My little Baby Screaming Worm and his Gentle Bugs

I'm SOOOO excited to meet by baby niece soon! Little Lucy was due at the beginning of the week and is coming any day now. It's taking everything I have not to call her Mommy twice a day to ask, "Is she coming?! Is she coming!?" So I've limited myself to calling to "check in" every other day.

In the meantime, Abigail and Jonathan are keeping us more than entertained. Abby is all over the place, babbling and laughing, crawling around and in the middle of everything her brother wants to do. Today she started letting go of the furniture she pulls up on, to balance a second or two before plopping down, quite pleased with herself. She adores her Daddy more than anything, lights up and squeals with delight when he comes home, and just loves being rocked to sleep in his arms at night.

The poor little girl had quite a rough weekend with a high fever and unusually fussy. Even during her round of ear infections she was barely fussy, so this was pretty unusual. By Tuesday she'd broken out in a head to toe rash that declared itself as Roseola and felt a ton better, and she's spent the remainder of the week back to her happy, albeit speckled self. It's so good to see her happy and playful again.

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Jonathan is really keeping us on our toes. His little mind is exploding with creativity and pretend, and we never know what scenario we'll be living out next. Apparently "Baby Ducky" was only the beginning. Following about 2 months living as "Baby Ducky," he spent a few weeks changing daily... I've been Mommy Butterfly, Mommy Bee, Mommy Whale, Mommy Tiger... the list goes on and on. And along with each comes some list of rules that are consistently convenient for the two year old. In the bathtub: "No no, Mommy, you can't wash me. I'm a baby whale, and baby whale's don't use soap." Or "No, Mommy, I don't need to brush my teeth. Baby worms don't have teeth."

For two weeks he's been Baby Worm. Baby Worm was initially "Baby Screaming Worm," and I learned that screaming worms make a very high pitched "eeeeeeeee!" It's quite unclear why some worms scream, but they definitely don't need their teeth brushed. However, thankfully they will agree to having the mud washed out of their mouths in the evenings.

Of all the silly scenarios we've lived by in the past few weeks, my favorite was this one in the bathtub one evening. "No, Mommy, no! You can't wash my hair! There are gentle bugs in there."

Me, imagining the worst of the piojos I encounter on a regular basis at work. "Really, Jonathan? What kind of bugs?"

"Gentle bugs, Mommy. They're gentle, and they keep away the biting flies and the mosquitoes. They're nice. I love them soooo much, and I don't want you to wash them away. They're red, and blue, and green, and their names are Shashman and Tijam."

"Oooh, well that sounds really nice, Jonathan. But I think the gentle bugs have some dirt on them. How about I just wash them gently so they feel nice and clean, and I'll leave them in there."

"Okay Mommy, but not too much water." Whew... everything is a negotiation. I have to confess to looking through his hair very carefully that night to confirm there was no real-life inspiration for the claim of bugs in his hair! It's two weeks later, and though I haven't pointed out that worms don't have hair in which to hide bugs, they bugs continue to hide out atop Jonathan's head and make their way into conversation once in a while.

Jonathan told me yesterday, "I'm in charge of monkey recycling," gesturing to a toy trash can in which he'd stuffed a small monkey. Really? I think we better clarify what recycling is before we put him in charge of it.

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He has also delved enthusiastically into the world of letters and words. He sounds out words slowly under his breath while playing, asks me to help him figure out the letters in "Library" as we drive past the library, and exclaims, "The O says 'ah!' [as in octopus]" in the middle of any conversation that has too much of a lull.

He started picking up some basic phonics a year ago with Dr. Seuss' ABC's. I'll never forget at his 2 yr old check up, he saw the P in his pediatrician's name embroidered on her coat and said, "P! pppp! Like Papa in a Pail!" With some spongy bathtub letters, he quickly knew his alphabet. But it was the LeapFrog Letter Factory video, purchased last month for a road trip, that solidified his understanding of phonics and set his mind on letters. Now everything's about letters and sounds. So I've decided to go with it, and we're spending 2 to 5 minutes a day on a little phonics-based reading curriculum for young children. He's usually jumping on the couch at the same time, and sometimes I think an actual screaming worm would pay more attention and catch on more quickly. But then he'll focus for just a moment and I realize he's getting it. Tonight we did our one page exercise after which I asked him to pick out the words "sat," "cat," "cot," "a," and "at" from a list -- he quickly identified each. It'll be fun to see where this goes, or if I decide in the next two months that I'm crazy for trying to teach a two year old to read.

I haven't shot any real photos in the past few weeks, but I have a few snapshots on my phone I'll post after this update.

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Apart from the children, the rest of life is good, too. I'm grateful every day to be married to a wonderful man whose company I so enjoy, and my part time job is still working out very nicely. I've also been blessed this summer by an opportunity that I'd hoped for about 10 years ago and which just recently presented itself. When considering pursuing medicine, my initial interest was in women's medicine. I had this vision of partnering with a ministry home for pregnant teens in providing for their health care or at least health education. Of course, in the course of my education I found pediatrics to be a much better fit than obstetrics. As I've left residency and entered the joys of part-time work, it's been my aim to become a little more involved in my community.

Then this spring someone came to speak at our church from a local ministry. The ministry is a residential home for pregnant teens who are either planning to parent their babies or who are seeking adoptions for their children, and who cannot, for one reason or another, stay with their families during this season. The speaker at our church was seeking volunteers, and at a volunteer orientation I discovered a loving home that provides a wealth of resources for these girls, supporting their education as well as their social, spiritual, and emotional growth during their pregnancy.

The girls attend classes on a variety of pertinent topics, and for the summer I've begun teaching a series on child development and parenting. It's very informal, and in just a few weeks I've gotten to know some really great girls. They are so courageous at a time I would frankly find very scary. They're full of questions about how children learn and grow, and we have some fun conversations. I take Abby with me and use her as my audiovisual aid -- We listen to her babble while we talk about language development, watch her feed herself as we talk about fine motor skills, and watch her cruise and crawl as we discuss motor development. Abby has a blast playing with the girls and clearly enjoys all the attention.

This opportunity has been so energizing for me, and I've asked myself why something that's only an hour or two a week has come to mean so much. Part of it is the opportunity to see an effective ministry doing something meaningful and to meet some girls I really enjoy and respect. But another part of it is the blessing of seeing God's faithfulness as He brings to fruition a dream set in my heart about 10 years ago now.

Off to bed for now. I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me tomorrow, in the antics of my family, in the people I encounter at work, and maybe even in the form of a brand new niece. Happy Friday!