new tricks!

i know i say this a lot, but joshua changes so much every week. he goes to his pediatrician tomorrow for his 2 month checkup, and just this past week, he has discovered that those tiny hands and fingers are connected to him! it's hard to describe, but rather than his hands seeming so driven by impulse and reaction, joshua seems to have discovered that he is the one in charge of where they are. although, he does not have the same coordination you and i have, he seems to be earnestly working on that. it kind of reminds me of the first time i tried to play super mariokart on the super nintendo... when you try to keep the crazy kart on the track, it's so hard not to over-correct. you steer around the corner and end up in the trees, so you ease off the gas and end up all turned around, not knowing which way you are going until the little angel or whatever it is floats down with a sign in his hands telling you, kindly, that you are going the wrong way. so, you stop, gather your thoughts, and give it another try... i think this is a lot of what joshua might be feeling. you can see him touching his face, with his fingers closing in his eye, and the harder he tries to move them from scratching himself, the harder he closes them. so, he ends up scratching himself even harder. he is a crazy driver right now, but he is learning.

just yesterday, he decided that he was going to start smiling at us. although they say babies don't smile at birth, joshua definately did, and he giggled, too. however, this never seemed to be a reaction to anything we could see. to us, they were just random smiles. perhaps, he was daydreaming about milk? anyway, just yesterday i noticed that he smiled at me when i gave him a funny face. and, last night and today, he's been trying out his new trick. this was so exciting because now i know those funny faces i give him have meaning!! and they make him SMILE! maybe he is laughing at his goofy mama, but atleast i know the energy isn't going to waste. he may not be talking yet, and he may not understand what we're saying, but he is interacting now.

along with these smiles come some noises that sound like he's about to start crying, but as soon as they come out, joshua has a big grin on his face. i think he is proud of those sounds he is making. i'm not sure what he's trying to say, but they probably sound pretty similar to the crazy things i talk to him about. (i will not be shocked if his first word is so obscure that only i will know what he's saying because i will remember the day where we talked about having to keep the door shut so that the coleopterans don't fly in, or when we had daucus carotas for dinner one night.) best of all, he is so proud of all that effort going into making those noises that it makes him so excited.

on another note, while we were getting ready for church this morning, we discovered that our dog had learned a new trick, too. i don't know who she's been hanging out with, but someone has shown her how to knock on doors and run. i hope she doesn't teach this trick to joshua, or we will have a 2 year old making crank calls to our neighbors. seriously, we were getting dressed for church and salem (our dog) banged on the outside of our door. as soon as mike opened it, she ran down the stairs. "no one's there, hmm..." then, she did it again! we could not stop laughing because the scene was so very teenager-ish. and most of all, we couldn't believe our dog had learned how to knock and run!

like a child

i'm looking at joshua and watching him respond to the world around him. he only knows such a little sliver of what life is, yet he knows so much.

In Mark 10:13-16, Jesus says that you will not enter the kingdom of God unless you receive it like a child. so, what does it mean to be like a child? if only we could return to being that innocent--knowing that your Father can meet all your needs. joshua doesn't worry about where he'll get his milk from or when he'll need the next size diaper. that's all taken care of. as far as he's concerned, he's the son of the king, and he is. he doesn't fret over having a little bit of drool coming down his face, or wonder if his chin is too pointy or his thighs too chunky. he is who he is. he is who God made him. he doesn't worry about global warming, gas prices, or terrorist attacks. God says he has been set apart from the nations.

little joshua is living in the land of milk and honey. we have inherited that land! do you see the giants or do you see the milk and honey? In Numbers 14:9, Joshua explains to the Isrealites not to worry about the giants because their protection is gone and the Lord is with us. don't you see? we DO live in the land of milk and honey. the others DON'T have protection, but we DO because the Lord IS with us!! so, why do we worry? why do we worry about the things of this world? we are sons and daughters of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. His army cannot be defeated!


Numbers 14:11: The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?


