Category: The Kids

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Early Memories of Our Children

Isaac:

I found this note in our cellar, originally from May 13, 1993:

Today Isaac was talking about Andrew (my newphew/his cousin) and asking, “Is he three?” while holding out three fingers. I said, “No, he’s thirteen.” Isaac immediately asked, “Where’s the thirteen finger?”

Isaac has a host of interesting things we could write about. He surprised us at 18 months by identifying and naming the letters “O” and “A” on his alphabet blocks. Before he was 2, he could name every letter of the alphabet, and recite them in rapid fashion if one pointed to a word. (He was at least 4 before he mastered the alphabet song.)

We tried to raise Isaac to be “weapons-free.” (We were naive parents.) At age 2, he ate his toast into the shape of a gun, and said, “Look, a toast gun. Bang!” After that we realized that there were just things, like playing army, that are normal for a boy’s development. David now has a huge arsenal of toy guns and swords. Naomi enjoys playing with them as well.

July 2, 2005 (in reference to sometime in 1995): This was what life was like with a newborn.

  • This morning I knocked a book off my nighttable—Nichelle thought I dropped Isaac.
  • A couple of days ago I brought some work home to do on my computer—I fell asleep at the computer, and didn’t wake up until midnight. Then I had to work until 2:00 a.m.!
  • One night I fell asleep when I was feeding Isaac.
  • Nichelle always wakes up, and can’t remember that she put Isaac to bed. She panics momentarily because she can’t find him.

David:

When David was somewhere around 4, he believe the opposite of incorrect was outcorrect.

John:

We adopted John when he was 10 years old. One of the things we really miss is that early childhood history. His sister has given us a few old photos, but there’s nothing to substitute for a decade of missing information. (Even his medical records were woefully incomplete.)

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I Told You I Had Other Children, Too!

Below are school pictures, taken a month or so ago, of David, Isaac, and John. The picture company, LifeTouch, has been to school twice this year. Given how nicely the photos came out, that was great, but we bought the smallest possible packages both times.

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Mi Hija Méxicana

I bought this dress for Naomi several months before she was born, on my most recent missions trip to México.

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Ten? Celebrating a Decade Since the Birth of Isaac

Today, we celebrated Isaac’s birthday with a group of his friends from church and school. We had such a wonderful time with everyone.

Trish D. ever so nicely volunteered to help me with things and brought some supplies with her and her children, Chaz and Pheobe. They arrived early and got busy: Trish with the preparations and the kids helped by playing with our children. After making scores of calls, John (nearly 17 now) managed to arrange to be out of the house for the duration of the party. (I certainly don’t blame him.)

They had a great time, with many loud noises and weird sounds being made. Next to arrive was Meghan C. and her Mom, Laurie, followed by Isaac’s friends Cassie, then Brian, and lastly, Michaela.

The party theme was “Creepy Crawlies”—mostly about bugs. We had giant bugs hanging up as decorations. We put together a “dirt cake” covered and embedded with crushed chocolate graham crackers, chocolate sandwich cookies, gummy worms and spiders. It was awesome and the kids, both the girls and the boys liked it a lot, especially Isaac and David, who helped put the gummy worms on and burrowing through the cake. We also took my corn snake and Isaac’s tarantula out of the cage. The snake was a big hit, and, surprisingly, nearly everyone was willing to pet the tarantula, although not hold it.

We had a few games to play with the kids, including a “bug quiz” (Isaac and Meghan both got perfect scores, although there were rumors of collusion.), a “bug hunt,” and one last one, named “bug toss.”

By the time of the bug toss, pizza had arrived, presents had been opened, and cake eaten, and the kids were in a state of sugar-frenzied, toy overloaded pandemonium. I got everything set up, and announced, “Okay, it’s time for us to play the bug toss game.” What I didn’t notice was that Doug had hooked up a self-contained Star Wars video game Isaac received from Cassie, which was, especially to the party-goers, a waaaaaaaaaay cooler game than the bug toss. No problem;, it give us adults more time to sit and chat, and I really enjoyed that. So thanks to the Dunns, Chalmers, Caslins, Vallerands, and the York family for making Isaac’s celebration so very special.

Of course, no day would be complete without a little friendly competition between the boys and the girls. Isaac, who is very competitive, had a hard time dealing with the boys’ team losing the bug hunt. Ah, the joys of a ten year old … It’s hard to believe he’s already ten.

Michaela, thanks so much for bringing the whoopee cushion. It was definitely fun watching a group of 8–10 year olds enjoying that sound, time and time (and time, and time, and time, and time) again. LOL.

Naomi and David had no trouble fitting in. Naomi reveled in having so many playmates, especially during the light saber and gun battles.

