blessed beyond measure

Last night, as family devotions and prayer were ending... Trey: (leans over and hugs Brandon) I love you Daddy. Daddy: Love you too, Buddy. Trey: (walks up to me and hugs me) I love you Mama. Mama: I love you too, sweetheart. Good night. Trey: (happily walking out of the room) Night! (Brandon and I stare at one another in shock) Seems simple, I know. But THAT is the Trey we remember. THAT is the Trey we haven't seen much of since Aden was born. Welcome back, sweet little man. We have missed you so.

Well, Cathy's comment on the bumbo post got me to thinking on poor Aden. Cathy, you are not the first person to say those words. After picking up Trey from his Awana classroom a couple of weeks ago, we walked upstairs to see Brandon's mom at choir practice. I am holding Aden, facing out like he likes to be, and as we walk up the aisle, I hear some of the choir members snickering. A girl I went to high school with says, "You really ought to feed that kid!" You know it's bad when your non-discerning, still-too-young-to-care-about-such-things older brother calls you "Chubs". Dear sweet Aden, you got a lot of things from your Mama, and that seems to include an undying devotion to eating. Poor Aden. You are three months old, and your three-month clothes are stretched tight over all your rolls. Poor Aden. Hunger comes on you like a bandit, as you start to scream without warning and continue to do so until milk hits your mouth. Poor Aden. You are so clo...

Mama: Trey, what are you going to tell your preschool class about RC today? Trey: Not ANYTHING!! Indeed, Trey will talk to anybody one-on-one, but most certainly not a group of twenty fairly unfamiliar people, all staring at him. So today's show and tell was more of a "show and stand there".

We gathered together with Meemaw Margaret, Aunt Joyce, my cousin Tiffany and her two little ones - Will and Caroline, Nene, Giga, and Poppop for an end-of-summer picnic. Perfect weather, delicious food, and two rambunctious cousins who ended up going for a sandy swim. What a great day!

Trey's refusal to clean up the toys in his room + semi-creative discipline = a new purpose for the bathtub. Man that kid has a lot of toys.

The truth hurts. Though Trey's disobedient spells and tantrums are slowly diminishing, he and I still have those days when it is very difficult to coexist. I'm starting to learn that my attitude impacts those days much more than what side of the bed Trey got up on. If I am at all frustrated or impatient, might as well kiss the day goodbye. Came across a headline the other day that I couldn't resist. Then proceeded to cry through reading the entire article. 5 Things Your Toddler Wants You to Know The heartbreaking highlights: "...by the way, I can tell when you're only 'half-there'..." "If you take the time to teach me..." "I'm just trying to be understood!" Ouch I am so glad Trey is still young enough where he won't remember any of this, my little trial-and-error (mostly error) first-child parenting experiment. Even though I know our confrontations are not all my fault, the Lord is convicting me that I'm not helping t...

Abby the Dinosaur is Trey's imaginary friend. Here is what we know of Abby the Dinosaur: Abby the Dinosaur is a human baby boy, around the same age as Aden. Abby the Dinosaur is African-American. Abby the Dinosaur has hair that is sometimes white, sometimes yellow. Abby the Dinosaur's name cannot, under any circumstances, be abbreviated to just "Abby". Abby the Dinosaur sleeps in Aden's crib. When Abby the Dinosaur is sleeping, we have to be quiet. It is worth noting that this is the only time in any day that Trey will whisper. Abby the Dinosaur eats dog food. Abby the Dinosaur takes showers, not baths. Abby the Dinosaur has his own house. It's on our way to church, and is an actual house. I wonder if the people living there know that Abby the Dinosaur lives there too. Abby the Dinosaur is not allowed to go to preschool. According to Trey, "He can go when he gets older." Abby the Dinosaur can be unruly, and disobeys about as often as Trey doe...

God bless whoever created the bumbo seat. Despite being somewhat confused at the start, Aden loved his first time in the bumbo.

We have some talkers in our house. No, it's not the (relatively) tall people. Brandon doesn't talk a whole lot at home, as he spend most of his day teaching and uses up his word quota quickly. And I would be perfectly content to go all day, every day saying only a handful of words. It's the boys. Trey, when he is not tired, rarely stops talking. The kid would have a conversation with a mailbox. Sometimes he'll call my name, and once he has my attention, he'll stammer trying to come up with something to say. If he can't think of anything, he'll start singing. Or speaking in gibberish. The incessant talking used to kind of wear on me. Now I am absolutely delighted with incessant talking as long as there is no whining or crying involved. And the whining spells are starting to diminish. Yes, yes... Trey, my sweet baby Trey, is coming back to me. Praise the Lord Aden doesn't make much noise when Trey is around. Poor kid can't get a word in edgewi...

Aden is three months old today, and we couldn't have asked for a better baby. He is so happy, smiling all the time and just recently becoming quite the chatterbox. We are amazed at how fast he is growing, both developmentally and physically. Aden is a chunkster, all chin and belly and leg rolls. Loves - loves - to eat. We have moved up to 6oz bottles, since with the 4oz bottles he was eating every hour and a half. This has gone well, but I imagine it won't be too long until we start doing 8oz at a time. His newfound love is a ceiling fan. He continues to enjoy his swing, bouncy seat, and floor gym. Aden does not like silence at all, and I guess since his vision has improved, does not appreciate being in a room by himself. Poor kid has almost no hair left. A strip at the base of his neck and a mohawk strip on top. That's it. Trey lost his dark baby hair too and it grew back thick and blond. We'll see what becomes of Aden. He sleeps well at night and either ca...

This just says it all... Nene and her nephews... Aden... Trey... A brave boy on his first day...

Today... Trey started preschool. Oh. Oh me. Sniff. It's hard to convey what I feel using words. My baby. Independent. Off on his own, doing his own thing, where I am not there. Not there to see what he is doing. Not there to help him if he needs it. Not there to encourage him, cheer for him. Not there to beam when he already knows something the class is learning. Not there to reassure him when he is having difficulty learning something. Not there to make sure he is acting right. Not there to calm him during a tantrum. Not there to correct him when he breaks the rules. Not there to make sure no one gives him any milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, or peanuts. Not there to watch and listen for an asthma attack. Not there to catch and comfort him if he falls down. Not there to wrap him in love when other kids are mean. Not there. This is just the first in a long line of such letting-go milestones. Oh me. I never had any control to begin with. After all, Trey belongs to ...