Storytime?

Prior to bringing Mekonen home, I had these great visions of us sitting in his rocking chair every night for storytime, and no matter what stories we read, always ending with the traditional favorite Goodnight Moon. So what do I have to say to that plan? YEAH RIGHT!

Mekonen typically wants nothing to do with storytime and as soon as you hit that rocking chair at night, he knows he's supposed to have a bottle. If you even attempt a story he will arch his back and scream. It's actually quite comical.

So I moved storytime to the morning hours. Usually after his bottle we read books. Or should I say, attempt to read books. The teacher in me wants him to love books and being read to, and obviously eventually learn to read and enjoy doing it himself. So far? We have not had much progress.... EXCEPT FOR.....

DR. SEUSS'S ABC'S.

It's the only book Mekonen will let you read from beginning to end. It's the only book he won't arch his back and scream to, trying desperately to get down. If you start with another book, he gets mad, but if you quickly switch it to Dr. Seuss's ABC's then he instantly stops and just stares at the book. It's so funny because the pictures and colors in this book are not that elaborate, and quite boring compared to all the other fun books we have.

So after about two months of reading only Dr. Seuss's ABC's, I've finally gotten Mekonen to sit and listen to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and a couple books by Sandra Boynton. These books (including the ABC book) all have a rhyme/rhythm to them which is what I think he likes. (Although he doesn't like any other Dr. Seuss books either). If you read a book without a rhythm, he gets mad. It's hilarious. The only way we can read him his Jesus Storybook Bible is while he's drinking his bottle or eating.

So here's our little guy proudly displaying his all-time favorite book. Jon and I laugh about how we already have this book memorized. Jon will say a letter of the alphabet and I can proudly recite the little rhyme from the book that goes with it.

I've Figured It Out...

I have figured out in words, the entire sum of our goal in parenting: to commend the works of God to our children.

We have been thinking and talking a lot lately about idols. Growing up, and even into my adult years, I always pictured people deemed as idol worshipers as people who were literally bowing down to a man-made statue of stone or wood. Furthermore, I would also think how there probably aren't very many of those people left on the earth either. I kind of kept them in the category of the Israelites and the golden calf in the Old Testament. But modern day idol worshipers? Oh yeah, that's me.

Along with ourselves, our children are made to worship. It's instinctive. They are image bearers of God and therefore they are hard wired to worship. The only question is. "What will they worship?" Children are born with an intense imagination, an intense desire to discover, to be "wowed," to delight, to be awe-struck. They instinctively go about their days with the deep question in their heart about the reason for life, the reason for living. We live to worship...but what is it we are worshiping?

We are created by God to worship Him. To worship the God of the universe. So what happens when we are made to worship God and we don't?

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. ~Romans 1:25

We are created to be amazed. Our children are created to be amazed. We love greatness. This is why we love sports, an incredible American Idol performance, a dare devil stunt, or the way a kid is amazed by the "magic tricks" that only daddy can do. We are hard-wired to idolize.

Here's where I begin to really think about idols and what it means. Idols of the heart are anything that we worship over the one true God. It's subtle. It sneaks in. It can be those things we deem as our "hobby." Most of the time, I don't even notice. But in the quest to begin parenting Mekonen towards the greatness of God I become more and more attuned to the idols of my heart. Why? Because when I detect and struggle through the idols of my heart, I can help my children see and understand the idols of their heart.

Here's a suggested list of Idols of the Heart that we may see in our children (borrowed from an author we like)
Power and Influence
Maybe your child wants to control people. If allowed, they would call all the shots during play-dates and recess: what everyone plays and how each person has to play. They are the self-appointed coach, referee, line judge, and statistician. They have the sheer capacity to draw from others a desire to please them.

Pride and Performance
Maybe your child is only happy is they can do everything better than everyone else: win the game, score the highest on the math test, bike the fastest, sing the best, run the fastest, etc. The ticket for center stage is never too high. They will do whatever it takes. This idol is easy to miss because what parent or teacher doesn't like when their child or student excels? But the person who has God plus every imaginable skill and ability has no more than the person who has only God. Those children driven to perform crave praise. They are addicted to it. In a way that might sound offensive to a parent, they are seeking to be worshiped.

