Mr. Mischievous

Okay, little D is no longer just sneaking Bella (our dog) some food.  He is grabbing what he doesn't want, winding up behind his head, and chucking that stuff down to her!  So, this is her faithful post...

How do you teach a 10 month old not to feed the dog he loves?!?!  She actually listens better than he does when I say no.  After the chucking episode (which repeated itself),  he took his little fist to the edge of his tray and as I said, "no, you eat it" he looked me in the eyes and "accidentally" uncurled those little fingers and let the food drop.

We have a very cute but very mischievous boy on our hands, and I have to turn away to laugh, and hope he doesn't see it in my eyes first!

Frowning birds

Today I was getting ready to read with a small group of first grade students, and the book was about birds.  I asked what schema they had about birds (what they already know).  And this was one response:


Student: When they frown it means they're hungry.


Me: stifled laughter, then..."I thought they had beaks, like this." (used my fingers to make a beak shape over my mouth)


Student: (awkward look)


Me: How can you tell they are frowning if they have beaks?


Student:  Their eyes.  When they close their eyes and give you a sad face it means you need to give them bread.

Our 10 month old artist

I can't say enough good things about little D's day care center, and the fact that they attempted this precious art work is just an example of how great they are.  Check out my little's artist's work...

Also, big news in our house - these adorable feet can now take up to 9 consecutive steps!  Yippee!  

Oh, little buddy, momma Sara loves you SO MUCH!

Questions

Why, when I was hired to teach academics, do I spend more energy and time making and implementing behavior plans than I do writing my lesson plans?

Why do I so often work late or bring work home, and still can't manage to get a free weekend without yet again bringing work home?

Why do so many kids play video games way more than they would even think about playing board games?

Why do I wake up tired from my exhausting dreams of real life experiences?

Why do I worry, when God says don't?

How does my love and attachment for this baby boy keep growing every day?

What did I do with my evenings before he came along?

How does my husband put up with all my worrying, and how much I need to talk about it?

Why is God so patient with me?

Why do I crave quiet?

Why do I have so many to do lists?

How many days until Christmas?

Will I be able to relax over Christmas break?

Why do I analyze?

Why can't I just be?


Lord, help me trust you.

I try.

Every day I try, fail, and try again.


"When you have done everything, stand."

He called me mama

Little D has started to babble "mama" the past few weeks, but never directly to me; it has just seemed like he was having fun making sounds. Lately there has been suspicion that he knows what he's talking about...yet I was never there to hear it with my own ears!  A couple weeks ago I dropped him off in the church nursery and as I walked away he said "mama."  Of course, I didn't hear it.  Then last week Micah was home feeding him and I called from work.  He put me on speaker phone and when little D heard my voice his adorable little bottom lip started quivering, and soon he was bawling.  Micah had to hang up and actually get him out of his high chair in order to console him as he cried, "maaamaaa!"  


These correspondences seemed too good to be true, so I told myself it was probably coincidence.  BUT last night he cried out "mama mama" and then reached out his hands to me.  Okay, that one is unmistakable.  I think two things - 1) this little boy is smart  2) he likes me.


I immediately rushed over to him, so happy that he associates me with "mom."  It was quite an emotional high.  But the second after my excitement started it slowly washed away because I'm not his mom.  Right now I don't deserve the title.  


A couple weeks ago I was talking with my best friend who is pregnant, telling her that being a mom brings so much joy.  And naturally my next comment was, "I bet it's so much better when you know you can keep them."  As a pregnant woman who knows she will keep her child, she sort of giggled at me.  But it's true.  I can't imagine the joy moms feel when their adorable blessings do the cutest things, and they know there are allowed to cherish them not only for the next few months, but for the rest of their lives.


Speaking of watching kids do things, we have some monumental news! Tonight little D took TWO CONSECUTIVE STEPS, on several different occasions.  I was so excited that he couldn't help but grin ear to ear, wondering why I was so loud and smiley. This is huge, people! Any day now he's going to be walking all over the place.  Every morning I make my lunch with him hanging on to my leg.  He is standing there while I get what I need out of the fridge, and as I make my sandwich.  Then he hangs onto one leg and walks with me to the sink to put my knife in it, and continues hanging on and taking his baby steps back over to the counter so I can finish packing up my food.  It's quite an ordeal but he seems to love it.  Soon he won't be clinging to my every step, but making his own.  How cool is that?

Foster kids X3

Last night we got together with two other couples that we went to foster care classes with...over 9 weeks we spent 27 hours together so it's easy to get to know people!  Anyway, it just so happens that all three of us are caring for baby boys, and they were born within a month of each other.  What are the odds?!?   It was so great to spend time together - better than I can explain.  They are cool people, are we are all going through the same thing...it was just really comfortable and healthy to chat and simply identify with each other.  We understand because we're all in the same boat.


Another super enjoyable part of the evening was watching the boys play together.  Here's a "no faces" shot of them.  You can tell just from their hands and feet that they are cute boys!  Oh, how we love them!

On another note, this morning we turned on the heat for the first time this season.  Within a minute our macho dog was sitting on the heat register, warming her delicate body.  Bella...she's such a silly sweetheart.

Okay, I'm off to watch a movie with my wonderful husband.  He helped me work in my classroom for 4 1/2 hours today.  Now that's a good man!