Mar 24, 2010 | Baby Photos, Stories
It was a big day around here. For an end-of-the-fiscal-month-nobody-move-until-we-get-paid kind of day, it was a really big day.
One day back in February, the Bear came and sat beside me on the couch and pointed at my laptop screen and I decided to take that as a teaching opportunity. I created a new document and spelled out a few words: car, dog … you know, first word stuff, and read them to him, highlighting each one and changing the size of the font to emphasize each word as we read it. We went through the alphabet a couple of times and that was about it. I suppose I was feeling ambitious about him mastering the ability to read at 18 months.
We looked at the document again the next day, and then not again until today, when it sprang to mind as he was sitting beside me and I opened it. As soon as it hit the screen he looked and said “Car!!” I was totally flabbergasted, ran to the bedroom to interrupt HH with the important news that the Bear had just read his first word, and then returned to the living room to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.
I highlighted some other words and we went through the alphabet and then I went back to car, highlighted the word again, and received another enthusiatic “CAR!” So. My 19 month old bear just read his first word today. And I try not to use this space to brag about him being extra special because that’s just annoying, but today, it’s good to feel like I’m doing something right, at least one thing, so please extend a little grace and let me share.
CAR!!!
Thanks, I’m finished.
Anywho, you’re probably really here for the news that I actually did it, and Goldilocks is no longer the wee Bear. It really was time. And I promise I didn’t wimp out and just trim his fringe/bangs again. See?
So here’s the before:
Man, it was hard to put scissors to those beautiful curls!!
Here’s the during:
We kept him occupied with Gerber Graduate Puffs and Veggie Tales during the procedure. (Thanks, Amiee!) I cried a little as I was nearing the finish and I thought about the fact that this is hair he’s had since the day he was born! I’m okay. Really.
And, drumroll please, here’s the after!
Grown up enough to comb his own hair now. Sigh.
The Veggie Tales kept him distracted whilst HH grabbed some more shots. Then the Bear let out a big sigh, got down from his high chair, and suggested picking up an application to Yale while we’re out tomorrow.
And that was our big day.
xCC
Mar 22, 2010 | Baby Photos, Stories
We’ve been told. By friends and family. By you guys. By neighbours. By strangers who’ve made it apparent by asking how old my little girl is. I think this finally might’ve done me in — the Bear is going to get a REAL hair cut.
Here’s the slice of backstory you need:Â The new iPhoto, this awesome software that comes standard on a Mac has this really cool Face Recognition feature. After you tell it who a person is by tagging their face, it begins to scan your other photos to look for more pictures that might be the person you just tagged. After a while it seems to get pretty accurate. I have been really impressed when I look at a picture of myself that looks a lot like my Mom and it asks if it’s a picture of my Mom. It’s also looked at pictures of me where I look more like my Dad and asked if I’m him. I know that probably makes it sound less accurate, but trust me, you need to see what I’m talking about. It’s pretty impressive.
Since we’ve taken a gabillion pictures of the Bear since he was born, iPhoto has gotten pretty good at recognising pictures of him. Occasionally if we take a picture of another baby, iPhoto might think that baby is the Bear, until we tag the other baby to tell iPhoto it’s someone different.
I usually call home on Skype. Sometimes when I speak to my Mom and Dad they’re on Skype, too. But at other times, when I call them on their landlines or mobiles, I pull up a picture of whomever we’re speaking with so the Bear knows who he’s talking to. I pulled up a picture of my Mom for just this reason the other day, in the folder of pictures that have been tagged as her. And I noticed this additional “suggestion” at the bottom:
Yup. iPhoto thinks the Bear is his G.C. (Short for “Grandma Claire”). They really look a lot alike in that photo! Which means, if I’m honest, the Bear’s really starting to look like a girl.
I’m hoping to muster up the strength to give those goldilocks that are getting blonder by the day a wee trim…tomorrow.
Feel free to pray for me. (And HH! He doesn’t want to let those curls go — I think even more than me!) I’ll let you know how it goes.
xCC
Mar 18, 2010 | Baby Photos, Stories
Hero Hub’s parents left bright and early this morning. I am so so so glad they came to visit. There were a lot of special moments. I teared up when Gun-guh (Bear’s name for Grandpa) took the Bear for one more stroll yesterday evening. And last night the Bear decided to demonstrate his mastery over the skill of walking, both hands pressed flat against his belly, chin tucked in, toddling around the flat while we enjoyed our meal together. Gun-muh tried and tried to capture a picture but he was just too fast!
We got him up to say goodbye this morning and it was tough to know that he didn’t really understand what was going on.
