Sunday, February 3, 2013

So why did you punch your sister in the stomach?

Yes, Dr. Husband asked that yesterday to one our beloved offspring.  Sigh.  A child who shall remain nameless has been acting rather like a hormonal teenager, so I've been practicing deep, cleansing breaths while rereading parenting books.

Sweet Tea just turned four months old.  She spends her days smiling, eating her hand and copious amounts of milk, and blowing out her diapers.  We couldn't be more pleased with her.




Absent Minded Professor adores her too.  This photo was in no way staged.  There he was, gazing lovingly into his baby sister's face.  He's pretty much that way with Shu, too.  Grace just oozes from him.  Granted, he's not the parent...but still, it's a beautiful thing.  I tell you, I could not have ordered a more ideal oldest brother for this family.  


Shu is much more emotionally stable these days (even if I can't get him to smile for pictures).  He has made great progress in speech, and we are now talking about the transition from early intervention therapy through the state to services from our local school district.  He will be evaluated in the next couple of months.  We are praying he qualifies and trusting that God knows just what he and we need in the way of resources.  He gives lots of kisses to Sweet Tea's head, and I believe now more than ever that her presence has been healing for Shu somehow.  I have a plump, bald object lesson reminding me of all the ways infants learn love and attachment, which helps as we continue to play catch-up with Shu.  Lately he will demand to be held in a certain way, call himself a baby and, since he knows mommy hates Rockabye Baby, what with the baby plummeting out of a tree and all, requests "Black. White. Song." instead.  (Jesus Loves the Little Children...would you have guessed correctly?)



Princess Firecracker likes the lip balm a little too well.  Before Christmas we discovered she had gouged out every last one of the family stash with her finger, and we had to throw them all away.  She got more for Christmas and now just applies it heavily.  It's a battle I'll not fight for now.  She's certainly a passionate little creature.  I'm often tempted to treat her like she's older and have to remind myself that she's only three.


All five on a typical day.  Some in pajamas, some in dress up clothes.  No one fighting or crying at the moment.  I may have resorted to yelling to get them to look at me, but you can try to ignore that little reality tidbit.  It's not the most chaos-free zone, and it's a heckuva lot of hard work, but there's joy a good bit of the time.  God promised me that. 

Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.  Isaiah 35:10






6 comments:

Beth Templeton said...

Oh, I love this snapshot into your home Jerusha. What a great family-- real and full of love and goodness!
I was chuckling at your title, thinking of all the questions like that we have asked our children over the years. Sometimes I have thought to myself, did I really just say that? Interesting life!!

D said...

THE MOST PERFECT PIC YOU COULD HAVE SHARED! AN AMAZING VISUAL OF WHAT GOD HAS BEEN DOING IN YOUR HOME AND UNDER YOURS AND DR. HUSBAND'S CARE FOR 8 YEARS.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!

Rita and John said...

What lovely photos of your beautiful family! I'm so happy your little one's presence has been healing for Shu. God is so awesome...who would have thought your hands needed to be fuller to smooth things out for your baby boy?

GeonHui's Bakery said...

Love.

Krissy said...

by mentioning one nameless child... and then not mentioning that child later... allows me to see who the hormonal teenager really is...

i love your introspection about shu... such REAL healing in sweet tea! God knew. God knows. (i have to remind myself that often enough)

happy february friend! oh...

ignoring the lip balm - yay! my kids - all three - lick their lips and get chapped so i have to slather a&d on/above and under lips to get them to heal (the slathering occurs AFTER they are asleep)... so... at least your 3yr old has nice moisturized lips!!!

nic said...

they are a beautiful bunch, and i am loving the palmed head. and just yesterday i was talking to a used-to-be-a-teen-in-our-first-youth-group-now-turned-grown-up-mom friend on the phone while her two year old ate bites of chapstick.

it was hilarious in a way that it always is when it's someone else's kid. :)