Teaching our one-year-old the Word of God

The prayer I find myself praying for Noah over and over again, especially in those rare quiet moments when I glance over at him reading or playing quietly is, "God, develop in Him a love for you, a love for your Word, and a love for people."

So what are some practical ways to teach one-year-olds how to love God, His Word, and love people?  This is our journey in trying it out on our own, with the understanding that the Spirit must work in each individual--we can't create a relationship with God for him, but we can create an environment where Noah is able to be attuned to the work of God in his life.

Exposing children to the Word of God.  How? 

      Reading.  Set aside a story time and read to them from the Bible.  For us right now and since Noah  

      was born, we alternate between the Jesus Storybook Bible and the My First Bible, usually before

      bedtime.  Now however, we are working on him reading books on his own in the morning, in 

      preparation for having his own morning quiet time. Noah loves the pictures and he loves reading in

      general.  I'm also considering reading stories from the "real" Bible  to see how that goes. 

     Self-reading.  I confess I struggled with this one for a little bit because while I want Noah to enjoy 

     God's Word, I didn't want him to tear it up, either!  And the Bible is not a board book.  Well, so we 

     worked on some important skills:  treating the Word of God with love by using gentle hands and

     soft touches.  So now, I catch him sitting in his rocking chair gently leafing through one of the two 

     previously mentioned story Bibles.  He wanted to take one with him to his babysitters the other day,

     and I was thrilled that one of her first comments about it was, "He really is so gentle with it!"  (It 

     was a proud momma moment.)  I do realize he's a normal toddler and he could have a break-down
     in self-control for no reason at any moment and pages could end up in confetti on the floor.

     

     Modeling time in the Word.  I try to let Noah see me reading and studying God's Word, but
     sometimes it proves difficult because he just wants my attention.  But he does like to sit in my lap
     and see what I'm doing.  Sooo....talking about what you're doing and why and what you're reading
     is important.  It doesn't matter that they don't understand all the words you're saying.  They respond
     to the emotion and body language you use.  So let them see how much you love the Word.  We
     know that actions speak louder than words, but use words.  

     They're important.

     Bible Verses.  Noah has always responded well to signing and motions, and recently I realized that 

     he remembers things very well.  So my next intention is to pick out a verse and teach it to Him using

     motions.  We go to Bible Study Fellowship and he also has a Sunday School class at church, and his
     class at both places reviews a Bible verse each week so I plan to use a verse that he has been
     exposed to through that and I will let you know how it goes.  

What are some things you're doing (or have done) with your child under 24 mos. to expose him/her to the Word of God and begin to develop a love for His Word?  I'd love more ideas!

     

Summer Happenings

Whew!  This summer was so much fun!  After we moved 20 minutes south on I35 and got mostly settled in our new place, we went on a few trips!  

In June, we went to Stillwater for a funeral and spent time with family.  Then Adam had to go back to work, but Noah and I went to OKC to visit friends.  That was my first trip just the two of us and I was a little nervous, but he did great!  I have no pictures though.  

We stayed in the same room to sleep while in OKC and sometime in between 6 and 7 a.m. Noah would pop his head out of his pack and play and say, "Hi!  Hi!  Hi hi hi hi!" Until I responded.  So we got up early.  We had a great time though!!!

Next, in early July, Adam and I went to New Orleans with our church's high school senior class.  We left Noah in Arkansas with family.  Everyone had a great time!  

However, Noah was traumatized by us leaving him and I could not walk more than 5 feet away from him without a lot of yelling and crying.  So that became traumatizing for me.  So then, when we got back to Kansas on Sunday, we went back to work on Monday and then the next Friday I got the suitcases out again because we were headed to Florida for vacation on Saturday.  

Well, there was a lot of unhappiness when the suitcases came out.  He tried to unpack.