Possessions
Maybe your child is possessive of their things. They are selfish with their belongings, and very reluctant to share. They will pour over magazines and tv commercials and try to get you to buy all the cool stuff they see. They don't want anyone touching their stuff.

Pleasure and Sensuality
Maybe your child loves the rush of going places and doing things. Life is great when they are doing something new and exciting. They crave excitement and adrenaline rushes from things like riding bikes off a ramp or racing down a ski slope. They get bored easily without a thrill.

Fear of Man or the Desire for Approval
Maybe your child is worried what others will think of their shoes, their hair, their clothes, or their ideas. These worries can be paralyzing to this child. Or teens ignore their siblings at school out of embarrassment because they want approval from their peers. They will do wrong rather than be uncool and are addicted to the attention of others, no matter what the cost.

Friendship
Maybe your child places their worth on their friends, or the amount of friends they have. They are more loyal to their friends than their parents. They would deceive their parents before "ratting out" a friend.

Being "In the Know"
Maybe your child has to know the latest movie, CD, or video game. They will fake it in conversations when they don't know the latest and greatest. They have eyes for the most trendy clothes, phrases, attitudes, or icons. If nothing else, at least they are "cool."

So since we, and our children, are hard-wired to be worshipers and hard-wired to be amazed and delighted, what is my calling as a parent? To give them something to worship. To show them where to find lasting amazement and delight....it's found in God alone. Our greatest calling is to help our children see the dazzling excellence of God. "Children will never have right thoughts about themselves until they have right thoughts about God." And where do they learn these right thoughts about God? Not randomly, and certainly not just through church attendance, or even Christian school attendance. They learn it from us, their parents.

If we don't do this well, we leave our children alone with their deceitful hearts that tell them that the amazing and seemingly satisfying idols of their hearts is where life is found.

That brought me to quite a tall order. One I cannot do without God's daily help. Commending the works of God to my children. That's how I will show my children that God is worth worshiping. That God, not the idols of their heart is what will truly satisfy them. "My children are not likely to grow into adults who truly know God unless I provide them with a big God who is worthy of worship."

So...accomplishing this never-ending task? Where to even being?

• Reading more of the Psalms- I need to memorize and be familiar with the Psalms because this is where so much of God and His greatness is displayed. So many wonderful ways to show my children that God is worth worshiping over anything and anyone else.
  
• Continue reading Proverbs every day- Proverbs is one of our favorite books of the Bible. It has so much practical life advice that is very easy to teach to children.
  
• As Mekonen grows older and more children are added to our family, I need to "make mental note of the ways they yearn for pleasure and delight, look for opportunities to direct them to eternal pleasures."
• Pray daily for the hearts of my children, realizing, that realistically, we could be the only people on the planet consistently bringing our children before the throne of God.
• Use everyday disappointments and joys to point ourselves to the worship of God.
  
• Hold on tight and be ready for the ride of a lifetime. With Jesus, nothing is ordinary.
  

Trick or Treat!

I remember last year at this time reading everyone's blogs and thinking, "Next year, he'll be home and that will be us!" Yipppeee. So here it is! Mekonen's first halloween trick or treating!

And what an eventful trick or treating night we had! We took Mekonen to a friend's house, then to grandma's and were off to some more friends before church when we got into a minor car accident. We were at a red light and a guy came barreling into us from the back. We are all perfectly fine. Mekonen was just totally freaked out and crying of course. And get this... the guy hit us because he was brushing his hair and not looking at the light. Then he had the nerve to be aggrivated at Jon when he called the police and said, "My kids dinner is in the car." And Jon was so ticked and wanted to say, "Well yeah, my kid was IN the car you just rammed into." What a night. We never made it to our friends and made it to church just in time.

We had friends give us three different Halloween costumes for Mekonen to borrow. Of course we (okay, actually just me) made Mekonen try on all of them and took his pictures. He was so stinkin' cute and I would laugh so hard everytime I put a costume on him. He was confused as to why I was laughing and then just joined in with his adorable belly laugh, which only made me laugh harder. It was a riot!

Here's our little man as an elephant! Haha.

A lion!!! This one just killed me. It was a little big, but so funny.

Our little lion from the top view. Macy did not like this outfit and kept going after the tail.

The winner: the cow!! Mekonen said he liked this one the most and wanted to wear it trick or treating. :) Hehe.

Macy was not too sure what she thought about this.

