Swimming!

This Thursday, we swam! Kind of. Though wary at times, Peter loved his first time in the pool. We and our friends Mini and Anirvin are taking a baby swim class Thursday mornings (and so far it's just us in the class.)   Photo credits go to Anirvin's Thatha (grandpa) who was visiting from Phoenix and came along to see his first swim and take pictures. 

As ever, the boys were excited to see (and seize) each other. 

Learning to kick as we pursue the orange boat. 

This exercise was "Humpty Dumpty" who, of course, sat on a wall and then had a great FAAAAAAAAALLLL...up in the air and then into the water. Peter was a fan, as this is one of his favorite games at home, sans the water. [And yes, there's the shopping center parking lot and my car right there. These weren't exactly private swim lessons.]

This one was a little less familiar: going under. Yikes. We'd hold them out and then pull them toward us with their head under for a couple seconds. Peter did great. Here he is just coming up. 

The boys and moms at the end of their first swim lesson. 

Good Friday

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;


yet we esteemed him stricken,
 smitten by God, and afflicted.


But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    

he was crushed for our iniquities;


upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    

and with his wounds we are healed.


All we like sheep have gone astray;
    

we have turned—every one—to his own way;


and the LORD has laid on him
 the iniquity of us all."

-Isaiah 53:4-6

Today is "Good Friday." And it was horrible. The brutal execution of Jesus the Christ--and worse, God's furious wrath against evil upon him--in the place of those who truly deserved it. In my place. 

But it is good. Because it was his plan from the beginning to redeem his fallen people. Because in his death he broke the power of death. Because in this divine exchange, our sin for his righteousness, we may now approach the Living God, the One for by whom and for whom we were made, and meet the love of our Father instead. 

This gospel still blows my mind 14 years after the first Good Friday and Easter that I really believed in it. This morning even in my tiredness and distraction, God met me in Isaiah 53. 700 years before the cross, God spoke about the life and death of Jesus the Messiah, and through those same ancient words he explains it to me still.  

Video: Getting Up From A Nap

Historically, by the time I get around to transferring a video to my computer, processing it, and uploading it to vimeo, it's many months old. Sorry, to all you who were hoping for a better video pipeline for this ever-growing boy. But here's one from less than a month ago.

One of my favorite times with Peter is getting him up after a nap. Usually, he's in a delightful mood (even if he's wailing, when I come in to rescue him he forgets all his woes. Here, after talking to him for a few minutes, I could resist no longer and ran downstairs for the camera. The clip is 4.5 minutes of sweet babble and squirms and smiles and cuteness.

 

Henry and Peter

Last night we had dinner with the Marcantonios and Mannixes. It was a big night for Peter. He had his first real adult food (Jane Mannix's guacamole, which he loved--thanks, Jane!) and got to hang out with his friend Henry who's just 10 days younger.

It will be fun to see them grow up together. It already is. 

Here they were 2.5 months ago: 

5.5 months ago:

Yesterday

Yesterday I took a lot of pictures of my son.

 Hanging out on the bed; meet Peter's good friend, Mr. Yellow Crunchy Giraffe.

Have I mentioned yet that Peter is now a sitter?

Another common sight these days is Peter talking to Leuka. I think he babbles more to the kitty than anyone else around. He calls her "Buh."

Peter waiting for me to prepare his eggs. But I was taking too long, so he ate his strap instead.

A silly and talkative mood --> impromptu changing pad photo shoot:

Waking up from his afternoon nap with some good bed-head.

And look out--the crib is shrinking!

And look what the UPS man brought while he slept! A foam letter block puzzle mat. Perhaps I was even more excited than Peter.

So we set up the mat on the kitchen floor and played and played. 

Here's Peter and his mixing bowl. Busted: Yes those are pajama pants I'm wearing in mid-afternoon. 

The Bottle and the Puppy

Peter trying to nurse/drink from/chew my water bottle. 

Ha ha ha. This first shot still cracks me up:

And here's the puppy blanket that Nana and Grandpa Sean gave Peter. 

Holding it; talking to it; singing the blues with it; posing with it.

Pears

Erm...not so much.

Visit to Dr. Niu: The Stats

Being the big 6-month-old that he is, yesterday Peter had his 6-month checkup with Dr. Niu. The highlight for Peter was rolling around on the crinkly paper. The low was, as always, the 3 shots he had to get in his poor little thighs while Mommy held him still. Not Mommy's favorite, either.

And for those curious whether our boy has in fact been growing at all:

HC is head circumference. We have a long, big-headed boy, healthy little boy. 

Thanks and praise to God.

A Six Month Birthday

Today this little boy is six months old. 

  

After church and a nap, he had some birthday lunch with Daddy. 

Then we went for a birthday walk in the nice weather around the neighborhood and the pond and watched the geese.

Last night we did a little birthday-eve photo shoot to capture what he looks like at six months, since he's changing so fast we can barely keep up. Here's our smiley, talkative, bed-headed six-month-old boy: