Challenge and Joy

Jeremiah's new word is "hammer" (hamma). The other day he comes up to me with his toy hammer and starts banging away on my leg saying "hamma, hamma, hamma!" :-)

Our little sweetheart is discovering his independence and asserting his will. Yesterday morning in the middle of my staff meeting (which we have at my house so Jeremiah can play while we work) Jeremiah had a complete and full blown temper tantrum. I mean the sitting in the middle of the floor, screaming and crying and pounding his fists kind of temper tantrum. At meal times when he is finished eating he throws his fork on the floor and starts screaming. We had an episode in the grocery store where he absolutely would not sit down in the cart. When I am on the phone he holds onto my legs and cries. He doesn't want help doing anything from feeding himself to brushing his teeth.

I am trying to remember that this is a natural stage in his development and that these behaviors are part of him learning how to express his needs in a healthy way etc. etc. etc. But boy is it hard...

One day while we were in the Netherlands mom, Ramona and I were discussing parenting and mom commented on how much I had read and knew. I expressed then that I don't know that all the information I have at my fingertips is really that helpful. In a way it just makes me more paranoid that I am screwing something up (which I probably am, hasn't every parent since time began?). It also makes me constantly compare what I am doing and how Jeremiah behaves to what I read and to other people that I see. And I keep learning over and over again that I should trust my instinct more (it worked for sleeping, weaning, and many other things) and worry about "advice" less.

On the other side of the challenging behavior I can still see the fun loving, happy part of Jeremiah's personality. He cracks himself up when he throws a ball or runs in circles around the living room. He loves to sing songs, clap, and raise his hands to Jesus. He gives me lots of wet slobbery kisses before nap time. He will sit for hours while we read every book he owns...more than once. When I say it is time for a walk he goes into my room and brings me my shoes, looks up at me so sweetly saying "stoe, stoe, stoe." He grabs me and aaron both by our necks and squeezes us at the same time. He gives the best, strongest little hugs with his arms wrapped around my neck!

How can I not absolutely love and count it a privilege to be his mom?

Lego Concentration

Jeremiah figured out how to stack Lego's together! Up till now he has been demolishing anything we build and yesterday something just clicked and there he was avidly building towers of his own. I love the concentrated look on his face as he constructs his creations. Obviously building Lego towers is a matter of great importance!

My Work

For anyone who is interested I just added a link to this blog to the website of the foster care and adoption agency that I direct (Mercy's Chosen Children, Inc.). Just thought some of you might be interested in seeing what I do etc. If you think about it please continue to pray for MCC. We have a bunch of children that will be adopted in the next 6 months or so, which is great for the kids and families but not so great for our finances. Pray that God will bring more families to foster and adopt. The need is great!

New Words

Jeremiah seems to pick up new words and phrases every day.

His latest words are empty ("enty") and dirty ("dir-dir") and "amen" at the end of praying. The funny part is that he says "amen" at the point that he thinks the prayer should be over!

There are other things that he says constantly but I really cannot decipher what he is saying. He spends most of his time now-a-days guesturing, pointing, and grunting as he tries to communicate.

As a mother I am realizing that this is a stage of Jeremiah's life where I need lots of supernatural patience. He is constantly testing my boundaries because I am the primary care giver in the home with him. We have had our share of battles of the will, temper tantrums etc. And I still refuse to spank. (That comment is not intended to offend or judge anyone - it is just the way that I feel God is leading me to discipline). The hardest part about being a mother is being consistent!

The Bible study that I am participating in is teaching me to depend daily on Christ and His work in my life rather than just try and be a good mother from my own strength. It continues to be a battle because I am very works oriented. In my sin and self-centeredness I want Jeremiah to be well-behaved so that others will remark on what a good child he is (and by default what a good mother I am). I am learning to let go of that and nurture his heart and spirit. I am learning over and over again that it is not the outward behavior that matters but the internal condition of his heart. The verse we studied this morning:

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision (insert any other outward behavior that we require of ourselves and others) counts for anything, but only faith working through love. - Galations 5:6

Fun in the sprinkler

I think that there is no comment needed..... :-)

First Hair Cut

Before: One last look at all those pretty curls!
After: Such a big boy now! And so handsome.

So, I finally did it. Brenda and I gave Jeremiah his first haircut today. He definitely looks like a big boy now. We have a real toddler on our hands now....

Shades of Calvin and Hobbes

As you can see, playing in a box is still more exciting than expensive toys. The other day Jeremiah just couldn't get enough of hiding down in the box and popping out to say "peek-a-boo." Some other funny things he has done lately: he dumped out his bowl of goldfish crackers on the floor and said "empty!" (yes son, that is empty), when I was folding laundry the dryer sheet fell on the floor and he promptly picked it up, took it into the kitchen and threw it away in the trash can!

