Just some thoughts...

No pictures to post tonight, although I should've taken a picture of Hampton's first little sunburn. It really isn't bad at all, but he has a little pink face from sitting outside today (and we were in the shade). He is not in any pain, thankfully!

So Clint and I have been talking a lot about discipline lately. Wow, is it ever hard to know what to do with this topic. Hampton is starting to express himself a lot lately and is exploring everything all the time. This gets him into things he shouldn't be exploring sometimes.

I have to say, first of all, that we are SO grateful to our Lord - the Father and Creator of all and Giver of every good and perfect gift (like our little Hampton) - that Hampton is a healthy, normal baby. So this adventurous spirit of exploration and the new desire to test our limits as parents is all normal. There are many babies with developmental problems and disabilities that keep them from going through this phase, so again, I'm not complaining at all!

With that said, we are still trying to find that balance of discipline methods. I mean, he is only 11 months old, but there are undesirable behaviors already manifesting themselves that we cannot ignore. When we tell him "no" if he is doing something unsafe, for example, we are doing that for his protection. If he really wants to do that particular thing, he really gets a bad attitude and kicks and screams. You cannot let that go unpunished, right?

Even as I write this, I had to take a break. He is in bed now, but I heard him crying histerically upstairs. Yet another example of a decision...let him cry it out, or go in and console him? He sounded very afraid, so this time, I went in and held him until he fell asleep again. See, the dilemma continues.

I have tears in my eyes also as I write because of the overwhelming love I have for that baby. It's a love only God can give because it's just too big and too unexplainable! When he laid his little head on my shoulder and snubbed from crying so hard, he instantly relaxed and fell asleep again. Isn't that how we are with God when He wraps us in His arms as we feel His presence in our lives? We let out a long, quiet "ahhhh" as we lay our head on His strong shoulder as He cradles our head in His hand.

So, I still have no conclusion on discipline except this - I know I will try my very best to do whatever it takes to protect him from what will hurt him, teach him all about a Father who loves him, and let him figure out on his own that his mommy and daddy love him more than he can ever understand...until he has a child of his own.

Dr. Jeffrey Simon, our pediatrician in Montgomery, told me that the reason we have children is to draw us closer to Jesus. It's true. I must stay on my knees.

Oops...He's crying again...