--how can i preserve this child-like faith joshua? he is so young yet we have so much to learn from him. i think of myself as an optimist, yet even the most optimistic person has life experiences that taints their outlook and i don't want to taint joshua's outlook on life. Lord, help me to only see the milk and honey.

apple picking

little joshua has no idea how much fun he's had! he's been to the harvest fair and got to see the cows and sheep. he got to watch how they milk the cows and how they shear the sheep. he's been on many hikes where he got to see the changing colors of the fall leaves. he's been to Ottawa, Canada, where he got to see the parliament buildings and the downtown market. and today, he went to the apple orchard!

we had so much fun! the drive to the farm was just beautiful, and today was the perfect fall day... very windy, but perfect nonetheless. when we got there, we got to have a taste of the most amazing pie ever. daddy got some apple wood for his shop
(he is making some nice pens out of it now!). then, we drove down the hill, where we got our bucket and the tractor came to pick us all up. we rode through each section of the orchard, where we were let off and got to pick as many apples as we wanted. when we were done, we would wait for the next tractor to come by and take us to the next section of the orchard, where we could pick another type of apples! the orchard was enormous! it was so beautiful and perfectly kept... there were rows as far as we could see over the rolling hills. we even got to pick our own pumpkins. we really had a good time. that would be the best job ever if i could just pick apples with joshua all day! unfortunately, there weren't any openings for that job.

"fluvial geomorph-what?"

the last few days have been super busy, but good busy... i met up with my advisor from my Master's thesis. she is going to take my thesis and another study i did on a sand dune restoration project and write 3 different papers to submit to scientific journals. since they will be from my research and because she will just reorganize chunks of my own papers, i will get to be the lead author on those. this is so exciting for me because journal articles are what its all about now as far as credentials. i've always dreamt of getting just one publication, but three?? that would be awesome! i did so much work on my thesis and really found some neat results, so it will be very rewarding to see that work go toward the pool of scientific knowledge. also, the papers in those journals are the ones i read to develop my own ideas. i use them as guides to see if i'm on the right track, so it would be such an honor to have a paper published among those.

picture of the day

joshua's favorite way to sleep
Originally uploaded by along-the-trails.

lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy

as joshua and i are getting to know each other better, things have been getting a lot easier. not that they were bad before, but it's just that i've really noticed a huge change in the last week or so. i guess we're getting in the groove of things....
the groove of things. hey, wait, remember that song? "hello lamp post, what cha knowin'? i've come to watch your flowers growin'. ain't cha got no rhymes for me? doot-in doo-doo feelin' groovy!!" -yep, i'm a dork. these things randomly pop out from deep within my memories. i must have a bit of helium in there.- i remember singing that song in elementary school for one of those productions one year. i think we also learned the steps to "the chaleston" in that same one! now, i'm tempted to write about those elementary school productions, but i'll stick with the topic...joshua!
anyway, things are going very well between joshua and i, and i'm much more comfortable discerning his different cries. he used to just cry for milk. (well, he still just cries for milk because that solves everything, but it's a function of whether he's truly hungry or if he needs a pacifier to fall asleep, which he refuses to use) he used to only eat and sleep, so, when he cried, it was because he was hungry. now, however, he is awake more, and spends a few hours awake in the morning then again in the evening. this led to a new cry: the one where he's overtired. and i've learned that this is the cry you want to avoid at all costs. one of the best pieces of advice i've received was to "put him down to bed early," from the pediatrician. i realized that this advice was for the good of all those involved. when joshua gets overtired, he gets cranky, and when he gets cranky, he cries, and nothing can stop the crying, so it's best just to plan ahead and avoid the overtiredness altogether or there will be hours and hours of sleeplessness to follow.
he's up about every 5 or 6 hours during the night, which is really good for his age. 6 hours is considered "sleeping through the night". so, he's just about there. putting him to bed around 7 has been the best, then i feed him right before we go to bed, and he's usually up again around 4 or 5am
he is a really good traveller. he seems to be happy in all of the gear designed for the different modes of travel. his carseat and strollers are all big hits, as is his baby bjorn. he usually cries at first until we get moving, then he is lulled to sleep. his cradle swing and vibrating chair can work for shot periods of time before he catches on that he's not going anywhere. so, it's actually easier to be out and about with him than to be inside (which is fine with me!)
he is a very happy baby. unless, of course, he is overtired. when he's awake, he likes to look around at people, through the window, and at the colorful malawi picture over the couch. when he looks around, his arms and legs start going while he makes little noises like he's struggling to reach something. i've always thought he was going to be a rock climber like Daddy. we'll see soon! he's also been putting all his weight on his legs if you hold him while he kicks up, and he holds his head up all the time now. so, he is quite strong.
that's all i can think of for now, other than that he's still a super-soaker and super-pooper, and can out-wet the absorbancy of any diaper in about 45 seconds. we've had a few explosions and several soaks. it's a good thing he's in those cloth diapers. we used the disposables when we went to canada, and we had to bring as many changes of clothes as we did diapers! he's a healthy boy! what can i say?

