1/22/11 - Little Climber

Bethany is 16 months old now and weights just over 17 lbs.  Our naturopath tells me that she’s underweight and gave me a recipe for making homemade goat milk formula, since she’s barely nursing (except at night), and cow’s milk seems to not agree with her.  I’m also supposed to give her coconut milk, since it has more fat than other milk substitutes.   I wondered about the fact that Bethany was still wearing 12 month clothes when her sisters were usually one size ahead of the age listed on the label (wearing 18 month clothes at age 12 months).  I figured it had to do with the fact that she started walking earlier and was constantly on the move to try and keep up with her sisters. 

 

Lately Bethany’s been climbing on everything, and often gets herself treed on top of a toddler chair or table.  She’s always so proud of herself when she first reaches the summit, then starts crying for someone to help her get down.  As soon as she’s got her feet on the floor, however, she wants to climb again.   

 

Thankfully Bethany hasn’t figured out how to climb out of her crib, so I don’t have to worry about a nasty fall.  Hunter the kitten has figured out how to squeeze between the bars, though, and has been waking Bethany the past couple of nights.   She’s also been attacking the goldfish, even when I put the fish bowl on top of the fridge (I finally had to use pantyhose to screen off the opening).  We took her in to get “fixed” today and found out that Hunter is a female, which is unusual for orange tabbies.  We decided to keep the name because she pounces on anything that moves.   I guess that means the procedure won’t mellow her out, after all.  I had been convinced up until now the cat ran on pure testosterone.

Library Adventures

I enrolled Amanda in the Saturday morning “Reading Readiness” parent-child class at our local library, and she is thoroughly enjoying it.  Originally I thought she might be too shy to do the “show and tell” portion at the beginning or talk to the teachers, but it turns out she is much more outgoing when not in her big sister’s shadow.  When Miss Natalie greeted her at the door at the first class, Amanda proudly announced, “Eva stayed home today because it’s MY TURN to go to the library now. I’m a big girl!”  

 

All this past year Amanda has watched as Eva got to take swim lessons, ballet lessons, and library classes without her, because she wasn’t old enough yet.  Now she finally gets to do something on her own, just her and Mommy, and she’s so proud! 

Snow White

Amanda finally earned her Snow White Barbie doll a few weeks ago.   Eva was so excited that she went into playroom to get the “baby” Snow White (a miniature doll about three inches tall) and narrated a pretend phone call in which “baby” Snow White called “mommy” Snow White to announce that Amanda had just done #2 on the potty so she could come to the store and get her.  It went something like this…  SW #1: “Mommy, you finally get to come home!”  SW #2 (supposedly on the other line, waiting at the store): “That’s good news, beautiful!  I can’t wait to see you!”  SW #1: “We’re coming to get you soon.  We miss you!”  It’s amazing how kid’s minds work sometimes.  They’re so creative! 

 

Unfortunately, after Amanda got her Snow White doll, she wanted to regress back to diapers.  Every time she does, Snow White goes back in the closet until Amanda decides she wants to play with her badly enough to use the toilet (which so far only happens once or twice a week).  It’s so frustrating to still have to be changing poopy diapers at 3 ½.  I’ve tried taking the diapers away so she’ll have no choice but to use the potty, but she’s a strong-willed little thing, and will deliberately hold it until bedtime, when we finally have to put her in training pants.   I know part of Amanda’s refusal to go comes from hearing Eva’s fears.  Eva doesn’t suffer from constipation since we took almost all dairy in her diet, but she’s still afraid to go, and Amanda has caught on to that. 

 

Conservative Mom Goes To Washington

Soon after the FCC decision to regulate the internet, I was offered a scholarship from Amerians For Prosperity (with whom I volunteer locally) to attend an Internet Freedom Symposium for conservative bloggers in Washington, D.C.   At first I was apprehensive (Bethany isn’t fully weaned yet), but with the encouragement of Dave and my mom (who came up to help with the girls), I decided to accept.  I left mom with two pages of instructions to let her know all our little daily routines.   My biggest concern was that Bethany is only 15 months and still wakes at night to nurse, though she takes a sippy cup during the day.  Grandma had to get up with her a few times at night, but other than that, things went smoothly, which was a great weight off my mind. 

 

I’m so glad that I went!  This was my first visit to out nation’s capitol.  I arrived the morning that the 112th Congress was sworn into office.  From the window of my taxi cab, I could see lines of people standing outside the capitol building in the icy wind and sunshine, waiting to watch history.  I was struck at how no matter where you looked, there was another historical site to remind me of our nation’s unique history and heritage. 

