bye-bye, poo.

The Pooklet is very good about saying "Bye-Bye." Last night, leaving the Christmas Eve service, he heard a nearby dog barking and shook his hands with fear of the "whoa-whoa (dog)" but when we explained that we were leaving, and ushered him into the car, he said, "Bye-bye, whoa-whoa."
Today, after he went to the toilet, he waved as I flushed his morning poo: "Bye-bye, poo."
He's also been saying "Bye-bye," as I lower him into his crib each night, but then he'll start crying as if he didn't associate his polite farewell with me actually leaving him there.

the mobile nummies

princess nummies began crawling today on our front room area rug, motivated by a red car we kept out of her reach. First, I gave her my feet to push off of, but soon, she was dragging her tummy by her own arm strength.

Dad-dy, Hi!

The wife has called me at work a few times over the past week to let pooklet try out the phrase a father longs to hear, "Hi, Daddy!" He's still a little unclear on sentence structure, but he knows the key words, repeating them often in his gentle, singsong voice.
Pookie the Wife has been coaching him, for which I'm grateful. Lately he's also broken his habit of apparent indifference when I see him after work, and has been greeting me with a big smile and a wave from his car seat when they pick me up.
"He's been saying 'Dad-dy' all the way here," Pookie will usually tell me.

Pooklet News

Saturday, pooklet grabbed an empty milk bottle off our bedroom desk and eagerly walked it over to the bathroom sink, where we amass the day's spent bottles. he scurried back with a subtle proud smile, and we praised him. so often he demonstrates the same good-natured initiative, but usually fails with the execution. this time, it was pure joy to observe.

i caught myself today making a parenting no-no. i tarried in giving my wailing boy a consoling hug, simply, i realized after the fact, because i didn't understand his previous whining (and was thereby frustrated by it), and let it crescendo. when i did pick him up and hug him, he immediately became calm, and in no time, he was happily playing with me again. I need to remember to keep the toddler's perspective at the ready.

Christian Thoughts on The Thin Red Line

The Thin Red Line
Directed and Adapted for the Screen by Terrence Malick
Based upon the novel by James Jones
170 minutes
1999

One of the marks of the regenerate believer is a change in one's observations of human behavior. A good example of this for me in six years walking with the Lord is movie-watching.
I'm a big fan of Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, having become hooked on it the second time I watched it, and having enjoyed a number of repeat viewings over the past nine years. I watched it last night for the first time with the wife, and I saw more comprehensively the worldview proposed throughout the film. But more interestingly, I was struck for the first time at how each character's hopes are dashed by different idols.

The film itself is beautiful and wonderfully paced, and not a minute too long at almost three hours. Hans Zimmer's score and John Toll's cinematography make an exquisite match. It's one of the most understated and underrated war movies I've seen, with excellent acting and character development.

The overarching ethic seems to answer ultimately to pantheism, with big questions asked to no one in particular while meditative shots of nature and the carnage of war make us consider man's wicked nature and, more often, nature itself. The characters' questions resonate with us but never find satisfactory answers. That can be true of life, but it made me wonder how true it was for the majority of US soldiers in WWII. Were there many pantheists in foxholes? Pvt. Train, the main narrator (one of the film's uniquenesses is the use of many different characters' narrations, which works wonderfully in making us sympathize with them while never becoming a contrivance) asks thoughtful, yet - how should I say it - theologically impersonal - versions of the "Why?" question throughout the film, and we meet him on screen early on. Ironically, he's the only character who even mentions "The Lord," even declaring Him to be the only thing in this life that is certain. Malick doesn't diminish the young, scared, and Southern Pvt Train, but his belief is never seconded by anyone in the film. It's fascinating, then, that Malick chose him to be the narrator. I've not read James Jones' book, but perhaps Train, who sounds much wiser and reflective in his narration, ends up having his faith in absolute Truth shaken by the war, which is portrayed in many ways as a graveyard for hope. Malick's characters wonder aloud about man's universal tendency towards strife, and, while there may be a transcendent power and beauty above reproach all around us, it isn't giving much in the way of answers, so we go on hopeless.

