Prayers for Elijah from Baby Dedication (June 14, 2009)

We dedicated Elijah to God before our church community, family, and friends on June 14, 2009, a few days before we headed back to India. I finally got around to transcribing our prayers from the video. I thought this prayer would be an appropriate way to conclude this blog.

from Mommy:

"Father, we thank you for giving us Elijah, for creating him, knitting him, and forming him in his inmost being.

Each time I look at Elijah, I am reminded of your marvelous design and your perfect wisdom. So we acknowledge Father that from the very beginning he has been given to us by you, as a gift and that he is not ours but yours.

So we pray today that you would grant Paul and I wisdom, love, and character so that we can steward this gift well.

We pray that Elijah would bring the joy of the Lord to whoever he meets.

We pray that he would grow up knowing that he is your son, and what great and marvelous thing that is.

We ask that he would learn to love you with all that he is and we pray that we would model that for him.

We pray that he would be a person who is unashamed of you, who deeply understands and experiences the depth of your great love."

from Ah-pa:

"Lord we thank you for Elijah, we dedicate him to you because we need you and he needs you. Only in your hands, arms, and in your presence he can truly live. We pray that you would grant him the grace to know you at an early age, to see you. We pray that you would give us pure hearts that put our trust in you and that he would see that and he would put his trust in you. Lord Jesus, we pray that you would teach him to love you and to love the things you love, to tackle the trials of this world with faith and zeal and that he would be able to rest in you and put his hope in you. Jesus we give you thanks that you are the great shepherd, you are the revealer, and that we can trust in you in all things."

From Pastor John:

"So Lord I ask in the name of Jesus that you would grant Elijah the wisdom and knowledge of God of his father and passion and zeal of his mother. May he be endowed with the full measure of the Holy Spirit from birth even as John the Baptist was. And we ask O God that in the course of his life, many will come, see, understand, and experience the incarnated Christ through this young man. In the name of Jesus we pray. 

Amen."

Elijah, we have dedicated you to our Father in Heaven. May you live your life in such a way that brings pleasure and glory to God. For our heavenly Father has never been unfaithful to us.

Love,

Mommy and Ah-pa

Big Brother

Elijah became a big brother today. He has been waiting for his twin baby sisters to "come out" from mommy's womb and they came out at 5:13 pm and 5:14 pm, February 10th, 2011. Their names are Rena and Sophianne.

Unfortunately, E will have to wait a few weeks to actually meet them in person because they are in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). We can't wait for him to meet them! Our intuition is that he will be a sweet and caring big brother, as well as perhaps a little bossy too. But, how can the first born not be a little bossy, right? ;)

 Rena asleep -- one week old

 Sophianne asleep on mommy -- one week old

Meanwhile, he continues to practice his brother skills by pretending that his stuffed animals are his babies. It's really sweet to hear various comments from his little mouth..."Oh, they're so tiny....so cute....it's okay...I cry sometimes too...." He is so affectionate and gives little kisses to his stuffed animals. It will be interesting to see how he interacts with his sisters when they come home.

P and I have been trying our best to help him understand what is happening with his sisters by taking lots of photos and videos of them. I know that he has his lifetime to bond with his sisters, but I also want to facilitate bonding and love for them as much as we can even though he can't hold or touch them now.

Elijah helping mommy eat her hospital food

Elijah, you're a big brother! God has given you little sisters and I pray that you would grow to love and cherish them. We are so blessed to have you as our son, and now two daughters. Mommy and Ah-pa are truly blessed.

From the mouth of a two year old....

For the last couple of days, at random points, he would say, "Jesus is coming back!!" I love having that reminder every day!