As we drove by the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument, I couldn’t help but reflect on what it had cost our founders to give us the freedoms we take for granted.  They put their lives on the line and risked everything so that they could leave their children and grandchildren a nation that respected liberty, limited government, and the rule of law.   We have been given the awesome responsibility of preserving liberty for the next generation.

Especially intriguing to me was the way that our hosts spoke about the capitol, the constitution, and the amazing heritage on display all around us.  They were in love with our nation’s capitol, and they made me fall in love with it, too.    They spoke about how much they loved the monuments and history, and (for those who lived in D.C. and the surrounding area) how inspiring it was to work to uphold that legacy in a place where they were constantly reminded of it.  

One of the highlights of my short trip was finally getting to meet author and blogger Barbara Curtis.  Though this is the first time we had met in person, Barbara has been an inspiration and mentor to me, both as a mother and a blogger.  We had lunch and chatted for three hours (together with my old high school friend Serenity, whom I had not seen in 10 years and had graciously volunteered to pick me up from the airport).  That evening I went with the other bloggers to a reception at the Capitol Hill Club to celebrate the swearing in of the new congress, and the next day was back-to-back speakers at the Net Neutrality seminar. 

My digital camera died the first day, so I picked up a disposable camera at a drugstore to snap a few pictures.  There wasn’t time for sightseeing anyway, and I only got a picture of the White House because the taxi driver agreed to pull over for a quick photo-op on the way back to the airport. This was a whirlwind 48-hour trip for me, since I needed to get back quickly to my little ones.  But I hope someday to be able to take the whole family and be able to see the sights, soak up the history and teach my children about their nation’s heritage.

Life Is Fragile, Handle With Care

This month has brought a strange and saddening series of reminders of the fragility of life.  First, several friends on Facebook started passing around a prayer request for a 38-year-old homeschooling mother and popular blogger who had had a sudden, debilitating stroke.  At this point it’s not certain whether she’ll ever recover.  Her husband had taken over her blog to post updates on her condition.  He has enrolled their daughters back at a local Christian school, grateful that they were able to be homeschooled the past year and a half, since it gave the girls more time with their mother before this unexpected tragedy.  It was eerie to read her own blog posts from only days before, so blithe and cheerful, with no anticipation of the hard road ahead. 

 

The second reminder came in much the same way, with friends passing around a prayer request for another young homeschooling mother and blogger who had just lost her 22-month old son in a tragic household accident.  This was the first time I had heard of her, but as a mother, I could certainly relate to the challenges of trying to protect my own little climber.  I can't imagine the heartache of losing a child, especially so unexpectedly.  As I read her story, and her follow ups about their grieving children, and how they had to face a Christmas and New Year’s only weeks after losing him, I couldn’t help but grieve with her and hold my little ones a little closer. 

 

Then came the senseless shooting in Arizona, where a congresswoman was shot and people in the crowd – including a 9-year-old girl – were killed indiscriminately by a schizophrenic madman.   The entire nation was shocked and grieving, and I thought people would come together and comfort one another like they did after 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing.   Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.  Instead, within hours, malicious opportunists started exploiting a horrific tragedy to smear innocent people who had absolutely nothing to do with it.  I spent a week moderating comments on our local Oregon Tea Party Facebook page, which was getting nasty posts from people blaming us for the actions of a mentally deranged anarchist shooter who built death shrines in his backyard, burned American flags, hated watching the news, and listed the “Communist Manifesto” and “Mein Kampf” as his favorite books. 

 

I was so disgusted and grieved that people were so bent on pointing fingers at everyone EXCEPT the person who actually committed the crime, and were missing the real issue: how did a deranged individual, who needed serious help, manage to slip through the cracks and avoid treatment, even when everyone around him knew something was wrong?  How many lives could have been saved if he had been forced to accept treatment or be committed, instead of leaving that life-and-death decision in the hands of a person who is not rationally capable of it? 

 

There is so much heartache and tragedy in this fallen world.  Some of it is completely out of our control.  Some of it is accidental.  And some of it is completely preventable, if we’re willing to face the facts instead of flinging blame where it doesn’t belong.   Jesus told us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  For now, I pray for all these suffering families and their loved ones, and I appreciate the time I have with my little ones as I hold them a little tighter.