Giant pickle mommy

After breakfast yesterday, we played with a new game. It has different colored blocks you fit into a peg board. J mostly enjoyed naming all the colors of the blocks. It seems like he knows pretty much all his basic colors now.

For devotional time today, I continued in Luke 4. Jesus continued his ministry teaching in the synagogues. He read the scroll from Isaiah and spoke of the nature of his ministry. To preach the good news to the poor: Here the poor didn't mean financially poor, but in the Greek it referred to utter helplessness, afflicted, distress. God invites us to a feast of plenty when we are in relationship with him. So often we think of our needs as temporal things, yet Jesus is offering us the deeper riches of himself. To heal the brokenhearted: Here broken would mean to break the strength or power of something. Heal would mean to cure, restore. This makes me think of the hymn "There is a Balm in Gilead", where Jesus is our balm, we go to him to be healed. That hymn has always ministered to me. It takes my memory back to being healed of my deep depression the year after my son was born. Jesus was the balm that restored my health. To proclaim freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed. He finished the reading by saying that today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

After J's nap, I told him he was having spaghetti for dinner. He was so hungry I asked him if he wanted to start. He said yes then was excited saying "scubiddy, scubiddy, scubiddy" his word for spaghetti. Daddy took over when he got home to relieve me for going to mom's night out with my Titus group. We had a fondue party and I made a Parmesan fondue (see recipe on my kitchen blog). The food was wonderful and we had some really good mommy conversations on all kinds of subjects. It was so nice to get a night away.

This morning after daddy left, we played outside for a bit. J took my hand and pointing down the drive said "walk?" We went on our longest walk yet without any stroller or his little car. Just both of us walking. This wasn't so good when I wanted to turn around and he got upset because he wanted to keep going. I had to pick him up and carry him which was a lot after a block or so. Soon it was time to head to the library for story time. J did join in a little bit with the singing and during the song "If you're happy and you know it" he was dancing, dancing. I was really enjoying his cuteness today. I had a good workout at the Y pushing myself to run for 20 minutes and walk for 10. Before lunch, I squeezed in a quick trip to the grocery store. When I pulled in, J says "I'm dancing" and I turn around to see him wiggling and kicking his legs to the beat. We sat there for several minutes just "dancing" in our seats. Had to capture the moment. J ate a really sparse lunch again, only eating part of a banana and yogurt. He wouldn't touch his sandwich other than to throw it on the floor. Later, I was making up songs and singing to him and then he said "worship?" so I put in our bible song CD and played it.

I can't believe the temperature was pushing 80 today. It started sunny with a breeze but then got cloudy and rained. J wanted to go to the park but I kept telling him it was raining. We went to the Christian bookstore to get a gift for my niece's first communion we're going to this weekend in the Chicago suburbs. J did pretty well listening when I'd tell him "no touch". He did so well while I browsed. He found a car book that kept him occupied. The last time we were there I kept J in a stroller. This time I didn't even bring one. He's been doing well just learning to follow me and stay fairly close.

We took our babysitter Dave out for dinner tonight. He won't accept money so we treat him to dinner instead. J was super hungry and ate well. He behaved really well too. On the way home, he started a little game with me. He had been coloring a Veggie Tales coloring book with Goliath the Giant Pickle in it. He would say giant pickle shirt or giant pickle feet, he'd add a word and then laugh. The pickle kind of scared him so I think this was his way of making it not so scary. It was so cute when he said giant pickle dave, giant pickle daddy and giant pickle mommy. When we got home, he wanted to go outside and play but it was way past his bedtime so he went night-night (as I call it). Pretty soon mommy's going night night too.