Flowers & Guitar - Is he a hippy?

Just realized I didn't get any pictures of that adorable face today. Sorry about that. You'll have to live with the adorable rest of him! : ) Anyway, here is David examining the new grape hyacinths in the front flowerbed. These are not the bulbs from Grandmama's house - those stayed in the ground at the old house. I put these out last fall. This particular flower is now about half that size...

This evening, I said, "David is in charge of the bird seed." Dad replied, "How is David in charge of the bird seed?" Well, he helps pour the seeds into this feeder, then he plays with the seeds every time we go out the front door. Before walking away, he always touches the yellow center of that white flower you can see right beside his head! Then I leave the blinds up about a foot and when we hear the birds on the porch we can watch them through the window. Sparrows, house finches, and doves eat on our porch. The cats also enjoy the view.

How cute is this??? David enjoys watching Dad practice his guitar and Dad lets him play it some, too.


At left, Dad was holding the chords and David was strumming the strings. He seemed to be enjoying a different chord every time he strummed! Just before I took this one, David switched to pushing the strings down like Dad.

My Little Pianist

I can't think of David ever having seen anyone play a real piano before. He's got one of those xylophone ones with 5 keys on it. But when he sat in front of this piano, he put both of his little hands on the keyboard like he knew what he was doing! He both banged and picked at the keys.

My ears were surprised when I heard him hitting the highest C, then the lowest C over & over. On his little xylophone, he would do the same thing with the highest note & the lowest note. Then he started playing the higher F#. He played that note a few times, then looked at the keyboard for a few seconds, then without wavering, played the lower F#. Coincidence??? I don't know....

Notice in the photo above where his right hand is... Now, below, look where his other hand is! If you're not familiar with the keyboard, he's got both hands on the set of 3 black keys in both octaves.


Now, if you know David, you know he's very bright (of course) and very loving, but he doesn't talk much. The speech therapist at WTRC wants to put him in group therapy once a week, but she didn't know of a group to put him in, so it may take a while to get together. We've set up a screening with ECI for another evaluation. That initial meeting will take place on March 13 because she was on spring break next week.

Please, do not post a comment that says, "Don't worry, he'll start talking when he's ready." And especially do not tell me, "He'll start talking soon enough, then you'll wish he would shut up." Heard them... You're not having an original thought if that's what you're thinking. I have decided that when David starts talking, I will not wish he would shut up, I will be thankful for every word he says. Now I may have to remind myself that every so often, but that's my decision.

I just finished reading a book called Late-Talking Children by Thomas Sowell. I'd recommend it to anyone who has a speech delayed child that you can tell is otherwise very bright. I'd also recommend it to anyone who knows/loves a child like that - therefore I'm recommending it to everyone who reads this blog. I found it at the library. David seems to fit into the pattern he found among these children. I've also started teaching him more sign language, which he's doing pretty well at picking up. I'm thankful for the class that Momma & I took in ASL at TSTC that summer (and that I still had the book!).

You're also welcome to go to this page to read more comments from other parents of late talkers if you think I'm getting carried away with this. I know David is smart. I do not think anything is wrong with him. But being around other kids his age, I've seen the difference. And by reading these other people's comments, I see that I'm not alone.

Are they all this cute?

Sometime I look at him and get overcome by how adorable he is. Do all parents feel this way? Did my parents feel this way when I was his age?

Tonight we went to Wednesday night church for the first time since David has been born! Mom went to Dobson's "Essentials of Discipline" class and David went to his class in the same room with the same teachers as Sunday morning. They said he did wonderfully!

We stopped by to visit Dad at the fire station on the way home. He was excited from a 2-alarm structure fire he'd just gotten home from! And we taped him on the 10pm news again!

I can't believe I have no comments on the Enchanted Rock entry!!

David Climbs Enchanted Rock

Mom's alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. Monday morning. Dad's went off later and David was scooped out of bed, pj's & all shortly after 6 when we hit the road. Surprisingly, David awoke while being buckled in and did not go back to sleep! Here is his morning daze...


The sun was rising as we stopped at a road side park to change a diaper.



Finally, our destination came into view & loomed on the horizon for a while before we made it to the entrance.

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area - When we arrived, it was overcast & chilly with strong winds.



David put on his jacket & hood and carried his supplies in a backpack, just like Mom & Dad.










After watching Dad climb a few boulders, David wanted to do the same!























Dad helped David make it to the top, where they waved, "Hi, Mom!"








