The Natural Man

In the scriptures and other sources, they state that the natural man (among other various un-heavenly traits) wants what is forbidden. We in our "natural state" want what we can't have. Yadda, yadda, yadda.....do you see where I'm getting at?

As we grow we learn how to be more Christlike and how to overcome the "natural" man. When learning about this in seminary and in EVERY Gospel Doctorine class at BYU I always found myself thinking, "I can see that but children are so innocent, pure and genuinely good."

THEN today as I was preparing some lessons for tomorrow, Cache caught my eye. He had toys scattered all around him. His play mat eqipt with animals that make noises, squeak, light up, crinkle and more stuffed animals over his head for him to swat, pull on and bite. He also had a mirror, keys and trains. For about 5 minutes he was having a blast with these safe, fun, baby toys.

THEN, the CD player and PS3 caught his eye. Off he went, baby on a mission. I watched as he ejected a movie out of the PS3, watched in delight as the CD came out and then continued on to take out the movie with his mouth. I scooted him away and back to his toy haven. I played on the floor with him and when I saw he was happy with his toys, I went back to work. SECONDS later he was back, this time trying to CLIMB (yes CLIMB) our T.V stand and grab the CD player. I pulled him away again, then like de ju' vu the same thing happened. This time he went for the speakers (they are long and skinny) he started chewing on that, when he had toys specially made for chewing right there.

See, baby wants what is forbidden.

So I learned some things today.

1. I suppose we are naturally "man" or whatever. BUT we have the ability to learn, we naturally love and want to be loved and we also want to be the best we can be. I also believe we have parents, church leaders, teachers and life experiences to teach us better. Thank goodness that I have the gospel in my life to help me raise my lil' Cache man .

2. Cache crawls even faster now. He is almost crawling on all floors. No obstacle can get in his way. If there is a leg or a pillow, he will simply plow over it. He doesn't mind if he face plants, he just keeps on going.

3. Cache is getting braver. He used to limit his crawling to where he could see us. This made things easy because we didn't have to block the stairs or worry about him getting into the kitchen. NOT ANY MORE. He noticed that there is a whole new world around the corner. Not to mention he truly is 100% B-O-Y. He is also VERY motivated and one track-minded, he won't quit until he gets what he wants. Today I put one of his toys on the kitchen table. He had been watching from the living room because he crawled over to the kitchen table, reached up for the chair, attempted to pull himself up and after 10 minutes he decided to let my know that he needed help (he cried and stopped when I gave him his toy).

4. My baby is going to lift himself into a standing position (while holding on to something) very soon. I have to add, lifting himself by himself. As we speak his little hands are grasping the couch and I am looking down at his little eyes peering over. He is on his knees and his body is arched. He is trying different ways. Has he fell? Yes =( Scrap on the chin to prove it. He is just to quick. One minute he is fixated on a toy, then something new catches his eye and he is off. Trying to climb or crawling at the speed of light.

5. I need to find my dang Flip to capture all of these moments.