Happy 4 months, Lydia!

This has been a fun month with Lydia. She is sleeping well, eating well, smiling and cooing, and happy to just to be on her tummy or back on the play mat. Content has probably been the word of the month!

Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (99%- the doctor showed me the graph on this one . . . she is way off the chart)
Height: 27 in (99%)
Head: 16.25 in (68%)

Diapers: size 3 and cloth
Clothing: 6-12 month

Likes: smiling, bouncing, batting at toys over her on the play mat, mirrors
Dislikes: gas!

Schedule: This is where we are right now, but as I write this out I am realizing that it is high time we stretch her a little between feedings!

7am Awake for the day!   Nurse
8:30-10am   Nap
10am   Nurse
11 or 11:30-1pm   Nap
1pm   Nurse
2- 4pm   Nap
4pm   Nurse
5:30-7pm   Nap
7pm   Nurse
7:30 or 8pm   Back down for bed
9:30 or 10pm   Dream feed and down for the night!

Sleep: Lydia is doing really well sleeping and usually wakes up around 7am with the rest of the family. She will occasionally wake up during the night and nurse. We tend to chalk it up to a growth spurt and, thus far, she hasn't gone back to waking up for more than two or three nights in a row. Lydia is quite settled and falls asleep easily for her naps. She still likes both her paci and thumb/fist.

Physically: Lydia's eyes still appear to be on the way to becoming deep brown like Sarah's, but they aren't completely there just yet. Her hair also isn't as dark as we first thought and seems to be coming in as more of a golden light brown, very similar to Josiah's hair color right now. She is drooling up a storm, but we aren't really on the look out for teeth yet. The big kids didn't start popping teeth until more like 8 months old. I love to watch her watching a toy she is trying to grab and pull in her mouth. She is persistent! Lydia hasn't rolled over at this point, but can settle herself squarely on her side and likes the change of perspective.

Appointment: She had two shots and an oral vaccine at the appointment today that left her feverish, spit-upish, and tender at the injection spot. Her disposition is still great as long as we don't touch her thigh and she is normal tired more than extra tired.

Next appointment: Friday, March 6 at 10:15am

the many faces of Lydia

Wearing a dress Gigi made for Sarah

Hi there!

Sarah was making a bear growl :)

Helping me tuck Sarah in for the night

Pondering the future of Southern Miss football in her black and gold from Mrs. Lisa!

Chilling with Dad during our first trip to IKEA while the big kids played downstairs.

Baby Girl's first Christmas

Happy 3 months, Lydia!

We are already at a quarter of the way through Lydia's first year- what a delight! She is such a peaceful and content child who is learning to sleep well and loves to be doted on by anyone who will give her good eye contact. Her new joy in cooing has been fun for us all!

Diapers: size 3 and cloth
Clothing: 6 month fits best, but she can still wear most 3 month if we don't snap the onesie

Likes: being swaddled, funny faces and big eyes, cooing
Dislikes: tummy aches, the car seat, lying on her back

Schedule: Routine works well for our family and Lydia's routine has been good for us all. Our goal is to have a first feeding around 7am and then she eats again at 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, and once more around 9:30pm. Between each feeding she has some wake time and a nap. Only over the past week has she has dropped an early morning feeding and four mornings in a row she slept until 7 or 7:30!

Physically: Her skin is back to being baby soft and smooth after her rough baby acne phase. She is just too squeezable! Lydia loves to smile and, conversely, can make a very sad face when she has a point to make. She does the sweetest cooing, which Josiah loves to return in kind. Makes him sound a little unkind, but it context is super sweet. She hasn't tried to roll over, but still loves tummy time and is a strong solid girl. I just pulled out the play mat. I'm sure I did it earlier with the other kids, but Lydia has been so happy and entertained just sitting her her bouncy chair. No further entertainment necessary!

Next appointment: Friday, January 9 at 9:20am in 2015!

Watching Dad rake leaves.

She was all about enjoying her sweater and even licked it in hopes that she might be able to get it in her mouth.

If only someone would show her a little attention :)

She is always a hit a church when wearing a Gigi dress :)

She likes that!

Girl picture!

The eyebrows tell the story :)

She just needed someone to tell her story to someone in the middle of the night.

Simply mesmerized her first time on the play mat!

One Reason I'm Thankful

The Lord has this habit I don't quite understand: He likes to teach me things when one of my children are reeling from pain in my arms. I guess he really does like to identify with a crying baby.

So there I was, in the middle of an hour with Lydia while she thrashed in some sort of tummy ache. She had just nursed, so it wasn't hunger. Gas drops hadn't worked, so it was time to just sit there and hold her while she cried.

Something about that crying empties my mind, perhaps clearing the way for me to listen to God. Then came a reminder of something he showed me while I was holding a crying baby Josiah two years earlier: all around the world, there are babies in as much pain as Lydia was then, who have no father to hold them.

I expect God's lessons to consist of more facts, greater knowledge. But instead it was just a simple, "you should care more about this."

So we sat for a while, with tears in both of our eyes, until Sarah (four years old) awoke from her nap.

In Sarah's typical form, we then had to try every remedy again. Sarah had even thought of a few I hadn't remembered. But again nothing worked, so we both sat there with her while she cried.

I hadn't planned on saying anything, but my heart was so sad that I couldn't help but teach Sarah about it.

"Sarah, did you know that some babies don't have a mommy or daddy to hold them when they cry?"

Sarah solved that one quickly: "oh, so another adult holds them, then."

