Please!

Sunday, Daniel had to work so Duke and I just went to church at South West Park where several of my family and loved ones go. Anyway, when we pulled in my dad (Grandy Randy) pulled in the parking lot five min. late also. Upon getting beloved grandson out of my car, we discovered the dire need for a diaper change before heading into the sanctuary. Most of my experience at this church was in high school with a friend whose youth group played hide and seek in the dark in the building. It didn't matter then, but the fact remains that i cannot navigate inside of that building to save my life!!! So many corners and halls. Anyway after Dad, Duke and I walked all over the place followed by a deacon sparying a can of Lysol (totally kidding) we finally found a nursery with a changing table for me to change Duke. My Dad informed me that he is faster at me at changing diapers, but seeing as how one of my earliest memories is him asking me to change my baby sister's BAD diaper, that remains to be seeen.
Now, I mentioned in earlier posts that Duke has learned to sign 'please.' He is now quite profecient at it and uses it any time he wants anything--which ends up being quite a bit. Now, in Duke's 15 months of life we have NEVER left him in a church nursery. He has always gone with us into church and almost always slept on us through the service. This time after his diaper change he looked over and saw all the toddlers playing with cool toys and signed 'please' over and over again. At this point Grandpa took him and headed down the hall--I guess Grandy doesn't understand baby sign language... Nonetheless, I was puzzled by the reality that my baby is turning into a kid. He could care less where we were going, he isn't shy, he wanted to play with the kids. I got the message loud and clear. Since my dad was headed out with Duke I just followed behind thinking to myself a big long exagerated "huhhh????". I worked in nuseries for 10 years before I had Duke. Kids were clinging onto their moms for dear life and instead left in a poopy smelling, overcrowded unfamiliar place surrounded by strangers saying "it's ok", "it's ok", "it's ok". I could see it all over their faces. They were thinking, "no, this is not ok!!!" But this time it's as if my little extravert was looking into my nervous face saying "it's ok" "it's ok" "it's ok" I guess this gives me a week to get used to the idea. Looks like Mr. Duke is ready to go to sunday school. We may continue taking him during church because we like the idea of the family being together for worship, but I guess we'll see. I used to teach two year old sunday school at one particular church and to tell the truth i liked it more than my age sunday school so I can't say I blame him. I better brace myself for this "letting go" phrase that rolls off many wise grandmother's tongues. What a delicate balance of letting go and embaracing; of patience and passion.

"I've got a wheel in my eye"

Duke has been showing such an interest in cars lately! We are so amazed that he moves them while making car sound effects. How does he know to do that? Anything with a wheel on it, whether it be a bike, a car, a wagon, etc. is so attractive to Duke. He starts grabbing his own shirt and wiggling his fingers (that is how he signs 'please') whenever he sees a "wheeled" item. Today he got to spend a lot of time outside while Mommy and Daddy were doing yard work. He absolutely loves it outside. He came in a crashed without my help. It blows my mind that he is starting to go to sleep on his own without even being rocked. What a big boy! He loves his monkey and cuddles it. He has also, in the last few days, fallen to sleep holding his beloved tooth brush or his new gold hummer hot wheel.

Brushing his teeth is another favorite activity. Only he will have no help, thank you. He like sucking on the wet bristles. I am not really sure how much cleaning that does, but at least he doesn't have an aversion to tooth brushing!

Duke has now entered a stage of accountability with Mommy and Daddy. He understands the word 'no' and many other words for that matter. He is very capable of protesting and he remembers which cabinets are his to play in and which are not. Since he spends most of his time in our home, his boundaries remain consistent and predictable. I am very thankful for him and the way that God is using DUKE to discipline me. I have a responsibility to teach him self control and 'cause and effect' but watching him has taught me so much about myself. It is so easy to be focused solely on his actions, choices and progress and neglect my own. Lately I have been thinking a lot of this verse:

Luke 6:41
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

I often hear the woes of the "terrible two's" from others, and I often hear myself saying: "Mommy said 'no' " more frequently than I would prefer. However, the amazing thing is that recently I have felt a still small voice inside of me showing me my own lack of self control. Self control. Self Control. That is mostly what this word discipline is about right? Teaching my son self-control in respecting his boundaries, authorities and most of all honoring God. I desire to parent him in a way that reveals his humanity, his need for Christ's forgiveness; then to ultimately, please Jesus, lead him to Christ.

Perhaps then I should begin in my own heart. I have to receive the wiser 'no's and instructions that I hear. Dang. That really puts it in perspective.

