God's Water

We're working with Teddy on asking permission. We practice most often on food and drink. He must ask and receive permission before eating something we have or drinking what we have.

Usually, he wants my water:
"Mommy, may I please have your water?"
"Yes, you may."
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome!"

But today he didn't see that I had poured the water. (I'd gone to nurse his sister in the nursery.) So Daddy overheard this:

"This is God's water.
"God, may I please have your water?
"Okay! Thank you!"

It's cute, right? But shouldn't that be my prayer for anything crossing my lips? It's all God's water. It's all God's everything. And thank God that Teddy shows me in between times of being maddening.

Geography Lesson

I pointed out some things on the floor of Teddy's room, and he dutifully trooped around, answering what they were and putting them away. The last item was the letters bag from Matushka Anna. He asked where it was from (meaning who gave it to him), and I told him. Then he asked, "Where's Matushka Anna?" I told him the name of the state.

Then I got out the globe. (Who doesn't love a globe?) We looked at where we live and where Mat. Anna lives. I pointed out Texas: "Who lives here?" And he knew: his grandmother! I pointed out Georgia: "Who lives here?" And he knew: his aunt! I pointed out Minnesota: "Who lives here?" And he knew: his (other) aunt! Then we talked about where his godfather now lives (who recently moved to the same state we're in from the snowy north). I reviewed the continents, and he seemed to be bored, so we went and had a snack.

Later in the morning, I got out the road atlas to see the United States a little bigger. We opened to Florida and talked about the people we knew who live in other towns, and I pointed those out. When we paused, Teddy looked thoughtful, obviously trying to think of another person. Then he asked: "Where's John the Baptist?" So we got out the Bible and looked at the maps in the back. Then he asked, "Where are the saints?" There are icons in the Orthodox Study Bible, so I turned to one of them, and he said, "Oh, I need to kiss them!" and proceeded to do so.

I think I'm doing okay on the teaching thing, even without a plan. I mean, he's not even three yet. Most of the things he doesn't seem interested in while I'm explaining them (or at least that's how I interpret certain little-boy wiggliness), but he obviously remembers where family members live from previous sessions with the globe.

May 9, 2011

We put together a bookcase to serve as a dedicated icon corner with more accessible icons. It's hard to find wall space on an east wall in our house. Teddy helped hand us screws and even turned the screwdriver a couple of times.

Teddy put the "Rory" doll next to Lucia, saying, "It's Lucia's turn!"

Lucia Catherine

Rejoice with us!

Lucia Catherine was born on April 12, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and measuring 20 inches long.
Our daughter's birth was much easier than big brother's. She came one day early so as to be born on Daddy's day off. She only took two hours and two minutes of labor. Also, she was born at home, just half an hour after the midwife came. (The student midwife was literally coming in the door as Lucia was born.) Again, all natural and no tearing. Glory to God!

Teddy is intrigued by his little sister, but we are still working on defining "gentle."

She is named for both her grandmothers (who were both named after their mothers), with the first name using the Romanian pronunciation, similar to the Italian, but with the emphasis on the first syllable: "LOO-chee-ah."

I only realized today that her name means "Pure light." It is hard to be at home throughout Holy Week. Sometimes Teddy goes to church with his father (but not for all the services), and we who stay at home are fortunate to virtually visit St. Nektarios and hear Fr. Seraphim (Dedes) and his excellent choirs singing the Holy Week services. Lucia seems to relax when she hears the chanting, and I know it makes me feel calm, especially when Teddy delights me by participating in little bits of the service.

When I see her, I can't help but think of two little ones who now dwell with the angels: Innocent and Lucia, pray for us. "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward" (John 13:36).

Sunday Snippets

Driving to church:
"Look, Teddy, there are cows."
"They are eating. They are hungry. They're supposed to sit!" (Well, he is.)

***
Teddy, after being censed at the Doxology, started strumming his invisible guitar. I leaned in to hear what he was whispering: "When the Spirit says, 'sing,' sing..."

***
Fr. Peter came out of the Royal Gates bearing the consecrated Gifts: "With the fear of God, with faith and love, draw near!"
"Communion!" Teddy waved both hands in the air. "Communion! Yay! Communion!"

Adventures in... nudity?

Yesterday, as I was at the office, my wife sent me a message. It said something along the lines of "Your son did not take a nap today. Eventually, I told him he could come out. He said, 'It's cold outside. It's cold outside. Naked!'" She went in and, sure enough, he was wrapped in his blanket with no clothes on.

Fast forward to the evening. We put Teddy to bed and, as usual, late in the evening, Magda went to look at him. I was about ready to go to sleep, but she came, pulled me out of bed and said, "You have to go see your son." He was fast asleep. And naked. We put his clothes back on and went to sleep ourselves.

Fast forward to about 3am. Teddy must have had some sort of a nightmare, because he woke up and started crying. I went to see what was wrong. He was, you guessed it, naked. I comforted him a bit, put his clothes back on him, and got him to relax and go to sleep again. About forty minutes later, there's another cry. I go to see what is going on and Teddy is standing in the hallway with only his shirt on. My first reaction was to get a bit upset, since I had told him not to take his clothes off. Then I noticed that the diaper and pants were in the bathroom. Sure enough, he had picked 3:45 in the morning to work on potty training himself. The diaper was dry, the potty was full.

What can I say? That's my son.

The bishop and the PK

Last year, we adopted a family motto: "It seemed like a good idea at the time." In keeping with this motto, presvytera and Teddy are almost everywhere there is a church-related activity. This means that Wednesday they were in church for the vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil and the great blessing of the waters. Then, they were at the archbishop's luncheon in Clearwater. Then, they were at the trisagion for Fr. George Pappas in Fr. Myers. Except for the liturgy, Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta was also everywhere we were.

Thursday, they were in Tarpon Springs for the Theophany celebration (all five hours of it), then they were in Tampa for hierarchical vespers at the church of St. John the Baptist. Metropolitan Alexios was also in both places.

Today, they were at St. John again, as was Metropolitan Alexios. So, in addition to having seen him a few times previously, Teddy got to be around His Eminence quite a bit over the last few days. This is important because, at the end of the service today, Teddy and I were walking around the grounds at St. John as Metropolitan Alexios was coming out of the community center there. We exchanged a few words, then he and Teddy had a little conversation, after which His Eminence extended his hand to Teddy and said, "Let's go." Teddy grabbed a finger and they started walking (and, as I was to find out later, chatting).

I got ready to follow, but Metropolitan Alexios was curious about something. He said, "Wait here, let's see what happens." I have to admit that, by this point, I was curious, too. They walked through the parking lot... They got out of the parking lot... They turned the corner... and kept walking. The bishop and the PK were having a grand old time and, for my part, I think I will enjoy for a long time the memory of Teddy just walking along with Metropolitan Alexios, holding on to his index finger and pointing out cars and colors.