on sabbatical right now and Jonathan and I have both been loving the sermons from the man stepping in for him.  It has been good to be challenged and moved to know and serve the Lord better.  After Church we were invited to some friend’s house for lunch.  It was good food, and really great conversation about love, and discipline and sanctification.  Our hearts needed that conversation!

We made it home by 3 (! ) for Charlie’s nap, which was sort of a bust since he went to sleep so late in the day.  Still, when he woke up,  the weather had cleared up.  So we rallied for a family bicycle ride up some gentle hills to the playground.  (Jonathan told me it was ok that I was lagging so far behind and panting so hard because apparently Charlie is 20% of my weight—but I’m pretty sure it’s because this Mama has not been riding up enough hills to be in shape!)  

  

Why the funny faces, you wonder?  This face is the face that he makes every time he sees a camera pointed in his direction.  We suspect that dear Nana inadvertently taught it him to by saying, “Smile, Charlie, smile for the camera!”  Isn’t that the weirdest smile you ever saw?   I hope this is not the beginning of a phase of otherwise cute and candid pictures ruined by his “smile.”

Here’s a helmet picture for you, Mom!

At the playground Charlie ignored all the accoutrements except the swing and then informed us that he wanted to run.  So we spent the rest of our time there running through ball fields of clover…which I was just aching to do after that bike ride, let me tell you!  [aside:  Charlie has been informing me of his desire to run at random intervals during the day ever since I took him outside for what I thought would be a short little run to burn off steam before dinner.  I held his hand and said, “Let’s run fast, Charlie!”  Charlie then proceeded to run fast enough that I had to jog to keep up with him--for the next 35minutes!  In fact he had still showed no sign of tiring when I forced an ending to our escapade.  This experiment in burning off  his energy failed to dampen his energy even remotely for the rest of the evening. Still, it was a grand success from Charlie’s point of view because he discovered something he likes even better than soccer.  To run! ]  Thankfully the ride home was all down hill!

Then we piled our sweaty selves into the car and drove to our favorite little hole-in-the-wall joint:  Pho Long.   I love Pho.  Jonathan loves Pho. Charlie loves Pho.  For those of you who don’t know, Pho (pronounced “fuh” ) is a Vietnamese noodle soup dish.  It is served with a variety of meats to choose from and you add more seasonings and fresh herbs to taste at the table.  Charlie knows what he wants!"Noodles, noodles and more noodles please!”

“Um, OK,  the meat and broth are super yummy too!”  “Moi, moi!”  (more, more!)“What’s your fortune?  Can I eat your cookie?”As we drove home, there was a beautiful sunset…a perfect ending to the day our loving Father gave us!

Putting by for Winter

A couple weeks ago,  Charlie and I made lots and lots of pesto to freeze for Winter.  My food processor only holds two cups so we made many batches. Charlie helped by putting in the basil leaves.  It made our house smell wonderful for days. I’m looking forward to that dreary grey day in the middle of January, when we can’t face another sweet potato or turnip and make homemade pasta with fresh pesto on it to cheer up our hearts!

Fall?

The season might be changing.  Some signs are in the air. 

It cooled off to 75 degrees. 

Jonathan started classes again.

Charlie wore pants for the first time in months.  (He kept grabbing at his ankles because they felt funny, I think. )

And during nap time,  I put on slippers and had a few cups of tea. ( I’m knitting Charlie a stripped sweater vest for the fall and winter.  More pictures coming, to be sure!)  There’s nothing like the lingering taste of tea in my mouth and the feeling of wool slipping through my fingers to make me anticipate the cold months coming.  Still, I’ve loved this summer, and am nostalgically sad to see it sliding into fall.