At Sunday school, I guess a boy in his class took a toy car away from him. Paul said that he was pretty upset and was crying when he went to pick him up, so we were processing that experience over lunch:

E: "Mommy, Noah take away my car."
M: "That must have been upsetting. Were you angry?"
E: "He take away!"
M: "You know Elijah, the next time someone tries to take away your toy, you can say, 'No! Don't take away my toy. I am still playing.' Or you can say, 'Here, you can have it.' Or, 'Wait! You need to wait your turn.' You can choose how you want to respond.
E: "Wait! You need to wait your turn!" (I guess that's the response he would like to give.)
M: "Did Noah apologize and say sorry?"
E: "No."
M: "I'm sorry Elijah that Noah took your toy car away. That was not very nice."
E: "Thanks, Mom." (I still can't believe that he responded with these words....I guess he understands when someone is being empathetic....)

As E is leaving for preschool, he says to me,
"Bye mom! Stay in the kitchen!!"
He forgot to add "barefoot and pregnant." :)
How random....

Today, after preschool, he wanted to play school.
E: "Mommy! I'm the teacher. You go sit over there!"
M: "Am I a student?"
E: "You, Winnie the Pooh, and King Babar... sit over there at school."
(I have this feeling that we're probably going to play school a lot and he probably will always be the teacher! I can already see him playing it with his twin sisters!)


I love his spontaneous, "Mommy, I love you." There is nothing like hearing those words from your child...

I Love You, Elijah!

Playing Baby Sisters

It was nap time and, as usual, he grabbed his King Babar, put his head down on his pillow. But we heard him playing, singing, and jabbering for quite some time. Finally, I decided to go in and take a look at what was going on. He was playing with his King Babar and Froggie with blankets around them. He was playing "babies."

By that time, I was also feeling tired and ready for a nap too. One of the things E and I have been enjoying since my bed-rest has been snuggling up together in bed and taking naps together. We have also begun playing "Name that Tune" which he thinks is hilarious. I'll hum a tune and he'll guess what song it is. He is really good at it! So, we did that for a bit and I was getting sleepier and sleepier.

But, E had lots of energy still and proceeded to play "baby sisters" lying next to me. He would hold both Froggie and King Babar on his chest and give them light kisses. Then, he would tell me, "Mommy, they are crying."
I asked, "What should we do?"
He proceeded to try to comfort them by saying, "Oh. It's okay..." with a big hug.
Spontaneously, he says to me, "Mommy, I love my baby sisters. I love them."
To which I respond, "They're so happy you love them. They love you too and they're so happy to have you as their big brother."

I don't remember what else we talked about, but he spent some time fussing with the blanket making sure that they were being kept warm and just showing lots of affection. A couple of minutes before falling asleep, he turns to me and asks, "Mommy, babies names?" I guess he was wondering what his sisters' names are. I explained to him that we are still working on the names but most likely they will be so and so. He seemed pretty satisfied with the answer. And we both fell asleep. Interestingly, in the evening, he randomly tells me, "Mommy, I like the name Rena" I had no idea he remembered but he did....

E is processing in his own way the impending transition of the new additions to our family. I am so thankful that he can articulate what he is thinking because it really helps me to know how to be a better mom. A lot of processing these days is coming out in play-acting or pretend playing. It's interesting and joy giving to watch and to be a part of his world....

A Surprise!

We just learned tonight that Elijah knows twenty out of twenty-six letters of the alphabet! I knew he knew some of his letters and at times have wondered which ones he really knew. So, tonight, we decided to play a flash card game with him over dinner. We had no idea that he knew twenty of them....

On a side note, Elijah has been going to preschool every day, now that I have been put on bed-rest. He is doing well and seems to be really enjoying it. I am so grateful to Jesus for answering our prayers for his transition. Also, today, it was sweet to watch Elijah trying to interact with Kiara (our friend Judy's five month old daughter). He was trying to explain to her that he had made a tower with the Lego. He was also trying to put the pacifier in her mouth too.... I think he is going to like being an older brother.