In lieu of Pvt. Train's Christcentric certainty, seemingly belied even by his own narration, our characters hope in the uncertain, and are consequently let down. Four characters represent this well, and this was what prompted me to write this review (I will withhold certain facts in my description, so as not to spoil any surprises).

- Col. Tall (Nick Nolte) hopes to prove himself in his first war as a career military officer, having sacrificed, suffered, and struggled to this point.
- Private Witt (Jim Caviezel) talks to his sergeant of "another world" after a carefree AWOL existence with a native tribe on Guadalcanal. He even reveals his incredulity that something as impure as fighting occurs among the native innocents.
- First Sergeant Welsh (Sean Penn) seems to hope for either a complete numbness to the pain of war ("Sounds like bliss"), or for what Private Witt and his dream might hold.
- Private Bell (Ben Chaplain), in perhaps the most moving portrait of hope lost, longs to be back with his wife, from whom, he believes, death itself can't separate, and for whom he's kept himself pure.

Nick Nolte plays Col. Tall with typical gruffness appropriate to the army, but with a modicum of compassion that seems to stem from Tall's career course, pitiably revealed in his narration. His occasional hesitation, and a moment of deference to a subordinate add depth to his character.
In the end, though, Tall seems to have neither the respect of those above or below him in command, and ultimately seems to have invested too much for too little in return, in "his war," where, according to Sergeant Welsh, "everything's about property."
Private Witt returns to his island respite only to find he is feared by the natives, and they aren't as pure and sinless as he'd hoped.
Sergeant Welsh ultimately can only see Witt as confirmation of his cynicism.
For Private Bell, I will only say that the flashbacks that serve as his memories of his wife back on base are remarkably shot and edited, and are some of my favorite parts of the film. They serve wonderfully to invest us in their marriage. I will say little else, and let his inclusion on the list make my point.

In my loving estimation of these characters' motivations, I submit that Tall seeks respect and recognition, Witt seeks purity and innocence, Welsh seeks worth and integrity, and Bell seeks love and intimacy.

I wish a talent like Terrence Malick would explore the word of God and make a film about the One who came for the disrespected, manifesting purity and innocence, bestowing undeserved worth, and demonstrating incomparable love that makes warlike rebels intimate with the Author of beauty.

the terrible twos

we dedicated our children before the Church and the Lord this morning, and pooklet exhibited the restlessness of a toddler, refusing to stand while on stage. during the singing, he couldn't sit still, didn't want to be restricted, and in general made me wonder where the lines should be drawn.
he resisted us on the walk to the car afterward, but we took it all in stride, ultimately, understanding that this season must come.

tomorrow he turns two. right on schedule.

but still, a bright spot right before getting into the car to return home. i spun around holding our 7-and-a-half-yr-old and made her giggle and squeal with delight. I reveled in her guilelessly exuberant face up close on a sunny day (and subsequently stumbled with dizziness from the spinning). she'll have her days of defiance, too, in a year or so, but this brief moment was the sweet note on which the morning ended.

the joy of laughing children

tonight was the first time i made both my kids laugh at the same time.
i had princess nummies on my lap, and pooklet in the high chair, eating.
i shook my head and made funny sounds at the nummies and she giggled, and pooklet giggled right along with her. so i did it again and again, with as many variations on the theme as i could devise, i was so enamored with the result.

perhaps the best thing, though, was catching nummies laughing at pooklet laughing, too.

pooklet growth

pooklet just stepped on the scale.

32lbs at 23 months.

today in the world of pooklet we played at cooking on the stove mommy made out of a cardboard box. i tried to impress on him the need to use a hot pad when dealing with simmering pots and pans. i think this was lost on him, but at least he blew on the ladlefuls of make-believe stew.

photography

i haven't said much about photography on this site, but it's really become a big part of my life. i've especially become a big fan of my canon speedlite 430EX which i use to bounce light (with my omnibounce diffuser) off the ceiling in our home. this has revolutionized my pictures of the kids. it allows me to get soft light photos like this despite low light conditions.

day in the life of a pooklet: spray bottle

ASL

Last night, the pookies attended their first American Sign Language class. It was a lot of fun. We learned the alphabet and 1-10. I hope the thrill of learning continues, because, even beyond our daughter's hearing needs, we have another good reason to learn this. We learned Sunday at church that only 1% of the global deaf community claim to know Jesus. And I think it is only 2-4% of deaf people that attend church. The deaf community was described as the largest unreached people group and for that, i'm motivated pursue this tool for the Gospel. I can't wait to apply the sign language we've been learning watching the signers on stage at church as they take us through the lyrics of praise songs.

