Kevin's first haircut

I've done a few posts today, so be sure to scroll down if you want to read them all.

Kevin and I have been having a race to see who has had the most haircuts since he was born. For the longest time we were both tied at zero haircuts, but on Labor Day Kevin received his first haircut and put me in last place. Sad, I know. Sad because he lost all his long locks and the sweet little wisps around his ears that drove him nuts. Sad because I still haven't found the time or someone I trust to cut my hair.

Kevin was very good. I was afraid he would be scared to death of the clippers, but he was actually very calm. We bought this set of clippers with the combs so that we can save money on haircuts for Ryan and Kevin. Okay, so we bought them so that I can have more control over the length of Ryan's hair, because if it were left up to him, he would continue to go get it cut 1/8 of an inch long, because he doesn't care.

Somehow Kevin grew up a lot during the 15 minutes it took for Ryan to cut his hair.

Here are some pictures from before and after:

Before:

After:

some Spanglish to brighten your day

I was going to write a post about this can of mixed vegetables.

I was going to make a very clever comment about how the person who translated "mixed vegetables" into Spanish would be very embarazado (hee hee) if he knew that it is actually "verduras mezcladas." RT even agreed and said that he's never heard anyone say "vegetales mixtos." It was generally "verduras mezcladas."

Then we decided to look it up to make sure, and it turns out that some Spanish-speaking people do say "vegetales mixtos." Keep in mind that Ryan learned his Spanish in the hick part of Argentina and I learned my Spanish in college classes.

So this post isn't funny anymore. I'm a little disappointed.

accumulated notes about Kevin

On Sunday when the opening hymn started in Sacrament meeting, Kevin started waving his arms as if he was directing the music. The motions he was making were even quite similar to the ones a chorister would make. We were quite impressed that he's noticed the chorister during the hymns and choir practice.

Most days we try to go outside. If we don't, Kevin starts going crazy.

Kevin loves to play with the phones. I pretty much always give him the phone while I change his diaper because he always asks for it and won't stay on his back if I don't give it to him (it's pretty hard to put a prefold on a baby who is standing up). Lately when he gets the phone he has taken to propping it on his shoulder and babbling while wandering around the apartment. I guess he's noticed that the phone has something to do with talking and that it belongs in the vicinity of your ears. I thought that was pretty smart and cute.

Kevin has been having a lot of meltdowns the last few days. We've started resorting to just sticking him in his crib until he calms down. I think that's constructive since it helps him learn to soothe himself and use his own resources to calm down, but I'm afraid that he'll start to think of going to bed as a punishment. I would really like bedtime and naptime to be a happy time. Maybe he needs a little more sleep.

Kevin learned to throw a ball. I don't know how he figured it out because it's not like we throw things very much, but it's pretty cute.

A gangsta and a thumb sucka. Very cool.

This is more dancing. Now that he can walk he's added some new moves and modified some old ones.

[I wrote this a long time ago, and I know I had more insights to add, but it's been so long that I can't remember them anymore--which is rather unfortunate.]

Ether 2

22 And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

  23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have ^awindows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

  24 For behold, ye shall be as a ^awhale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the ^bwinds have gone forth ^cout of my mouth, and also the ^drains and the floods have I sent forth.

  25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea? 

I thought that verse 25 has some very interesting things to think about. One thing is that Christ was preparing the people of Jared for the journey across the ocean. He gave them many instructions about how to build the boats so that they would survive the waters and protect the people. The lack of light in the vessels was not an oversight on Christ's part. He didn't leave the light out and figure the people would deal with it somehow. He recognized that they would need light, and he wanted them to have light. That was something that was important to Christ.

Without help from Christ, these people could not have crossed these waters. The brother of Jared recognized that it would not work without Christ, and he also recognized that he needed Christ to do something so that they would have light. I think it's interesting that Christ expected him to do some of the work to find a source of light, that the brother of Jared had to come up with an idea and then ask Christ to do it.

One thing we can learn from this is that we cannot handle our trials without Christ's help. He knows the things that we need to do and understand so that we can make it through our trials and tasks, and he will prepare us for those things if we will pray and be open to his help. And just like with the Jaredites, he doesn't want us to begin our journeys without light--on the contrary, the light is very important, and he wants to provide us a way to have light to guide us and comfort us.

Just as Christ provided light for the Jaredites, He will provide light for us when we are "swallowed up in the depths of the sea." He wants us to ask for it. He wants us to turn to him. That is the only way to receive that light. There have been times in my life when I have felt in despair, and when I decided to turn to Christ and ask for his mercy and understanding, I was filled with light.

because I want to make some random comments

This evening I was getting myself a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. I don't care about losing weight anymore. All the women in the renaissance paintings have muffin tops and soft abs, so who says that beautiful women don't have muffin tops or flabby abs?

Actually, I think I might go do some sit-ups.

My spoon broke. It was sort of weird. My metal spoon broke on ice cream. The ice cream was not hard.

I really like mint chocolate chip ice cream, except I hate the chocolate chips. It's kind of like having bits of soft plastic in ice cream. I think they should make mint cookie dough ice cream. Not mint chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

I just realized that ice cream is already one of my blog labels.

"At least it gets people reading."

I am a big fan of reading. I think it's really important for people to spend time reading good books. But that's the key: good books. There are a lot of bad books out there that are really popular. And I have heard people say in defense of the bad books, "Well, at least it gets people reading." I don't think that is a good excuse. Reading is important, but it's not so important that if a book causes damage it's okay.

For example, there is a series of books called The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Before Kevin was born, I volunteered at an elementary school, and I listened to several kids read me portions of that book. I was horrified. It seemed like the main character did nothing but be mean and disrespectful to people, and it was portrayed as normal and funny. I kept waiting for him to learn some kind of lesson about how it's important to be kind, but he never did. Around the same time, my sister-in-law posted a review of this book. Her son had started reading the books, and when she looked through them, she realized that she needed to go through the books with her son and explain to him why it's not okay to act like the kid in the book. It's hard enough to teach our children basic values like kindness without having books that portray being unkind as funny and normal. Even if these books are entertaining enough that they get kids who normally don't like to read to start reading, I don't think that's worth it because they are being influenced by the book to think that those wrong behaviors are okay.

I think it's also important to realize that books can be pornography, even if there are no pictures. Maybe the "scenes" get people reading, but it also gets them used to thinking that doing that kind of thing is okay, and it excites similar feelings to what people experience when they're looking at pornography. Again, that does so much damage that it's not worth it that people are reading.

one week in

How's school going?

Well, I'll tell you.

I'm already floundering. Calculus is a lot of work. Surprise, surprise. Mineralogy is getting very little attention at the moment.

I think Kevin is feeling gypped. I'm trying to give him good quality time (which is why I'm already behind), but he still seems to be a little bothered by my studying. He knows it has something to do with that Calculus book I seem to be carrying everywhere, and he's determined to have his revenge on it. That's somewhat unfortunate, since I was rather hoping to sell it back for a decent amount of money.

I guess I didn't realize that over the summer Kevin became more fun to play with. He also wants to be outside a lot and wants to be played with more. I feel sort of bad that sometimes I have to study instead of give him attention.

And now I must get back to the aforementioned Calculus book.