I was teary during our prayers at breakfast, thanking the Lord for the time we shared and praying they’ll have a safe trip home to Bloemfontein. And as the Bear enjoyed his bottle of milk just before his nap, HH said “Grandma and Grandpa are on their way back to Bloemfontein. I really hope you’re going to have memories of them.”
That did it.
The combination of a busy and wonderful visit, the reminder of how much I miss my family back in the States, my sister with my new baby niece entering the scene almost 10,000 miles away yes I checked, and the hot water heater having gone on strike was enough to give me a few tears, and a realisation that I need to sit still for while. Some of these things feel like great gain, some a great part of the cost of this endeavour.
God is so good. I am so thankful that Mark’s parents were able to join us and spend some time with us, and especially the Bear. This was the #2 factor in our decision to move to South Africa, only preceded by a desire to listen and submit to the direction of God. Seeing what we came for happen in reality is awesome, and I think that’s how we’re going to feel when we start blessing people with shoes next month.
I have some Bible verses I’d like to converse about a little later, and a desire to request more input from you. Mayhaps?
In the meantime, just give a moment — with all the joy, the hustle-bustle, the laughs and the tears around here, my heart’s in the recovery room.
xCC
Mar 11, 2010 | Prayers in Poetry & Prose, South Africa, Stories
Mr. Potato Head grumbled along the route from Pringle Bay back home, taking the climbs and descents in stride, weaving his way around the beautiful coastal road. The mountains on the right stretch up toward the clouds…green slopes…rock…fynbos undulating in turn beyond the driver side window.
She was clearly someone’s maid, just hoping for a ride home from work and it made me smile when she said she was going to Gordon’s Bay. We were too and I don’t believe in coincidence. A friend of hers was also trying to catch a ride just ten feet up the road, a fragile looking man — a skeleton with skin and a baseball cap. I wondered if she often helped him get rides because people are more comfortable picking up women than men. Did they do this every day?
He didn’t speak much English but he was grateful when I shared one of the cookies I was giving the Bear with him. He received it with both hands and ate it very slowly and it made me sad. I wanted him to have another but he didn’t. Since I had trouble understanding him and wasn’t certain he spoke much English my conversation turned towards her again. She was well-spoken.
The Bear chitter-chattered and grumbled about the heat and the wind coming through the windows, unsatisfied with the cookies and toys on offer and our conversation turned to children. She looked my age, maybe a little younger. From Zimbabwe, and she has a son. Four years old. She has twin sisters, too, younger. They are back in Zimbabwe and so is her son.
We usually take the route over the mountains instead of the coastal road when we’re coming back in this direction, so we’ve never gone this way before. It is strange how the change in perspective, taking the same road but going the opposite way, makes things look totally different. I sat still for a moment and faced forward, watching slopes, rock, fynbos pass by on the right, and occasionally getting glimpses on my left down the cliffs to the ocean that was at some points a good 200 feet below. Too far to hear the waves crashing with the windows open. The road was remarkably different traveling this way.
Her son’s name is Shinto, I think. I can’t remember for sure. He is still in Zimbabwe, and she hasn’t seen him for a year. I try hard to picture him in my mind. Every month she sends some of the money she makes back to her family there. I think about how the decision for her to come here came about and the narrative plays over the screen of my imagination and it’s sad.
The gentleman beside her looks like he could tell a million stories. I wish I could understand him well enough to listen to them.
I face forward again and am plunged into deep, heart-sore thoughts. I turn to tell her my sister is in America, and that’s where I am from. In my thoughts I marvel at how different our experiences as foreigners in South Africa must be. My sister is having a baby soon and I don’t know when I will get to meet him or her. We don’t know yet whether it will be a boy or a girl, but I hope it’s a girl. Back in my thoughts I feel certain I will at least meet the baby at Christmas, and see my family, and I remember how much I have to be thankful for, and what little reason for complaint.
Mr Potato Head finally arrives outside the gates of our complex. Mark announces that this is where we stop. Our passengers are grateful and quickly get out to head on their way. I stare at the skinny gentleman walking away. He is so thin and I want to do more for him than a ride and a cookie. I wonder if we might someday give away shoes in Zimbabwe. Perhaps this woman could come along and see her son.
We are driving in one direction but two strings in my heart are being pulled in another.
Mar 9, 2010 | Stories, Travel..ling Tuesdays
Sometimes I think it takes traveling halfway around the world to recognise and appreciate the beauty that’s just a few miles down the road. When Hero Hubs and I were back in North Carolina raising ministry support and enjoying time with family, we used to take a quick drive down to Goose Creek State Park, which is right down the road from my delightful hometown, wee Washington. Ahem, the original Washington. I think I’d only been there once before on a school field trip as a child, even though it was like 15 minutes away.