Princess Nummies getting the ear molds for her hearing aids

Gingarte Revisited - August 2009

mid-august, we flew home to chicago for a wedding, and extended the trip a bit to see family and friends.
while there, i got to drop in on my old capoeira group and train in their pilsen location. it was awesome.
i'm grateful to the wife for capturing this sequence my friend kris and i worked out.

pooklet puppeteer.

today, pooklet was getting into the breakable, off-limit teapot, "pouring" tea into a milk bottle for great-grandma, and transporting the teapot lid. For this, he got his hand slapped, so his circumvention tactic was to put his duckie up to it, moving duckie to touch the forbidden teapot. when mommy warned him, he withdrew the duck and slapped its hand.

pooklet has also spanked himself on the butt, so i suppose this is a logical follow-up to that.

nummies, different than pooklet

last night, nummies slept with her eyes half-opened. it was kind of creepy.

and today, the wife called me at work to tell me that princess nummies was talking in her sleep. and i could hear my daughter squealing in the background.

today when the wife drove me home, i turned to look at the nummies, and she was pondering her fingers. i found this utterly delightful to witness.

how do i "set the Lord continually before me?"

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

- Psalm 16:7-9a


i would love to develop (and keep up) a nighttime ritual that reorients myself towards Jesus - to filter the day's thoughts through the lens of scripture, as a bookend to the day in supplementation to my morning devotions, to dwell in the rest He gives, if only for a few moments before falling asleep. i pray for another habit that i would look forward to, even when tired, as with my morning ritual of bible study and prayer, because i want more of Christ instructing my heart and gracing my perspective, and less frivolous clutter competing for my attention.

does anyone have good ideas for a simple evening devotional habit?

pooklet progress: the week in review

Monday:
pooklet climbed out of the crib for the first time. made it out unscathed. wifey discovered he was out when she heard a radio playing in the house (what IS that?!?). she opened the door to his room and found him with a CD in his hand next to the clock radio with a guilty smile on his face. i moved the changing table (his most likely escape route) and he hasn't attempted another breakout since.

Tuesday:
while leaving nummies in pooklet's care for a brief second, the wifey found him "sharing" — he had put his sippy cup of breastmilk to hannah's mouth. later, he tried feeding hannah's bottle to his duckie.

Wednesday:
third day in a row of refusing to nap. during a visit into his room (to try to get him to nap) wifey patted his bottom and thought... hmm... not as padded as usual. i wonder wh.... POOKLET! his diaper was not on. he was wearing one of those long onesies so the assumption is, he was able to pull the diaper off and throw it over the crib. his bed was dry initially but when she dashed to get him a new diaper, he peed all over it.

Thursday (we think):
pooklet REALLY wanted to drink out of mommy's glass of water. she was trying to get him to eat his food and he was not going for it. so she bribed him with a glass of water. he happily drank from a glass for the first time, and ate his food.

the clean pooklet

This is potty-training weekend for the pooklet, but this post is about a side note. He picked up part of a toy and put it in his mouth (quite common as anyone might guess), but he then took it out and used his shirt to wipe it "clean." He then put it back in his mouth. as good a habit as can be expected at this age, I suppose.

baby bunny nummie bear

cutie pretty nummie pie

homemade toy

my friend john made this for princess nummies and surprised us with it when he and his family came to visit. i was both impressed and touched by it so i wanted to show it here.

tappa tappa tappa

Today the wife, while holding Nummies, heard a clicking sound coming towards her. It was the Pooklet, to whom the wife asked, "Pooklet, what is this?" He smiled slightly mischievously, so the wife looked him up and down, and found his toes clenched around something. The something turned out to be quarters, one under each foot. She then remembered he had taken two quarters from the bedroom about half an hour earlier.

refreshment in prayer

While I was praying today with the wife, I was confessing disappointment in the lack of quality fellowship and spiritual likemindedness at our church. But what came out in the end was the implicit sense of entitlement I’ve had that I deserve more for my efforts at church the last three and a half years. And I was struck dumb by what seemed like God’s reply, “and what did Christ get for His?”