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Potty Time

[nichelle]Well, I’m quite impressed by this, with good reason, I think. Naomi, now just 17 months old, came into the kitchen this afternoon and pulled down her pants partially. I asked her if she had to go potty and she nodded her head yes and walked to the bathroom door. Her brother was in there at the time. She waited, and we went in. Now, Naomi is not potty trained, and I would not even have attempted to do that for at least another year. So for her to do what she did was pretty good. So, I took off her diaper and put her on the potty and she sat there at first and then wanted to get down. No problem with that. Then she wanted to get back on again. She didn't go potty, but the realization that she wanted to use the potty was amazing to me. I decided to get her potty, which hasn't been used in several years. I got it ready and she couldn't wait to sit down on it. Still nothing happed, but I wasn't actually expecting her to do anythiing. Well, Naomi wanted to use the big potty again, along with toilet paper and so I gave her some. She used it, incorrectly, but no problem there and put it in the toilet. She got down and wanted to flush. About an hour or so later, she soiled her diaper and I got her cleaned up and took her to the bathroom to flush it and I wanted her to see what I was doing. At that point she wanted to try using the potty again. The fact that she does answer by nodding her head if she has to go poop, is unbelievable. So I'm not going to push this, starting too soon can cause problems, too, but I'll see what she does today.

Other Naomi News:

Naomi loves to mimic things, like putting on lotion or brushing her teeth, doing her hair, trying to get a drink from the fountain at church, putting a CD in the drive to play a game on the computer, flying her baby in the air making the sounds and then (and this is not mimicked, but something she does) dropping her on the floor and covering her mouth and laughing. She does pick up her baby and give her a hug and pats her back, but then she goes back to the flying thing again. She loves to play rough, but she also does “the little girl things.” Typically every morning, when I go to get her out of bed, she stands up and looks down at the floor and smiles or laughs because lying there next to her crib are her babies and their blanket.

She has the Ocean Wonders Aquarium which plays music on her crib. Her bedtime routine includes reading her book, singing a song (usually “Jesus Loves Me” in Engllish and then Spanish), laying her down and then I pray with her. A few times, I tried putting her music on when I put her to bed, and she would reach up and shut it off. She only likes to play her music in the morning. She doesn’t like to fall asleep with it on.

After I’m done reading her bedtime story, she stands up and grabs her “lovey” (a small, pink blanket) and the blanket she loves to sleep with, walks to her bed, and waits for me to put her in. It’s so very sweet. I love our little girl, and am very thankful to God for giving her to us.

We Have Other Children, Too:

I also love our boys, and am thankful for them as well, in case some of you may be wondering.

I tell my kids often that my prayer for them is that they will grow up loving and serving God with their lives and throughout their lives. We are accountable to God for what we teach our children, and we need to be careful that we teach them as we ought, too.

Time goes by so fast. Isaac is nearly 10 years old, John will be 17 in June, and David is already 6 and eager to graduate from K5 and enter Mrs. Grennon’s first grade class. He's reading now, and going through his school reading books very quickly.

Pray for us as we teach and train our children. I praise our Savior for my family and for all that He does in our lives. I am reminded of a song sung by Steve Green, and the words from the chorus:

Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.

It’s a great song with a wonderful message.

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Naomi News

A day doesn’t go by that I don’t tell Doug the things that Naomi is doing and I’ve been told, “You should be blogging this.” Well, I’m finally doing that.

I'll start with the most recent:

  • Naomi will be 17 months old on March 13.
  • She has been putting on her own shoes on the right feet now for a little over a week. I think that’s pretty good.
  • She has 10 teeth now, and 3 or 4 are on their way in.
  • Yesterday, I went to get my hair done (the braids are back) and it took only 5 hours. For those of you who say, “Five hours!!! No way!” I have to say that, at the place I used to go to, it took up to 8 hours. So I was very thankful to get out of there in only 5 hours. Anyway, Naomi came with me again. Before we left from home and during the trip to the salon I was praying she’d do well. She’s been teething, and the night before in church she wasn’t very happy and her mouth was very sore. Anyway, Naomi was angelic the entire time I was there, really. The only time she fussed was when one of the owners of the salon tried to hold her (she didn’t like that), and one other time she tripped and cried. Both times though, she cried only for a very short time, and then she was back to her playful self. Naomi was highly praised by the other hair stylist and customers for being so good for that long, and even without her nap.
  • She’s been saying the following words: “erit iz” for here it is; “Ankoo” for thank you; “Eez” for please. There are others, but they’re not coming to me right now, as I’m a bit sleep deprived. I will have to add more another time.
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Mulan II: “Dishonor! Dishonor on your whole family! Dishonor on you … dishonor on your cow …”

Last weekend, we decided to rent a movie for the kids to watch, and Mulan II was one of the things in which they had expressed an interest. The following commentary is put together from Nichelle’s comments and mine, with individual comments where noted. (Caution: Spoilers within.)

Mulan, the original, is one of Disney’s finest pieces of animation, with a compelling story, delightful characters, masterful animation, thrilling music, and an overall moral lesson of willingness to sacrifice one’s own life in order to save the life of her beloved father. Although the heroine is slightly flawed—she attempts to cheat on her matchmaking exam—the results of her cheating are appropriately disastrous.

The overall moral message of Mulan II is “Follow your heart, regardless of duty, honor, or propriety.” The second immoral theme is, when all else fails, propagate a lie. (I haven’t seen this much pervasive selfish behavior since the abhorrent Titanic.)

