VBS

Colin just finished up a week at Vacation Bible School at our church. I signed him up for it for three reasons.
1. To give him another experience of listening to a "teacher" without a parent around.
2. To help him realize that new situations don't have to be scary. They can actually be fun!
3. To meet friends that he'll be going to Sunday School with in September.

He had a very good experience. Here's how it all went down:

Monday: I stuck with him for an hour or so while his group played on the playground and then went to listen to the Bible story (the theme was about Babylon and Daniel and the lions). Then I told him I was going to sit upstairs and I'd see him at the end, and he said, "Yeah." So I left him and actually went home for a little bit but he never knew that :)

Tuesday: I sat with him for the opening part and then left after 10 minutes. He cried and one of the adults had to hold him back :( He was upset because I was going home.

Wednesday: I dropped him off and didn't stay for any part of it, and he cried when I left. When I came back, I watched him in the pew and saw him actually participating in the hand motions for the song!

Thursday: I volunteered to help with snack and he did a great job! I got to "spy" on him while he was at our snack station and also at the craft station since it was in the same area. As a teacher, this was fun for me. He's quiet but sociable, he listens, he's a little bit spacey, and he's messy with food :) He'd look at me and be so happy and give me the cutest little grin from across the room. When we were walking to the car afterwards, he said "I had so much fun!"

Friday: Again, I was there helping with snack. Same as Thursday.

Being there but not being with him was a perfect compromise that I hope will carry over to Sunday School when he's with his class but we're up in church. He'll know we're there and he'll be familiar with the environment. I hope. ;)

VBS was good for me too because I also got to meet some people and observed some amazing middle school and high school role models. I was quite impressed.

We got a CD of the music from the week. I put it in this evening while I was doing dishes and he listened to the songs over and over and over again and danced and did the hand motions and knew the words :) So cute.

And he has been especially sweet this week too.

So very good.

Please keep him safe

Ben knows how to roll onto his belly, which is all great fun until it's night time and we find him on his belly, his face either lying on top of his hands or smooshed into the mattress.

The only thing we can do is check on him and turn him over if need be before going to bed ourselves. And then there's a little prayer said before dozing off.

Soon there will come a time when he can roll back over onto his back. Until then, I can only trust that God will keep him safe.

Ben's Baptism (Update pt. 1)

Ben was baptized on March 25. Here are a few pictures of the day.
At church about to be baptized (sidenote, we've gone to this church for 4 years, but just officially joined last Sunday. Either we take commitments like this seriously or we're just lazy. Could be both).
Obviously he's mad he can't have a piece of cake and has to watch everyone else enjoy it.With my friend Kristin, who is his sponsor/Godmother. Check out Ben's Guayabara shirt. I'm kind of in love with it, and hope we can find another occasion to wear it for.
Colin is missing from this family photo because was being entertained happily downstairs.It was a special day for Benjamin, filled with lots of love. Although we're not openly religious people, we wholeheartedly believe in God and we're are excited to see Ben grow in faith.


Uh, sorry Ben, I'm about to hijack your baptism post here....
While we're on the subject of church/religion, here's a story that has nothing to do with Ben's baptism.

We were at church this morning and the Pastor was talking about Jesus. Colin looked at me and said, "I know Jesus." I asked him what he meant and he wouldn't tell me anymore, but it did make me smile. Oh, and also last Sunday, he randomly kissed me on the forehead in church. Some of his sweetest moments happen in pews.

Sorry Ben.

Perfection

The train whistle was carrying loudly on the wind tonight, and the oven timer kept ringing reminding me to check the birthday cake baking in the oven. With those two simultaneous sounds, Colin woke up crying, "Mommy! Mommy!" Not a half-asleep beckon; an awake beckon.

I walked into his room and scooped him out of bed, feeling his frustration. I hate being woken from my deep sleep by that blasted train! I carried my warm, sleepy little boy to the rocking chair. Quiet rocking moments are few and far between these days.

I held him like I held him so many months ago, with his head on my right arm and my left arm keeping his lower half on my lap. And I rocked, and he blinked his eyes slowly, drifting back to sleep. His mouth moved as he was trying to wet the dryness away. His right arm was up around my neck, but started to fall as his muscles relaxed, so I rested it on his chest.

I stared at his face and was taken aback by the perfection of it. His cute little button nose. His sweet lips. His rosy, soft, warm cheeks. His short, thin eyelashes. His soft, blond hair already bedhead-style after only 2 hours of sleep. His belly hung out of his pajama shirt. His legs curled up so he fit in the confines of the chair.

We rocked for just a little while, just long enough for the train to go by and for him to be sleepy again. But in that five minutes, I saw pure sweetness in my baby? My big boy? I saw calm and love. I saw perfection.

Thank you, God, for my beautiful little boy and for that perfect moment you made tonight.