Two Celebrations for a Two-Year-Old

Since Cooper Leslie, our neighbor a few doors down, also had a second birthday this month, and another neighbor, Alex Louw, had a 10th birthday in September, we decided to have a big party for all three MKs last weekend.  Noah didn't fully realize what was happening, even in the midst of it all, but Aden and Wiley were so excited about the party they could hardly stand to wait all day.  All of our missionary family here and a few other friends gathered in the Leslies' garden (backyard), and we enjoyed pizza, s'mores, and Mommy's cake pops.  Noah received some great gifts, though he wasn't quite sure what to do with all the attention.  I think the highlight of the evening for him was being pushed around on Cooper's new bike. 

Riding with Uncle David

The Birthday Boy

And since he was two, we decided we could celebrate a second time on his actual birthday (the 21st), with just our family.  We followed some of our birthday traditions, with birthday banners, five birthday songs, and even a Birthday Boy T-shirt (its fifth use in our house).  We had chocolate chip muffins, Noah's favorite, for breakfast, and then Noah got his gift from Daddy and Mommy - a nearly-new tricycle.  He was pretty excited to have his own bike and loved being pushed around the yard.  We stopped by the office to see Daddy later in the morning and went out to lunch with Uncle David and Aunt Jodi. Usually, the birthday boy chooses each meal of the day, but since Noah is only 2, and he was excited just to have a new Lightning McQueen plate to eat off of (a gift from Aden), Mommy took a break from cooking and served leftovers, including leftover cake pops.  Wiley gave Noah a new coloring book, and a birthday package from Grandma Karen had just arrived that evening, so he opened more gifts after dinner.

Chocolate Chip Muffins and a Birthday Bike

We enjoyed reminiscing about Noah's birth, and things he has done in his first two years of life.  Daddy delivered him, under the coaching of Uncle Bill at Kudjip - the last Nazarene MK born at the "old" hospital; Noah has traveled extensively and lived in three countries; he has begun memorizing Bible verses right along with his older brothers; he loves daily dirt baths; he is already an incredible entertainer with a great sense of humor . . . what a joy to celebrate his life! 

Birdwatching

Shortly after we arrived in South Africa, Daddy and Mommy went shopping one morning and came home with a bird book.  Aden immediately took interest, pulled out a piece of paper, and drew a couple of the birds from it.

From time to time, the boys pull out the bird book and study the different birds in it.  It is rather impressive how familiar they have become with such a thick book.  They will occasionally ask about the birds, what their names are, or what the book says about them.  They sometimes use the binoculars they made in VBS to go "birdwatching," always bringing along the bird book to identify what they see.

This wasn't staged - I found them outside with the bird book after a nap last week

At first I didn't take them very seriously.  When we went to the botannical gardens recently, we walked on a path that took us to a bird hide.  Of course, all the signs requested that visitors be quiet in the area, and since Noah was asleep we decided to try it.  We told Aden and Wiley to be quiet on the path so that we could watch for birds.  When we got to the bird hide I was amazed at how quiet they  were.  At least two generations younger than everyone else who came through, they were practically walking on their tiptoes, didn't utter a peep, and dutifully looked out to the water, watching for signs of movement.  After a while, when we were walking back to the car, Mommy commented to Daddy how quiet they had been.  He replied, "Well, it helps if they think they are looking for hippos." 

I still didn't take their birdwatching too seriously when they would tell me that they saw birds around our house - most of the time they would point to the mourning doves, probably the most common bird in the area.  Or they would call out random names of birds they remembered from the book, pretending to spot them flying over our garden.  But one day, Wiley spotted these Green Wood-Hoopoes in our neighbor's tree:

And on a walk, Aden found a couple of grey louries in the top of a tall tree.  

