I can't believe my baby boy's first birthday has come and gone. He is almost 14 mos. old and seems to do something new and be less of a baby everyday. But I still see that sweet newborn in when I look at his beautiful face. He is a VERY active one year old. Most of the day is spent running around the house. All play is in motion and because of that my entire downstairs is covered with toys by the end of the day. Books are the only that will get him to sit still. He loves to be read to and loves to just sit on his own and flip through the pages. Animal books are his favorite and he can make more animal sounds than there are words in his vocabulary. But he does say, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Mama, book, cup, bath (bap), ball, dog and cat,oh yes and "GAWK". Gawk is his all purpose word. If he wants to nurse, "gawk". If he wants to read a book, "gawk bawk". Whatever it is, it's cute.
Johnny and Evan have entered a new relationship now that he is older and less dependant on me alone. He just loves his Papa. Runs to the window saying Papa when he hears a car pull up in front of our house. Johnny especially likes it when I sing him songs about Papa, which has required me to get creative and either make up some songs, or insert the papa into songs I already know. "Johnny's Papa had a farm.." Silly, but he loves it.
One of the new things Johnny has begun to do, which almost made me cry (happy cry) the first time, is cross himself. We never worked too hard at getting him to do it but he started when we would pray at meals or in the evening. Now he walks around the house crossing himself, or if I mention church he crosses himself. Sometimes rather dramatically. He also loves the icons. This thrills us, considering he is named after St. John of Damascus who defended the icons when the church was accused of idolatry. It's just great to see him interacting and learning his faith even at such a young age. Which makes having him in church, even on the Sundays where he is especially squirmy or loud, so worth it.
It's really good for me to write all of this right now. We've have been having a really rough week with Johnny cutting four teeth and fighting a cold. Motherhood has been demanding a lot of patience and selflessness and it's been hard. I feel like a lousy mom and wife some days. It's good for me to think about what I love and ofcourse, I could say more, but I think I'll just put up some pictures instead. Some old and new, so you can see how much he's changed and what hasn't.
6 comments:
Great post.. we have been having a rough week with our six month old. My SF always tells me that when I feel like I am a lousy wife/mother to write down all the things that I love about being a wife and mother (which is what you have done). I know I am constantly questioning everything that I do. I love when children start crossing themselves or wanting to kiss all the icons... it shows that our hard work as parents (in bringing them to church even when they seem to not like it) is paying off! Our four year old loves to cense things.
Many years John Henry!
I have enjoyed reading your last few posts. I have just found your site and can relate to many things you write. I too have a daughter about your son's age, and routinely spend the whole day picking things up off the floor. I was especially interested to hear about how your church includes the children in the service. My husband and I attend an Anglican church, and I often find myself wondering why the kids are off in another room watching movies while we worship. But my daughter finds it very hard to sit still when there is so much to see, and she is usually the only toddler there. I don't know how people would react to her running up and down the aisles. Anyway, it's good to hear other mothers thinking about these things!
Toddler Johnny is awesome.
I love the "gawk", very cute. What a sweet boy you have...many years, Johnny.
Ahh, selflessness...why is it so hard ;)
Johnny is the cutest little boy I ever did see!
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