the baby girl

Who would think that someone who looks like this would have the capacity to wreak such havoc on my mental state? Naya has recently entered a stage that I remember well having gone through it with Juden. I am finding that Naya has the same iron will as her big brother and has been unleashing it quite a bit lately. Every child has a different temperament and personality and the discipline that is most effective with one child may not work with another child. For instance, I barely have to take a stern tone before Ella's bottom lip begins to quiver. She is just a laid-back sensitive little girl so I deal with her in light of that. Thankfully once Juden's communication skills increased, questioning, talking through and praying about behavior problems has proved very effective. I so prefer this reaching the heart of my children than purely modifying the behavior. But Naya is frustrated and can't understand reason yet. I am in this crucially important phase of making clear that she has to follow my lead and that there are boundaries and rules and not obeying them will always result in a consequence and discipline. It is just very exhausting, especially when it's the fifth or sixth temper tantrum and it's not even lunch time yet. She looks up at me with a face that says, "Why mommy, Why can't I get out of stroller and walk next to the very busy road, why can't I throw the bath water all over the floor and draw with markers on the wall?" Be not deceived by her angelic little face, she will contort herself, arch her back and scream till she's blue in the face and until I'm about to crumple on the floor. Then there are moments of grace like yesterday when almost as if she was aware of how perfectly horrid she'd been, she covered me with hugs and flashed me those brown eyes saying "I yuv you,"over and over. I love this little girl to pieces and pray for the grace to help shape her independence and strong spirit.


So in usual fashion, here are some of the brights spots as of late.

1)Juden and Ella's drawings which litter my whole house and this one which reminded me of a Shel Silverstein book.

2)My first vegetable garden is sprouting beautifully, the therapy of hands in the dirt.
3)Living somewhere with waterfalls. Skipping stones and driftwood as smooth as a bone.
4)Sundays which consist of worship, picnics, playing in the park,napping babies, getting absolutely nothing done but soaking up every last drop of sun.
5)A much needed night out at Rembrandt's with the girlies last night and meeting a precious four-day-old Juniper Mae. Ohh, I think I need another itty-bitty one.