Be Forewarned

This has been an week of interesting discussions with Rhianwen. It's fun to realize that she takes things that we say and ruminates over them on her own. Days later she'll say something seemingly out of the blue until I piece together her thought process back to an earlier conversation. For example, Wally had been talking to Rhainwen about guardian angels and the next day we were sitting at the supper table when she said:

"Oh! My angel is here!"

Of course we said: "Where?"

Rhianwen, peering out at the VUE: "Oh, he might be in the car doing something" (short pause) gasp "Oh, there's an elephant at the door too."

Try as we may, we think the elephant thing truly is out of the blue.

We've had mixed success with poo in the potty, which is better than no success. We had a most golden moment when Rhianwen dumped her poo in the toilet, flushed, and as it disappeared fondly saying, "Bye bye poo-poo. I love you." I thought to myself, "I'm sure you do. It means getting 5 M&M's." (If you've gotten to this point and are completely grossed out, I warned you in the title)...

We found a stunned bird on our doorstep one freezing day this week. It was a wood thrush (not that I knew that at the time). Of course, I felt responsible for it so I called all kinds of people to find out what I was supposed to do. Catch it first then call CLAWS (a non-profit that takes in wounded animals). By the time I got the box together, the bird was alert enough to run away from me. It must have been an interesting sight seeing me run around barefoot through our flower bed as Rhianwen cheered me on at the doorstep. Alden was lying safely on the rug in the house (not in his bouncy seat which has become something of a place to perform tricks of daring and bravery) wondering where everyone went. Happily, the bird is safe and sound and will be released when the weather is warmer. Guess what story Rhianwen chose for nap that day? No One Noticed Ralph, her favorite bird story (she always has to have crackers when she reads it b/c the bird in the story loves saltines.)

No One Noticed Ralph.

A new bouncy seat position. I know I should use the straps, but he enjoys it so much more if I don't!

We've found the knack to easier feeding time with Alden. If you put one spoon in each hand, you can feed him without him grabbing the spoon you are using. This does not prevent incredible messes, but it does allow for more food in his tummy over a shorter period of time. Daddy has been finding ways to let Alden stand and play. This mostly consists of standing him up against something and piling a ton of pillows all around him in case he should fall.

A moment of mutual enjoyment...ah, if only this happened all of the time!

Alden is sick with his second cold of his life. He's not as bad as the first time. He still has a good appetite and good demeanor, but he's SO snotty and drooly and has had a hard time breathing at night. So mommy had to stay home with him while Daddy and Rhianwen went to church today. When they came back, Daddy asked Rhianwen to tell mommy what the sermon was about. She said, "Rabbit ears and Paul." But of course!

Rhianwen built this "church" ALL by herself!!! No help or suggestions from me, and she put a bunch of stuffed animals in it. The monkey has historically been baby Jesus. I'm not sure if he is in this picture or just a humble parishioner.

Tea for 3.

We've had some spring-like weather recently. So of course, we headed to the park along with the majority of parents in the city. Alden was enjoying watching until Daddy decided he needed to be introduced to the slide:

He went down on his tummy all by himself and loved it!

A moment of discovery...the taste of sand (the shovel and bucket had remnants from Rhianwen's trip to the sand area of the park).

A sneaky way to get them both happily to the car: Rhianwen loves helping to push the stroller. Today she did it all by herself! I was amazed that she could guide it so well! Especially considering that this past Wednesday at Bible study she was careening down the sidewalk crashing and veering off into the grass with him. Alden seems utterly unaware to the threat to his life that this poses.

On a more serious mommy note, I've been reading books on God-centered shepherding/guidance. One interesting thought from "Don't Make Me Count to Three": "When you reprove your child in front of others, you take his focus off of the sin in his heart and onto the embarrassment and humiliation that you have unnecessarily caused him." The goal for the child is repentance and you've hindered it when you do that. I mostly try to avoid reproving Rhianwen in public, but it's usually b/c of my own selfish desire to not make a scene. It was interesting to think clearly about the godly perspective. The author listed Matt. 18:15 about going to your brother in private. And speaking on impure motives, "Our children can sense when they are being violated by impure motives, and God knows the motives of our hearts. If our motive is sinful, we will give reproof in a sinful way, and our children will view it as a personal attack or an act of vengeance."

Goodnight!