At our friends the Johnson's on the big fake cow in front of their barn. :)

Big Cow and Little Cow (and Mommy making sure Little Cow doesn't fall off). Mekonen clearly knows exactly what is going on.

"Trick or Treat Grandma Magz!!!"

Mekonen and Grandma Magz.

Grandma got Mekonen a special trick or treat bag since he can't eat candy yet. So sweet of her!

Inside was one of his favorite treats: teething cookies!!!! He also got new socks and some stacking blocks. Thanks Grandma!

And because we missed the sweetness of these four faces this Halloween, I wanted to post pics of my wonderful nephew and nieces in their costumes. So cute!

Natalie as Tigger and Jane as Pooh Bear!

Jane going down the hall at Grandma Missy's work to trick or treat. She looks very determined.

Natalie at Grandma Missy's work. She knows exactly how this trick or treating thing goes. :)

Little Miss Aderyn as a ladybug. So cute.

The other man who has a piece of my heart: MannyB as a transformer.

The two mini's together: Manny & Aderyn.

So Mekonen's first Halloween was fun, although we didn't do much trick or treating. The few pieces of candy we got at our first friends house were eaten by daddy before we reached the end of their driveway! haha. Poor Mekonen. Next year he can have the candy! :)

10 Months Old

I can't believe it.... my baby is 10 months old already! He turned 10 months this past Wednesday and two months ago today we walked off the plane in Indianapolis as a new family of three! So crazy. In some ways, time has flown by and I can't believe it has been two months already. It seems like Mekonen has always been with us. But other times, I remember how much time we have lost with him. 7 whole months. Wow. That's a lot of time. I was driving home from the store a couple weeks ago thinking about that. I was thinking about how much bigger he feels in my arms when I rock him to sleep and that soon enough, he'll be in a big boy bed and won't need me to rock him to sleep. I walked through the front door, sat on Jon's lap, and just cried. We missed out on so much and I wish so badly I could've known what he was like during all those other months and milestones. But what's important is that he is here now and forever! I can't wait for the day when I can say he's been with us longer than he was at the orphanage. :) Here's a pic of my boy looking like a toddler already. Jon put on his "big boy shoes" and propped him up against the wall. He stands really well in these shoes and he always looks so proud of himself when you stand him up.

10 Things We've Learned About Mekonen for 10 Months Old:
1. He looooooves to be on the move. Once he learned to crawl it was downhill from there. He just goes and goes and goes!
2. He loves to laugh and giggle. It's so easy to get Mekonen to smile and laugh by doing the stupidest things. It's hilarious.
3. He sucks his thumb when he is falling asleep and makes these hialrious chanting like noises to fall asleep.
4. He is super sensory oriented. He loves the way different textures feel, especially the silky smooth edges of his blanket that he sleeps with. As soon as he sees that blanket he gets really hyper. Then he snuggles right in and continually pats it with one hand while feeling the fabric through his fingers on the other hand (while also sucking his thumb. talented). He also loves the feel of different carpets and hard floors. He gets very excited about them. haha.
5. He loves to see his reflection. When he sees himself in the mirror he smiles the biggest smile ever and usually lets out a yell. He also looks at himself in the reflection of the dishwasher and stove everyday. When it gets dark out he crawls to the backdoor and looks at his reflection in the glass. Usually he tries to kiss it.
6. He hates lentils and loves fruit.
7. He makes what we call little chirping noises when he is waking up.
8. He gets very, very mad when you tell him "no" (and truthfully it is so hard not to laugh)
9. He hates car rides that last more than 5 minutes and will make sure you know he hates them.
10. He is starting to figure out that this same mommy and daddy keep coming back to love on me.

Wordless Wednesday

What a Boy!

Mekonen is a completely different baby than when we picked him up in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia he was very "chill" (partly because he was so sick), he was very content, very quiet, not really interested in exploring anything. Over the past 2 months of getting him well and nurturing and caring for him, we are watching his little personality blossom, and let me tell you, he is a RIOT.

Mekonen has A TON of energy. He just goes and goes and goes. After two days of having him home, he started crawling and now you can't stop him. He just wants to move! He has all these fun, colorful toys, and he just zips past them, on a mission, to find something else to explore (usually non-toy things he isn't allowed to touch of course).

