Your New Home

Dear Byron,

You're gone. This past weekend you, Mommy and Daddy, all left us to go live in your brand new home. You were here for three whole months and now you're gone. Oh, you're not that far away. We live in the suburban part of Houston and now you live inside loop 610, about fifteen minutes from where your parents work. That's one of the big reasons they bought your new home. Both you and they will be much closer to the downtown area of Houston and you won't have to travel so far.

But we'll miss you. We'll miss your happy smile. We'll miss the excitement of learning so many new things. And you certainly did learn lots right in front of our eyes in these past three months.

• You learned how to drink from a cup and how to hold your own 'sippy' cup. And just this very weekend you gave up drinking from a bottle. Wow! You're really a growing kid. 

• You learned so much coordination with your hands. You went from having to grab this or that with your entire hand to being able to pick up little pieces of food with your index finger and thumb. And boy, do you ever love to push the buttons on my iPhone with your finger. 

• You also learned to hold a spoon and spoon food out of a cup or off your own dish. You love to feed yourself and you're getting better at it every day. 

• You're just beginning to learn how to sit on your trike, not quite with the pedals yet—that will come later—but you're learning to pull and push with your sturdy little legs. More to come in that arena. 

• You learned to say your first words. You say 'Momma' and 'Dadda' and 'Bye' and your favorite expression, 'Duck, duck, duck!' When you get going with something new you break out into that chant and we all see how proud you are of yourself. 

• But here's the biggy. In the past couple weeks you learned to stand on your own two feet AND TO WALK! Wow! 'Duck, duck, duck!' everywhere now. How very happy we all are to see you walking. Every so often you slip and go plop down on your bottom, but then up you come and off you go, 'Duck, duck, ducking' along. Its been great to behold. 

We also note your curiosity. You want to touch everything, hold it, tear it apart, examine it, feel it, sometimes taste it. So many curious and wonderful experiences. Its a big, glorious world and little by little your own private world is expanding even as your body and mind grow and develop. And all the things I mentioned above have been in only these past three months. I can hardly wait to see what will happen in the next three to six months.

But you have a new home, the first I imagine of many. Your Daddy tells us that he fully expects your family will even move overseas to some far, far away place like Korea or Singapore or something like that for a few years. After all, he is an engineer and he works for an international energy company. So many adventures await you and your family as you learn about this big, big world.

But wherever you go, wherever you and your Mommy and Daddy make your home, we know that we'll be welcome to visit, just as you visited us these past three months. And one more thing, a word from our dear Lord Jesus, 

Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. - John 14:23 ESV 

As you grow you will understand more and more that Jesus has already made His home in your heart. You will learn more and more about His never-ending love and care for you and your family. Keep that good Word in your heart. Guard it carefully. Don't let anyone or any thing take it from you. And the more you learn about His love, the more you will see Him and hear Him and talk with Him in your home.

Each evening while you were here at our home we prayed for you, thanking Jesus for the day and for His protection and blessings. Our prayers will continue, Byron. God bless you and Mommy and Daddy.

We love you,

GGPa

Crawl Before You Walk

Dear Byron,

We saw you! You took a step, maybe two. You have been crawling everywhere. You're quite good at this crawling thing. Then you started to pull yourself up. Next you grabbed hold of that little walker with wheels and began to push it around with those awkward steps. But you did it. You were walking and we saw you. Now you want to go more often. You let us know you want to try it out. At times you stop, let loose and simply stand there all by yourself. You are on the verge of walking all by yourself. Its wonderful to watch you develop.

Most of the time we've been told that it is quite necessary for babies like you to crawl before you walk. The child doctors and those who study such things tell us that crawling helps to develop neurons, nerve cells that transmit signals. These neurons help both sides of your brain to work together. It is important because of the gross muscle groups crawling uses and the oppositional arm and leg movements. It will even help you develop skills to read and in general make all parts of your body work together. This crawling thing is important.

But there are kids your age who never crawl. Really. Some of them simply start walking as early as eight months. The doctors say that may be OK, but they still encourage us grownups to help kids crawl. For kids who don't, they tell us to get down on the floor with the baby and crawl with him. Make it a fun game. It's kind of a brain-gym thing and good for developing stuff like I explained above. Of course you don't have to be concerned about any of that—as if you were—because you're great at crawling.

There's another important lesson to be learned about crawling, one that will serve you well  in many areas of your life as you grow up. Always remember to crawl before you walk. As you grow you will want to do lots of different walking and running things. You may want to learn to dance, play football, run in a race, even climb mountains. Whatever the skill, remember to start out by crawling first. Learn the basics, build on them and practice. Little by little your skill will grow.

That's true with learning to talk, to sing, to write and a thousand other things. Always learn to crawl before you walk. It's important. Meanwhile we're just so very happy that everything about you is developing in this wonderful way. And we love to put our arms around you and hug you as we sing this well-known little kid's song.

My Eyes Can See 

My eyes can see. 

My mouth can talk. 

My ears can hear. 

My feet can walk. 

My nose can sniff. 

My teeth can chew. 

My lids can flutter. 

My arms hug you!  

Love you, Byron. Keep on growing up. 

GPa