Friday, January 30, 2009

Spiritual awakening

Noah, our just-turned-two-year-old, is learning to dress himself. Some mornings it's "My turn! I do it!" and others it's "I can't. I can't"
When he tells me he can't, I usually take the moment to review his verse with him that he's currently working on.
"I CAN do ALL THINGS through Him (clarify God) who strengthens (show my big muscles) me!" Philippians 4:13
Yesterday morning, he was working at pulling up his underwear - both the front AND the back! - and was repeating "I can't. I can't." over and over again. I tried instructing him that he needed to get them over the bum in the back before they'd go any farther and sat there patiently (actually, I was just glad for a moment of rest) while he thought about whether he was really going to receive no help from me. Five minutes later, they were up and he came over and stood solemnly in front of me.
"God helped me."

4 comments:

mvanhorn said...

Hi Sarah, I got to your blog by way of Heather's, and thoroughly enjoyed this and previous entries. I think blogging and Facebook are much easier for you younger folks. I'm mostly an observer...
Blessings are your whole family!
from Brian's aunt Mitzie

mvanhorn said...

I really should have checked that...I meant "Blessings on your whole family!" It's been a long day!

Lisa said...

Was your son already potty trained at "just turned 2"? I think I need a book...any good recommendations? I've been having the hardest time keeping a diaper on Abraham the last few weeks and he loves to play by the potty...I just have no method to it. Any helpful hints? :-)

Sarah said...

Some signs of readiness would be:
- Does he ever wake up dry from a nap or in the morning?
- Will he go on the potty?

For all of ours, we've just transferred them over to underwear pretty much cold turkey. Then that's all they wear! I've been a little more lax with Noah with this and do have him wear pull-ups when we're out of the house, but other than that, he wears underwear. He still won't tell me when he has to go, so I just tell him when it's time to sit on the potty again. He learned early how to make himself go, which we struggled with for a lot longer with the others, so this has been helpful too. Oh, and also, have him drink lots of liquids - something he'll chug down and maybe doesn't normally get, like juice boxes - this will provide lots of learning opportunities. Then if you notice him going, get him to the potty as quickly as you can and let him finish there. My personal preference has been to just use the big potty right away so there doesn't have to be any shocking transition for them. My oldest had to straddle it facing backward because of his...unusual aim:) Summer is a GREAT time to start, because you can be outside a lot (no accident clean-up) and he won't get cold with just undies on.