He looooves to explore. He has sought out every nook and cranny of our little house with much excitement and vigor. Even when he was sick, he'd be crawling super fast and then stop for a second to cough up a lung, chuckle a bit, and off he went again. He is also always making noise. He babbles non-stop and it's very easy to make him laugh and smile. Whenever he wakes up in the morning, or from a nap, he doesn't cry, he just starts to babble and make noises. We call his little noises in his crib "chirping." But then he yells out really loud as if he is saying, "I'm awake!!!!" It's so cute.

He is definitely such a boy! He tries to crawl on top of everything and pulls himself to his knees, and has gotten to his feet when whatever he's pulling up on isn't too tall. He gets himself on top of anything he can! I walked into the room to find Mekonen with the hamper flipped over and him on top of it.

First, like this....
Then, like this....

Sleep Adjustment

Finally having Mekonen home has the been the absolute best! It is better than I ever imagined it would be. Jon and I will often just walk into his room while he's sleeping and stare at him. I just can't believe he's OURS!!!

Before picking up Mekonen, I prepared for some of the worst by way of attachment and adjustment issues so as not to be surprised, but we have been very fortunate that Mekonen has not really had a hard time attaching and adjusting. We have only been home for almost 2 months so obviously, we are still working on the attachment (doesn't come in just 2 months), but we aren't experiencing any huge obstacles. We're still the only ones who feed, change, and do caretaker things, and we are trying to cut back on how much he is held by other people.

I was also worried about how Mekonen would adjust to new caretakers (his mommy and daddy), a new house, a new life, new sounds, new smells, etc. But, he has been doing very well.

The one area Mekonen had the most difficult time with when he came home was his sleeping. After consulting with our adoption group, and fellow adoptive friends, we quickly found that this was a common area that children struggled with when coming home. I will say however, that even Mekonen's adjustment in this issue was not as difficult as some of our friends are dealing with.

For the first month home, Mekonen had a really hard time going to sleep for his naps. Luckily for us, nighttime was his best time. He didn't usually fight going to sleep, and if he did, it didn't last too long, and he sleeps about 12 hours a night, straight through! But naptime was another story. It would sometimes take up to an hour to get him to sleep, and during that time I'd be holding a screaming and thrashing baby who was completely exhausted but would not let himself sleep. Then, once we finally did get him down, he'd be back up about 20 minutes later. This led to a very cranky baby for the rest of the day. Slowly, the morning nap was better and under control with the afternoon nap still being the death of us. After several weeks, we saw improvements and Mekonen was finally not thrashing and screaming, but still not sleeping long enough.

But now, I'm happy to say that he is finally getting into the napping groove, some days longer than others, but he almost never thrashes and screams anymore. As soon as his light is turned off, fan turned on, and he has his blue blanket and is rocking with mommy, his thumb (Mr. Sailfish) goes in his mouth, and he falls asleep. It is precious.

We also learned what is behind the sleep struggles and particularly the thrashing and screaming. The babies were loved and well cared for at the orphanage, but obviously there was not time or enough people to be always interacting and being personally engaged with each baby. So they spent most of their time without much one-on-one stimulation and physical contact outside of feeding time and diaper changes. Then, we arrive, and shower our baby with more attention and stimulation than he has ever had in his life and the synapsis' in his brain are going crazy!!! New connections are being made in their brains that were not there before and chemicals are released in their brains that feel so good to them- finally, someone is nurturing one-on-one the way they are supposed to be. Then comes naptime and they don't want all those feel good chemicals to stop and they thrash and scream to keep themselves awake. Part of it is a fear response too, as they are unsure when and if this is all going to end. It's so sad we just can't tell them and they understand. But rather we have to show them, day in and day out, that we are mommy and daddy, that you can trust us, that we are never going to leave you, that we are always going to take care of you.

Just for fun, here are some pictures of our little man sleeping. He is ALL-OVER his crib when he sleeps. His crib in Ethiopia was pretty small. There wasn't much room in it for him to really turn around. Then he comes home to this big bed and he pretty much covers every square inch of it in one night.

Here's how we found him one night when we checked on him, his arm hanging out the side. Haha.
We went back in before we went to bed to check on him and this time, found his feet hanging out. Haha.
Then after we took his feet out of the rails, he rolled over and Mr. Sailfish (his thumb) took over. Isn't he so sweet! :)