I Should Have Known...

It all started so innocently this morning. Kate was eating her typical breakfast of bananas, yogurt and cereal when she started being silly. She decided to try sticking cheerios near her nose to get us to laugh. I wasn't too concerned about this little trick since clearly the diameter of the cereal precluded it from going against gravity into her nose. This was, however, a precursor of what was to come later in the day.

All went well until this evening at supper. She was enjoying her food when she decided to try the nose trick with a kernel of corn. Unfortunately, the kernel got away from her and got up into her nose. We heard, "Uh-oh, corn in nofah! (nose)" Sure enough we could see the little kernal peeking out from her nostril. The pragmatic side of us went for the bulb syringe, but the panicking 2 year old started inhaling from her nose deeply. After seeing the kernal being drawn deep into her sinus...Mommy started dialing.

Aunt Sue suggested calling the pediatrician on call...

The pediatrician on call suggested sitting tight over night and coming into the office tomorrow for a "procedure" to make sure the nasal passage was clear...

Uncle Jim suggested using a blow dryer up her nose to "pop" the kernal...

The 2 year old would just like everyone to leave her along and stop looking up her nose. When asked if she planned on sticking anything else up her nose in the future...she said "No...sniff...sniff"

Last Night in Crib...First Days in Big Girl Bed...

Kate appears to be adjusting well to her bed. She had a happy final night in the crib and posed for pictures. She is now enjoying the new freedom she has and having her toys close at hand.

A Week of Accomplishments...

I would be remiss if I did not recount some of the impressive advances that my 2 children made this past week. It's so easy to focus on the "dailyness" of life and forget about the milestones kids reach each day.

Sam, our 12-month old, is now really starting to explore and interact with his world. His first clearly spoken word was said last Tuesday...he said "Daddy". (I was not there to witness the event, but both witnesses confirmed it was clearly "Daddy" and not "Mama".) He also developed more skill at rolling the ball back and forth with us. Today he learned to give us "5" and was very proud of himself. Another highlight was dropping him off at the church nursery this morning without him having a tearful meltdown!

Kate, now almost 3, was not to be outdone. She counts to 10 in Chinese quite well and can now recite the Greek alphabet with minimal help. She also graduated to a "big girl bed" on Saturday night. She was a bit concerned when we first laid her down, but when we checked in on her about an hour later, we found her curled up asleep with several stuffed animals, blankets and a number of her books. Today when we picked Kate up from her class at church she cheerfully announced she had fun in class. We asked her what she did in church and her activities included "playing ousside, playing bassetball and eating goldfishies". She seems to enjoy this type of spiritual formation.

So we celebrate their development and look forward to next week!

No One Looks Good at Mile 22

I started running about 5 years ago. I enjoy the workout, the stress release, the sense of accomplishment, the sweat...and buying all the fun running clothes that are out there. There is one thing, however, that I heard and have never forgotten while buying running gear about 4 years ago. The guy working at the store commented that, "No one looks good at mile 22 of a marathon". ...regardless of what they are wearing.

He was right. I have run the Chicago marathon and am sure that I looked pretty tough at mile 22.

Sometimes in the process of life we don't look good at mile 22 either. There's a goal in mind...a finish line at mile 26.2, but the route is challenging. I'm there right now. I've got the goals, the route, the gear, but I think I've hit a wall. It's decision time...time to commit to change, overcome inertia and push on.

I did look tough at mile 22 in Chicago, but that was all but forgotten at mile 26.2. I crossed the line with my running buddy and with arms held high and great joy. I looked damn good.

Kate's To Do List for the Zoo...

Yesterday I surprised Kate with the news that I was taking her to the zoo with her brother. She was thrilled with the idea that we were going and promptly began listing everything we needed to see at the zoo on our adventure. She announced that we "needed" to see the following inhabitants of the zoo: "elephanons, hippopopamas in the water, cows, momma & daddy kitties (the lions), the cows, horses, giraffes, camels and the train." She also saw a few new things, so in the future we will have to check out the monkeys, peacocks, bears and rhinos. After seeing the hyenas and gorillas, she has decided they are too scary and will not be included in future tours. In the meantime, Sam just wants to hang out at the children's playground in the kiddie zoo.

A Morning at the Zoo....

Sam's 1st Birthday

Sam's 1st Birthday

Is God Deaf?

