The Hough
and Floyd Families came over for lunch and helped us celebrate Joshua’s 9th
birthday. At his request we ate my
homemade Napolitana empanadas and mandioca bake and for dessert, an alligator cake.
I love that you cannot put Joshua in
a box. He is a unique middle child who I
just can’t figure out at times. And just
when I think I have, he surprises me.
Joshua was a great baby. He slept
hard, ate well, and cried little. But as
soon as he could walk, he was trouble with a capital T. He ran away in public, he opened everything,
pulled down everything, broke everything, ate everything, and climbed on
everything. With two other preschoolers
and a newborn, Joshua was at times way too much for me to handle. I look back at those years and tremble. I cried and cried out to God for help, I
wrote and wrote in a journal, and I stocked up on bandaids (our Canadian teammates
said that Joshua looked like a hockey player always with a fresh black eye, a
cut on his face or a busted lip).
When Joshua was 5 and 6 years old
(and should have been way out of that hair-cutting, temper throwing stage,
selfish, reckless, leaving a trail of destruction everywhere he went stage), no
amount of discipline or reasoning seemed to get through to him. He’d stick his tongue out at us and do the
offense again. I had never met a child
so stubborn and hard-hearted.
HOWEVER, watching Joshua blow out 9
candles today on top on his alligator cake, I am again reminded of the
wonderful boy he has become. He is a
delight to teach; soaking up all I throw at him (he is obsessed with the
Presidents and knows that all in order, first and last name, part affiliation
and major accomplishments). He is so
helpful. He asks constantly if there is
anything he can do to help, or more often than not, he sees a need and just
does it (mom, I noticed the trash was full so I took it out a day early). His tender heart shines through when caring
for Julia. To say he adores Julia is a
HUGE understatement. He is inquisitive
and curious about life, God, and how things work. He is a hands-on kid – he loves playing in
sand, doing experiments, reconstructing magic tricks, working on his loom
knitting (he has finished 7 scarves) and making bubble gum (he was delighted to
get a refill kit for his birthday).
This year he wanted two other
missionary families to come to help celebrate his birthday (a change from last
year when he wanted just our family). He
played for several hours and now, while kids still are running around, he has
reached his “people quota”. He is tucked
away on his bottom bunk with sheets for walls that make up his cave. Ginny (his best friend, who also has a “people
quota”) is next to him. They are listening
to Adventures in Odyssey.
