Baby Songs & Potty Training

Well, amazingly enough, Kavan has decided at 16 months to begin potty training himself! I'm sure I will be getting many questions as to how we have accomplished this interest so early for a boy... let me answer that - we are trying to figure it out :-).

The only thing we started doing last week was watching the "Baby Songs" video that we picked up at the library book sale for $.50. I used to watch it as a kid and was excited to share it with him. What I had forgotten about was the "Today I took my diapers off" song! Kavan has been mesmerized by watching the older kids going potty. I had forgotten that he learned to walk early but seeing other kids doing it and decided he could do it too. Monday morning he woke with a dry diaper from overnight!

So we are now potty training, which should make the next several months interesting. Including the five trips we have before fall, lol.

Test

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3 ...

Nikon Love!

Just a few weeks ago our little Canon PowerShot Michael got me as a Christmas present in 2004 showed signs of a slow and painful death.  After being charged all night the battery would last only 10 minutes.  And, when you turned the screen on it flashed red & purple lines, never a good sign!  We've been wanting a new camera since January, so we decided to take the plunge!  After a trip to Best Buy and getting a feel for the SLR's out there, I decided on the Nikon D60.  After price matching we found the best deal at Costco and for the last 11 days I am totally taken!  Speaking of taken, I think I've only taken about 500 pictures since then :-)

Growing up, my mom had an amazing 35mm Nikon that lasted forever, so I have much faith in the brand.  It is a wonderful base to grow on.  It takes incredible shots and we have the ability to spend the rest of time adding & upgrading accessories and never collect them all :-).  

Coming from a family who values pictures very highly, I have been around professional photographers my entire life and loved pouring over their samples and displays.  As long as I can remember I've had a passion for photography and have been mostly self-taught, except for some 4-H classes.  Before there was digital photography readily available to everyone, I enjoyed entering my 35mm work at the county and state fairs.  

To me, a photograph is more than just capturing that moment in time.  It's how years from now, you can look back and recall that moment in time and someday your children, grandchildren and beyond will also cherish the memories.  I'm so grateful as I look through my grandparents photos that their families also valued the memories that are created by such an amazing invention - the camera :-).  

Lessons learned

So yeah, when babies are just starting to sit up and then fall over backwards onto a hard, wood floor (smacking their heads in the process), they tend to cry.

Who would have guessed that gravity still works? Maybe I should just invest in a good quality helmet now :-P

Random Baby Picture

I know it has been a long time since we posted anything. So far the munchkin keeps us pretty busy. He is growing a lot, and weighs almost 20 lbs at this point. He has started teething (which means he drools on everything and everyone), and can turn himself around 180 degrees (but no crawling yet).

He loves to play in the exersaucer, watch mom and dad make dinner, and go on walks and car rides. He is totally a people-person and will let anyone hold him. He also does pretty well with baby-sitters, provided we aren't gone too long. He also does well when we travel by plane.

Talk about pressure!

Apparently it is a parent's responsibility to model the attributes of God for their kids. Wait! I didn't sign up for that, did I?

From the book on marriage that John Piper is currently working on (worth quoting at length):

The most fundamental task of a mother and father is to show God to the children. Children know their parents before they know God. This is a huge responsibility and should cause every parent to be desperate for God-like transformation. The children will have years of exposure to what the universe is like before they know there is a universe. They will experience the kind of authority there is in the universe and the kind of justice there is in the universe and the kind of love there is in the universe before they meet the God of authority and justice and love who created and rules of the universe. Children are absorbing from dad his strength and leadership and protection and justice and love; and they are absorbing from mother her care and nurture and warmth and intimacy and justice and love—and, of course, all these overlap.

And all this is happening before the child knows anything about God, but it is profoundly all about God. Will the child be able to recognize God for who he really is in his authority and love and justice because mom and dad have together shown the child what God is like? The chief task of parenting is to know God for who he is in his many attributes, and then to live in such a way with our children that we help them see and know this multi-faceted God. And, of course, that will involve directing them always to the infallible portrait of God in the Bible.

HT: Desiring God

Random cuteness

No, he's not grumpy, just thinking very hard...