Saturday, October 30, 2010

sixteen months

I love it when I get pictures of L that aren't blurry. She doesn't hold still very often. She has gotten a lot faster at walking in the last month. She likes to pick up a shoe, usually hers, so that she can walk around holding it in her hand, or one in each hand. One day she and daddy played fetch with a bottle. It was adorable; she brought him the bottle, he tossed it again, and she went to fetch it. In our front yard, she likes to head for the street as quickly as possible. I'm teaching her that it's not okay to be in the street! 


She enjoys playing -- not very delicately -- the piano when she's on my lap and I'm playing it. She sometimes does the same thing to the keyboard on the laptop, of course, because she sees us typing on it.


L has 12 teeth now that some molars came in; six teeth on top and six on bottom. She loves to eat fresh fruit (and she still likes any food we give her). One day during her 16th month she got very upset because I took away the apple core that she wanted to eat. She isn't a huge fan of cow's milk. She'll drink a little of that or soy milk, and recently we discovered that she and her sister really like rice milk. (I don't know if I had ever tasted it, either, but I think it's yummy.)
Earlier on her monthday we had Mongolian food with Bryan and his little sister and Gordon and Josh M and their wives and kids.


I love that L likes it when we lay her down in her crib. The thumb-sucking could be a hard habit to break, but she only does it right before going to sleep. She usually still has two naps a day, an hour or more each, but sometimes just one longer one. She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and sleeps until at least 8:00 a.m. (sometimes as late as 9:30).

I haven't mentioned here that L growls. It's funny. We realized that she got it from me, except I only do it when I'm frustrated, and she seems to do it randomly. I think in the last two or three weeks I have not heard her growl, though. L's main word is Mama. She's clearly said Daddy once or twice, instead of the usual "da" that sounds like "dad" but without the d at the end. For a little while she has mimicked the "moo" sound after one of us does it; her "moo" kind of starts with a b. More recently she started to try saying ball and bye-bye, after I ask her to say it. If I call out her big sister's name she calls out her version of it. L won't say "hi" or "more" or "I love you." She shows excitement when she recognizes someone in a picture by pointing and saying in high pitches, "ah-ah!" In fact, most of her communication is vowel sounds.


I came across a book at the library that I'm considering using because it may help her communicate more. It's called Toddler Sing and Sign. I know our pediatrician says children really start speaking around 18 months or later, so I'm not worried. Sometimes I just don't know why L is upset. Any advice from those who have taught their child(ren) some sign language?

Friday, October 29, 2010

"cousins are boys"

A few days ago Shboogoo told me, "Cousins are boys." I'm not sure what our conversation was like before that. I had to point out, "You and L are Eli's cousins, and you're girls." They do have a female cousin that they see every month or two, but she's not a young kid anymore. She has a brother as well, so that's a boy cousin. My brother has two sons and now my sister has a son. (None of my husband's siblings are married.)

On October 9th we got five of the cousins together.















I also got some pictures of my kids with their newborn cousin (and Shboogoo's best friend) at my house.




Sunday, October 24, 2010

Scripture Sunday: "who He meant to save"

I highly recommend the song Behold The Wounds in Jesus' Hands. {Click the title for sheet music.} These are the lyrics, by John V. Pearson:
Behold the wounds in Jesus' hands
The marks upon His side
Then ponder who He meant to save
When on the cross He died
We cannot see the love of God
Which saves us from the fall
Yet know that Christ from wood and nails
Built mansions for us all

Behold the outstretched hands of Christ
Our God, who came to save
Whose love and grace redeem our souls
And lifts us from the grave
Though bruised and battered as we stray
His guiding hands caress
He washes and anoints with oil
Then in His arms we rest

Behold the wounds in Jesus' hands
Look to your Lord and live
He yearns to bless you with his love
And all your sins forgive
Oh empty is the heart of man
When it is filled with sin
Come, open wide your broken heart
And let your Savior in

Behold His wounded hands and feet
Come touch and see and feel
The wounds and marks that you may know
His love for you is real
Then as you fall to worship Him
And wash His feet in tears
Your Savior takes you in His arms
And quiets all your fears

Who did the Savior mean to save? I love the way I feel when I think about his Atonement. I believe He atoned for me and for everyone. I believe that in the garden of Gethsemane, and again on the cross, He felt all of our heartaches, and that therefore He understands them. He, the only sinless one, did for us what we could not do for ourselves. I believe that because of His resurrection, every person who has lived, everyone who lives now, and everyone who will live will be resurrected, too. He wants to save us all, because He loves us.


"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).

"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4:14).

"We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Articles of Faith 1:3).

"And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God" (2 Nephi 9:23).

"he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female" (2 Nephi 26:33).

Christ himself said, "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit — and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink — nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men" (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19).


I want to echo Nephi, who wrote, "And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day" (2 Nephi 33:12).