Noah loves to stand!
This month has contained the biggest changes yet! Noah has mastered the art of mobility! This has been a big adjustment for me. It wasn’t very long ago that I could sit him down, turn my back, and know that he wouldn’t have moved more than a few feet. He can now get to where he wants to go via scooting, crawling (his quickest mode), or now creeping by walking while holding on to furniture! One of his favorite activities is pulling up to standing and then letting go and falling on his bum over and over again. Sometimes there’s a brief moment after he lets go and before he falls that he’s standing, hands free! With this newfound freedom comes a whole new world of learning. Michael was saying today how it’s funny that he’s learning how to get around before he can speak or understand words like, “NO!” “Stop!” and “Come here.” Ah, God will surely sharpen and humble us through this time. At least there’s hope for all the sign language we’ve been teaching him; last weekend he signed “more” for Cheerios!
Noah is showing some favoritism now – he loves being with Mommy! (Even though his favorite word is "dadadada" (c:) I must say this is kind of gratifying since I spend the most time with him, wake up in the middle of the night with him (no, he’s not sleeping through the night anymore – I’m open to suggestions in this area), and am mostly responsible for his activities every waking moment. While I’m often tired from chasing after or carrying my little boy, there’s nothing like the bright smile he greets me with when I walk into a room or how he crawls as fast as he can to me and begins climbing up my legs. He gives me his strongest hugs, wrapping his arms around my neck. Then, of course, there are his famous “Noah kisses,” best known for their wetness!
These moments are what I am storing up in my heart and remind me of how motherhood is one of God’s richest blessings. I just began reading a book by Susan Yates called “And Then I Had Kids – Encouragement for mothers of young children.” A friend at church gave it to me and I don’t think it could have come at a better time. Yates is a pastor’s wife and mother of 5, the youngest of which are twins. She has given me some great perspective and encouraged me especially in the area of vulnerability. She reminds me that my feelings of frustration, guilt, fatigue, and failure are normal for a mother to have. However, “great joy and growth comes as we see these feelings not as enemies but as God’s agents to lead us into deeper relationship with Him. Our self-worth should be determined only by God’s great love for us, which is constant and never changes. We can’t take it away, improve upon it, or make it more. His love for each of us is already the most it can ever be! (p36)” My own efforts of trying to be supermom will usually leave me to feel like a failure, frustrated, guilty, and fatigued. How sweet it is to know that Jesus is gently drawing me to himself, calling me to rest in his presence. Noah reminds me that I need to crawl to my Savior as fast as I can to be scooped up into his loving arms.
“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in his arms; He will carry them in his bosom, And gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:11
No comments:
Post a Comment