Dialogues with our preschooler

Elijah loves his Lego. So does his ah-pa! Sometimes I wonder who loves Lego more--Elijah or Paul? They love building things together or next to each other. Last night, Paul was building a nice tunnel for Elijah's trains and tracks. Elijah was building something different on his own.

M: "Elijah, what are you building with the Lego?"
E: "I'm making a dinosaurus."
M: "A dinosaurus?"
(I ask P, is there such a thing as dinosaurus?" I was wondering why he was saying dinosaurus instead of dinosaur. P interprets that he has heard various names of different types of dinosaurs ending with "--aurus" so he added that and made up his own word. We both thought that was pretty clever.)
M: "Does the dinosaurus have a name?"
E: "Ah-guh dinosauraus. (ah-guh is Korean word for alligator.)
E: Pointing to one end, "This is his tail. His mouth and eyes are on the other side."
I wish I had taken a picture of his dinosaurus. It looked pretty cool.

E: "Dinosaurus is in school! I leave him now. Bye! Dinosaurus. I come back for you."
Pause....
E: "Dinosaurus, I am back to pick you up. I sign you out first." (He goes and grabs a piece of paper pretending to sign him out."


After preschool, I usually ask him how his morning was, what he did, etc. Today, I asked him if anyone at preschool cried.

M: "Elijah, did anyone in your class cry today?"
E: "Sarah."
M: "Why did she cry?"
E: Making a sad face and using whiny voice, he says, "mommy, mommy, mommy."
M: "Is she a new girl? Was she missing her mommy?"
E: "Sarah's mommy always comes back. It's okay." (I wonder if that's what he thinks about when he thinks of comforting her.)
A pause....
E: "I missed you mommy. Ah-pa came back for Elijah. Mommy didn't come back"
M: "I missed you too, Elijah. Mommy can't go outside except to see the doctor because her tummy hurts. But, I'm glad you came back for mommy after preschool. I was waiting for you."

Oh, how much he has grown....I love my tender moments with him.

After my fetal monitoring, I came home and brought the straps that they use during the non-stress test. I showed him how they wrap the straps around my stomach and how they listen for the babies' heart beat.

E: "Mommy, I want to listen to your heart beat."
He goes and gets his "doctor bag" which has the stethoscope and takes it out. He puts it on my heart and listens. Then, he puts it on my stomach and listens for babies'.
M: "Thump, thump, thump... can you heart them?"
E: "Yes." "Mommy, you listen to my heart."
M: "Everything sounds perfect."

Every morning, we have a short Bible reading and worship time. I love it when Elijah wakes up and says,
E: "It's Bible reading time!" (still lying in bed)
Paul reads a short verse for the day and gives a short explanation.
E: "Let's sing!"
P: "What do you want to sing?"
E: "This is the day!"

It has been really interesting to watch Elijah's language development. He loves to talk and these days, he does a lot of pretend playing, having conversations with his stuffed animals, trains, or with himself about what he is doing. One of the areas where I can tell he is still trying to figure out is the use of different pronouns. For example, he would always say, "Mommy, thank you for feeding you." He actually means, "Thank you for feeding me." But, because he hears me say, "Let me feed you," he thinks me is you.

Today, I asked him during his nap time, "Do you want to go on my bed or your bed?" And he responded, "My bed." So, I put him in his bed and said, "Ok. You're in your bed." Then, he said, "No, my bed!" because in his mind, when mommy says, "my bed," it means mommy's bed and he wanted to be in mommy's bed. Afterward, I could see on his face that the wheels were turning and that he was trying to figure something out..... we'll see how long it takes to figure out the pronouns! :)

Funny Sayings

So that I don't forget:

Yesterday, in the car, he's pretending to be flying an airplane, and suddenly says,
"Mommy! I'm flying the airplane and picking my nose too!"
Daddy and I couldn't help but to look each other and share a good laugh.

M: "Elijah, what did you do at preschool today?"
E: "Whining."
E: "And mommy came back." (He did so much better today, which was his second day at preschool. It was very reassuring for mommy to pick up her son who seemed happy rather than crying.)

