Tired out...

Bad habits to be rid of at an early age...

For the past few weeks Faustina has taken to the habit of rigorously sucking her thumb to console herself. I left her for a moment on her changing table this morning and I returned to see her voraciously sucking her....big toe! Yuck. Her flexibility is impressive, but Mom and Dad will not allow this to become a habit.

-------------------------

UPDATED...

Dad chimes in:

"I don't know. It's pretty darn cute when she eats her feet. Besides, she's not walking anywhere to get them dirty anyway!"

Remembering 9/11

A few days after Tuesday, September 11th 2001, Father Franklin McAffey honored those who died in the towers and he mourned with family and friends. He said the following at a church service:

I cannot explain the madness that took place on Tuesday, for what we saw with our own eyes was the face of evil. And evil cannot logically be explained because as those of you who are steeped in the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas know evil, malum, is nil, it is nothing since God is existence itself. God told Moses, "I Am Who Am". Thus, evil would be nonbeing, nothingness; and to confront nothingness is to come face to face with unspeakable horror. We can, however, understand how people would be compelled to murder with enthusiasm so many people. A terrorist is not born, terrorists are made with every conscious decision they make every day to hate, to choose death rather than life.

St. John in his first epistle answers the common question 'how can anyone do something like that?' He says that anyone who hates his brother is in darkness, he walks in darkness and he has no idea where he is going because the darkness has made him blind...We are speaking of an enormity of hate and evil here for these were evil acts. But evil is not something, evil is someone, Satan. St. Paul warns us in his letter to the Ephesians, "We are not contending against flesh and blood, brothers, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of the present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness." Satan has best been described by a mystic. She said "He in whom there is no love. He in whom there is no love at all, not a drop of love, he in whom there is absolute hate, darkness, nothing." Scripture calls him the Father of lies, he is the cause of division, hate, rebellion.

God bless the family and friends of those who died this day 7 years ago. And may God bless our country during this election year!

New Phase: Toys

Faustina has recently began to take interest in playing with toys. Whether they be the animals hanging in her face, excercizing her legs in the 'jumping johnny', or pressing buttons on the excersaucer - she is intrigued. Most often it is only for a few minutes, but it is pretty interesting to see her develop these new skills. I guess EVERYTHING a baby does is somewhat fascinating for a new parent!

Labor Day

Yes, Labor Day was already a few weeks ago, but the wonderful weekend with the other Adkins family must be documented! We were so lucky to be invited up to the North Shore to Annamarie's parent's cabins which are absolutely spectacular. We visited Gooseberry Falls, ate great food including Annamarie's famous chocolate chip/banana pancakes, Mike and Jason went fishing with Larry, canoeing, dinner at Betty's Pies, Kim had her first viewing of Ace Venture :), and of course the cousins were able to spend time together (although Dominic and Xavier are the more active of the three at this point!). One can't ask for much more!