Zeke lately...

Moments I cherish:

• Finding items randomly stuffed or hidden in other objects (I know Zeke has been at work!)
• Hearing him say, "I Lub You"
• When he says God or Jesus out of the blue, so we stop and pray together (I assume the Spirit is prompting him!)
• Singing "Thy Word is a Lamp unto my Feet" and "This Little Light of Mine" at bedtime
• Zeke putting his forehead against mine as the three of us pray at bedtime
• When he says, "Mama coming?" which means he wants me to come play
• Dancing and being silly with Zeke when no one else is watching

Father God,
What a privilege it is for Gregg and me to be given the opportunity to raise Zeke. We know he is yours, and we thank you for him. He has blessed our family in so many ways, and we pray that one day he would choose to make You his Savior for eternity. Help us to guide him in your truth and model your love. Give us the wisdom to discipline him so that he understands what it means to submit to You. Give us peace and walk with us during those difficult parenting moments and struggles. We know you walk along side us in all that we do.  Help us to seek you and your strength; to seek Your presence continually (1 Chronicles 16:11).  In Jesus name, Amen.

Well, I think it's about time for an update on all the fun things Zeke is doing and saying these days.  Mostly because I want to remember the little details that are so easily forgotten.

He is about 34 pounds now...a tall, solid little guy!  We are still transitioning off of "mush," and it's not going as well as I'd hoped.  He's pretty particular about what he'll eat.  I won't fix more than one thing, though, so it is a lesson in patience for me.  I'm tempted to get frustrated, but I know that won't help the matter! 

Food:

Breakfast is still usually mush, lunch is usually yogurt, blueberries, bread/muffin, goat cheese, and milk.  For snack he likes organic cheese sticks, spirulina chips (random, I know), or the newest mommy fav...a green smoothie.  For dinner, I serve what I'm fixing Gregg cut up or scrambled eggs and toast (his favorite).

The saving grace for me is that I make our bread products from freshly milled flour, so I know he is getting many more nutrients than even store bought whole wheat bread.  We also drink raw milk from grass fed cows, bought from a local farmer.  He loves both of those items, which gives me peace of mind.  The whole thing has been an exercise in surrendering control, which God continues to allow me to experience.  Hmmm....you'd think I'd have gotten it by now!

Schedule:

 

8am - Zeke wakes up and eats breakfast

10:30am - Room time (he spends quiet time with toys in his crib...he loves it!)

11:45am - Lunch

1:30-4:00pm - nap (snack when he wakes up)

6:30pm - dinner

7:45pm - bedtime

Activities:

Zeke and I enjoy being home together at home during the day.  He likes to "workout" with me, which is fun and makes it a little challenging for me to actually work out! 

He continues to enjoy puzzles, in addition to learning his alphabet and numbers.  I am amazed that he can recognize all his upper and lower case letters.  He still struggles with some of the numbers, confusing them with letters, but he has fun trying!  He loves to lay out his letter and number cards across the floor as he goes over them.  He also enjoys looking through the Bible and pointing out the letters (he started doing this on his own).  Can you imagine starting a personal worship time at two years old (not that He's worshipping yet, but you never know!)?  I pray he doesn't remember a time he wasn't in the Word...what a blessing that would be!

He loves to pray too, which melts our mommy and daddy hearts!  He clasps his hands, closes his eyes, and waits until we say, "Amen," then he says it too!  We started letting him watch "BOZ the Bear" DVDs, which model praying.  He even prays with them as he watches...so cute!

If he could be outside 24 hours/day, I think he would.  He has fun giving Browning the ball and generally exploring outside.  Our next door neighbors have a swing set, so we go over there some.  The weather has made it easy to play outside most afternoons.

We started back to ISR (Infant Swimming Resource) swim lessons again last week.  He cried through them the first part of the week, but had a blast on Friday (thank you to all of you who are praying!).  It is supposed to be really cold here next week, so I'm not sure if lessons will be put on hold.  Here is a picture from last year:

He has developed a love for wildlife (Hmmm, wonder where he got that?).  He and Gregg look through Colorado Outdoors magazines, and name all the creatures.  He has taught me an animal or two (or three!). 

He also continues to enjoy taking flashlights apart and putting them back together.  This reminds me of my mom telling me about my Uncle Ken doing this as a little boy with the telephone.  Except, this was when families only had one telephone!  Maybe he'll want to build airplanes like his Great Uncle Ken someday!  He also adores building towers with Mega Bloks and anything else, for that matter!

Flashlight!

I know this was long, and I'm sure there are still a million things I've forgotten, but hopefully you have a taste of what our little man is like lately!

Blessings to you all!