Anyway, HH caught some lovely shots during some of our walks down there. We spent time sitting still and we spent time in prayer. It was really peaceful.
I thought this might be an encouragement to you that you don’t have to travel halfway around the world to find beauty. It might be on your back doorstep — you just need to look for it!
I miss North Carolina’s beautiful trees.
I was preggers with the Bear at this point, so I was in a lot of the pictures, and this one is one of my favourites:
As always, I’ve saved my favourite for last! Isn’t this little guy sweet?
Mark and I had just purchased our good camera in anticipation of the Bear’s arrival, and he was already taking some lovely shots, hey?
I hope you’re having a Happy Tuesday and enjoying the adventure in front of you today!
xCC
P.S. Did you hear I’m an aunt!?!
Mar 8, 2010 | Baby Photos, Stories
And now to share the joy of our second Christmas! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please read this post right here. Along with the gift from my Mom (the one ‘heard round the world,’ where folks in Scotland and America offered to help it get through customs and I received encouragement from all over the place), my friend Amiee sent a gift, and Samaritan’s Feet sent a box, too. And they all arrived on the same day! Party at the Collie house!
This was our Santa:
These were our stockings:
Sorry I forgot to take pictures of Stocking #3.
Amiee sent her gift through the US Postal Service which took an extra two-ish weeks to arrive, and showed up on the same day as the gift heard round the world! Crazy! We didn’t have any trouble receiving that one because she declared the value quite low. Shew! Here are some highlights from the awesome and incredibly thoughtful gift she sent. Check out this presentation!
And what might you spot in here…?
You guessed it…Veggie Tales! New songs for me to memorize!
What does the Bear see?
Gerber Graduates Puffs!!!!! He is signing his fingers off…more, more MMMMORE!!!!
A few other highlights from Amiee’s awesome gift:
Thank you soooo much, Amiee!
ChristmasinMarchStocking #3 contained:
Some important documents for us to get our stuff together around here, and copies of our founder’s new book. Don’t worry, one copy is ours and the others are to share in this neck of the woods! We’re not so greedy. 🙂
And finally, the gift heard round the world! It was totally worth the wait…Christmas in a box!
Look at all the adorable gear G.C. sent the Bear! He is going to be set for the next growth spurt!
And these AWESOME fold-out books!
She’s a school teacher, so she has to send books. The books she sends inevitably become the Bear’s favourites, so I think she knows what she’s doing. 🙂
Look how dapper the bear is in his new PJ’s!
The top says “Bananas Over Mommy” but he was too busy enjoying Gerber Graduate Puffs and raisins to give us a proper modelling. And it was just a little too warm for the matching monkey PJ pants but dern they are cute. I’d wear em if they came in my size. But not right now… It’s hot around here!
I was spoiled with some cute new tops! And there’s another adorable comfy hoodie I forgot to take a picture of because I’m already wearing it! (Only in the evenings because…did I mention it’s hot around here?)
How my Mom is so good at sizes when we’re not around to try stuff on…it’s pretty awesome. Hero Hubs got a vest and a really cool t-shirt and a warm top but I just didn’t take enough pictures!
She also sent us Whoppers. A personal fave. We argue about whether Maltesers (a similar British candy) or Whoppers are better. I say whichever ones we’re eating at the time.
Here are a few more highlights from the gift heard round the world!
The card made me cry.
I love the blue t-shirt for the Bear because Adven- ture is one of my favourite words. 🙂
Whoppers…yum yum…that box has already been devoured. Man, it went fast. But we still have one box left. And that’s make up in that wee plastic bag. I <3 makeup. HH is handsome in his new stuff. I wish I’d taken more pictures! Weren’t we spoiled?
So that, dear friends, was the gift heard round the world! I don’t think I’ve ever fit so many pictures into one post before, but I hope you enjoyed it! Totally worth the wait and the bit of a faith challenge we experienced before its arrival. Thank you, Mom, for sending it! Thank you, brother for helping it get here! Thank you, friends, for the encouragement and prayers when I was discouraged! And thank you, Lord! Every good and perfect gift comes from you!
HH’s folks are visiting this week so I may be a little quiet on the scene for the next few days. Maybe they’ll be playing with the Bear and I’ll have a chance to write more! Either way I’ll be sure to update you when I hear the good news that the Bear’s first cousin has arrived!
xCC
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