A few months ago, Randy wrote an entry called, Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, which included a few suggested verses of Scripture to pray for children.

Another good resource for parents to incorporate into their prayers is an article from Christian Parenting Today called 40 Ways to Pray for Your Children. The article includes 40 topical prayers parents can use to pray for their children.

Look who’s the newest member of the Manor Hill United Methodist Men (UMMen)!

Wednesday evening, Ethan and I visited the 42nd annual building of picnic tables. They made 93 tables this year. The 6-foot tables were sold out before they were ever made! However, there are 8-foot tables for $110 and 10-foot table for $120.

Call 814-643-0779, 814-667-3484, or 814-667-2485 if you’re interested in purchasing a table. Be sure to bring a truck or trailer and help to load your table.

Also, the UMMen were glad to have Katie home from college to lend a hand.

Thanks to Patty Stever for sending us these photos.

Last Saturday, Ethan took his first steps. He usually only takes a few steps at a time, but once on Saturday, he walked between the love seat and sofa, which is at least six feet!

On Sunday, we happened to catch him in action in this photo.

A few weeks ago, 12th Street UMC scheduled a gathering for May 4 to welcome Ethan. In the meantime, we learned of our new appointments, so the welcome also became a farewell.

Although Randy will continue to serve 12th Street through the end of June, it was probably the last time that Ethan and I would get to visit with the people of 12th Street. And so this gathering came with mixed emotions as we celebrated Ethan’s arrival, but also had to say farewell.

The afternoon was a time of social interaction. Ethan was a little out of sorts, though, because we had to wake him from his nap to go into the church. He finally was becoming more himself by the end of the gathering.

Ethan was showered with gifts and cards, including the Tonka truck in the photo. The truck was a gift from the 12th Street Church. Ethan has taken to it right away.

Thanks, 12th Street, for embracing Ethan and for your expressions of welcome!

Ethan continues to make great strides forward managing to amaze us.

Sunday, April 20 was our first Sunday back to our churches. Randy left a little after 8:00. I dropped Ethan off at Dick and Joann’s at 8:30 and went on to my first service at 9:00. Joann and Dick took Ethan to Faith at 10:00 for Sunday School and worship at 11:00, where I was reunited with him following the service.

Ethan handled the morning so well! I was nervous going into the 11:00 service, but he was fine. Dick and Joann are doing a terrific job with him. They were so kind to give their time in advance to get acquainted with Ethan.

Other updates …

Getting teeth. Ethan now has a total of six teeth. He had his lower two front teeth when we brought him home. His two upper outer front teeth came in after we got him. Now his upper middle front teeth are poking through!

Preparing to walk. Ethan is still preparing to walk. His balance has improved so that he can stand and dance with no hands. He also occasionally does what Randy calls “squats” to strengthen his leg muscles. He loves for us to take his two hands so he can strut his stuff from one end of the house to the other! It won’t be long until he’s walking on his own.

Learning to chew. We have been trying to teach Ethan to chew. He sometimes makes big chewing motions while he’s eating his baby food (usually with his mouth open). Gerber Graduates Finger Foods were recommended because they easily melt in the mouth. In fact, the Banana Puffs were part of the success in our travels to Asbury last week (he started chewing two days before the trip!). Ethan was so excited to pick up a Puff from my hand and get it into his mouth and chew! This kept him quite occupied while we traveled. (He is a bit confused, though, when we read one of his books that has a “choo choo” in it. )

Mom and Dad are making strides too. Ever since we’ve been home from Korea we have been keeping a running journal on what and how much Ethan eats and when and how much Ethan sleeps. We stopped keeping track of his eating a couple of weeks ago, thinking we pretty much have that down now. We are now ready to stop recording his sleep. His night sleep is pretty standard (10-11.5 hours). His naps are more sporadic. He takes a late morning nap regularly. We are considering letting go of the afternoon nap — he doesn’t always go to sleep and it just makes mom and dad more tired trying to get him to sleep.

Here are a few photos related to what I’ve written in this post …

Today, Mom came to our house to spend the afternoon with Ethan while Randy and I went to State College to run some errands.

Round 1 involved a lot of separation anxiety, but in Round 2, Ethan had a wonderful visit with “Grandma!” They played together. Ethan had one of his favorite snacks — yogurt. And NO crying this time!

Ethan just continues to amaze us as he moves forward in his adjustment. What an encouragement on our last day of parental leave!

My cousin, Kevin, had twins twelve days before Ethan was born. Ethan got to meet Steven and Evin (corrected spelling!) and the family on Friday.

The twins have each other to play with (or steal toys from), but this was the first time Ethan was around any babies his age.

The 10-month-olds were cute together. They would reach out and touch each other. Evin was in a laughing mood (corrected with the name of the right twin!). The three just hung out together. After awhile Ethan ventured from Mommy’s lap to check out the wide array of toys.

Hopefully we can do this again soon!

Last Wednesday, Randy and I had our first time apart from Ethan. Mom volunteered to babysit while we went to Altoona to pick up our pictures at JCPenney Portraits. We had a few other things to pick up, as well (formula was at the top of the list!). And, Randy and I planned to have a date.

Just as we arrived in Altoona, we got a call and could hear Ethan’s frantic cries in the background. He wouldn’t eat lunch and he wouldn’t be consoled. Randy and I hit the fast forward button, got the essentials, and called Mom to see how he was doing.

Ethan was okay at the time, so we opted for lunch at Tijuana Flats Burrito Co. (our first time there), which we thought would be quicker than Marzoni’s where we had originally planned to go.

After the initial crying spell, Ethan was back and forth between cries and being okay. His grandma soothed him with an early bottle, found a new toy for him to play with, and entertained him with the speaker phone.

After being away for about two hours fifteen minutes, we arrived at Mom’s. As soon as Ethan saw us, he came scampering across the floor toward us, panting heavily! Needless to say, he was very happy to see us (and us, him ) How wonderful to be loved and missed so much!

Ethan remained somewhat clingy that night and into the beginning of the next day. This all makes us a bit apprehensive about our first Sunday back on April 20. But it’s all part of the ongoing process!

Sometime ago, a local dairy farmer/parishioner was in our home and noticed the gallon of milk in our refrigerator–something that is the norm in our house, so I didn’t think a thing about its presence, and was surprised that she had noticed! (Probably it’s like me, a pastor, going into someone’s home and noticing their Bible on the coffee table!)

Well, the latest dairy news is that we now not only have one gallon of skim milk, but a half gallon of whole milk–Ethan is now drinking milk! At Ethan’s doctor appointment last Wednesday, Dr. Ettenger suggested Ethan begin drinking an ounce of whole milk 3-4 times/day (4 ounces/day). In a month, he can go to 8 ounces/day.

I have been anticipating this day, so I can begin to indulge and have whole milk in my coffee if I want!