Duke has such a clean slate. Where is life going to take him? What will he do? Who will he be? Where will he go? I pray that he is a man of God. That he would love ONE woman with a passion. That he would raise up a generation of children to fear God and honor him. I must surrender my control to God--as if I really had any to begin with. For me, this is fear and worry, and the feeling that I have to CONTROL my son. Wrong. I have a very real responsibility to him and to God; however try as I may, I cannot CONTROL him or his will. I easily allow myself to be taken over by my mind's anxiety. I learned last week that the most frequently used command in all of scripture is: "Do not fear." I have learned that I don't have the strength to drive away worry or anxiety apart from Christ. I mean really, how far am I going to let fear manipulate me? It is very easy for me to be anxious about the 'what ifs'. But apart from the what ifs this is what I know: 1.Duke is the Lord's. 2. God is faithful. 3. God will take care of us. I cannot control everything or protect him from everything; but what a relief that our loving and wise heavenly Father can. I love him so much and thank God every day for him.

Joshua 23:14

You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.

Duke Walking

Videos of Duke Walking:

First Post

Well, as of today my extremely electronically inclined husband gave me, (his electronically uninclined wife) a tutorial in blogging. I know, I know, I keep hearing: "there's nothing to it!" Well, here's the deal: Being the daughter of a computer genius and the wife of another computer genius, I have come to learn that there is just no sense in waisting time trying to figure it out on my own. I'll take the tutorial thanks. Someday I'll have a cool, impressive background too. That's when you'll know that I must have recieved tutorial #2.

Alrighty, I also feel inclined to comment/explain the name of our blog. Sorry for the false hopes everyone, but I am not pregnant. I do however have one darling little boy who i plan on writing a lot about. Someday in the future we hope to have more little darlings. When that day comes, i should like to avoid getting the refresher course of creating a blog...SO if it's just the same to you, we are going to call this blog: Decker Babies... so stay tuned.

The last two weeks have been astounding in Duke's little world. We finally have a toddler! A piece of advice Daniel's mom gave me several months ago is not to push Duke or fret to see him walk by "dr. Spock's goal" or whomever. Little did she know that at the ripe ol' age of 15 months Duke would finally decide to give walking a chance. He still finds crawling to be his preferred mode of locomotion; i suppose both for it's effeciency (after six months of crawling this boy is FAST!) as well as it's stability. His poor little knees are calloused...you think i am joking, but I AM NOT! To feel his leg from his hip to his toes it would go something like this: silky smooth, silky smooth, sandpaper, back to silky smooth, and then toesies. I just love watching him walk though. So proud of him! He looks so tall and old, and for him he loves to see Daddy and I cheer! He also has gotten three theeth in the last two weeks. That's another thing, he has been toothless for 14 months! Then, to throw us off he got the top two in before the bottom. In all my life, I really don't think I've ever seen a child get in the top teeth before the bottom. We called him snaggle tooth for a few days before the neighbor poked through the surface. He is just such a cutie. You'll just have to excuse me for bragging a little here and there. Also, in the last two weeks he has learned how to sign 'please.' This has been nice especially for mommy because it has cut down on the desperate "uuuuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhmmmmmmmm"s. Praise the Lord!

He is Mr. Adventure that's for sure. The cold weather has been hard on him. He just stands at the dining room windows and points out side at his swing or the grass. He has even tried scratching on the door like our dog Jax. Speaking of that, we have been convinced lately that Duke thinks he is a dog. Let me explain: He barks (oh yes, very often. If Jax starts, Duke joins in. When people asking me what new words he has learned I have to admit that he does a lot more barking than he does speaking or signing.), he loves crawling in Jax's kennel and snuggling in Jax's bed (yes, I let him, he is a boy, not a dainty little girl. I know he will be into much dirt, grime and mud to come.So it's just preparation). Keeping Duke out of the dogfood and dogwater has been an ongoing battle, that sadly for him, Mommy still wins. He also loves chewing on Jax's chew sticks and playing tug of war with Jax's stuffed dogtoys. Of all things it is strange that he thinks he's a dog. If anything he should think he's a monkey. You are probably confused right now, it's just that we've always called him a "baby monkey." Thoroughly confusing parents and family, i know.

Now, I'll just tell you a little about my man and Duke's Daddy. This is one of his first days to have a complete day off in a long time. He just finished the reffing season and is home. Perhaps Daniel wasn't sure what to do with himself but i was quite amused at his choice of entertainment. He quietly slipped my cell phone (which he had put on vibrate) under our sleeping dog. Waiting quietly and patiently, Daniel's moment of fun finally came when Jax went into a deep state of sleep. Daniel quietly opened his phone and called mine. He like to laugh his socks off watching poor Jax wake up in a state of panic. Daniel just has jokes sitting in him that he just has to get out. The other evening I got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. Only to walk across what i call poppers lining the bathroom floor (you know, those packing pockets of air that you use to pack breakable things). Pop pop pop pop pop pop under my feet. I guess i'm glad Jax got the brunt of it today! Daniel is always making me laugh. I have a wonderful family, thank you Lord. Thanks for taking enough interest in our family to care about all our silly stories. If you enjoyed them, then stay tuned!

The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3