This is my son, whom I love

We have taken Logan on many hikes in his 7.5 months, one to an urban waterfall up in Bentonville that I read about in Tim Ernst's guide to Arkansas Waterfalls. By clicking on the pic of me holding Logan, in the enlargement you can see his 1st tooth quite clearly.
After having Logan in our lives, I am far more deeply touched now by our Father's words, "This is my Son, whom I love," esp. when I think about what he allowed Him to undergo. Logan has brought more joy to us than any other gift. He makes us strive to love him as the Father loved Jesus and to live a more pure example. Greg Jurkovic shared a similar sentiment when we were out walking in Houston: in a moment of prayer, he heard the insight, "Love your son as I have loved you." How profound!

We are definitely settled into the 1st Presbyterian congregation in downtown Siloam. One weekend, we had a cozy little dedication ceremony for Logan with our pastor Breck Castleman and his wife Robbie. There was no sprinkling involved -- just pledges to bring up Logan in the church and its ministries and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and God's Word. We had a fabulous brunch afterward at the Castleman's house. So many rich blessings (oh for the grace to give it back and be a blessing to others).

Logan has had a little hiatus from reporting since Thanksgiving! So many big doings since then. First, we headed down to Texas and saw Logan's friends Caleb and Kayla Ellison in Dallas on our way to Houston. We're thankful that Logan got to spend Christmas with Grampa Himes one more time before Glenn passed on to be with the Lord. Although it was a sad occasion, Logan was able to see a lot of the family including Uncle Wood who has many stories about his daddy and Uncle Brent. In January, Auntie Jerusha came up for a visit and we took Logan hiking at the picturesque but oh so cold Artist's Pointe. Nowadays Logan's been working out his legs to get ready for crawling, he's been sitting upright in February with barely any assistance, and he got his first little tooth (toofer) on the bottom front on Jan. 20; as of Feb. 28 his second toofer broke ground right next to it. He still says, "da da da da" but his favorite sound currently is blurrping with his tongue and lips or making quiet, windy fricatives like unvoiced velars and alveo-palatals. He's still quite a chipper fella, not too fussy except when he's teething: the second one came in with slightly less irritation than the first. He's a real people person, greeting strangers with smiles. He remains a deep blue-eyed boy, but his hair has gone from thin chocolate brown to a fuller, lighter shade with auburnish-blonde highlights. His favorite outfit is a lumberjack shirt and grey corduroys (shown in hiking photo with his mama). He's eating green beans a little reluctantly, but sweet potatoes and bananas with more gusto, though he still hasn't figured out that he needs to open his mouth instead of us having to scoop each spoon back up into the dam. His high chair has come into use lately, and we have switched out his car seat with the large black one since he has outgrown the free one given to us by the Springdale Sheriff at a baby convention. For several months, Logan was on a great sleep schedule, allowing us a good 6 or 7 hours in a row, but in the past month he has returned to erratic patterns of staying up til 12 or 1, or getting up at 3 or 4 hungry. He retains his long and wiry physique at about 18 lbs, though his little wrists, fingers, thumbs, cheeks, and thighs have filled out with some healthy chub.

More news to come!