Entering Toddlerhood

Sometimes I wonder, what is the point of a bookshelf ? Oh right, it's for enjoying pulling down books to look at them! What could I be thinking, anyway, that a shelf is for organizing and containing books?! My children are still teaching me about how to be a good mother. And they do such a good job of it on a daily basis.

Mattias is definitely over the baby phase now that he is a year old. He is quite 'independent' around the house, walking from area to area, and he has all his favorite activities that he likes to do - pushing a big dump truck in circles from room to room (he is really good at steering and backing up); opening the kitchen cabinets and dumping out Tupperware and peeling skins off onions; looking at books; playing with cars on the toy parking garage; and looking for spots to play peek-a-boo.

Pointing at Gemma's picture

Another favorite: reorganizing the recycling bin. Note the lovely masking tape on the garbage can so he can't take the lid off.

He is also learning to communicate his 'ideas', though he has yet to use specific words. Mostly he gestures and makes sounds and then flings his arms in frustration, until I finally figure it out. 

A few days ago we headed outside to the backyard, and he was very insistent on getting out the cart to put on the sidewalk. Having done that, he stood in the doorway and fussed and gestured and grabbed at the cart again.

I picked up the cart and put it back inside the doorway next to where he was standing. Clearly that was not what he wanted.

Finally I put the cart back outside, helped him climb down the one step to the yard (which he has done countless times on his own before...), and then he happily grabbed the cart and set out to explore. Success.

Meanwhile, another point of frustration right now is his desire to use a spoon to feed himself, i.e. "Mommy, do not touch the spoon! Let me do it!" (from what I gather when he yells and flings his hands and arches his back). This is a boy who really loves to eat almost everything we feed him, so food isn't the problem. Yesterday he had great success with his yogurt!

Although by the end, this is how he was eating... don't look, Grandpa, I know this is difficult to witness.

This chapter is over; what's next?

Life is about to change for us, although how and when still remain a mystery! We stand at another transition - another opportunity to see God at work. We want to be salt and light and to serve him and are excited to see where he wants to place us next.

We moved here to Colorado Springs in July 2013 to join Development Associates International, an NGO that provides leadership training throughout the majority world (Africa, Asia, Latin America). I (Jim) arrived to help direct their MA in Organizational Leadership program. The program enrolls about 1000 part-time students in Africa and Asia and is offered in partnership with 17 higher education institutions located in those regions. These past 2 1/4 years have been wonderful! I have learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the many relationships I have developed all around the world through my work.

With some recent changes in leadership, including hiring a new Director, my responsibilities shifted and it became clear that it was time for me to move on. I resigned on October 30. It is amazing how much peace I/we have about this decision. The overriding feeling is one of "rightness" about the decision. Yes, the future remains unknown, which gives us another opportunity to trust the Good Shepherd. 

Julianna and I continue to have dual passions: 1) to be on a more typical campus with college-aged students (which this organization and this program were not), and 2) to be overseas again - or a combination of the two. My training and experience have been in higher education administration, specifically student affairs (such as campus activities and co-curricular activities) and international affairs (such as study abroad programs). We are trying to maintain hopeful, expectant attitudes as we seek out my next position.

In the meantime, I have been reflecting on what I have learned in the last 2+ years, networking, and looking for openings (although there aren't many posted at this time of year) - and I've been able to spend some much-needed and much-enjoyed extra time with Jul and the boys. 

First snow days of winter

The middle of November we had our first snowfall in Colorado Springs - a nice 4-6 inches, and boy was it cold and windy. Naturally we had to still get out of the house to clear snow and get out our little sled (which Timo has dubbed a "snowplow") and explore the neighborhood. Even though this North Carolina-raised-girl complains, Timo and Mattias never do and are quite happy outside.

Later, during Thanksgiving week, we got light flurries every day, an inch or so at a time. Very beautiful but also quite cold (too cold for snowmen and snowballs). One time we explored at the park, and the boys had a grand time climbing up the snowy steps and snowplowing down the slides. Next we need to stake out a good hill for sledding and get an actual sled so Timo can start to experience that!

Thanksgiving 2015, with Granddad and Nonna

We were so excited to be able to share Thanksgiving week with Dad and Mom G. this year! It has been five months since we saw them at the family time at HoneyRock, and wow, Timo and Mattias have both changed a lot - more talkative and outgoing - and it was great for them to have some concentrated time with Granddad and Nonna.

The first full day they were in town (Wednesday) was mild and sunny, so we were able to walk around Garden of the Gods, a first for Dad, and Mom's 2nd time. The blue skies accented the rock colors and made for striking scenes, and as always it was energizing and rejuvenating to be outside and exploring.

Timo loves being "Rock Climber Timo" and would have stayed much longer if we had the time.

Then, on Wednesday night the weather turned cold and we got a light snowfall. Thanksgiving was cold and grey, and this continued for the next four days. (Very unusual for Colorado!!! We couldn't even see Pike's Peak!) However, that meant we had a lot of time together at home, and it was a relaxed, peaceful pace to our days. 