My daughter thinks I'm deaf. This realization has come to me over the past 2 weeks or so. She will be 3 this fall and is learning and developing at an amazing rate. She is quite proud of the new things she is able to do and loves to show me everything she does. So she works very hard to get my attention.

She starts with simply saying "Mama...mama..." and it escalates from there. She gives me about 10 seconds to respond to her before going on. "Mama...loooooook! Loooooook!", she says. So, I look up and meet her gaze. "Mahhhmeeee! Mommy!" she adds with increasing urgency. I now have locked eyes with her and responded with "Yes, Kate, mama's looking." This is followed by "Mama, watch ME! Watch ME!" she adds. By now I have stopped everything I've been doing, looked at her eyes, and responded verbally. Once she is satisfied that I'm engaged with her, she performs.

As I'm pelted with her pleading and demanding requests for my attention, I ponder what causes her to finally decide she has my attention. How does she decide what's enough? And, how many times does she have to demonstrate a newly acquired skill before she knows I'm impressed? She's quite charming and she is constantly showered with praises for her accomplishments...(except the time she tipped her brother over on to his head this week.)

All this made me wonder if I'm like this with my own Father. Do I constantly check and recheck hoping that I have His undivided attention? I think I've defined in my own mind what it means to experience His attention and when I don't feel it just that way, I go on a mission to see if He's really present. The reality is that it's not that He's not there, it's more likely that He's not expressing Himself where I hope to see, feel or experience Him. So, I plead, persist, and repeat myself hoping to see a glimpse His presence. But He is there, that's what He promised. I don't have plead, I just have to remember that He is not defined by my ideas of who He is. He is who He says He is...a perfect Father.

It's sometimes tiring to listen to Kate's repeated demands for my attention and affirmation throughout my day. So, I tried to imagine what God must be facing when He has millions of people doing the same thing daily. It's not that I think He tires of hearing from me or his other followers, I just think it would please Him if my energy wasn't spent asking Him to "Loooook God" and "Watch me". Whether I live like I believe that or not, He's already looking and watching, but there can be so much more to our relationship beyond that.

So, thank you, Kate, for teaching me a little bit more about life. And, yes Kate, I'm looking and watching...because I love you.

Since both of our children love water, we decided to invest in a "pool". The idea was a big hit, but I'm not sure all of the skills she learned that day will be useful.

His 1st July 4th Parade

Celebrating Our Freedom

Testing Gravity

The Journey

One of my favorite musicians has this song about our journey in life. A few of the lines go like this:

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey... ("Joy in the Journey", Michael Card)

These words remind me that life is a journey and that it's not all about the destination. I often find myself focusing on the endpoint, and losing sight of the experience along the way. I think there are a variety of reasons I don't remember to focus on the journey. Sometimes the path is lonely and I really don't like to feel alone. There are just times in life when our path can feel like we're walking through a tube of insulated conduit, cut off from everyone.

Then there are times when the path is scary or painful. Who wants to dwell on that along the way? I find myself looking for the expressway through these times because I'm afraid of what's coming next. For example, my son is almost a year old. Part of being a new mom is the extensive education regarding Sudden Infant Death Syndrome that one is given. Well, the education was more than effective, I was terrified that something would happen to my son who was quite small at birth. They tell us that the risks of SIDS dramatically drops at one year of age. So, what did I do? I focused on getting him to the one year mark without missing a single breath. Somewhere along the way, I got a grip and relaxed a little, but what would I have missed if I hadn't? ...Charming toothy smiles, naps with the sweetest look on his face, all of his little milestones, and restful nights...

Then there's the problem that other people's journeys look far more appealing, exciting, easy, or adventurous than mine. It's so hard to appreciate my own journey when focusing on the curb appeal of an other's path. The reality is that I'm seeing only static glimpse into that individual's dynamic life. I don't know the kind of scenery or experiences that person has had along their journey that brings them to where they are today. It undoubtedly involved some level of pain, sadness,or loneliness, too.

Thus, I come back to a few more lines of Michael Card's song,

Forget not the hope that's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

I do have great hope before me and I will never forget the hopelessness of the past. The reality is that at times I do feel as if I'm in that conduit, but I am not alone. Nor, will I ever be alone again. Is there anything that brings more hope than that knowledge? Maybe it's time to take my eyes of other people's journeys and remember to live in the Hope that rose again for me.