In other news....I had another very painful gastric attack of some sort starting Saturday night and continuing through Sunday morning. Two options: acid reflux or my gallbladder. Right now I am on a daily dosage of Prilosec and hoping that it will help. So I am struggling to get with it this week - just feeling tired and worn out and can't seem to get my act together. I was feeling so accomplished last week - the house was clean, I cooked dinner every night, got Jeremiah back on schedule etc. And now this.... So if you think about it I would appreciate your prayers.

Growing like a weed!

I took Jeremiah to the doctors office today for his much delayed 15 month check up. It is official that he is a healthy, growing boy. He now weighs 23 pounds 9 ounces and is 33 1/4 inches long. They checked his iron level again and it is up to normal so we stop giving him his vitamin supplements. Yeah! He has the most amazing pain tolerance. When they pricked his finger and squeezed it to get the blood out he just sat in my lap and watched the procedure with great interest and not even a peep! The nurse was quite impressed. That I know he gets from his father..... :-)

He is sitting in his high chair right now eating melon and moving like crazy to "One Way Out" by the Alman brothers on the Almost Famous soundtrack. He just loves to dance!

Yard Work

Again - problems with uploading the pictures in order. But you get the idea. Yesterday Jeremiah helped Aaron pick up pine cones in the yard. It made him quite proud to pick them up and put them in the trash can. And of course he loves to push the rake around. We're starting him on the hard labor young. :-) The only question is - do we now have to pay him an allowance?

The other little boy in the pictures is Isaac who is a few months older than Jeremiah and lives right across the street. Playing together mostly consists of them staring at each other for a few minutes and then each going about his own business. Funny.

Comments on Comments

OK - I have just discovered (as if I didn't know it before) that I am a complete computer idiot! For as long as I have been doing this blog I have been wondering - why is nobody commenting? I mean, I know that my blog is not the most interesting thing in the entire world but surely I should get a comment at least every once in awhile.

Well - I apologize to all of you who were posting comments and probably wondering why I wasn't commenting on your comments! I'm sorry! I wasn't ignoring you on purpose! I had some kind of weird setting that is to crazy for me to even get into at this point. So..........I can now see all comments (hopefully). And I have read all the old comments (thanks to you all!). Ignore anything I said about comments before and post away if the mood strikes (just follow your on-screen instructions).

To those of my friends and family who have blogs and have been commenting. I'm not igoring you - I read your blogs every day too!

Also - a shout out to my dutch readers! You have an advantage - I understand dutch so you can choose which language to post in. Aren't you lucky?

I am now sick of the word "comments" and will not use it again for at least 24 hours. :-)

Comments

Some of you have mentioned to me that you have tried to leave comments and it hasn't let you. I have fiddled around with the settings now and anyone should be able to leave comments. Just make sure when you type a comment that if you are not a member of blogspot that you check the anonymous box (or you can become a member).

Dad sent me this picture of Jeremiah at their house. Couldn't resist posting it.

We are slowly starting to get back on schedule. I still feel like I am a step behind everything and trying to catch up - but that should even out in the next few days. The weather here is typical Georgia July weather - hot and steamy. So I try and get Jeremiah outside for a walk in the early morning before it gets too hot and then we basically have to stay inside most of the day. He does not like this! He just spent 3 weeks of being outside almost every minute and doesn't understand why that can't happen here. Poor guy. I think this afternoon we will play in the pool again.

Random Thoughts

We are slowly but surely recovering from jet-lag and getting adjusting back to our "normal" life here. Last night Jeremiah slept the whole night through and woke up at 4:00am again so hopefull this night will back to normal.

I am finding that not only are we in physical jet-lag I feel like I am in emotional jet-lag as well. After 3 weeks of daily interaction with mom & dad and ben & ramona I feel abit disjointed all of a sudden. You mean I have to make my own tea? Who do I talk to during the day? Also, just getting back into the rythm of housework, caring for Jeremiah, paying bills, doing my MCC work is all abit daunting. I am realizing that no matter how old I am, going home and having mom take care of me still feels good.

I feel so blessed to have Aaron's family close by. Sunday lunches at Steve & Brenda's are a welcome tradition. And having Chad & Cherise back in town has been so fun too. I love hanging out with them.

I am amazed at how Jeremiah is building relationships and remembers the important people in his life. He seemed to recognize Caleb & Moni when we were at their house. He now points at pictures of my parents and says "opa" and "oma". This morning on the webcam he obviously recognized mom and greeted her with a big smile. On Saturday as he was re-acquainting himself with our house he picked up a picture of Ben & Ramona, pointed to them and started babbling something. On Sunday he walked straight to Steve & Brenda across the parking lot and greeted Chad & Cherise with a big smile and pointed. Pointing by the way is his way of greeting people he knows.

