Six Years Ago Today

On that chilly January evening, this beautiful thing called "you and me" began.

photo credit: E.Naikal

We tied the knot a year and a half later.

photo credit: Studio Marais

And that love grew...

photo credit: E. Naikal

And grew...

photo credit: E. Naikal

Just look at us now... I wouldn't change a thing about this journey we've been on. :)

photo credit: E. Naikal

So grateful for you.  So grateful for us. <3   Happy us-anniversary!

Boy oh Boynton

As a child, my nose was always in a book.  My sister and I were notorious for bringing books to the dinner table and reading in the car even after it got nearly too dark to see.  Then I grew up and became an early elementary teacher, where half of my day was spent teaching kids how to read and getting them excited about books.

You can imagine my chagrin when I discovered that Jonathan didn't like books as a young toddler.  He would crawl over to us while we read aloud to him, just to grab the book or to shut it.  I read parenting books that encouraged us to continue to read books to our child, even if he appeared uninterested or even ignored us and played with something else.  So we did.  And somewhere between 18 months and 2 years of age, he came around...and now the kid loves books.

I am so excited to share with him the books that I've read to my classes over the years, or the different series of books that I enjoyed reading as a child.  But for now, we are solidly in the board book phase, which is totally cool with me too.  I am finding that, with multiple reads, some of the board books I'd coolly dismissed in the past have actually grown on me.

Sandra Boynton's books fall in this category - at first read, I thought they were just okay - simple little books.  But now I find them catchy/amusing, silly, and really cute. :)

The best thing about reading with Jonathan is having conversations about each page.  And the best thing about reading him these Sandra Boynton books is that the different books often feature similar characters...which he has named after the people in our family.

While Jonathan's character and my character might vary from day to day, he consistently calls the big brown bear "Appa" (what he calls Augustine - "daddy" in Korean) and the little rabbit "Abby."

I originally thought that it was because the bear was big and fatherly-looking and the rabbit was one of the smallest animals in the books.  But now I'm wondering if Jonathan just noticed a common theme that I myself didn't take note of until after many, many reads:

The bear and the rabbit are almost always together...

But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton 

 And the bear is always there to help the rabbit...

The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton 

(And this one is my favorite example) :

Hey! Wake Up by Sandra Boynton 

Isn't it so sweet?  Of course I may be reading into things a bit, but I feel like I've gotten a glimpse of the world through my two year old's eyes - the secure, loving parent-child relationship that he recognizes between Abby and her daddy.  And it makes me smile. :)


What about you?  What is your favorite children's book?  Are there any that you grew to love (or hate) after many reads?

Glad to Be a Mom (GTBAM)

...cuz footie pajamas have never been so much fun :)

<3

2013, you were a good year.  Thanking God for His grace that flooded our lives this past year - and an increase in joy and love that coincided with the arrival of a certain dimple-faced girl I know... :)

Here's to even more love & joy in 2014!

That Was Fast...

Jonathan and Aug took an evening walk tonight to enjoy both the unseasonably warm weather (70 degree weather in December? I'll take it!) and the neighborhood Christmas lights.

When they returned, Jonathan excitedly reported, "I saw Christmas lights!"

Just to be sure, I teasingly responded, "What about Crickcrum trees?" but he very slowly and seriously repeated, "No, I saw Christ-mas lights."

Is it possible for your heart to simultaneously break (with wistfulness of the fleeting times) and swell (with pride for my growing boy)?

Crickcrum Time

I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing my boy calling them, "Crickcrum trees."  He is so into Christmas trees and lights this year! It's so much fun to experience these new (to him) things right along with him!

Here's a little video I took in the car last weekend. He was in the backseat, playing his BFF's guitar (which he's had for the past couple of months, so he's memorized all the songs it plays).

Bonus - if you listen carefully, you can hear him call it a "Crickcrum tree" at the end of the video :)

Glad to Be a Mom (GTBAM)

...when I am greeted by this gleeful smile every day. :)  

Baby girl is 6 months old already!

Can't help but smile back...

On-the-Go Fun for Toddlers

When you have an energetic toddler and errands to run, being armed with fun activities becomes pretty important for keeping your sanity :)

Unfortunately, not every place with a line has a fish tank to keep the kiddos entertained while you wait...

Often, my go-to items are obvious:

1. Ball
2. Books
3. Crayons and paper
4. Toy cars

I'm not sure if this is a no-brainer for other moms out there, but in the recent months, I've also made sure to pack along something else:

Yup. Dot stickers!  306 stickers for 1-2 bucks?  Yes, please :)

These little babies, I've found, are perfect for two year olds' small fingers.

They lift up from the sticker sheet easily, they're relatively large, and they're bright and colorful!
They also have the perfect level of stickiness - enough to stick without immediately falling off, yet not so annoyingly sticky that they are impossible to remove!

As an added bonus, they add practically no bulk to the diaper bag you might be lugging around, which is always a huge plus for me!

Playing with stickers is a great way to develop those fine motor skills!

While waiting at the doctor's office, we stick them all over the exam table paper (it gets pitched after we leave anyway).

We make it a learning activity by counting all the stickers.  Then we identify the different colors and count how many we have of each color.  We also use this opportunity to discuss shapes and identify circles in the world around us.

This is a page from my journal that I quickly made to keep Jonathan occupied during a youth event at church a few months ago.  The goal was for him to place a dot sticker over every circle he saw on the page.

You could probably have a whole sheet of pictures prepared ahead of time, but I had him identify each picture and add a sticker immediately after I drew each picture (to help keep him engaged and focused).

I love these stickers!  When I taught first grade and kindergarten, I always kept them on hand to quickly label things or color code books.

Ironically, I don't think I've ever used them for their advertised purpose (garage sale labels)...but they sure are perfect for entertaining a toddler on-the-go! :)