After a nap in the car and a picnic lunch, we headed up the main dome. Most of the clouds had burned off, it was still windy, but the trek up the dome generated some heat. Our destination was not the top of the dome, as it is with most pilgrims making the journey, but Echo Canyon. The Echo Canyon Trail starts about half way up the dome, though. At this point, David had made the entire climb on his two feet! We were quite impressed, but that was just the beginning...

The Echo Canyon Trail was not too difficult, until it came time to descend into the canyon. Mom has unsure feet, so Dad carried David down the canyon. At the bottom we found the boulders Dad was wanting to climb. Can you see David & Dad in the picture to the right?







Dad climbed up... and David laid down! Hiking and rock climbing proofed to be quite tiring, but there was more to be done...







After leaving the Echo Canyon Boulders, we took the trail that went around the base on the main dome. I believe it was called Loop Trail. The trail started out following a little brook. We let David touch the water with his hands. When it was time to move on, he headed toward the water. Dad caught him as his knee went in. (it was probably an inch or two deep) At right, how he's fascinated by how his pants got wet!


We continued to follow the trail around the dome. Mom & Dad took turns carrying David for short distances, but amazingly, he wanted to walk most of the distance!



As we came back down around the side, we found more boulders that Dad was able to climb. Here, Dad is making an arrow toward heaven, like Rich Mullins.




David & Mom hung out by another little brook while Dad climbed. He was beginning to be done with the hike at this point.









We arrived around 9am and left Enchanted Rock at 4-something. David was asleep within a mile of the park entrance! He slept until Brady, where we stopped for supper.

Dad wanted to try the cabrito, but it was only offered on Friday, Saturday & Sunday. We had chopped sandwiches, a little sausage, and banana pudding! mmm...

David stayed awake the rest of the way home, took a bath and went straight to sleep!

David Works The Beads

You know it's been dry when... you get so excited that you take a picture of a half inch of rain in the gauge! With all the puddles, it sure looks like we got more then that, though! I didn't see any news today, so I didn't hear the official report.






Here is David and Dad enjoying the pre-consigning sale bargain Mom snagged today!
































Tabi shows off her catitude with a little bling! It is hot pink patent with rhinestones and a pink bell. Unfortunately, she is so tiny that the collar is way to big. I didn't want her to get hung up on anything, so I took it off of her. We'll save it until she grows a little more, which she's doing every day.

David Has Another Cute Day

OK, OK, I just couldn't decide on which picture was the cutest today! So you're getting all 4 of them!

David likes to play behind his workbench, opening & closing the shutters on the window. You can tell how tall he's getting!






He was singing to me in this one! Looks like he's stretching to hit a high note!








How'd that get there??? I hung David's old star from his old play gym on one of the hooks. I guess he hadn't noticed it before.





Now, he was looking up at Dad, who just walked in behind me! Dad took a sick day from work today because he hasn't been feeling well.

And now, I have a new favorite photo!!!
This is David giving Mom what we like to call,
"NOSE KISSES!"

David Goes to the Rodeo!

Sorry, but none of the pictures I took of us turned out good enough to post, so you'll have to settle for the show on this post! This was David's first Rodeo! It began with a cool light show, which I believe was David's favorite part.

It was "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" night, raising money for breast cancer research. Notice the emcee on the horse is wearing a pink shirt. Rodeo Clown is at the bottom of the picture in the big hat.



The Charro put on an impressive show at "half time." He could make that horse do amazing things. The most fascinating part of his performance was the rope performance. It was beautiful!







Here's a little calf roping.






And you can't leave out bull riding!

All of the pictures look grainy because my camera flash was lighting up all the dust in the air!

David stayed awake the whole time & was pretty good. He cried once when the girl beside us hollared right in his ear.

Around the House

Yesterday: David loves popcorn! He specifically asked for it for snack, just not in words. And he ate it up!










Our Toys R Us is going out of business. They've got all beach & water toys half price right now. Mom got this sand and water wheel for David, who of course, loves it. He plays with it in the bathtub, in his room, in the hall, in the living room. Hopefully we'll find some try sand to try with it this summer at the beach.





Mom seriously thought the yellow balloon had disappeared! Oddly enough David found it in the laundry room in the middle of a cat food spill. Guess we did get rid of it, but a cat found it before it made it out the back door!








Tabi practices her sign language. Is that "hippopotamus"?

David's A Cat Person

We are having lots of fun with our new kitten, Tabi! We've been telling David to be gentle & pet soft because she's little and still has stitches in her tummy. He'll pet her so softly, then walk across the room and lay down on Tort!