I realized what I as about to say would probably change the way she looked at the world, and it actually felt like a bad idea. But something in me felt she was ready to hear it. "Yes, sometimes another adult comes to hold them, but some babies don't have anyone."

That made her pause for a small instant.

But it was no more than an instant until she taught me another lesson. "Daddy," she said, "I want to learn how to take care of babies, so that one day if a baby doesn't have a mommy or daddy, I could be it's mommy!"

The excitement on her face only added to the power of her sweet voice. She had just learned that orphans exist, and already she wanted so spend her life taking care of them. That will teach Daddy a lesson!

I could only think of one thing to say, but now it feels like just the right thing. "I think that would make God very happy."

Since then, she has paid attention to the way we take care of Lydia, and asked to do almost all of it herself. She was already doing that to a degree, but seems to have an intentionality about it now. And she's declared her intentions, with the same words, to both Emily and me on separate occasions. She won't forget it, and seems to mean it.

It would be foolish for me to plot out her course when she's four years old: I don't know what the Lord might do with her, or if He will even call her to faith. And I can't hold her for her whole life to the same noble ambition she has today. But to get a glimpse for an instant of my little girl caring for the poor- that renews my vigor to raise all three of them to fear and love Jesus.

What if God allows us to raise three healthy adults who truly care for the poor? That makes every spanking, sleepless night, tear, and backache worth it.

So this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for the lessons God continues to teach us. He is a good father, with much wisdom to give. He gives encouragement when we need it. And he gives us the sweetness of children to remind us of it.

Happy Thanksgiving to you.

Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
Psalm 107:13

Happy 2.5 years, Josiah!

As I read back over Sarah's 2.5 year blog post I feel like she is so much the same as she was then and am surprised that those memories were almost 2 years ago. But as I read Josiah's 2 year post I couldn't believe how much he has changed in the six months since May. He is exposed to so much more as a second child and I think it is most evident in the way his favorites have changed. I have loved watching him grow an attention and affection for those around him in the recent months. He remembers and cares about the things he hears and notices going on around him.

Weight: 35 lbs 3 oz (93%)
Height: 39 in (98%)
Head: 19.75 in (72%)
Diaper: size 5 and potty trained
Clothing: 2T/3T/4T, shoe- size 9

Likes: scissor time, singing, freeze dance, playing catch, being tickled by dad, clementines, playing house with Sarah (they both like to be the baby), playing with cars, being "doctored" by Sarah, jumping on the couch, drinking water, bubbles, playing the Set game

Dislikes: getting in the car quickly, not being heard right away, going potty when he is having fun

Schedule/Sleep: Josiah is a pretty consistent boy. He is waking up around 7am, napping at 1pm for two to three hours, and going to bed at 7pm. I am thankful that he is still taking the afternoon nap- he needs it!

Eating: Josiah is generally a really good eater. I have noticed lately that he can be distracted from his stomach, especially at breakfast when the toys are just begging to be played with. Favorite foods are clementines (I love these too since the travel well and he can peel them himself), green peppers, grapes, cheese, and pancakes. He drinks a lot more than Sarah and gets his water bottle frequently.

Communication: He is really able to communicate anything these days we are thankful to understand the majority of what he is saying. His sentence structure is wonderful and he is always surprising us with new ways to say things. Josiah still likes to sing and will sing to himself in the back of the van. Favorite songs are The Solid Rock, Twinkle, Twinkle, Good Night Lydia, Praise God, and Jesus Loves Me. He is just starting to recognize some letters.

Potty Training: We decided at the end of July to give potty training a three day trial and make a decision for go forward with it or wait until January based on how things went. Well Josiah did great, so we went forward. And then the next day he got a very, very, very yucky stomach virus. So we put potty training on hold and started from scratch a couple of weeks later which was just a couple of weeks before Lydia's due date. He picked it up well and had accidents for a while, but doesn't really anymore (though he has mastered the art of only going enough in his underpants that he doesn't have to actually take the time to go to the potty). Big differences from our experience with Sarah are that he has no qualms about going in his diaper during nap time, night time, and out of the house time, so we are still diapering regularly throughout the day and he is already going on the big boy potty. We let Sarah use froggy potty for a long time, but Josiah got comfortable going on the big potty while we were in MS recently and we decided on the drive home to put froggy potty away and see how it went. He is fully self sufficient from getting on to pulling his pants back up, which is wonderful!

Random:
- He is so sweet to Lydia and takes special time when she is awake to talk to her and otherwise entertain her.
- He has started to be able to tell me what they did in nursery- songs they sang, story they read, what he played with, who was there, etc.
- He has started pretending to be people. Favorites characters are his friends Bubby and Baby Isaac.
- A pair of blue light up shoes make him really happy.
- Josiah loves to brush his teeth and have them brushed.

Next appointment: next May for his 3 year well visit

At his two year appointment back in May. Selfies are a fun to ways to wait for the doctor!

Loving the spray bottle this summer.

Sometimes it is fun to play the tourists!

Rare one on one time on our drive to NC.

King of the rest area!

Pappy and his boys throwing rocks.

Big fella' ran out of room to stretch out his legs :)

He has really gotten into playing Sarah's set game.

Americana! Popcorn at the Cape league baseball game.

Oh, you know, just driving a fire truck.

Everybody likes a little company, right?

Watching Sarah's swim lesson.

I think this was the day Lydia was born :)

What you can't see in this pic is Lydia in her bouncy chair at my feet. She was upset and Josiah went the extra mile to create the perfect comfort. I'm not sure being read to comforted her, but it sure was sweet!

Vaseline. Everywhere.