Parenting 101

Never brag to your son about your parenting superpowers. He will produce baby kryptonite and promptly bring you to your knees. I changed a diaper a couple of days ago that had its own halftime show, overtime, and post-game interview. Just when I thought he could make no more and I could wipe no more, he started up again while maintaining a perfectly innocent look on his face - knowing that the nurse watching the whole episode was getting a kick out of it too. This event proves the second law of baby physics which states that three times the amount of milk that goes in can be expelled out either end of the child. Round two goes to Ejector Boy.

While we're on the topic of superpowers, we have been very fortunate to have my mother-in-law stay with us the whole time that Ben has been in the hospital. Kay has two superpowers that I have observed. The first is her incredible ability to serve others with a seemingly endless supply of energy. Whenever she's not helping Adrienne at the hospital, she's cooking meals, doing laundry, and pacifying the cat when he starts trying to tear the house apart. What an awesome grandma (or ouma for our South African readers) who will show Ben what it means to serve like Christ. Her other superpower is the ability to throw her stomach growls so that it sounds like something is rumbling on the other side of the house. On the surface, this gift may seem somewhat less useful, but I think she could take that show on the road and make quite a living for herself. I'm sure she'll let you know how that pans out.

Benjamin shed a silent tear this weekend as his IV and tube of fat were wheeled out of his room - never to be seen again, we hope. The rest of his weight gain will have to come the old fashioned way, mom's milk going through a tube and directly into his stomach. Do you want to know how I burp my baby? I turn a valve connected to the feeding tube, pull some air-filled milk out of Ben's tummy using a syringe and then plunge the semi-digested milk back into his tummy after all of the air has escaped. As you may have guessed, this is also not in any of the parenting books that we have purchased; though it does have its advantages over the whole spit-up rag routine.

I'd like to thank Bob and Mary Ann Harper for letting us stay at their place this weekend as we prepared for the storm of the century in Tulsa. Four to ten inches of snow and freezing rain were expected. One inch of regular old rain came down, but we still enjoyed the excuse to spend some quality time with another lovely couple from our congregation.

Ben's MRI should be coming up in the next few days so we ask for your continued prayers that all of his brain functions are normal. He seems alert and active to us, but we'd love for these tests to prove our suspicions that all is well.

May God turn your blizzards into showers,
Whit, Adrienne, and Benjamin