Baby Talk

Micah is saying a lot more these days. He's learning sign language better each day, too. He would probably be able to say a lot more if I knew more signs to teach him! He loves to have music on when he's in his high chair so he asks for it saying "eh duh" looking and pointing to the ipod on top of the fridge, so I learned what the sign for music was and now he points, says "eh duh" and does the sign. He tries to sign diaper change and he's trying to sign "I love you". It's pretty cute watching him learn. I have a long list of words he says, I'll try to capture them here:

His most recent words:
Bee = Bee (he's got a little windup toy)
Ooo-ee = Willie (his teddy bear)
Cuckee = Cookie (along with the sign)
behbee = Baby
GOLL! = GOAL!

He loves to sing, too. He loves the songs Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old McDonald Had a Farm. He sings "Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba" (Up above the world so high) and "Ee I Ee I Oh". He also likes The Itsy Bitsy Spider and tries to make the hand motions. He listens to his toys over and over and over again if they have any of those songs.

His words that he has said for a while now:
Na na na na = no no no no
Papa = Papa (or any slightly older man anywhere followed occasionally by kissing sounds)
Kee Kah = Kitty Cat followed usually by a Maow (meow or Mario) and/or kissing sounds
bah = ball, help, please
mah = milk, phone
moh = more
mama, dada, dadee
eah = yeah
guh bah = good night, good bye, the end
dah dah deeee! = one two three!
geay = get it
cuppa cuppa cuppa cu-ckee = cookie monster (not sure why...)
na = banana (with sign) or tissue (to wipe his nose)

arms out = where did it go? where is it?
der dizz = there it is!

Eat Your Veggies

Micah has always been a great eater - in fact, he used to eat more than I could provide for him. I am waiting for the day when he will turn his head in disgust at everything I offer him. I know that a toddler happily eating broccoli and carrots and eggplant will one day come to an end. But for now, I'm a very happy Mama! I have recently made a Roasted Vegetable Lasagna that Micah absolutely LOVED. He asked for MOH in a low-to-high pitch frantic cry every time he finished what was on his plate. It tasted pretty good... for a vegetarian meal! Here's the recipe, if anyone is interested. I added more than the called for amount of cheese because, seriously, everything is better with more cheese! And it seemed to be a tiny amount.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

3 medium raw eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 medium sweet red peppers, chopped
4 small plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp table salt (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper (or more to taste)
9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or more)
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (or more)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. In a roasting pan, combine vegetables and garlic with olive oil. Bake until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 20-25 minutes.
3. Place half of vegetables, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup water in food processor and process until smooth.
4. Spoon 1/2 cup vegetable puree into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
5. Place three noodles over puree. Top with 1/2 cup puree, 1/2 remaining vegetables, 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers and then top with remaining 3 noodles, puree and cheese.
6. Bake until bubbly, about 40-45 minutes. Slice into 6 pieces and serve.

Friday Date Night

David and I went out for a rare date on Friday night. Dinner and a movie. It was SO nice! Dave's parents were around and willing to watch Micah, so we went to a nice dinner and then to the brand new cinema in Gig Harbor, which was really nice. The movie we saw was 21 - I absolutely LOVED it! It was very entertaining. The movies and shows we've been watching lately have been pretty violent or graphic, but this one had very little violence in it, for which I'm glad. It was just so nice to be able to get out and enjoy an evening together, just the two of us.

Reflections

I have been thinking about a few things lately. One, how lucky I am to have a husband around as often as he is and family close by who love and watch Micah occasionally, and Two, how blessed we are to have a healthy and happy baby. I'll tell you why:

At church on Sunday I went up to a girl who had been sitting in front of us all by herself. I'm so glad I did because I don't know if anyone else would have spoken to her. This was her first Sunday at our church. Her husband is in Iraq and she has two very small children - a 2 year old and a 6 month old. The father has never even met the younger child. The woman found our church through Focus on the Family. There were a few choices they gave her, so it sounds like she's going to be shopping around a little bit trying to find the right fit. She will fit in well at our church if she comes back because there are a lot of young moms in our church. I pointed out another girl whose husband had been in the military and who had lived on base where she lives now. She is not from around here so she has absolutely no family in the area and her husband is not around and it seems like there aren't any Christians in her circle of friends on base because she had to go to Focus on the Family to find a church to attend. She had her 2nd baby without her husband, so I'm thinking there had to be some support from others on base, but who watched her oldest while she went into labor? Who took her to the hospital? How is she surviving with 2 small children!? She is also going to school. I just can't imagine. I think it's tough when 2 days out of the whole MONTH Dave goes straight from work to his men's group for Bible study. This gives me some perspective.