Joshua's first ride in the BOB

BOB1
Originally uploaded by along-the-trails.

malawi

mike brought his application to church on sunday for the malawi missions trip next year. it usually takes some time before anyone hears whether they made the team because the pastors pray about all the applications; however, pastor david told mike right away that he'll be going, and then told luis (a good friend of ours and an awesome man of God) that he also made the team. so, mike will be going to malawi again in june 2007. i won't be going this time though, but i am so excited for mike, and i'm looking forward most to growing even closer to God in preparation for the trip. even though i, personally, won't be going, God says mike and i are one, and as mike steps out in obedience and faith, our whole household steps out in faith and obedience. i am honored to be able to stay home with joshua as his father has been sent out on the missions field. we are in an awesome place right now and i can't wait to see what our future holds.
last time mike and i went to malawi, we both felt strongly that we would be back for a more permanent stay. maybe a year or two, maybe a few months... who knows? we loved it there and found so much need for the skills we have been equipped with.
recently i had been trying to figure out what i wanted to do for a job, a career. i was thinking back about how i had always hoped to "save the world". first, it was to be a doctor that was sent out to the villages of africa. then, it was to be a scientist that was sent out all over the world to save the environment from disasters, such as oil spills. i love the adventure, i love the travelling, i love the pressure to use my expertise. however, i could never see how such a life could fit in with my greatest desire to be there for my famlily. i wanted both, yet they seemed so contradictory... until we went to africa and i got to meet a few missionary families. suddenly i could see how God arranged my passions and skills to work so perfectly together for my family and for myself. being a missionary family would allow us to have those adventures together as a family. i'm not sure if i can think of a more wholesome way to grow as a family than that.

our new baby - 30 aug 2006

fall cleaning

fall is my favorite season. the air is fresh and the leaves are crisp. i always seem to go through a period of recentering myself, my thoughts, my activities, and my body during the fall. it is a quiet time: a calmness that i gain confidence during. i think this is the time of the year where i am the happiest, and i think that's because of this period of recentering and refocusing on my goals, purposes, and on who i am. this year is no different... as i've just begun a new trail in my life (mommyhood), i am finding this to be the perfect time for me to sort through the clutter in my life and in my brain, and to make sure i'm on a path to shape me best into the friend, wife, and mamma that i'd like to be. interestingly, i always seem to want to get out and go running during this time. specifically, trail running. i just want to be in the woods, and i feel best when i get out there a lot. i'm not sure if it's that nature itself is therapeutic, if it's that exercise always makes people feel good, or if it's that i do my best thinking when on the trails. it's probably all of these.
i am so excited that i've been able to get out a fair amount already, and i'm glad joshua is 6 weeks now so that we can use the jogging stroller that mike's grandmother got for us. i hope i can take joshua out a lot this week to the rails-to-trails and maybe the reservoir in west hartford. i think he really enjoys being out on the trail, too, but that may just be because he likes the motion. i like being out there with him. there's few better things to do than take my sweet baby boy out for a walk on the trails. soon, he will be learning about all the rivers and trees, and playing on the rocks!