Desperate Times...

See these cute teeth? Well, there are more where they came from and its hard work getting them here!
Sometimes the "approved methods"...you know, like teething rings and wet washcloths...just don't cut it (pun intended).

So then I have to find my own creative ways of getting the job done.

This is my latest and greatest find.

What can I say??? Desperate times call for desperate measures.

8 Months

Charlotte turned 8 months old yesterday, and she continues to grow so fast! She's mastered crawling and pulling up, and even does a bit of cruising here and there. She can pull up on anything - an empty laundry basket, your pant leg, or even the wall - and she's soooo proud of herself when she does.

Her mobility has us in official "redirection mode," constantly keeping an eye out for what big people things (or 3 year old things) that she's found that she shouldn't have. Elizabeth's in on the patrol too, as yesterday she exclaimed "Danger! Danger! Danger! Charlotte's in the bathroom without any company!"

I got permission from the GI doc to start her on fruits, so she now has bananas too. She's still a good eater, although when she's done, she's done, and there's usually very little warning. She'll eat and eat and eat, and then refuse any more. I suppose she's tolerating all her foods alright, but still has outbreaks that look like she's had cows milk (which I'm doing my darnedest to avoid), so I wonder if she's having a sensitivity to another food as well. Its really hard to pinpoint anything.

She has two teeth (the two front bottom ones) and constantly gnaws away at anything she can get in her mouth.

She thinks her big sister is SOOO funny. It warms my heart to see the two of them together. Elizabeth gets downright obnoxious trying to make her laugh. My husband and I find it to be annoying at times, but find it hard to calm Elizabeth when we see how amused Charlotte is by it.

So, all in all, we're still chuggin' along with lots of laughter and smiles, a little stress and a few tears, but lots and lots of joy.

Preachers' Kid

So you know its bad when your three year old is sitting at the dining room table with her dinner in front of her, waiting for the rest of the family to join her, saying over and over again to herself "thanks be to God...thanks be to God."

She apparently has a certain affinity for this phrase lately because I've overheard her saying it several times today. I asked her once "do you need help getting down from the stool", to which she replied "yes". Then I helped her and she said, "*sigh*, thanks be to God."

Not really sure what this is about, but I find it pretty funny. I suppose there are worse things she could learn from us and our vocation.

Great Expectations

Elizabeth has recently learned how to button and unbutton her clothes by herself. Last week, we were in a Mexican restaurant, and she needed to use the restroom so I took her. I stood and watched in amazement as she fiddled with the button on her shorts until it finally released, did her thing on the potty, carefully got herself dressed again and all buttoned up, and washed and dried her hands. All by herself. The only thing she needed me for was to open the heavy door.

Feeling kind of nostalgic, I looked her in the eye and asked, "Elizabeth, why are you growing up so quickly?" To which she replied - in a sort of pastoral care tone of voice - "Mom, I have to grow up so I can be a fire fighter."

Ah, yes, my child. As much as my heart sometimes aches when I'm forced to acknowledge the constant passage of time, you do have to grow up. I suspect that your vocational aspirations will change a hundred times over your lifetime, but regardless of where they settle, you do have great things to be for yourself and for the world. And that necessarily requires you becoming increasingly independent. Increasingly independent from me. I marvel at how, just three short years ago, you and I were one. You needed me for everything. How things have already changed so much.

I was retelling this story yesterday at a pastor's retreat, and one gentleman reminded me that Elizabeth's response was probably very similar to what Jesus' would have been, had Mary asked him the same question. "But Mom, I have to grow up so I can do the important work of God."

Regardless of what's to come, she already doing the work of God. Every day. In bits of wisdom like this, and in so many other ways, she is bringing about the realm of God in this world. And, I, like Mary, ponder these things in my heart.

All In A Day's Work

True story. I promise. Not embellished at all by a proud mama. I promise.

In 24 hours this weekend, Charlotte:

(1) ...finally cut her first tooth. Her bottom middle left one. Now she's found it, and she spends much of her day looking like a lizard, feeling her newest form of entertainment.

(2) ...learned to crawl. She woke up from nap yesterday, and just started doing it. She never went through a stage of army crawling or scooting or anything. She just woke up and started crawling. She's much more peaceful now. It was clear that the inability to get around was causing her much frustration.

(3) This is the one that I'm gonna sound crazy about, but its true. We've started doing her baby signs with her, not really expecting her to do any of them for another month or so. We mostly focus on it at meal times. She has gotten into a habit of letting out this bossy-sounding frustrated squeal when the food isn't coming fast enough, and I've been saying, "no, how do you ask kindly?" And then I say "more, please" while showing her the sign, and then doing it with her hands. Well, Friday night, we were going through this whole scenario, and I said "how do you ask kindly?", and she totally looked me square in the eye and said "Mo." And then she did it after every bite. And she's done it every meal since. Even when we don't switch fast enough during nursing.

This is after her father came home from work and was kissing the girls hello, and she said "hi da da." Its possible that was coincidence. Possible.

But the rest is 100% true.

I promise.