Today in our Backyard

John's Poetry
Inspired by Baby Michael
19 March 2004

Last night I watched you fall asleep
Then heard you coo
I smiled, Mom did too
We love you so much, we're in awe of you.

I used to hold you all night
Now it seems you put up a fight
When I hold you, you pull away
Maybe you'll cuddle again some day

You hand me spoons, cups, cheese, pens,
Crayons, bottles, paper, more pens
Mom says they’re your Love Offerings
I know it. I feel it everyday.

Tonight I’ll watch you sleep again
I can hardly wait till then
Today’s my birthday. 23!
I know it’ll be great
Soon I’ll be home from work
You already ate my cake






Here are some more poems that John wrote for Michael:


19 Aug 2004
Oh, the beating of the tired heart,
In the morning you know he’ll start
The same thing he wants to everyday
Oh come on, he wants to play,
“Get up dad!!” He says so sure
Cause he already knows his voice can cure
Anything that ails this heart..









19 Aug 2004
How many times do I have to say,
I'll love you till the end of day.
Through the measles and the mumps,
Through all the scrapes and the bumps.
I'll love you till my hair turns gray,
You know I'll love you anyway.
With all the bad and good
Through everyone of your many mood
Once, twice, three times a day
How many times do I have to say,
I love you till the end of day.








20 Aug 2004
"Oh, what to do this rainy day,
Surely we can not go out to play."
"I know dad, chase me around"
"I know dad, act like a clown"
"I know dad, throw me up high"
"I know dad, we can watch the sky"
"Son the sky is full of rain"
I looked at him as if to say
"But this will be fine,
Little child of mine.
I'll hold you tight till the end of time"

30 months

I just want to take a moment to praise April for being a SELF-POTTY TRAINING little girl! That's what it feels like right now, anyway. This is going MUCH smoother and with MUCH less effort than it did with the first child.

With April we tried the "elimination communication" thing, but it fell through on my end. I'm not a very consistent parent, and elimination communication only works with die-hard, consistent parents & caregivers. But we did make some strides. The first time she went potty in the toilet was before she could even hold her head up, hehe. Then when she was walking, she went potty a few times in the toilet. But mostly in her diaper.

Over the past several months we've been showing her the glories and wonders of the toilet on a more consistent basis. John has been really great about it when he's with her. Now increasingly, over the past couple days she's refused to wear a diaper, (she makes it very clear that she does NOT want to wear one, I imagine she's getting tired of that icky feeling of having waste in her pants), and she tells us when she has to go potty. She says, "Potty," or, "Go toilet." She holds it until she gets to the toilet. I love, love, LOVE it! So I'll be looking online for some super-duper, tiny panties...

29 months and 8 days old

April's talking more and more. I love it!

• When I went to pick her up from the playroom at the gym, I was all sweaty. She said, "Mommy! You head wet!"
• This evening going to bed between John & me, she was doing all sorts of talking, including, "I tired." And, "I love you Mama. I love you Dada." She found my face in the dark and kissed my forehead.
• When I'm almost done wiping food messes off her face, wiping to perfection, she'll say, "Enough." She says it for diaper changes too, if I've been wiping a bit longer than she feels is necessary. "Enough."

She's mastered all the basic vocabulary and sentences and ideas that help her function in her little world. But I noticed today that she might not know what "grass" is. So we'll work on that concept tomorrow :)

Michael gave a great Sunday School lesson to our family today:

He gathered some church board books, some materials from our FHE/Primary files, and he gave a most wonderful lesson.

He conducted himself just like a grown-up Primary teacher. At the end of his lesson and reading, he distributed paper to us and asked us to write "speeches" on the lesson we just had. So we did.

Then in conclusion, he wrote his own review:

"My students were great today. I hope they get along with each other. They are on Star Status." (Star Status is a reward system that his kindergarten teacher uses, and it's quite a privilege to anyone who earns that status!)

Also, over the past few days little April has been spontaneously singing, "I feel my Savior's Love." What could be cuter/sweeter/more heart-melting than that?

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Michael's First Month