September brought some beautiful days to enjoy before Autumn officially arrived and it was so nice around here! Rains have hit Seattle hard now, but I’m savoring the color changes and crisp air; I love this season! I was blessed to celebrate a birthday with my two favorite guys on a nice day (nice enough anyway; it wasn’t raining and was warmish) filled with family time, extra rest, and yummy food that I didn’t have cook. 😉
Timothy’s officially a toddling little guy and it’s been enjoyable to watch him grow into walking recently. While he still prefers crawling for efficacy, he’s definitely developing into a strong little pedestrian, especially with hands often full of stuffed animals, books, balls or random items to bring around the house. He makes us laugh so much with his playing, dancing, (seemingly incessant) eating, babbling and growing sense of humor each day. We love witnessing Timothy continue to learn new Chinese and English words, too. His current favorites include “grapes”, “milk”, “ball”, “doggy”, “pen”, and of course “Papa”). It’s crazy to me how he picks up new skills each week too, like hammering, jumping, hair brushing, blowing his nose, climbing and improved spoon feeding – it seems that each stage of growth just keeps getting more fun! We also delight in how sweet he is with hugs and kisses in between all the exploring and playing. Some compassion, persistence, and goofiness are emerging in his personality and it’s such a joy to witness. We get a kick out of when Timothy intentionally makes us laugh with his comical gestures like rubbing his belly and raising his arms in surprise/excitement.
I’m continually humbled as I learn to care for this little one through the great and not-so-fun days, realizing how much I need Jesus’ grace to have joy through all the messiness of mealtimes and tantrums (both Timothy’s and mine!). Sometimes, I’m brought to tears at how incredible it is to see Timothy’s little dimpled face smile at me everyday and be a big part of his learning and discovery of the world. I’m amazed to catch a glimpse of my Heavenly Father’s delight in me as his child; just because he made me his own in Christ – AND he doesn’t get easily annoyed at my foolish willfulness – such grace to me!
It’s also been great to have Timothy start helping with chores like moving laundry from the washer to the dryer, emptying the dishwasher, putting away up toys, and even wiping the floor. This is all quite handy since he may have to start pitching in with housework more here soon, because…
Andrew and I are so happy that, by God’s wonderful grace, our little family is continuing to grow. We’re thrilled to announce that we’re excited meet our baby girl next February!!! We’re grateful for this blessing growing inside of me and are pleasantly surprised at the prospect of raising a daughter (honestly, I’m actually scared). This pregnancy has been more tiring that the last but otherwise pretty good, so I’m enjoying that as well! We look forward to how Timothy will grow as big brother after he meets his sister, and are trying to make the most of this season while we can still devote more time and attention to him (and each other!).
Thanks for reading this month’s update and Happy Autumn, all!