As my wife prayed I was reminded that all we fight for under the banner of entitlement – uninterrupted naps for the pooklet, privacy in our home, likeminded friends – belongs to God. Everything we enjoy, for whatever length of time, are simply His gifts to undeserving stewards. We’re so accustomed to the daily sampling of pure pleasures He gives that we complain when they’re interrupted.

I was humbled and encouraged by this overarching truth held in place by the God of the universe. I’m now ready to “do all things without grumbling or complaining.” However, as dutiful as I can be with what I know to be right, I'm still susceptible to resentful feelings even as I refrain from external sin. For that, I will take the advice my wife gave me today and pray for a changed heart and a love for others. What else is there besides knowledge of God's truth and His enabling to obey it?

Baby Dedication/Pastor's Last English service

Sunday our pastor preached his last service to the English congregation at our church. After next Sunday, he will head off to become a Navy chaplain, and we will continue our search for a new church. For the next two months, however, we've committed to do the music for the Sunday service, something that's always fun for us.
Here're the pookies performing "Come to Jesus." Thank you, Eleven Eleven, for the awesome cover that brought this song to our attention and touched our hearts.

day in the life of a pooklet

the wifey has blessed my heart by initiating something new from the pooklet. She’ll tell him excitedly, “Go find Daddy!” Then, I’ll hear his quick little footsteps coming toward me and him saying “Dad dad dad dad dad!”

just... inspiring

i wish more weddings i attended involved wedding party entrance dancing.

pooklet play

The other day I was throwing boxes out and knew pookie had been playing with the pooklet using one of them, so I asked her which one I should keep. She replied earnestly, “we need two – one for him to sit in, and one to put on his head!

I’m so glad she’s raising our children. Her enthusiasm, resourcefulness and creativity are such a blessing.

Postscript: Today I found a box with eyeholes cut out, and a smile drawn below it.

The tech-savvy pookie also figured out how to load muppets videos onto our blackberries, which should be a great attention-holder for our flight to Chicago mid-August. She also loaded pooklet hymns (Hymns sung by children, made for toddlers) onto his own blackberry (retired for our upgraded models; no SIM card; harmless). So it was cute seeing him walk along, happily holding his own blackberry (pookberry) and listening to “He Will Answer By and By.”

SF then, SF now

A friend showed me newspapers he recently found dated 1933 and 1934, and I found it amusing that the San Francisco Examiner seems to have run bible verses on their editorial page every day, apparently deeming scripture to be something important to their readership... just like today!

pep talk for the daily grind

My body aching this morning from exerting myself beyond prescribed limits, I trudged down the hall of my place of employment, unexcited about the day's tasks that I expect to be similar to yesterday's.

But the Lord shook me from that ignoble human mindset for a moment and, dare I say, reminded me that when all is done to His glory, we needn't succumb to the mindset of one restricted to the whim and edict of man.

He can be glorified in our small things because He can be glorified in us small people.

He chose to create and redeem His people and doubtless delights in them. May I act in accordance with this glorious truth, and live in all my actions and intentions as one living in Christ!

Things I want to remember about my children

Last night, our 3-month old Princess Nummies slept 11 hours straight!

In Pooklet news, I hope I always remember his refusal a few days ago to drop two things for a third. He was carrying a pen and some other thing I've forgotten, and I made him an offer he couldn't refuse - his sippy cup holding the promise of milk. He realized he needed to free up one of his hands, so he put the pen between his chin and shoulder, and took the cup. It's so funny seeing such insignificant objects held onto with such determination. There must be a sermon illustration in that.

hannah esther

our second child has arrived, 11 days ahead of schedule, and 12 days before this post announcing her.

