Accidental Geography Lessons

Ladan and Gabe have had runny noses for about a week. Not that big a deal, but for some reason, Ladan has also had a couple accidents in his bed. I'm guessing it's related to the runny nose in some way (since he hasn't had an accident in almost a year until this point), but I have no way to prove how that could be the case. Anyway, when I went in to get Ladan after his nap yesterday, he was sitting up in his bed rubbing his blanket on his sheets. Here's what he said in his very matter-of-fact tone, "Oh, hi Mom. I peed in my bed. But don't worry. I'm wiping it up with my blanket."

I climbed up to the top bunk to see the damage. He showed me the spot and said, "Look, Mom! It's Australia! I PEED AUSTRALIA! Ah, ha, ha, ha ha!!!"

It did indeed look pretty much exactly like the shape of Australia. You gotta' love that kid! Speaking of his geographic identification skills, he really enjoys identifying countries on a map/globe. I'm hoping he sticks to printed maps and globes instead of creating his own images of countries in the future! So far he knows the following:

• United States (and the states of Texas, Missouri, and Kentucky)
• Australia
• China
• India
• Russia
• Vietnam
• Nigeria
• Sudan
• Cameroon
• Brazil
• Taiwan

We've had some other exciting things going on this week. Chet's sister, Megan, and her husband, Mike, had their first baby on the 13th. His name is Keene Owen, and he has amazingly squishy cheeks... at least so far as we can tell from what we saw in a few photos and in a video conversation on Skype. We can hardly believe that we have two nephews that we haven't been able to meet yet. It's awful! We're thankful for Skype and electronic photos, but it's definitely not the same as holding them. We can hardly wait to get our hands on these little boys!!!!!

Gabe was so cute when he was looking at Keene on the computer screen during our Skype conversation. He kept kissing the screen and saying, "Hi, baby!" He can be pretty rough with Ladan, but he's so gentle with babies. I'm so excited to see him with Justus and Keene!

Gabe's still a tiny little guy, and he's starting to get pickier about what he eats. He's always been a good eater, but things seem to be changing a bit. He basically only wants pizza, macaroni, pancakes, oatmeal, blueberries, plums, grapes, peaches, and sometimes carrots or zucchini. The hard part is that he's not bothered enough by hunger even if we withhold his favorites. He'll only eat about one or two bites of other things. He would rather just go to bed than eat things he doesn't prefer. And do you notice that there is hardly any protein included in any of those foods except for the pizza? Thankfully, he does drink plenty of milk, but it still doesn't provide enough. He's already such a little man, so we have to be careful that he gets enough food, especially fats and protein. I'm not sure at this point if we should be more forceful about it or just feed him more of what we know he'll eat. Maybe he'll get better again after his nose clears up completely.

Chet starts classes again tomorrow. It's really hard to believe that this is his last full semester of seminary. He'll have two classes left to take in January, and then he'll be done. Amazing! We set out thinking that it would take him at least four years, and he's finishing in three and a half. Not bad for a guy who's married with two kids, church ministry, and a job to keep up with. He's definitely a smarty pants! Just tonight Ladan prayed and thanked God that his daddy gets to learn from lots of teachers. We are certainly praising God for the opportunity we have to be here!