Isaiah - Six Months Old

Our chubby, charming Isaiah will be six months old next week.

Six months.

I try to hold onto these days, this precious baby stage, but it is like trying to grasp water and the time slips through my fingers.

Five months old and enjoying the swing.

Three months old, falling asleep in my arms.

Playing "one hand" with Daddy.

Four months old and discovering his toes.

Five months old.

Four months old and snuggling with our snuggliest family member, Cora.

What is Isaiah like these days?

Isaiah is calm and mellow. So calm he still shows no interest in rolling over. That's right. Almost six months old and STILL not rolling! Though he is getting close to sitting.

He continues to be good at entertaining himself, especially if he is anywhere near the ongoing big sister show. When he is lying on the floor or sitting in his swing, the moment I flash a smile at him from across the room or swoop in to pick him up, he smiles with his whole body, kicking, flailing, and beaming.

I don't keep track (hello, baby number three), but if I had to guess, I think Isaiah nurses about nine times per day. And only one of those times is between 8pm and 8am. (yay!) So he eats all. day. long. He's already a champ at eating solid food too.

And he looks like he eats all day long. He has dimples on his lower back just above his diaper. His thighs and wrists look like someone tied a string around them. He even has a layer of fat over his kneecaps. Every time I see him in any state of undress, my heart melts.

Isaiah's parents and grandparents all have green and brown eyes, so we were surprised when he was born with blue eyes. And they have only gotten bluer. His dark brown hair was getting scraggly and patchy, so I recently buzzed it short revealing a head of dark blonde hair growing underneath. His daddy was not happy with me. Oops!

What are some of Isaiah's favorite things?

• Socializing. Isaiah always wants to be a part of what's going on... sitting on a lap at dinner, in the middle of the family room while everyone talks, etc.

Isaiah in the action. How are they so dorky?!

• His big sisters. He watches everything they do. He particularly enjoys the ongoing Grace variety show.
• Drinking his solids out of a cup. I've never heard of another baby eating this way. But, whatever works!
• Sleeping in. He's often in bed until 7:30 or 8!
• Saying "hi." Whenever we see Isaiah, we always say, "Oh, hi!" Around three or four months old, he started copying this sound. Now when he sees us appear, he'll sometimes say, "HAAIIIYYYYYY!"
• Sleeping on planes. His three best naps in recent memory were on his last three plane flights. He slept over two hours in my arms. He is so large, my arms were sore the next day!

Isaiah's least favorite things include...

• Going down for naps. He usually cries for at least a couple of minutes.
• Getting put in a sleep sack. He associates them with naptime.
• Feeling sleepy. (Hmmm... this is ironic. He doesn't like being sleepy, but he doesn't like naps.)

Isaiah, we absolutely adore you and we are so glad you're a part of our family.

Remembering my Grandpa - Arno Enns

My Grandpa passed away on February 20th. Here are the words I shared at his funeral yesterday.

~

My name is Christie Stalcup. I'm Bruce and Laurie Swanson's daughter. I have the privilege of sharing this afternoon a few memories of Arno Enns from the perspective of a granddaughter.

I've noticed that in families, there is the standard, socially acceptable hug that you give each other. My grandpa's hugs were about three times that long and three times that tight and they were filled with words of love and affection. As a child, when I received these hugs, I felt like I was the most special person in his world.

As I grew older, I noticed that he gave that exact same tight squeeze along with affectionate words to each of my cousins. As grandsons and granddaughters in law were added to the family, he embraced them and welcomed them with the same affection and care.

In 2014, my husband and I were appointed as missionaries with WorldVenture in Bangkok, Thailand. With my grandparents having served in Argentina, my parents in Portugal, and now us in Thailand, that makes me a third generation WorldVenture missionary. It's been such a privilege the last few years to be around various WorldVenture folks because I've gotten to hear story after story about my grandpa and the theme is always the same -- he warmly embraced people even remembering specific details of their lives from years ago.

My grandpa was also goofy and he loved to make us grandkids laugh. We all happily filled the role of adoring grandkids and we loved to draw out his fun personality.

I remember sitting around the dinner table with my cousins and grandparents and we would ask grandpa to tell us one of his jokes. They say a good joke is all about timing and my grandpa's jokes had terrible timing. They were long, and drawn out and us grandkids would laugh until our sides ached at our grandpa's theatrics as he told his long-winded jokes.

I remember at my wedding rehearsal, my grandpa sat in a pew next to the aisle and as each of my bridesmaids practiced walking down the aisle, he playfully stuck out his cane and tried to trip them!

Grandpa was also so faithful. Faithful to my grandma, to his family, and to the Lord.

My grandpa absolutely delighted in my grandma, Cora Lee. Sometimes, he would be sitting in his armchair in the family room reading a newspaper. She would walk in the room and he'd exclaim, "Cora Lee, you're still here?! After all these years!"

My husband's favorite memory of my grandpa comes from six years ago, when the entire family, all four daughters, sons-in-law, and all the grandchildren were gathered in my aunt's family room on Christmas Day listening to my Grandpa share a few words, well a lot of words, on the incarnation, the word made flesh. As my husband looked around the room, he was stunned at the depth and breadth of the Kingdom impact of Arno and Cora Lee Enns' lives just in that family room. They truly embodied Psalm 145 which says that "One generation will commend your works to another and declare your mighty acts."

I remember before meals, my grandpa would often start his prayers the same way. 'Gracious, heavenly Father, we thank you for…' So I would like to close my words here in the same way my grandpa started all his prayers, 'Our gracious, heavenly Father, we thank you for the life of my grandpa, Arno Enns.'

Here is a biography of his amazing life as well.