Photos from our prayer retreat

I'm a little behind in posting photos from our time in Kurseong, a hill town where we went for our quarterly prayer retreat. It was great to wake up each morning to the view of Mt. Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak. It was extra special to now share it with Elijah. One day, I will get to tell him the story of how God called us to the Himalayas and how He showed me this mountain.

From top to bottom: 1) Mt. Kanchenjunga 2) Elijah and mommy early in the morning 3) with a toy train model 4) Climbing to the top of the stairs on his own while mom followed--see the excitement on the face?! 5) with Daddy.

Prelude to the Chase

Elijah's Obsessions

Door handles, hinges, small holes, bed posts, chairs, tables...basically anything that he can use to pull himself up, and oh yeah, cheerios and toasts(besides these two things, he refuses to eat and is driving his mom crazy with his eating habits! Hopefully, it is just a teething thing....but then, I think everything has to do with teething! :)) He also loves his daddy. Today, Paul came home after a long day at work and Elijah, upon seeing his dad was laughing in joy and repeating the words, "Babababa." So cute to watch. Now, for some photos!!

What are you going to become when you grow up Elijah? He definitely likes to tinker around, investigate, and wants to master whatever new thing he has discovered.

Teething

He has three top teeth and another bottom tooth coming through. No wonder he was not a happy camper today. He was clingy today and not really himself. I finally gave him Tylenol to help ease the pain a bit. Hopefully, he will sleep well tonight....for his and our sake. I am so tired!

Well, I will post more photos and other thoughts when I have more energy. We were planning to go out for our ten year anniversary but we couldn't find a babysitter and both Paul and I developed bad headaches and were not feeling well. We had ham sandwiches for dinner, a bowl of ramen, and now we're ready to sleep....yes, Elijah, your mom and dad are old farts! :) For some reason, we are reminded of this reality more ever since we had you!

Grandma and Granpa's Visit

Grandpa Phil and Grandma Ann came for a visit this past weekend. It was a very short visit, but we had a good time together exploring the hills of the Himalayas. Grandpa and grandma read to him and played "To Boston," with Elijah. Elijah loves "To Boston!" (I am going to go off on a tangent here, but as I have been reading more nursery rhymes, I am mortified by how morbid they are!) The words to "To Boston," are kind of sad, but Elijah loves the part where he "falls" with the words, "dropped dead."

The words go:
To Boston, to Boston, to buy a loaf of bread,
Home again, Home again, the horse dropped dead!

Elijah's First Field Visit

We went to Seeyok and Nol, two fields where some of our Nepali friends are. We ended up staying overnight in Seeyok because it rained and the roads were way to steep and slippery. So we ended up staying in a 6X6 room and enjoying a night in the village. Here are some photos.

New tricks of Elijah

Elijah can now...

• pull himself up into a standing position as if he has been doing it all along
• get himself back down into a sitting position from standing position
• feed himself (rice puff, spaghetti noodles, pieces of bread)
• climb onto his toy bin on his own
• open his mouth wide to have his teeth brushed
• make farting noises on daddy's shoulder
• turn pages of a book
• understand "no," and sometimes, he even obeys ;)

You amaze us every day!

Ps: I will post some pictures from Elijah's first field visit on another day. He traveled well (for which we are thankful) and was a people magnet.

Eight Month Old Climber?

Elijah turned eight months old yesterday! Daddy has already begun coaching Eli to climb. :) It's really a good thing that daddy is a good spotter too. What amazes me is that yesterday, Elijah had a little trouble pushing himself up. Today, he has been pushing himself up all day long....So, my question for Elijah is, "What happens to you in the middle of your sleep because you wake up with new abilities!" I wonder when that ends.... :) Because, I would love to have that happen with my Nepali language ability....