Since the new kitten arrived, David has also shown more interest in his stuffed cats - first the yellow cat, now the white cat! (Note the yellow cat is right beside him, though!)

It's fun having a frisky one around again! And Mom is enjoying seeing Tabi do to Tort what Tort used to do to Puddin'! It's coming back around, Boy! : )

God Spoke Today

Disclaimer: This one's not about David either.

Sunday morning. Dad is at work. David is happy in his swing watching Baby Faith while Mom (me) is getting ready for church. I go out to start the car. It's below freezing, there are snowflakes in the air. I come back in, pack David's bag, grab the little Bible that fits in the bag, change his diaper & get him dressed. I look at the clock. Dad gum... we're going to be late. He's happy with his video, it's freezing outside, maybe we'll just stay home. I pause contemplating my choices. No. Late or not, we're going.

We get to church & I turned in at the wrong place, ending up in a dead end back by the vans. Irritated that they didn't make a way to get out from back there, I just parked there & cut across to the nursery building on foot carrying David. There's not time to let him walk. He's happy to go into his class BUT he saw me walk out the door and I hear him crying as I leave the building. Yet... I feel like I'm at the right place.

The auditorium is crowded, but not as packed as last week. It's very cold & that affects attendance. I found a seat in the section I like. I missed the first song. The worship continued & was very good. One of those "goods" where you feel like you're really in the presence of God. When the preacher gets up, he says something like, "I'm glad to see all of you here on such a cold day. God gave you the drive to get out & get here in this weather and He's got something to say to you today." My ears perked up - he's not one that says that every week.

He starts out in Isaiah 58. You remember the little Bible that fits in the bag? NT only. I'm glad for the words on the projection screen. (Daddy - there's another use for it - for people who don't have their Bible.) This chapter starts out with the people basically saying to God, "We had our day of fasting and You didn't answer us." They act like they're eager to draw near to God on their day of fasting, but they continue on fighting and being selfish. Parallel: We go to church on Sunday, desiring to draw near to God, but how are we living the rest of the week? If my faith doesn't change how I live the other 6 days, it's dead. They fasted but still did what they wanted to - I exercise but still eat cake. What good is it?

Bear with me, because I don't always catch how things transition from one to the next point. A couple of weeks ago, I got one of those email questionnaires you send to your friends. One of the questions was your greatest fear. My first thought is my house burning. The pastor said his greatest fear was getting to heaven and hearing God say, "You knew George for 15 years. Why didn't you tell him about me?"

Then he tied it into relationships - Matthew 22:37-39. What if the greatest indication of your spirituality wasn't what you do at church, but how you treat people, starting at home? What if your greatest act of worship this week wasn't coming to church, but your marriage? How would you do? We've given an hour this morning to cultivate our relationship with God by coming to church, what would happen if I spent an hour this week cultivating my marriage? Next time you're in an argument with your spouse, stop and ask whose interest you're more concerned with right then. Jesus was always more concerned with others - just look at what He did for us.

Then as I'm pulling out of the parking lot, I hear a new song on the radio that really hits home and ties everything together: Todd Agnew, My Jesus. Click on that and listen to the following words (I wrote down as I listened, so there may be some mistakes). If you are moved by this as I was, go buy the CD!

"Which Jesus do you follow? Which Jesus do you serve? If Ephesians says to imitate Christ, why do you look so much like the world? 'Cause my Jesus bled and died; He spent His time with thieves and liars. He loved poor and accosted the arrogant, so which one do you want to be?"

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, but do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land? Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, but do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand? 'Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins; He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars. He loved the poor and accosted the rich, so which one do you want to be?"

"Who is this that you follow? This picture of the American dream? If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side or fall down and worship at His holy feet?"

"Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion is how you see Him as He dies for your sins. But the Word says He was battered and scarred; did you miss that part? Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him. 'Cause my Jesus bled and died; He spent His time with thieves and the least of these . He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable, so which one do you want to be?"

"'Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church. The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet. But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud, and I think He'd prefer Beal(?) Street to the stained glass crowd. And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud, 'I wanna be like my Jesus! I wanna be like my Jesus. I wanna be like my Jesus, oh yeah. I wanna be like my Jesus, ohohoh....' "

"Not a poster child for American prosperity, but like my Jesus. You see I'm tired for living for success and popularity, I wanna be like my Jesus. But I'm not sure what that means, to be like you, Jesus. 'Cause You said to live like You, to love like You, but then You died for me. Can I be like you, Jesus? I wanna be like you, Jesus. I wanna be like my Jesus."