Then it was Noah's turn to show some interest.  One day he brought me the bird book and said, "I want read birds."  I opened it up and pointed out some of the more colorful, interesting birds.  He would turn pages and point and ask, "What dat?" I would identify the birds for him - fluffs, bulbuls, and wheatears.  At one point he turned the page and asked again, "What dat?"  I had glanced up for a minute and didn't respond right away so he answered his own question:  "That's a bird."  "Yes, Noah, they are all birds.  That makes this book much simpler!"

One day Noah wanted to go outside, but Mommy was slow in unlocking and opening the door for him.  Finally he called out, "I see a bird!"  Apparently, he had figured out a new way to get Mommy's attention.

But a couple weeks later, as Aden and Wiley were "birdwatching" at the tennis court, pointing out martial eagles and fish hawks (apparently two of their favorites from the book), Noah proved his mettle in birdwatching.  He loudly called to me from center court, "Mommy, come!  Mommy, come!  Mommy, come!"  When I went to see what he needed and knelt down beside him, he pointed up to a tree and whispered, "I see bird, up in tree."  Sure enough, there was a large hadeda ibis, perched on a branch high above our heads.

I didn't have a camera that day; this one was in our yard

While birdwatching is probably not the typical hobby of a 3- or 5-year-old, we are thankful that they are learning to enjoy the wonder and diversity of God's creation. 

Life in a Gated Community

This morning as I was busy working on projects I wasn't paying much attention to what the boys were doing.  I was summoned to the bathroom to help Aden, and I noticed one of the boys' little chairs next to the bathroom door.  "We're putting up gates all over the house," Aden explained.  I washed my hands and turned to go, and found Wiley blocking the doorway with their tent.  "You have to pay to leave the bathroom, Mommy," he calmly informed me.

I did not take the camera into the bathroom the first time - this was staged!

A couple other gates I later found around the house . . .

             

The Middle Child

Grandma Karen recently sent a book for Wiley about a bear family, particularly the "middle cub."  In the last week or so, we have already begun to wear out the book reading it so many times.  As I read, I tried to think of ways Wiley can identify with the middle cub in the book, traits he possesses as our middle child.  He is certainly competitive.  And he cares a lot about others.  He enjoys giving, just to bring joy to others - he will share his favorite and newest toys with his brothers just because he knows it will make them happy.  Wiley is a bit of a night owl, usually the last boy to fall asleep, no matter how tired he is.  But one trait in particular that had me puzzled was that of a peacemaker.  While it was probably there all along, I just couldn't see it right away in our middle child (who has whined his way through several months of transition).  Until today.

Yesterday an older MK two doors down loaned us a soccer ball since ours is hopelessly flat, with multiple holes.  All the boys wanted to do, in beautiful weather and with a "new" soccer ball, was play outside.  Noah in particular claimed the ball as his own.  If he was outside, he wanted sole possession of it.  In his refusal to share he would sometimes just hold it so that no one else could enjoy it.  Aden would quietly take the flat ball and let Noah have his way.  Today as the boys were playing it got worse.  If I gave Aden a turn with the ball, Noah cried until it was his turn again.  I suggested they play together, kicking it back and forth, but this didn't satisfy Aden's desire to play more of a soccer game.  I tried playing with them, coaxing Noah each time to kick it to me and kicking it in a circle between the three of us.  But all of us soon tired of that.  Finally I gave up.  I sat on the couch while a wounded Aden pouted and played with toys inside.

Then I noticed that Wiley had quietly escorted Noah back outside, teaching him single-handedly how to play together in a soccer game.  He first gave Noah a choice of teams - he chose the ostriches.  Then he taught Noah to play as the goalie and took a couple of shots on goal to give him some practice.  Then he gave Noah a chance to be one of "the players."  I watched, speechless, as Noah cooperated with his coach-opponent's every instruction without any fussing or pouting.  A few minutes later, I watched in complete amazement as Noah found something else to do and let Wiley play with the coveted ball on his own.  How did he do it so effortlessly?  I wondered.  Then it hit me - My middle child is the peacemaker.