2 years old!
18 months old
1 year old
11 months old
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18 months old
1 year old
11 months old
10 months old
9 months old
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Dear Calvin,
The latest and greatest:
- You are a full participant in the escapades and adventures of your brothers. Lately, that has included backpacks filled with arrows and clubs, digging a monstrous pit (and then hollowing out cave-like tunnels beyond it), splashing in the kiddie pool, and shooting water guns.
- You are generally quite easy-going and amiable, but at times (particularly when your older brothers are vexing) you will vent with quite the screaming outbursts. We are working on other options for responding. And I am so proud and thankful when I hear you with a "please stop" or "2 minutes" (i.e. I'll give it to you in 2 minutes) instead of a blood-curdling scream!
- Congratulations, my child, on being the first among your brothers to climb out of your crib. You are fully capable of escaping anytime you want, but after a few heart to hearts on this topic, you do a very good job of staying put until one of your brothers or I come to tell you it's time to get up. Self-control is an even bigger life skill than scaling of walls, so way to go!
- You love to be outside. Clomping around in your big blue rainboots (which, sadly, have far too many holes to keep any part of your feet dry in the event of actual rain) is always a favorite activity. You are still almost always a willing companion on my afternoon walks, though sometimes you opt to stay and play with "the guys."
- You talk about everything. The planes. The lawn mowers. The squirrels. The trucks (especially excavators). The red tailed hawks. The bluebirds (i.e. Gus and Gertrude, who live in our bird house).
- You feel like such a fine big boy now that your seat is turned around in the van. Now you can really see what's going on...
- You are a good helper with my garden. Despite the fact that the fence was largely for you, you do a good job when I bring you inside to help water, and almost every day you help me haul my big green watering can to the rest of the plants on the side and front of the house. You also help put soap in the dishwasher almost every night.
- You are quite the adventurer, adeptly getting yourself up in the big tree fort (although you still need my help to get down). You'll carry me knives off the table and make sure I'm watching to see you balance on top of a tree stump. But mostly you know when you need help and will ask for it.
- You are still a very good eater. As long as there's nothing super crunchy involved, you normally tuck it away without much coaxing.
- You're sleeping great, you're a joyful and energetic player, you have the most delightful quizzical, animated, and happy faces, and you continue growing to beat the band.
The past few months have been such an unprecedented time. COVID-19, shelter-at-home, no shopping outings, library, church, playgrounds, visitors or play dates, homeschool co-op, or visits from Grammy and Grandad. The horrendous loss of George Floyd's life and subsequent protests. Looting and rioting. The unexpected death of a neighbor.
In many ways, this season has been a lesson in trust. A lesson in humility. A lesson in holding our hands open and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Most of these events have happened beyond your awareness. But as you grow and begin to see the world, its needs and brokenness, its scope of pain and loss, you will need a rock under your feet, my son. You will need a place to stand that will not shift in the winds of change or give way under the pressures of unexpected trial.
And if there has been one reality established, confirmed, and underscored through all these unusual days, it is this: God is faithful. He is unchanging. His word is steadfast and sure. The new life offered through Jesus is our only hope in the midst of sin, sickness, and sadness, and it is a hope that is imperishable, undefiled, and which will not fade away.
When Peter was writing to a group of people, scattered from their homes, in an uncertain time, the security he found in Jesus overflowed in a song of unshakable joy:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)
There are many things I do not know about the future, and it would be easy to fall in anxious, fretful worry if I lingered on the possible troubles that could be brewing on the horizon.
But because Jesus has secured our future by His own perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection from the dead, we may be free of fear, leaving the days ahead in the hands of the One who has so masterfully brought us safe this far.
May Christ Himself be your hope, all the days of your life, little son. That is an unshakable anchor indeed.
With all my heart,
Your momma