1/17/11
Paul and I were tired so we stayed in bed while Elijah was up and playing in the living room. Suddenly, it got really quiet. When it becomes really quiet, you can't help but to wonder what the little guy is up to....so, I ask while in bed.

M: "Elijah, what are you doing over there?"
E: "I'm drawing."
M: "Are you drawing on a paper?"
E: "No. I'm drawing on the wall!"

Paul and I jump out of bed and true to his confession, we saw drawings on the wall. Luckily, he did it with a pencil and we were able to erase his art work. I guess there is first time for everything....but, we definitely understand why parents get nervous when their child is really quiet! :)

Time to catch up!

I can't believe my last blog entry was on December 9th. It has been very busy but one of my goals is to have Elijah's blog updated because I want to make a book of his first two years of life from it. Supposedly there are a few sites that will make books from your blog entries. So, here are some things that I need to write about!

• Our last summer trip to the U.S. (July-August)
• First trip to Disneyland
  
• Christmas 2010
• New Year 2011
  
• Elijah's Two Year birthday party (as well as his cousin Christian's) at Chuck-E-Cheese with family
• LA Zoo with the Liang's and a small celebration there on his actual birthday
• First Day of preschool
• Funny saying and language explosion

Hopefully, I'll get to it soon!

Starting Preschool! (Jan. 10, 2011)

Elijah started preschool two days after he turned two years old. We have been gearing up for this big day for a few weeks. We had visited the school a few times so that he can get familiar with the place. Coincidentally, in the stack of DVDs that some friends have loaned us, we saw one called "Let's Play School!" with Barney. So, we have also used it to help Elijah get some idea about what school is and that it will be fun. We have been also telling him that mommy and daddy will not be staying at preschool with him, that he will be there with his teachers and new friends. He would say, "No, Mommy stay or Ah-pa stay." He was letting us know that it was not his preference, but we wanted him to know that we were not going to be there. I also started saying whenever I would pick him up from Sunday school, "See. Mommy always comes back for Elijah." He has repeated that phrase multiple times.

When the actual day arrived, he went out the door of our place excited and happy to be going to preschool. But, as expected, he started crying when we left. We told him that we will return to get him after he has had his lunch.
The first day, when I went to go pick him up, I could hear him crying. He was standing by the door with his sunglasses on and crying. Poor boy. He had snot and tears smeared all over his face. I felt bad that he seemed so upset. The teachers said he cried on and off, but that he did cry quite a bit. However, I could also tell that it was not as traumatizing as it could have been perceived because it didn't take him long at all to perk up and he was in a really good mood when we got home.

The second day was much better. He still cried when we left, but even as we were heading out the door to leave, I could hear that the crying had stopped. One of his teachers also told us that he finally warmed up and when we picked him up, he was having a good time in the playground. Furthermore, he talked about his teacher, Ms. Shirley when we got home. I could tell he had established some kind of bond with a teacher. I was grateful as it has been a prayer point that he would quickly bond with a teacher or two.

The third day, when we told him he was going to preschool, he kind of protested. But, he didn't resist. We walked to school. He cried again as we left but again, by the time we were leaving the premise, I didn't hear anymore crying. That day, after school, I didn't pick him up because I got stuck in traffic returning from OC so Paul went by himself. When I got home, the first thing he said to me was, "Mommy! Mommy always comes back for Elijah." I think he has internalized this truth/reality. He was in a good mood and when I asked what the names of his friends were, he named a few names. (I have been praying that God would help him to bond with a few friends there.) Paul said that he was not crying when he went to pick him up and that he talked about his friends.

