3 Years Old!

3 years old!

 

 2 years old

18 months old

1 year old

 11 months old

10 months old

9 months old

8 months old

7 months old

6 months old

 
 5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

 2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Calvin,

At last the long awaited day has arrived! Your birthday! You are 3, big man!

What does the world hold for you these days?

- You are a delight, my son. You have a huge, beautiful smile, and you share it readily most of the time. I love to see that smile! When I tell you about something happy or fun coming up, you respond with an enthusiastic, "Oh, yay!"

- You love books! We can sit on the couch for an undetermined amount of times, reading and re-reading favorites. You particularly enjoy books about trucks, but you have a long attention span for most any readaloud, and I love it that you will still curl up with me for a long cozy reading time. This year you got to be a part of our new homeschool co-op, and many weeks you sat with us in the literature class for the younger students and listened quietly with the readaloud book and discussion.

- You are good at playing independently, good at playing with your brothers (while still sometimes needing a reminder to "use kind words" instead of screaming when upset), and good at welcoming others when friends come to visit. You also have reached a bit of a reserved stage, when we're in groups, and sometimes you prefer to stick close to me rather than launch out to play with people you're not so familiar with.

- You enjoy the construction site (i.e. big hole designated for digging in the backyard), and you are very busy getting covered with your fill of dirt this summer. It's great fun.

- You are very conversational and have such a vocabulary that sometimes it's hard to remember you're just 3. You love to point out things you see (an airplane! an excavator! a puppy!), and you love to tell stories of your adventures and experiences. FaceTimes with Grammy and Grandad or Grandma Kay are always fun.

- You can be very patient waiting for things that you look forward to. It has certainly been a long season watching all your brothers celebrating their early-in-the-year birthdays and waiting for the day when it will be your turn. But you have kept a happy attitude and generous spirit nonetheless. ("My birthday is June 17, and you'll have to sing happy birthday to you, and I'm going to eat ice cream and drink lemonade!"

- You are a wonderful helper, and you really love to watch and help me... in the kitchen, in my garden, putting clothes away, and so on. You use the sweeper to clean the kitchen floor most days, and you make a good buddy team with Victor to dust or clean the family room. I'm so glad that you are learning to be a good worker!

- You are a great eater, cleaning your plate without complaint most all the time. Sometimes you don't finish your dessert (a curious thing!).

- You are already showing yourself to be a good big brother, gentle with Jemima, whispering when she is eating or sleeping, patient when I can't be available as soon as you'd like. I'm so thankful for God's helping you to enjoy and excel in that new important role in our family.

Lately God has been reminding me just how much we can entrust to Him. Big things and little things, like a day's schedule or a health crisis, the ability to endure through long, quiet suffering and the joyful evidences of grace that pop up in unexpected moments. 

Our world does not function on the basis of trust. It is in the air of our culture to act on feelings and experiences, to demand evidence, to reject things that do not feel or appear to be true in our own contextual lens. But God has shown us in the Bible that He actually designs our days so that we have the opportunity to take Him at His word and trust. It pleases Him when we look not to the things that are transient but to the things that are eternal, basing our faith on the solid rock of His word.

I pray that, as you grow and encounter every level of challenge and temptation, you will increasingly practice walking by faith. For He certainly is faithful.

This summer, we as a family are working on memorizing Psalm 91 together, and verse 5 gives us this wonderful picture:

His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

We can trust God because He is faithful. His faithfulness is like a huge, protective shield ... and by exercising our faith in God's trustworthiness, we have a shield that can extinguish the fiery arrows of the evil one. 

There are troubles and trials each day in this world, but they are not given to us to crush us or defeat us. In God's love, those difficulties become opportunities to see God's faithfulness, to receive His mercy and help, and to grow in our reliance on and joy in Him.

One day, we will see Him just as He is. For now, let's keep our eyes of faith fixed on Jesus, for He is faithful.

I love you, sweet son,

Momma 

Calvin (6.23.21) 3 years old

1.       What is your favorite color? blue

2.       What is your favorite toy? truck

3.       What is your favorite fruit? orange

4.       What is your favorite video to watch? Mighty Machines

5.       What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? sandwich

6.       What is your favorite thing to wear? my new pjs

7.       What is your favorite game? Sequence

8.       What is your favorite snack? pretzels

9.       What is your favorite animal? rhinoceros

10.   What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me

11.   What is your favorite verse? He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

12.   What is your favorite book? cat book

13.   Who is your best friend? Isaiah

14.   What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with my new baseball

15.   What is your favorite drink? root beer

16.   What do you like to sleep with at night? my blankets

17.   What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cheese sandwich (?)

18.   What do you want for dinner on your birthday? hot dogs

19.   What do you want to be when you grow up? a worker

20.   What was one of your favorite things that you did this year? swimming in the swimming pool

21.   What is your favorite place to go? buy some toy trucks at a toy store

1 Month Old!

1 month old!

 

2 weeks old

Dear Jemima,

Happy one month in our home, little one! What a month it has been, and we are so thankful.

I love to see your cheeks getting rounder, your eyes alert and bright more often, your little arms and legs stretching, and the sweet expressions on your face. Every baby is a miracle, but I realize that very poignantly with you.

At one month...

- You are eating and sleeping very well ... most of the time. Life is still very unpredictable, and the rough nights are still a reality, but in general you settle in for bedtime between 8:30 and 9:30pm and have at least one 5-hour stretch of sleep in the night. 

- Early on, you had a bit of a tongue tie, which made feeding you extremely painful, but since the ENT resolved that, nursing had been so much better. You developed a habit of really emptying your belly with a gully-washer of a spit once or twice a day, but keeping you more upright to eat seems to be helping that. You're getting a little bit speedier too, maybe taking a half hour more often than an hour now. But we really work on burping you afterward, lest you drench yourself with the aforementioned spits.

- You are atune to your surroundings, maybe more than your big brothers were at this stage. But you still snuggle in to snooze even when we are out and about, which is lovely. 

- You love to be outside (even though we're in the middle of record-setting heat), do well in your carseat, love to go on walks, and prefer to be in the Baby K'tan when we're moving (unless you're asleep). You have peaceful, alert awake time often when you're just resting after a diaper change.

- Evenings are often troubled times, with frequent crying between 7pm and bedtime. (When I brought you along to our ladies' small group prayer, you added your own sad background noise most of the time!)

- You are the best little snuggler. I love to hold you while you sleep, and you will snooze for hours on my shoulder. But you are also doing great taking naps in the pack-and-play and settling into your crib for the night. You still sleep 20-22 hours a day, aside from eating.

- Your brothers have been sweet and gentle to you, frequently wanting to peek at you while you sleep or give you a kiss on your head before you go to bed. You are a very blessed little sister!

In women's Bible study this summer, we are just beginning a study on prayer, and it is a fitting focus for this season. Not only was the last year marked by weakness and neediness in many ways, I am still very aware of how much every day and all the areas of life call for God's help, wisdom, and provision. But our huge needs are perfectly matched to God's huge promises of care, response, and goodness.

Moment by moment, as our needs exceed my capacity, I want to lift them right up to God, who hears us, who invites us to bring Him our cares, and who refreshes our hearts with the vision of His own power, love, and mercy.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

My most frequent prayers for you right now are that you will eat well (and not spit it all up again), sleep well, and that God will shape your heart to be a gentle and quiet spirit, trusting in Jesus, fearing God, and doing what is right without being frightened by any other fear. May He cause you to be a strong, faith-filled, and humble woman of God.

What a kind Father we have. May you love, trust, and follow Him all your days!

I love you, little Jem.

Momma