The joys of toddlerhood have arrived!

Josie is now 14 months old! Time has truly flown by...that cute cooing baby is now a babbling machine with an outstanding dictionary of hundreds of words (only 15 are audible to the parent ear). It's definitely an exciting time! Right now I love how proud she gets when she says "light on/off" with the flick of her tiny fingers at the light switch. She'll glance up at me, her smile beaming as she points to the ceiling. Greg just leaned over and said "you can't overstate the sense of accomplishment she has." Her sense of wonder is hard for me to understand and relate to. If only I could translate that wonder into my view of Christ. One way I miss the joy of my salvation is by failing to see the wonder in Christ's amazing love for us and in his work on the cross. How much more he could reveal about himself to me if I was not so distracted, thus preventing me from experiencing the childlike wonder of faith? I wish I too could have a sense of wonder at the little things I encounter each day; thankfully, I have a little person with me all the time to help show me what these things mean.

So as joyous as this time has been, it has honestly been VERY challenging! Two weeks ago Josie learned how to whine and scream. She used to be "easy-going", and I was thankful for an infant who rolled with the punches, even with those extra long outings and delayed naps. Now I'm having to work harder at teaching her little heart! This came about too suddenly, and maybe it's just the added hormones of pregnancy impacting the drama that seems to be flooding upon me every morning when I change her diaper. But still...it's been difficult as I discuss with Greg how best to address these tantrums and screaming fests. I know children...they are my passion...but I'm just learning parenting! (This too came as a shock to my pride!) So...needless to say, I am having a heck of a time with her new mode of communication. I have found one thing that is helping is to get down on her level (literally), look at her in the eyes, and ask what's wrong. She recognizes a few signs, but does not perform them, so it's nice to have her whimper with the right one I sign. My patience has been tried about every 15 minutes, but the Lord is thankfully giving me more and more grace and passion to parent as each day comes. So it's getting late...and I will have to sleep to get more energy so that both hers and my own heart can go through more transformation tomorrow! Wish me luck as a new day approaches!