Also, I'm thankful that my husband isn't gone all that much because I have other friends who have husbands that started a business almost a year ago and work really long hours. It's the time in our lives when our husbands are work hard trying to build their businesses or make their climb up the corporate ladder and the time in our lives when us women are having kids and wishing our husbands were around more to help with the kids or with things around the house. It seems like it's a tough stage of life (but I know I haven't been through many stages)! Those friends of mine are lonely and struggling and I've been trying to think of how I can encourage them, but I'm not very creative or thoughtful. People have said that even just hanging out with them for a couple of hours means a lot. Any ideas?

The second thing I've been thinking about is how thankful I am to have a healthy baby. I know Micah is a gift from God and I am so thankful and blessed to have been trusted to care for him and I can only pray that God lets me watch over him all my life. Some parents aren't so lucky. My aunt and uncle had to say goodbye to their precious son due to a brain tumor when he was only 21. At least they were given 21 years with him and they have the blessed hope of reuniting with him again in heaven. But how incredibly difficult to outlive your child.

There is a family who have a little girl very close to Micah's age and are dealing with a brain tumor as well. A friend of theirs, a girl whose blog I read religiously, wrote a very moving piece about their situation. I encourage you to follow that link and read their story. If there is anything we can do to help this family in need that they might be able to get the best care for little Emily and spare her parents the pain of losing her at such a young age, well then, let us band together and help, pray, do whatever we can to petition her case before Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals.

Discipline

Such a sweet, innocent smile. This kid could never need discipline, right? Wrong.

Awhile ago, Micah was testing his limits by showing his anger and frustration through physical hitting. Lately he has gotten better and hasn't been hitting as much. He has also been learning more words so he is starting to communicate better, which decreases his frustrations, I'm sure. But one day last week he was playing in the cupboard in the kitchen with the glass bowls and after I told him that he was not to play with them, he got up with a bowl in his hand so when I went to take it away from him he could run away. I caught him and pried the bowl from his death-grip, but he squared up and hit me in the face. I grabbed both of his hands and very sternly told him that is unacceptable and that he does NOT hit. I took him by the hand and led him to the wall so he could sit for a minute of time out. I sat there with him and told him that he needs to make good choices and listen to me when I ask something of him. He sat there the whole time with his head down. He knew it was wrong. He's finally getting it. We have occasionally had to spank him, too. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole "You DO NOT HIT!" so I'll spank you. I've had to swat his behind when he's been squirming too badly on the changing table.

One time when we were at Dave's parents house after soccer, Micah was not listening to us and was whining pretty bad. Dave's dad was trying to talk to us about something, but finally David said "hang on dad, I need to deal with this" and he took Micah down to the bedroom, flung him across his lap, pulled down his pants and smacked his behind. Micah came back into the room with little tears almost spilling over, but he behaved much better after that.

I don't like to spank because usually when I do it I'm frustrated with his behavior. I have a hard time being calm in certain situations. His incessant screaming and whining gets on my nerves. Often when we're driving in the car Micah will scream. One way to get around that is to give him something to eat. He's always content when he's eating! But since I don't want an one hundred pound toddler I'm not going to give him food every chance he acts up. I'm not sure how to keep him from screaming in the car. If I try to give him a toy or book, he chucks it. Sometimes he'll even take his shoes and/or socks off and throw them. We have a little game we play, which calms him down. He locks his car door using his foot, and I can unlock it from the front. We go back and forth with that for awhile, which is a great, safe game because I don't have to turn around to look at him or use my hands to reach back there. I also sing to him, but I'll admit that it's very hard to keep singing when I can't even hear myself because he's still screaming. This morning, though, I went through the ABC's a couple times and Old McDonald Had a Farm about 6 times (with every animal I could think of that makes a noise I can imitate!) and he quieted down. Some days being a mom is exhausting!

So, does anyone have any great advice on how to keep a child from screaming during a 25 minute car ride? Or any creative ideas on ways to calm an aggressive child? If your children are older, does it get any better? I've heard from another mom that her 10 year old has always let out his frustration by kicking and hitting and throwing things around, so she makes him go to his room, do what he needs to do to let it all out, and then she deals with him when he's calmer.