Austin's First Letter

Parenting is just amazing. One day your child doesn't have a clue how to acomplish a certain skill. The next day, he just whips it out. We've worked on tracing, connecting dots, etc to learn how to write letters. Austin wasn't really interested and had a lot of difficulty in tracing/connecting. Then out of the clear blue, without us even working on it he just wrote an A! And then another, and another, and another, and another....It was so fun!

What joy it is to see these little developments. The look of pride in his eyes that he'd learned a new skill was amazing. Being able to celebrate him was life giving. These little guys just rock my world. What an honor I have to spend every moment with them :)

Little Things - Guest Blogger - Aaron

Somehow this post disapeared - so I'm reposting it. Aaron wrote this in mid-May.


Yesterday afternoon at work, I reached into my bag and found a small, 1.5 square inch piece of blank paper and smiled. Austin, my eldest son who will turn three on Monday, had placed it in my bag that morning saying, “Daddy, be sure to take this with you to work.” I pulled out the piece of paper and sketched a stegosaurus on one side (because that was one of Austin’s favorite sights at the Natural History Museum earlier in the week) and wrote “I love you Austin!” on the other.

That evening at dinner, I gave him the little note and told him I loved him. As he took the note and marveled at the dinosaur, his little face just lit up and he softly said, “Thank you, Daddy. I love you.” I’ve never seen him so touched. In fact, I didn’t even know a 2-year old could react this way. He was practically frozen in a mixed state of joy and gratitude. During the next few minutes as he carefully handled the note and examined it, he probably said he loved me another five times and thanked me at least twenty times, all the while maintaining a glowing, but maturely calm expression and tone. This was not the exuberance of a child getting his first bicycle or the surprise of someone getting an unexpected gift. Little Austin was the embodiment of sincerity. It was one crystal clear moment in which I knew he loved me and he knew I loved him – you could see it in his sweet face and his bright blue eyes. Both Joyce and I were amazed by his response and we just basked in the moment. Joyce commented to me, “That must have just made your day, your week, your year!” Most definitely. In what has been a year of highlights, this struck my heart like none other. Thank the Lord of grace, peace and love.

Aaron Pierce

He's a People Person

This little guy is just a people person. I was so stuck by this at the playground the other day. Watching from a far, I realized that Jonathan, at only 1 year old, managed to engage kids that were likely 4 and 5. I walked over to see what he was doing. One of the little boys said to his friends in a surprised tone "He's giving us sand!!!" Jonathan had decided to contribute to their project by taking sand from the sand box and giving it to the kids. Here's a couple shots.

 

It's been such a joy to watch him engage with people. He knows no strangers. If you catch his eye, you get a big "Hiiiiiiii" with the biggest smile ever. I've seen stern men light up at my little guy. I love this boy and all his personality!

Potty Awareness - are we really here again?

I am struggling to decide what to post. Events, special memories made, transitions, struggles, reasons to celebrate...Today, I'm just going to post about normal life!

Jonathan's showing signs of potty training readiness. Really? I'm pretty sure last June we had just begun our first round of attempted potty training with Austin. Are we really at this point again?!?! Yes, yes, we are - our kids are 14 months apart. Why would I expect any different?

So tonight after we've put the kids to bed we hear them talking and laughing in their room. Not unusual. They like to enjoy one another a bit before they fall asleep. A friend once told me that sharing a room is where brothers become friends - so we allow it :) At one point I thought I heard Jonathan say "potty", but I didn't think much of it. A few minutes later Austin says loudly, "Maaaammaaa, Jonathan pooped in his bed." WHAT?!?!?! I snapped my head to look at Aaron - dear in the headlights look (he doesn't handle poop very well - especially when it's not where it's supposed to be!!!).

Sure enough, Jonathan had successfully taken off his pants, then proceeded to take off his diaper, then did his business on his sheets. I know the order because the diaper was good as new! Oh boy!

Since we're on the subject, I'll share one more story along the same lines. It's questionable if this one's blog appropriate, but I'm certain it will make you laugh - so here goes! I thought I caught a stench of "#2" coming from Jonathan. So I asked, "Jonathan did you go popo?" No answer. He just looked at me as if he was pondering the question. So I reworded it (innocently), "Jonathan, what's in your pants". This time he responded, "Ummmm" (looked away as if he's thinking). Then clear as day complete with a gesture pointing to the area,  "peeeniiis". I should have known better!
Hope you're chuckling! It's never a dull moment around here :)