The Mouth of My Babe

I am probably beginning to sound like a broken record, but having a two year old is seriously a blast and seriously exhausting--seriously hilarious and seriously, seriously draining. But today, I am going to talk about the hilarious/blast part. :)
Sarah's imagination is growing with leaps and bounds, and whether she is running around the house under a towel pretending to be who knows what or just trying to learn and interpret the world around her, those surrounding her are bound to see and hear some hilarious things!
A couple of jewels from this week: Sarah has started calling bugs, "buggers" instead of "bucks." But the awesome thing about this is, this week I opened a package of almonds for us to snack on, and Sarah immediately began begging for some "buggers." She ate some and said, "Mmmm, yummy buggers!" I tried to explain that these were nuts and not bugs, but she was having none of it. I am now taking bets on how long it takes before she samples a live bugger, only to discover that kind is not as yummy as the kind mommy eats.
This morning we were looking at one of Sarah's books which features some cowboys. I decided to let her wear my house-cleaning bandana around her neck so she could be a cowgirl too! We got her stuffed cow ("Horsey the Cow"--she still can't discern the difference between a horse and a cow), and she rode it for a little while. Until she realized what she really wanted was another bandana around her neck, so she went and grabbed a banana from the kitchen and shoved it inside her bandana. Problem solved!
While Sarah is learning a ton these days, she also definitely has a stubborn side. We were looking at pictures of butterflies the other day, and she said, "Oh! Pretty hair bows!" She insisted that those were hair bows and would not be dissuaded, despite the fact that she will have basically nothing to do with hair bows herself.
Sarah's spiritual side is also growing in some funny ways! Most of what she knows she has learned from songs, and "Jesus Loves Me" is one of her favorites. Sometimes she refers to it simply as Jesus, and occasionally she will request that we sing it to her wherever we happen to be. So this can lead to us being out in public, and all the sudden Sarah is yelling, "Jesus! Jesus! JESUS!!" at the top of her lungs, trying to get us to sing it to her. Awesome.

Obviously, spiritual concepts are still rather vague to her, but I also loved this exchange the other day. Sarah went to the refrigerator and opened the door, and said, "I want some chocolate!" I told her we didn't have any chocolate, and would she like some yogurt. "I want some cake!" she said, and again I had to offer her yogurt as a substitute. Finally she said, "I want some Jesus!" I told her that Jesus wasn't to be found in the refrigerator, and finally she accepted some yogurt, but only after having requested Jesus about six more times at the top of her lungs. :)

In a Spring Season

This past weekend, my friend Kayla and I attended a retreat for mom's in a city just an hour's flight north of where we live. The speakers were a group of wise older women who came all the way from the States to teach and encourage us moms, and the theme of the weekend was the "Seasons of Life." They shared with a lot of wisdom and biblical insight, that all of us at various times in our lives, would encounter these seasons: winter (a period of suffering and difficulty), autumn (a time of change and transition), summer (a period of busyness, opportunity and fruitfulness), and spring (a time of relative tranquility and routine, where seeds are planted and a foundation is built for the future).

It was really helpful for me to think about what season of life I am currently in, and what are the opportunities this specific season affords me that I ought to be taking advantage of. I realized that this Spring, in particular, is really a spring-season for me and I want to be sure to seize the opportunity of these routine days as a stay at home mom of just one child (plenty challenging, to be sure, but still a relatively predictable and tranquil time) to really savor and dig deep in my times with the Lord, exercise and do things that help me be healthy physically, emotionally and spiritually while I actually have the time and ability to do them. Especially, since I know that a very summer and autumn-y season is coming up in my life very soon this summer and autumn (more on that later this week . . . )!

Anyway, I thought I would share some photos from my routine, predictable, nice, safe spring-y life these past few weeks:

This is something Sarah loves to do these days! She never liked sitting in this bouncy seat as a baby, but now she loves to lounge around in it. In the morning after I finish my coffee, she has her "coffee"--a sippy cup of milk in my empty coffee mug!

Sarah discovered candy on her second birthday. My in-laws sent her a blue puppy-shaped lollipop in honor of her love of blues clues, and she enjoyed it for days, as these photos would suggest. I am still finding sticky blue goop in random places all over our apartment!




A couple weeks ago, David and I took Sarah to a park in our city with some friends and rented a little motor boat to go out on the small lake in the park.
It was a gorgeous spring day, and Sarah loved seeing the fish swimming just outside the boat!
Since she's turned two, Sarah's really turned a corner in terms of enjoying playing together with other little friends. Here she is enjoying a dress-up time with her friends Callie and Zane.
Sarah has also learned to escape from her pack n' play, which causes scenes such as this:
She doesn't do it much at night time, but in the day when she is supposed to be napping, she will sometimes stealthily climb out and set about utterly destroying her room. Lovely!

So, yeah, having a two-year-old isn't without challenges, but mostly our days are fun and a good time for learning and growth for BOTH of us. If only life always stayed the same . . .