We had our Thanksgiving meal with John & Thea Kim and the kids (Thea is a 2nd cousin on the Gieser side). Thea and the kids did a LOT of cooking!! All we had to do was make mashed potatoes and show up for the feast! Thea made smoked turkey and smoked salmon ("hot smoke") - both were incredibly delicious. Mattias went quite bonkers for both, as did the rest of us. (Yes, we made exceptions to our usual vegan eating for today!) Timo was so excited to see Isaac and Theo and play with all their trucks that he didn't eat much before asking to get down and play. And the rest of us pigged out, drank wine, chatted, told old family memories... all in all, a great Thanksgiving celebration. And then we came outside to a beautiful snowfall as we slowly drove back home.

Annie (9th grade) and Cici (8th grade) with the boys

John is a pediatrician, so he had fun approaching Mattias and 'testing' his response. "Very relaxed boy", he determined.

Scenes from around the house... we spent a lot of hours at home, or taking short (cold!) walks in the snow, or brief trips to downtown for lunch and a visit to the toy store. It was wonderful to see how Timo and Mattias both were comfortable with Nonna and Granddad (for example, cheering when they came to the door in the morning).

Mattias had been taking some steps on his own, but wasn't quite sure about doing it for an audience.

What else to do on snowy days but READ!!

The "I Spy" Quilt was a hit (again)!

Making pumpkin cookies, of course.

After church we attempted another photo with John & Thea. We love you, Mom and Dad! Thank you for coming to Colorado!

Reading Richard Scarry with Granddad. LOTS of time spent together doing this.

Before Nonna and Granddad left, they gave us a few Christmas gifts (which we will open later), with one gift for Timo and Mattias to open that day. Timo's gift was a Richard Scarry book that Jim had received for Christmas in 1984!! Funnily enough, we have the same book but in German, so it was amazing to get an English copy - Timo is in heaven. We have been reading the stories over and over all week since they left.

Happiness for brothers!

Brothers. Cars. Playing together. Playing TOGETHER!!

One of my best yard sale freebies ever: a parking garage for toy cars. Mattias has just reached the age (12 months) where his personality and ability to communicate is coming out stronger, and he is getting more interested in cars. Now these brothers spend many happy minutes together crashing cars and loading them up on the parking garage and arranging them on the treehouse and racing them on the floor. (Oh hallelujah, says this mother!)

Still in pajamas - and straight to the first order of business for the day.

I love how they are both concentrating, with tongues out!

Takes me back to when we had first moved here and I got this toy at a yard sale. I put it out on the back patio, and Timo and Gemma would play together. (And then Timo would start rolling cars off into the grass, and Gemma would be dancing around and exploring in the backyard.) Now, once again, we have two siblings in the house, happily enjoying each other's company as they play.

Mountain views

Late afternoon sunlight, from the back deck

Sunrise

Sunrise, at the front of the house

A much needed respite

After the sudden adjustment to our family life with Jim's resignation from his position at DAI - whoops, if you haven't heard, more on that later - we treated the last two weeks as Family Time before jumping into the next phase of job searching and assessing the future. We have needed very much to reconnect and spend daily life together, without pressures of busy schedules and travels. What a privilege to have such time (and gratefully DAI is continuing Jim's salary until the end of the year), particularly after a long, intense fall season. Some wonderful family friends from the Wheaton area have a second home in the mountains, about 2 hours northwest of us, and they offered to let us stay for five days last week while it was vacant. 

The house itself is on a large piece of land, with a beautiful overlook to the mountain range. It's very peaceful and quiet. We loved being able to just wander around in the woods and climb on the rocks and explore.

The owners have grandkids that frequently stay, so the house is STOCKED with toys. It felt like Christmas for our boys! Timo was so excited to wake up every morning and start playing with the cars and trains and action figures.

Billiards, toddler-style: rolling balls and aiming them into the pockets. Note that father and son are both sticking out their tongues...

The house is about 20 miles from Boulder, Colorado and at the top of a ridge with a long, steep driveway (4x4 required). We were very grateful that we arrived midday on Tuesday, in advance of 6 inches of snow and strong, blizzard winds that night and all day on Wednesday! First snow of the season for us to experience!

Timo LOVED it. He didn't mind the cold and the winds.

Back inside, more playtime. Mattias's favorite thing was to go up the stairs, from the basement to the main floor and then up another flight to the second floor. Boy though those open stairs made me nervous...

Discovering some dress-up clothes.

We invited some friends from church, Brian and Mandy and their 4 month old baby Millie, to join us for the weekend. Great to have some friends there and stay up way too late at night chatting about life! Millie was a star happy baby on the trip, although she didn't much care to go out into the snow. And Timo talked to her very sweetly and kept giving her kisses.

Timo's absolute highlight of the weekend with the Caves was reading Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? What a great book!! I think he spent about 3 hours on Saturday reading it (with Mandy, then Mom, then Dad, and then on his own).
 

Time to go back outside! There was still snow on the ground but the weather was warmer and sunnier on the weekend.
 

Family photo! Thank you, Brian!
 

Mattias's first rock climbing experience. Unfortunately, a few minutes after this photo he took a tumble and scraped up his head.