6lbs, 13oz, 19.5", she was plucked out at 9:18am on April 4, 2009.

She's a loud one, too. Screams and sqwaks, shrieks and squeals - all delightful noises when the source is a 6lb soft, warm, and flailing infant.

She's a good sleeper, though, so we're anticipating another blessing like pooklet.

Contrary to our expectations, however, she is neither a pooklina or a pooklita. She is a Hannah, perhaps more than the pooklet is an Isaac. Although, more than a Hannah, she is, based on her disposition, Princess Nummies. Just don't threaten her nummies. Pooklet did that today and I threatened the skin cells on his hand.

modesty

CJ Mahaney has edited a book called Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World that looks like a convicting powerhouse of a book.
His chapter on modesty, God, My Heart, and Clothes is available online and worth a look by everybody on the planet.

b-boy korea!

Ever since we say Planet B-Boy, Korea's stock has gone way up with the Pookies.

I immediately searched Youtube for Last For One, one of the featured b-boy crews in Planet B-Boy, and found what I'd been unconsciously dreaming of, breakdancing to Canon in D in a slick video.  This crew makes me giddy, and watching this makes me grin.  Makes me wish I diversified my skateboarding years and bought some b-boy stock to appreciate and keep me company today.

I've been playing capoeira "with" my son lately and enjoying that.  Hopefully he will too, someday.

Joel Augé and a prayer for the Church

Joel Auge is one of my favorite new artists.

I was convicted by this song when we first heard him play it in september. I even told him so.

As we were picking songs saturday night to go with this morning message, pookie reminded me of this one,

which hasn't been recorded to a CD yet, so this clip is the best we could do.

We ended up not trying it, but I find it quite moving and wanted to commend this song and artist (I've begun

listening to his one album again as I clean up our wedding photos for a wedding book three years overdue).

the softer things in life

today i was showing pooklet the big patrick the pup stuffed dog our friends got him, lifting up the big, floppy ears in hopes of getting a cuddly reaction.  pooklet pet him on the head softer than he's ever petted our cats, and then nestled his face under the big fluffy doggy's ear.

It's like he's learning to enjoy softness, because up until this point, he would pat (not pet) cats, and often seems disinterested in the soft plushness of his stuffed animals that even daddy can't get enough of.  especially that cuddly mr. penguin.

yes and no

pookie taught the pooklet how to sign for thank you, and to nod yes and shake his head no.

pooklet, friend of pesci.

Pesci the cat has an owie on his front paw and pooklet surprised us by pointing directly at it and making what sounded like a comment related to it.
He then leaned his head into Pesci in the same loving demonstration we've seen from him only a few times before (and once with a newborn). It was remarkably intentional-looking behavior that stands out from his typical walking into walls, tripping over things, and erratic yelling.
I hereby declare that the pooklet officailly has a clue, and a compassionate one at that.

squeezing noseys

A couple weeks ago, pooklet starting squeezing my nose to which i respond by saying, "Honk!" He loves it and giggles to get more "Honk!"s out of me. Yesterday in Trader Joe's, an older (and bigger) man said hello to the pooklet I was carrying and the pooklet reached out to squeeze his nose. However, in a rare moment of restraint, the pooklet hesitated and withdrew his hand.

i am second

This is my new favorite website. Currently, it's not much more than fairly brief, compelling testimonial videos, but it's inspiring stuff. My wife and I discovered the site because of Brian Head Welch's video portion, and we stayed on to enjoy Stephen Baldwin's as well. I watched two more of the videos today, one of which inspired me to get some thoughts down in Word. Most of the "interviewees" on the site will probably be unfamiliar but I recommend Chris Plekenpol's video as a good place to start.

lil' organizer

pooklet's been putting things away lately. here's the lil' organizer at work, keen on his new skill of putting smaller things in bigger things.

he's also been resting his head on things more lately: cats, babies, couches, parents.

Avoid fishies!