We drove to Arkansas (again) Friday night, and then got up early Saturday morning to fly to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  I was nervous about how Noah would do on the plane ride, but since his sleep schedule was off, he pretty much just went to sleep for most of the trip.  (Yay!)

I got kinda bored sitting in the back by myself, so I snapped pictures of my view.  Adam:

Noah:

Our luggage:

Adam again:

My dad, the pilot.

Landing in Gulf Shores:

Noah woke up, so I fed him snacks.  Give him snacks and he's happy.  I'm glad my momma packed us a bag of food and new toys to take on the plane!

This picture needs one of those funny captions.  Looking back on our experience, I think he's saying something like, "You think this is gonna be a "vacation," huh?  Let's just call it a "trip" instead.  Hahahaha."  (Why didn't someone tell me not to expect a vacation when traveling with a small child?)

Anyway, first day out on the beach.  Noah wasn't too happy about the sand, but loved his own little chair.

Cool dude in glasses.  That he wouldn't wear except for this exact moment.

Thankfully, my fair-skinned boy would wear his hat.

And like I said: give my kid snacks and he's happy.

First attempt at the ocean (gulf):

Aaand back in the chair.  He wouldn't get down in the sand, but he would tolerate dumping sand on his legs.

More "playing" in the sand on another day:

Adam chillaxing at the beach:

Marine One in the Naval Aviation Museum:

Noah while we were at the museum.  Obviously, he was attached to the paci for a while.  This stemmed from the aforementioned "abandonment" issues.

Later in the week, he finally would get in the sand and play.  We buried daddy in the sand and swam in the ocean and in the pool.  It was a tough week with Noah because he was just all out of sorts like I've never seen him before, but overall we had a GREAT time and enjoyed being with family and away from the normal life schedule for a while.

It took a few weeks, but Noah has finally adjusted and realizes that every time we walk away does not mean that he is being abandoned.  In fact, he doesn't even cry anymore when we leave him places like the babysitter or the nursery.  Yay!

Here he is being happy and silly:

Then in August, we went to the Johnson County Fair one night for Touch-a-Truck.  It was hot, but fun.




I liked this truck--painted with all the "Cars" characters:

Then it looked like it was going to storm so we left.

But then it was really pretty!

It was a fun summer!!!!!!  

Spring Happenings

This spring we were busy with work, school, and gearing up to MOVE.  And Noah was busy.  Just busy.  Whew.  He took off walking on Easter Sunday and has never looked back since.  Life has changed dramatically!  

I miss having a tiny little baby, but after Noah turned one, we have just had SO.MUCH.FUN.  I LOVE this age!  

Everything is exciting.  Brand new. So cool.  Give him a straw and he thinks you hung the moon.  Be excited about the straw with him and he bursts with joy and laughter.  It's so great.

Noah's ALWAYS been busy, even before he was born.  But being completely mobile just exacerbates the movement.  So, blurry pictures.  I would need a fancy camera with an ultra fast shutter speed.  Like sports fast or something.  Haha.

He's always so happy!  Well, he has his moments.  So not "always,"  but the majority of the time, he is like this:

How exciting is this Kleenex!  And the monitor base!  Oh! It's so cool!

He loves his little chair.  I was afraid he might not really use it, but he has gotten tons of use out of it already!

Noah Nibbles

For being so small, the child really puts away the food.

This looks nasty, or like he's eating a bowl of pesto and noodles, but it's not.  I think it was pureed spinach with a touch of alfredo or something like that.  Give him noodles and he's thrilled.

Ok, the spoon is really just cramping my style.

2 bowls later:

Belly's full.  All smiles.

And as if I never feed him, he sneaks into the laundry room/pantry and digs in to whatever he can find while I'm not looking.

I'm not sure what this face was about....

And a couple months later, he's moved up to chicken nuggets and mac n cheese and watermelon.  Clearly, he's happy.

Just chillin' in the kitchen with his milk, drumstick, and drum....one month after the last picture.

Yum-o.  He loves to eat!!