Last night I was feeling the fullness only true joy can bring as we sat around in an impromptu family moment. Jonathan had brought the church djembe home, and he and Josiah were jamming together. Josiah demanded Jonathan play the guitar, and knowing his mother well, he was satisfied with me not contributing at all. I sat on the floor and stabilized his drum, and occasionally he let me thump on it, too. I just sat absorbing the fullness of the moment, my eyes moving from one love of mine to the other. Those 20 minutes before bedtime were so rich and satisfying to me. They were also so very simple and ordinary.
Every day Josiah is stunning me with random requests. I think to myself, "how did you know how to say that?" Yesterday we were driving to the park and discussing how we could only say hi to the basketball goal, because Mommy is too short to lift Josiah to the basket. He very matter of factly asked me to "pick up Dada" because "Dada reach basketball goal." It was the first time I heard him use the phrases "pick up" and "reach." One of my favorite responses he has right now I have no idea where he came up with it. Whenever he makes a request and we say no, he will say, "mehh," as if he doesn't like the answer but it isn't worth arguing over it. It is SO funny. I first noticed it on the first of the month, and it has persisted. I still find myself giggling every time he does it, which may be why he still does.
He is very into reading books. His true favorite has remained "Wild West Bananza" by Paul Frank ever since it upped "Go Dog Go" many months ago. In fact, we had to purchase a new copy at Christmas because the old copy got lost. It had been taped back together with packing tape on just about every page, too. I have it memorized pretty well. So does he. That means the days of skipping pages are rapidly approaching an end. He is far too observant. I have learned which images he will miss, so I make sure I hit the highlights. I'm not a bad Mommy. He, too, willingly skips the pages he deems dispensable. Though "Wild West Bananza" remains the favorite, he still insists that we read "Goodnight Moon" every night. Now, I know that "Goodnight Moon" is a classic children's book and has been given umpteen awards, but I have never really gotten the big deal. I don't have any idea how out of the large collection of books Josiah has he even got started on that one, as it wasn't one I was showcasing. Regardless, it has become an engraved part of our bedtime routine, and I have gained respect for it because clearly something about it is captivating for the target audience. I also like it because on late nights I can read it from cover to cover in one minute flat. My personal favorite part is seeing the little mouse move locations in each illustration. You don't learn that from reading the book just once.
Every night we also read the children's Bible, which still is a reading level above Josiah's comprehension level. Most of the time we just use the pictures to tell the story. I was pretty convinced that we were just doing this to establish a routine of Bible reading from a young age, as Josiah didn't really get more than "Jesus" and identifying David and Goliath on the cover...That is, until I opened to Adam and Eve a few nights ago and Josiah started talking about the apple. Praise God! We read the story again, this time with me narrating the concept on a toddler level: "The bad snake told Eve to eat the apple, but God said, 'No, no, no! Don't eat that apple.' Eve did it anyway." etc, etc. Then we illustrated the concept of sin and redemption by the idea that "God still loved them, and he made clothes for them to wear. But, Adam and Eve didn't listen when God said, 'no, no.' Adam and Eve had to leave the garden and go to time out from God until Jesus came." The gospel translates to all lives, right? ha.
A swift change of subject...
One thing I have been pondering lately is how often the baby books tell you not to let your child do something, specifically "eat whole grapes or any peanuts" but never specify when they ARE capable of doing such things. I mean, when? 2 years old? 3rd grade? No one ever says. Anyway, Josiah has started eating both under our supervision. Sometimes I've wavered, thinking about how I must really be confident in my mastery of the Heimlich. Today I was watching him eat grapes and thinking, "Surely he is old enough now." We still avoid popcorn (even I choke on that), but I mean, really, when is it all okay? I'm not sure, because the books don't say.
Josiah just woke up and looked out the window to declare, "snow!" It's been snowing for an hour now, and everything has transformed to wintery white. Hopefully we'll get to play in it soon!
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