Yummy Thumb

Toby's been working on discovering his hands for the past few days but they've been a little elusive...until now! This morning, I let him play in his bouncy chair behind my computer chair and heard a loud sucking sound. Afraid he was gagging or something equally horrible, I whipped around only to find him sucking his thumb. It's getting time for his morning nap, and he just soothed himself right to sleep. His Grandpa (the dentist) won't be so thrilled, but we'll work to make sure the thumb sucking isn't a habit. ^_^ I caught a little video of the moment - sorry for the light quality, I didn't want to disrupt him by turning on the overhead light.


It's been a joy to watch Toby grow and learn new things. I feel as if I'm getting to conquer the new world with him. When he smiles and "talks" to me, it's like there's nothing else that needs to be done but sit and play with him. Which is why not a lot gets done around my house right now. Haha!

With the advent season upon us (already!), it's been neat to have an infant in my arms everyday, reminding me of baby Jesus. I remember thinking last Christmas, when my friend Sari was 8 months pregnant with her own little boy, how amazing it would be to feel like Mary did before she gave birth to Jesus...especially right at Christmas. Now, I've had the experience of anticipating my firstborn son's birth and I get to marvel at his growth and think about how Jesus, born human just like us, went through the same growth experiences. I wonder if Mary ran to tell Joseph when Jesus smiled at her for the first time, or when he sucked his thumb, or if the two of them devoted time to just sitting with baby Jesus on their laps cooing at each other. We forget that Jesus was really a human baby, since we usually think of Him as an adult, beginning His ministry on earth and dying to give us salvation. But He went through the same milestones as my Toby...awesome!

The downside of looking at my own son and being reminded of Jesus is the follow-up reminder than my precious baby is still human. That means that my smiling, adorable little boy has a sinful nature in him that will turn him into a lying or angry person someday. It makes me want to cry to think that. But then I'm immediately reminded of the beauty of salvation. That baby Jesus grew up to be mine and my son's savior, to replace our horrible sinful selves with God's righteousness. It's beyond incredible to have that glorious reminder in front of me every day. For me, this advent season is one of new awareness of God's love for us and how wonderful the gospel is. I'm excited to celebrate that this Christmas with my expanding family.

I hope your advent season has begun with a beautiful start, beginning with a time to be thankful for the many blessings we've been given in our families, homes, and lives.

Love in Christ ~ Valerie