All I Want For Christmas Is...

My two front teeth!

'Course now Aaron has had pink-eye and an ear infection for Thanksgiving, and two teeth and an ear infection for Christmas. Lookout New Year's!

Pre-Christmas Prep

So special introducing Noah to the joys of the season...

First Gift of the Season: play-doh from his teachers
First Christmas Movie: Frosty the Snowman

First Christmas Program: he did a great job standing on stage ;)
First Cookie Decorating: lots of snowmen

First Christmas Visitors: Gigi and Papa Merrill

Potty!

No, we have not officially started potty-training yet. Noah has read "Once Upon a Potty," and I've started asking him "Are you going poo-poo?" when I know he is, just so he'll start recognizing it himself. But I haven't really expected him to go potty.

Then last Wednesday, he told me he had to go poo-poo. I asked if he wanted to go on the potty, and he did! We read a book together and he pooped. Then I gave him a chocolate chip ("a BIG one" vs. the mini-chips we used to decorate cookies). To my shock, he did the same thing again on Thursday. Then I left town Fri-Sun. Today, I asked him a couple times if he wanted to go potty but he was having too much fun doing something else.

So of course the big question is, what do I do now? Should we jump right into full potty-training? or let him take it gradually? I thought maybe with the New Year I'd tackle these questions. In the meantime, tips are welcomed!!

A Long, Lean Rolling Machine

Saturday, as we put up the Christmas tree, Aaron rolled off his tummy to stare at the ornaments (or his brother, more likely). He's gradually moving on from the lying-like-a-helpless-blob stage to pushing up, rolling over, holding his head high, grabbing toys (or more often blankets to put in his mouth), and even sitting in the exersaucer or bumbo. It's startling--and thrilling--to come around the corner and see him holding his head up to look right at me.
We also had Aaron's 4 month check-up today, and he's a healthy boy. 85th percentile in height and 75the percentile in weight. I think our doctor may have almost convinced me to wait on solid foods for another month, and to give the bottle another try. Maybe.

(Note: I thought the firetruck was a nice touch - though not my touch, as you can imagine.)

"Through the Night"

I would just like to clarify something: There are about 1,001 babycare books that tell hapless and overtired moms that infants can sleep "through the night" when they are 2-6 months old. Some even quote statistics to prove that your child is the only one not sleeping through the night yet.

What they don't tell you in boldface, what's hidden in the fifth chapter under the smudge, is that they define sleeping "through the night" as a 5-6 hour stretch between the beginning of one feeding and the beginning of the next. That translates into about 4.5 hours for the mom, if she's lucky. And since Aaron has chosen to make that stretch 7pm-12midnight, I don't call that sleeping through the night.

Just for the record.

Thanksgiving 09

Some of the many reasons we had to be thankful last week...

Cultivating Thankfulness

A veteran counselor once told me that the hardest kind of client to help is the person who was spoiled as a child. A couple weeks ago, someone else shared how she struggled with envy and disappointment because she'd always been given what she wanted. Last week, I finished The Book Thief, which features the "rich" lives of children living in near-poverty. And then yesterday I listened to a radio host who wrote a book about the profound importance of gratitude.

Four of many reminders this Thanksgiving holiday that I do not want our boys to be spoiled. I don't want them expecting the world to bend around them, expecting life to be about their happiness, or expecting good things to come easily. At the same time, I want them to know at every level of their consciousness that they are loved, that they are valuable, they are capable, and that they have a unique purpose to fulfill. Finally, I want them to have grateful hearts that appreciate all they are given. These are not easy goals to combine.

However, living in such a prosperous environment, I find it's easy for me to give Noah a dangerous sense of entitlement. I find myself thinking "He didn't disobey at the mall, so he deserves a reward" or "He loves excavators and doesn't have one so I should get him one" or "Most kids get this so he should too." I do believe there are times when incentives, rewards, and gifts are appropriate, but it's easy to slip into a more compulsive mindset, to lose perspective.

I often hear parents practically apologizing for things that don't deserve an apology. It's OK for a child to wait while the parent takes care of siblings. It's OK for a child to have a small, low-key birthday party. It's OK to serve a child nutritious food they don't like. So why are we apologizing? Habit? Peer expectations? False guilt?

Whatever the cause, I've appreciated the reminders lately that I can show love and grace to my children without giving them what they want. That the less they expect, the more they will appreciate. That character is not built on immediate gratification. And that how I introduce them to the world will greatly influence how my boys respond to it - with bitterness at its unfairness or thankfulness for its beauty.

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18