(Doug) I also have major gripes with the overall quality of the film. Character animation design has changed dramatically with several characters, perhaps most with Cri-Kee the cricket. A children’s fight training scene at the beginning, meant to be reminiscent of the amazing “Be a Man” training sequence from the original, is barely worthy of modern television cartoons, and seems to be jarringly out of place with the style of animation used in both films. Facial and body movements do not match the first film for many characters, which further separates one from the illusion of continuity.

Other than noticing the animation changes, our initial thoughts about the movie were good. The humor was great. We were laughing for a while, and then things went a different way. I’ve seen other sequels to Disney movies, but haven’t been disgusted by one of them as much as with Mulan II.

Mulan claims she was “following her heart” when she took her father’s place in the first film. Not true! She did that to save his life at the risk of her own, and pressed on when her heart told her to give up.

In Mulan II, Mulan and General Li are ordered to safely transport the Emperor’s daughters to the another province, where the princesses were to be married to seal a mutual protection pact. If that does not succeed, China fall prey to the superior forces of the Huns, who would invade, causing perhaps millions to die and the destruction of the empire.

All the characters, including the princesses, start off by reluctantly fulfilling their duty. Mulan soon expresses her disapproval of an arranged marriage, and leads the princesses to believe that all would be well if they simply followed their hearts. Nichelle and I both thought of Jeremiah 17:9—“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The princesses (within hours) fall completely in love infatuation with their three guards, who are, as one might expect, Yao, Chien-Po, and Ling from the first film. This infatuation, combined with Mulan’s coaxing, the guards’ misdirection, and Mushu’s machinations, leads to the princesses’ abandoning their mission. In the end, when she believes General Li to be dead, Mulan determines that she will complete the mission by offering herself to wed the eldest prince in the place of the princesses.

With its predictable plot moving in such uncomfortable directions, I began to have serious misgivings about the film early on. (Doug) I actually found myself getting sick to my stomach toward the end, particularly as I considered the intended audience. I want my daughter to be like the first Mulan, willing to give her life for an extremely noble cause, not like this version, willing to follow her heart toward whatever selfish desire it happens to find.

We stopped the film at one point, and talked about “following one’s heart” with the boys. They agreed that honor, duty, and obedience were rather to be chosen. We explained that this movie would not be purchased or watched by them again. (They had no complaints.)

There were no negative consequences for the characters’ dereliction of duty and direct disobedience to the Emperor. In the final scenes, General Li arrives to prevent the marriage of Mulan, and Mushu impersonates the Golden Dragon of somethingorother. Mulan and the General seem to have no problem in going along with such an obvious deception. It is accepted, with an “all’s well that ends well” finale that would make Machiavelli proud. The princesses get to marry who they wanted by going against everything their father said, and doing the opposite of what they were committed to.

Deception was Mushu’s way of getting what he wanted (which is not much different than the first film, so at least his character is consistent), but he did admit to his deceit and selfish motivation later in the first film. Misguidedness, deceit, and a lack of honor could have destroyed all that Mulan originally fought for. (Nichelle) Now that I look back, the only one who actually wanted to do what was right in the film was Cri-Kee! I have been quite disappointed with a few other Disney films having such poor messages (such as The Lion King), but, Mulan II may be the worst to date.

Get your kids the first Mulan, The Emperor’s New Groove, or Lilo & Stitch instead.

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Naomi’s First Year

Naomi celebrated her first birthday on Oct. 13. I wanted to do something for her and also for our family and friends to celebrate her first year. Doug showed me (very patiently) how to get the photos entered into our family photo gallery and all of the editing that went along with it. Amazingly, I did it, to my surprise. This is the first set for Naomi there will be a second part as well, but that'll be for another night.

We do love our little girl and am very thankful to God for giving her to us. She is truly a precious and sweet gift from our Heavenly Father (I must also point out that our boys are gifts (just as precious and sweet, but boyishly (lol), as well).

Things that she’s doing now: climbing up onto our loveseat to the top over the loveseat onto the stairs and back over again, but not before letting go and falling down to the cushions laughing. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera ready for that one. She’s been taking steps now for about a month on her own…not running yet, which is perfectly fine. 😉

Words she says: I would have to say that her first word was: Isaac (sounding like “Aye-yah”; now it's clearer, but not with the c ending. She also said “Mum,” but that was only a few times. She does say “Mama” and “Dada” now. Other words are “up” and “hi” (from time to time).

She already loves to have her hair done. I give her a container with her barrettes in them, and she plays as I do her hair. Once I’m done, she gets a turn and does mine. She loves the phone, especially being able to play with our cell phone. She enjoys opening it and playing with the buttons and pretending to talk into it. It’s charming. Hmmm, now that I remember that I don't think I had any photos of that either…need to get with it, I know.

The great thing about getting these entered myself is that I can do more now without bugging Doug—so our boys will have a place on in the photo gallery, too. Enjoy the pictures.

Love,
Nichelle