Dedication

Yesterday was Elijah's dedication service at church.
(Now, for clarification, this was not infant baptism. And we in no way believe it to have any application to Elijah's salvation, removal of original sin, sanctification, or anything like that.) As our pastor put it, dedicating a child to the Lord is more a recognition by the parents that the child is a gift from God, to be raised in the "fear and admonition" of the Lord in a Christian home, and our promise to pray for him and entrust him wholly to God that he will place his faith in Christ when he is older (hopefully sooner than later). Having said all that, it was important to me to do it. Of course the family was there, plus Elijah's Great-Grandparents. Elijah was the only baby up there who voiced his unhappiness with having to be held and not wiggle for more than 5 minutes. Oh well, he was tired and cranky from teething. Anyway, here are some pictures from after church.




And since I'm on the subject of Elijah (when am I not?), here are some new things going on with him...
- Teething: the bottom molars and they are killers! He has been a major crank-a-saurus lately!
- Current Favorite Foods: cream of wheat, tomatoes, yogurt, grilled cheese sandwiches, bagels, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, mandarin oranges, plums (always at the top of his list), bread bread bread and more bread.
- Current Favorite Toys: cars, trucks, tractors, wagons, or anything with wheels. His new push behind car that Grandma got him. And his orange toothbrush... Speaking of the orange toothbrush, lately he's been so attached to it that I can't pry it out of his grubby little hands even at bed time. Last night he fell asleep with it pushed up against his cheek. He sleeps with it, crawls around with it in his mouth (like a dog with a bone), and takes it everywhere. Oh brother! I suppose there are worse things a boy could carry around though.
- Current Favorite DVDs: Baby Einstein - World of Colors, MacDonald's Farm, Noah's Ark, and All About Shapes. Also Baby Praise - God of Wonders and Praises and Smiles.
- Current Favorite Words: More (sounds like Mo-ah), Book (he says the whole word), Dad, Banana (sounds like nah-nah or mah-mah), Ba-Ba for Annie, Pa-Pa for Grandpa, Nite-Nite, Bath, Fan, Hot, Uh-Oh (he says this constantly), Ball, and Bye-bye.
- He's starting to put ideas together too. For example: The other day he dropped food on the floor, looked over to our dog and said "Uh-oh ba-ba" and waited for her to come eat the food. When she ate it, he laughed!
Often at bedtime when I carry him upstairs he'll say "Nite-nite Dada" to Manny.
Sometimes when he doesn't want to eat something we give him, he slowly places it on his lap, as if we can't see him. Then every once in a while he'll reach his hand down there and get a piece of food back and eat it.
My mom told me last week they were on the back porch with the ceiling fan on. He noticed it and signed "fan" to her. Then he saw the trees and wind chimes blowing outside in the wind. He looked at them, looked at my mom and signed "fan" again. As if to mean the fan was blowing them. He is definitely making some connections. It's so cool to see him understanding more complex ideas.
- He thinks the fall scarecrows I have hanging on the windows are hilarious!
- He still walks around on everything but can't quite figure out how to let go.
- Lately he's been "testing" us by throwing food on the floor. We have been trying to reinforce not to throw food, and he totally understands he's not supposed to. Sometimes he will hold the food, look at me, throw it, and look at me again to see what I'll do. When he does that I spank his hand and tell him firmly no. After a few times of doing this at a meal he will stop doing it. But then he'll try it again at the next meal. I don't like spanking him, but I guess that's why they say you have to "train" your child.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Elijah is napping and I should be working on a plan for supper and getting the house in order.