Yep. Alden is 4 months old, and mommy is starting rice cereal. I care not that LLL and BF die-hards insist 6 months is solid-starting time. Alden was showing signs of "readiness". He was watching us intently every meal time following spoon to mouth, chewing on everything, and able to sit for a few seconds at a time on his own. Plus, it makes me feel better that he's not dependent solely on me for his nutrition. No, we don't let Rhianwen feed him in general :) But we did let her try. He seems to love to eat, but doesn't necessarily think rice cereal is tasty. He gets this funny expression on his face when he tastes it, but he'll eat a nice helping at breakfast and dinner. (Side note: BF is still hard. Alden's improving, I am not so much. Going to see a Dermatologist tomorrow to see what they say. I know I have Raynaud's maybe that is all the issue? Maybe something more.)
Rhianwen has become very inventive recently. If she's not taking apart something or getting into something, she's discovering new ways to use things. It's been interesting, occasionally frustrating, and pretty neat. I have visions of a scientist dancing in my head, but all I've said to her is, "Whatever you're going to be when you grow up, it's not going to be normal!" Take a look at the video below to see Alden's eating skills and Rhianwen's inventiveness. She came up with the link game all on her own!
Recently I've been really thinking hard about discipline, what are the goals, how to meet them, and what needs to be changed. I know that in the end the main goal is to have Rhianwen's heart be one that desires to please God and to serve others, but how to "impress" this on her heart is another issue entirely. I know in the end only God can change the heart, but as a parent, we are told to:
"5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 6:5-7
Hm, yes it does say what do do right there in verse 7. So many times I feel like my main goal in reality is good behavior or a "let's get through the day without losing it every 2 minutes" kind of an attitude. I've been reading Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp and Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman and feeling incredibly inadequate as I realize more and more how much my own heart needs changing. I'm hoping I'll feel more enlightened and encouraged as I finish the books. Right now it just feels a little depressing.
Daddy found Rhianwen quietly reading this in the family room the other night. Maybe she'll just glean the good stuff and change on her own....ha ha.
Daddy found Rhianwen quietly reading this in the family room the other night. Maybe she'll just glean the good stuff and change on her own....ha ha.
We've been getting ready for Thanksgiving here. Soon we'll be down at Grandaddy's and Grandmama's enjoying Southern hospitality and home-cooking. This week we started a T family tradition that started at Wally's family's home. We have a paper turkey and every meal time we write on a feather something for which we are thankful. Then we dress the turkey with the feathers. So far Rhianwen has been thankful for Jesus, Snowbear, Larry, our house, drums. It's been a fun thing to do and I wonder if it would be possible to have fun activities like this all of the time. I know it takes some of the specialness out of the holidays, but it might be a way of following through with the Deut. verse. Another book I'd love to read is Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper. Now that Rhianwen is old enough to remember routines and "traditions", I feel like we need to be more strategic about it.
Putting feathers on the turkey.
Alden had his first wagon ride the other day. He loves being outside even if his poor little fingers get so cold!
I have no idea what Rhianwen was thinking/doing. She kept pointing to his face. Don't they look adorable in their fleeces? I just love it :) Alden's thinking, "This girl is way too intense."
I got my first pair of boots yesterday, and had tried them on and left them in the family room. When Rhianwen got up from her nap, she went into the family room, took a look at them, came into the kitchen and said, "What are those?" Then she wanted to try them on of course and walk in them. She actually could walk with a little help. I love how tall I feel in them :)
"If I just close my eyes, maybe I'll be all grown up."
I do feel like Rhianwen can't wait to grow up. She wants to do things "by myself" most of the time (well everything but play by herself!). I've let her help me cook supper mostly because it keeps her happy after getting up after nap. But she finds it annoying if I have to finish up stirring something after she's taken a whack at it. The thing with her cooking is that when I ask her to stir, she often tastes and sniffs too. I seriously thought she might inhale the cornmeal if I hadn't stopped her from holding right it under her nose.
How is it possible that a baby can look way bigger in just a few days? Alden looks huge to me here! That rice cereal must have some powerful stuff!
How is it possible that a baby can look way bigger in just a few days? Alden looks huge to me here! That rice cereal must have some powerful stuff! 
Well, well, another great post. How can those kids keep getting cuter ?? The fleeces look so cozy. So is Alden sleeping better or any changes due to the cereal?
ReplyDeleteI am so thankful for good books. I am also glad that we have a God that is God and that is love. I sometimes feel like just jumping into all of Him, if you know what I mean....kind of like closing myself in an envelope of His great love and goodness. The more I see of Him in this light, the easier it is for peace, contentment, trust. But I often feel that wisdom is a hard thing....going through James today and seeing the contrast of wisdom that is from above and wisdom that James classifies as demonic. It is good , however, to trust God when we are confused about the wisdom....I am thankful for books, such as the ones you mentioned. Child rearing is tough especially because it has to be tailored to each individual and each kid is soooooooo different (aside from the similar trait of being a sinner and selfish ;-))
I love the idea--let Rhi read the books and discipline herself, HA!!
Chip was saying he was full of curiostiy about how things worked and school dampened it. Sooo I would say, continue to think of ways to encourage it in precious tiggery Rhi!!
ooooops--I meant God is good not God is God--however, both are true!
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how fast they are growing! I think I see a little bit of Christopher in Alden's face.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Shepherding a Child's Heart, too. Discipline...what a daunting task!
Darn straight: those kids do keep getting cuter.
ReplyDeleteRegarding mom's comment about school kicking the curiosity out of me, it is true. I’ve been thinking about this a little, and one thing I want (if I ever have kids) is to have a “laboratory”. This is a safe place where the kids can do unsafe things under supervision. It’ll have all sorts of nifty things (hopefully obtained on the cheap from hawk shops and such) for them to disassemble and tinker with.
When I hear politicians talk about education reform, it gets me all fired up. One of the most important things they can do (I think) is to get rid of “professional teachers” and start filling the classrooms with people who actually majored in the subject they are teaching. Physics grads, not education majors, should teach physics classes. Remember your best teachers (Mr. Martin and Mrs. Locklaire come to mind). Why were they so great? They loved the subject matter! Mr. Martin wasn’t an education grad. He was a history grad, and he made history come alive. Mrs. Locklaire did the same for English and writing.
Rant over...
Hey, those kids actually look like sister and brother now!!
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