I have already seen some of the benefits of preschool. Whenever we would go into a room with a large crowd, Elijah used to want us to pick him up and he would stay really close to us. But, on Saturday, at two different birthday parties, he didn't seem intimidated by the crowd at all. He seemed much more comfortable being in a crowd. He went right in and began playing. He seems to feel more confident to go out and explore instead of clinging on to us when he is faced with a group of new kids or a crowd. I am really pleased with the growth I see in him already.

I can't believe our little guy is already in preschool. It's a big milestone for him and for us as parents. (Mommy and daddy survived the first week too!) We are so proud of you, Elijah! You are a big boy!

Happy Birthday, Part 2 (Jan. 8, 2011)

On Elijah's actual birthday, we went to L.A. zoo with the Liang's. Thank you for making Elijah's birthday special by inviting us to the zoo! We got to see lots of different types of animals as well as a really cool bird show. We also got to try the kettle corn for the first time--YUMMY!

Daddy was pretty sick that day but he didn't want to cancel it since he wanted to do something special for Elijah on his actual birthday. So, he was a trooper and happily showed his favorite two year old the zoo and chased him around.

We got to have a very small celebration during lunch with cupcakes!

2 Years Old

Children's Museum with Cousins! (Jan. 3, 2011)

We're so thankful that Elijah has been able to spend lots of fun times with family--especially with his cousins!! We went to the Children's Museum in San Diego and had a great time exploring.

Happy Birthday! Part I (Jan. 2, 2011)

Elijah got to celebrate turning TWO years old twice this year! First, he got to celebrate it with his uncles, aunts, and cousins from the Lee side of the family at Chuck-E-Cheese. It was doubly special because cousin Christian also turned two! Christian is six days older than Elijah so it was a blast to be able to celebrate it together. We have never been to Chuck-E-Cheese before so we also had a lot of fun playing games and riding the kiddie rides there. I think though, one of Elijah's favorite part of the party was getting to blow out the candles on the cake. (You have to watch the video!)
We don't know when the next time Elijah will get to celebrate his birthday with his uncles, aunts, and cousins when we leave for India. So, we are really grateful that we got to celebrate it with our loved ones. Special thanks goes to Uncle Jin and Auntie Grace for throwing the party for all!

Christmas 2010 (Part 2--A Continuation) and New Year!

Yeemo Eunjoo, Uncle Aaron, Jeshua, Seth, Mila, and baby Ethen came down to San Diego to celebrate Christmas (belated) and New Year with us. So, the Lee family (minus hal-ah-buji and hal-muh-ni who are in China) celebrated these special holidays together. It's such a blast to have so many cousins, uncles, and aunties!

Christmas 2010 (Part I)

Christmas 2010 was quite memorable for a couple of reasons. For one, this is the first Christmas that I think Elijah had some grasp of its meaning and celebration. We spent the Advent season learning about different truths about Jesus: "He is the light of the world,""He is the way to God," "He is Immanuel--God with Us," "He came to save us," etc. We made words that reflected these truths to go with the tune to "This Little Light of Mine" and we learned to sing it every morning during our Bible reading time. We also got to present gifts to Jesus, His own Christmas tree at the Christmas Eve service and our songs in celebration of Jesus' birthday.

On Christmas morning, we opened gifts with Papa (grandpa) and Grandma. Ah-pa spent a short time explaining why we exchange gifts with one another to Elijah. God gave Jesus as a gift to us because He loves us. In the same spirit, we give gifts to one another as a reflection of God's heart and our love for each other. And then, it was time to open up the gifts! Elijah loved opening up his gifts--Lego sets, a tea and kitchen set, and books.

Later that day, Uncle Jin, Auntie Grace, cousins Christian and Evan, Uncle Daniel, and Auntie Grace came up to celebrate Christmas with us. We had a yummy meal, the guys spent some time watching the Lakers game, and we sang Christmas songs together. We also spent some time skyping with hal-ah-buji, hal-muh-ni, and the Lech family who were not able to join us for the celebration. We were thankful and glad that we got to celebrate Christmas with family in 2010!