Wednesday Wanderings...

Every parent is faced with the kind of questions that make us uncomfortable to answer. Not so much BAD uncomfortable, but “what the heck do I say now” uncomfortable. Caleb asks “why?” about forty-nine times an hour, and sometimes those answers are a little sketchy for me. Some of them – usually regarding nursing Gavi – are glossed over lest I hear my words repeated in pleasant company. But yesterday came the first one that REALLY got me.

“Where’s God?” Caleb asked on the way to VBS. (Since he’s not really attending, just accompanying me to nursery duty, I’m not really sure where the concept came from.)

My brain went a tiny bit fuzzy. I was thinking so many things at once. “How can you simplistically present the idea of omnipresence? Do I dumb down my answer since my child is two? Or does that offend the Almighty Creator of the universe? If I answer wrong, could I derail my son’s entire spiritual future? GO FIND YOUR MOTHER, KID!”

So I said a quick prayer, then responded, “God is everywhere, sweetie.”

After a brief pause: “Okay.”

No other comments, questions, ANYTHING. I at least expected to hear “why?” So I mentally wiped my brow, and considered the answer a success.

I told Jonathan about it at dinner last night. So in return, he asked Caleb where God was. He thought for a minute, then said, “God’s at King Soopers.”

Technically correct, right?! Anyway, we about bust a gut laughing. I love how he’s learning. His vocabulary and comprehension are just growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Also, the bed seems to be an incredible success! He doesn’t sleep a whole lot yet, but he’s got the concept that he needs to stay in bed, whether it’s for his hour of quiet time or at night time. I put a couple of books by his bed, and he’s got a few stuffed animals. The biggest trouble has been him keeping Mr. Gavi up by shouting and singing when he should be sleeping. But after hearing some of the horror stories of my friends’ children’s experience, I was a little nervous. Plus, his first night was a little rocky.

Our bathroom is only half done, but we have to wait until my Papa comes back from Germany to finish it. The stupid shower added two full days, and unfortunately, Jonathan and I weren’t as much help as he probably would have liked. Grr. But even unfinished, it’s about sixty times more beautiful than it was! And it seems SO much bigger! I can’t wait to get the shower done!

Gavi is doing really well, too! He’s gaining a LOT of weight! I suspect that when we go back next week for his weight checkup, he’ll have gained about three pounds. It’s sad to see his little jowls come back, but I hate to think of him being undernourished just so his face is pretty!

His big thing for interaction now is shaking his head. It’s the first way we’ve really seen him communicate. (His "lalalas" aren't contingent on our responses.) He’s so sweet! Jonathan actually feared that he had an inner ear infection for a while because he shakes his head so much. But as soon as anyone shakes their head back at him, he’s done! Then he’ll watch them until they nod, then shakes his head again. He’s giggling like a teeny madman, too. He’s such a sweetheart, I can’t hardly stand it. He’s more of a cuddler than Caleb ever was. It’s fun to just smoosh him. He and I get up earlier than the rest of the family, so I get a lot of time just snuggling him. Plus, he’s still waking up occasionally at night, and while he’s adjusting to the new bed, I’ll get up with him.

And Jonny will probably hate having this in print, but in case Gavi ever goes back and reads this, it’s important to have on the record: Jonathan loves to sit and just kiss Gavi. He pulls him back when Gavi starts slipping him the tongue, but they’ll just sit and smile at each other and kiss forever. It’s too precious.