I keep thinking about things I love about Europe (connection to the environment around you, fresh food, slower pace of life, public transportation) and things I love about America (airconditioning, low prices, my house, my church) and realize again that I need to live in the moment I have right now. Each moment should be experienced and treasured because I won't get it back. Who knows what God has in store for our little family? But right now we live in LaFayette, Georgia and that is good. There are things about life here to enjoy and ways to serve in our community.

And in the meantime we have all kinds of great technology to keep connections to those who are far away. Seriously, Jeremiah is going to be more technologically advanced then I can ever hope to be. I mean, he could work a TV remote when he was 6 months old for goodness sake and we don't even watch much TV! :-)

Back Home

Here we all are in the Atlanta airport after our flight.
It's official - Jeremiah is a born traveler. I spent a considerable amount of time dreading the return trip (a 9 hour flight during the day...) and once again my fears were groundless. Jeremiah took two naps during the flight for a total sleep time of about 4 1/2 hours! Amazing. When he was awake he was in good spirits and entertained the passengers around us. After a great dinner at Caleb & Monica's house and a quick bath for Jeremiah we were on the road by 6:30pm and again JEremiah slept almost the whole way. So thanks to all of you who were praying for us!

We'll see how the jet-lag adjustment goes though. Last night he was up and ready to play at 12:30am (which of course for his body was 6:30am - wake up time). I was up with him until 3 when aaron took over and he was asleep again by 4 but woke up an hour and a half later. So I am abit groggy right now. But I think I will use this opportunity to make my grocery list and get the shopping done while it is nice and cool.

Our trip was really great and we had such an amazing time! But I must say it does feel good to be home and to sleep in our own beds. Jeremiah seems to feel right at home, although he is abit wary of Penny Lane (lessons learned from mom and dad's dog I'm sure). So we will just take the next few days easy and all get adjusted again. Real life resumes Monday morning.

I'd love to take a shower, should I wake aaron up?.........

One last boat ride

With uncle Ben & Aunt Ramona
What a life! Jeremiah is just kicked back in the boat getting fed french bread with brie cheese and fresh fruit by Oma. Doesn't get much better than this....
Having lots of fun on the boat!

Ben jumped off a bridge at one point. Crazy guy, that's why we love him.

Our last day and evening in Holland was beautiful. The weather was awesome and so we decided to go for one last boatride. Good choice! The scenery was beautiful, the food was good, the company better. A perfect way to end our trip.

More Fun Doings

Aaron and I in Amsterdam on Saturday evening.

We went into the city with Ben and Ramona and had a great time! We had fish and chips (fries for you Americans reading this) at an English pub and watched the England vs. Portugal soccer game. Let's just say that I don't want to talk about that one either... We then walked along the beautiful canals.

Anyway, we are getting to go into the city again tomorrow (Tuesday) and oma and opa have agreed to watch Jeremiah for the night so we are going to spend the night at a nice little hotel. It will so nice to get some time to just be together and enjoy Amsterdam together. We are hoping to find a nice restaurant next to a canal for dinner.

These next pictures are of Jeremiah's first bus ride. We took him along with Opa and Ramona into Haarlem today. He loved riding the bus and seeing the sights of the city. It has gotten warm here and I have realized how dependent I have become on air-conditioning. Last night all I could think about was the window unit in my bedroom at home that makes it cold enough to sleep under a blanket in the summer!!!!

For those of you interested in these things Jeremiah has added the following words to his vocabulary: boat, bubble, book, bye-bye, and night-night. That's all can remember at the moment. There may be one or two more.

The Beach #2

Jeremiah loved this little "seat"that Aaron dug for him. Perfect place to sit!
His first popsicle. So good.....
Out in the water with papa and uncle Ben.
The fearless explorer bravely steps into the ocean...
Man, he really loved that popsicle.....

Here are the other pictures I promised of the beach. It really was a great afternoon.

The Beach #1

Jeremiah loves the water! He wanted to play in it as long as possible.
Enjoying the beach with Papa
Jeremiah loved to hide in holes!
Snuggling with Oma to get warm after being in the cold water.
First time in the ocean!

We had a terrific afternoon at the beach. The weather was perfect - warm but not too warm to make it uncomfortable. The rest of us thought the water was a bit cold, but not Jeremiah. He wanted to be in the water, as deep as possible, for as long as possible! He really is a little adventurer with no fear!

PS _ I have spent about 45 minutes trying to post more pictures as another post and it is not working and I am getting frustrated. So I guess just stay tuned for more.....