Freedom

I've been thinking a lot about freedom lately. Amanda went from a place where she had very little freedom just mostly due to being in one room all the time, to a home where there is a lot of freedom. She hasn't always handled it well. For example, we still need to keep her in a crib (with a tent on top much less!) because she can't handle the freedom of being able to get out of bed. She does it too much and we are honestly afraid of her roaming the house in the middle of the night. She can unlock doors and climb over baby gates. She still needs to be strapped into a booster seat because otherwise, she's all over the place and up and down and in and out. She's not really focused too much on eating.

She's earned some freedom too. She is now listening to us and obeying us when we call to her to not run ahead or to "come here". As a result, she doesn't have to wear the dreaded toddler harness and she doesn't always have to stick close to our sides.

This freedom factor works much the same with our other children. Caleb obeys our directions for his bike, so he gets to ride to more interesting places. With obedience and a simple following of the rules, more freedom is granted.

The same goes for countries. We are seeing more and more rules imposed upon us as a country. Maybe we are seeing the result of not really handling freedom too well. Not a lot of rules are required for a citizenship that self governs. Our constitution is made for a people that does not need a heavy hand. "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams.

So, that's what I've been thinking about lately as I parent this little girl who is learning about freedom in little bits and pieces.

"Real" pictures

A friend of ours at church took some WONDERFUL pictures of our kiddos. Go check them out at:
http://www.ahphotos.com/blog/?p=443

Just scroll down past the beautiful teenagers and you'll get to it eventually.
Beth

Just because

We're a multicultural family around here. No culture needs to feel left out.

Expanding the menu

Amanda has decided she wants to branch out into other food groups; especially the fruit and vegetable category. She is now eating real apples - not applesauce - real cut up apples. It proves my theory that she didn't need a feeding specialist - she just needed a drive to try something new. Yesterday, she ate a real carrot. Wonders never cease. She is also trying the daily smoothy her brother Caleb makes for the family. I especially like the way Amanda's mustache turns up on the sides. Very well groomed I must say.



As you can see, this was the blueberry special. She does love the smoothy thing and keeps saying "me" or "I" to get some for herself. She can't decide which pronoun she likes better.

The other day, she also got to spend time with "uia" aka Julia. She loves her much older friend also from China. They have a bond...




Got to have some girl chat time you know! They both have 3 older brothers.



Last but not least in the random things post that has been made, apparently everything can be made into a guitar or a violin as Amanda is demonstrating here:



What is it about my children and stringed instruments?