My Little Encourager

My baby boy is getting so much older.  Like I mentioned in the other blog, he has a mind of his own.  He says what he feels.  He understands emotions and can express how he’s feeling.  And of course a downside is he doesn’t know what isn’t nice to say so you really know when he is telling you the truth.

Some of the things he says I feel is a great reflection on how we’re raising him. 

I test him sometimes by throwing words out there no one really says just to see if he’s picking up on my character.  I’ve used Superb, Stupendous, Awesome, Fantastic…and so far…he’s picked up on two.  I think that’s pretty good.  That means I have been congratulating him on a job well done often.

Most of his comments are, “Good Job Mama!”  And that could be one of the best things to hear sometimes.  We try our best to do what’s best for him and getting a smile with a “Wow Mama/Dada” is so rewarding.

After reading a devotional about the decisions we make, I was reminded by the uplifting, encouraging comments Paul Evan makes.  When he was about 2 and a half, just about old enough to make sentences, every morning he would wake and say, “It’s purdy outside.  Mama, Dada, look!  It’s purdy outside!”  That was his wake up call.  Never do I remember a grumpy Paul Evan (when he woke up on his own of course).

Only if we all had his optimism.  It  reminds me of Jesus.  If I ever spent a day with Jesus, I would imagine words to be spoken like this in all situations.  Never angered, never frustrated, always patient.

Paul Evan is my little encourager.  Jesus’ character and love is shown right there in my son.  He is precious and something I want to always cherish.

Paul Evan-isms

Paul Evan is a mother’s dream.  He is very affectionate and helpful.  I remember when it was just the two of us at home and I would wash clothes and he would want to help me.  I would take the clothes out of the washer and put them on the dryer door and he would push them in.  He was about a year old then.  Now, he’s a big boy!  He left the pushing in the clothes to little brother and his job is to take out the lint catcher, clean it, then put it back in.  He gets mad at me when I forget to ask him to clean it out or when he sees me doing it myself.  He asks, “Mama, why didn’t you ask me to do it?”  He’s so good!

No one really told Pea girls like flowers.  And to be honest, I didn’t care for them until Paul Evan started picking every flower he sees and presenting them to me.  This past spring, we went to an outdoor mall with beautiful landscaping and by the end of the trip, I collected a bouquet full of beautiful flowers.  He was looking for them the whole time!  And even when Dada would say, “Let’s go Paul Evan” he would say, “No. I have to get a flower for Mama.”  So heartwarming!

I remember a time when Dada was away for dinner and I had to pick up the dinner chore.  I’m not good at and Paul Evan rarely eats, but this one day he ate and ate a lot!  He told me, “Mama you’re a good maker.”  Maker meaning cook.  He inspired me to do more cooking around the house just so I could hear him compliment my cooking.

Paul Evan has really grown up this past year.  It’s sometimes hard to believe he’s only 3.  He longer talks like a baby.  His sentences are no longer a repeat of what we say.  They are his own thoughts and his own curiosity.  We can’t say, “Paul Evan say this…” because he’ll respond, “Why do you want me to say that?”  Like, “Let’s think about this for a second…”  My little man.

One night Paul Evan asked for his “Gummies”.  Paul and I looked at each other soooo heartbroken.  For about a year and a half Paul Evan has been taking gummy vitamins at night.  He knows better than we do, so he reminds us.  But he would call them his “yummies”.  So when he said, “Gummies” for the first time, we made sure it was his last. I turned to him and said, “Noooo…baby.  Call them yummies.”  Obviously more for us than for his own good.

One phrase he’s repeating, which I have no clue where he got from is, “LECHE!”  Before then was “Zynga”.  I’ve asked him what they mean and he really doesn’t give me a direct answer.  Leche is more of a random outburst.  Zynga was used to describe something.  “That’s Zynga mama”, he would say.  What is even more special to me is his random, “I love you Mama”s.  He’s been really letting us know it lately.  I’m not questioning or stopping that!

"I'm Talking to Jesus"

Paul Evan was whispering to himself while I was praying and I started to pause and listen to what he was saying. "I'm sorry for crying and I'm sorry for..." and I turned and asked him, "Baby, who are you talking to?" "I'm talking to Jesus."

We pray as a family but not many times to where he would know how to pray or who to talk to and to ask for forgiveness.

Our church has really been a Godsend in more ways than we can imagine! We never really knew what was in his 3 year old lesson plans on faith but we see it working in him. And he is really understanding who Jesus is and how to start building that relationship with him.

I'm really looking forward to see how God works in my little ones. When we need it most, Pea will be able to teach us or remind us that our savior is a forgiving, loving God!