2

Wow. So writing these posts took a lot longer than I originally planned. But that's our life. Which is probably why I was trying to catch you up on 2009 in the first place. And now I'm already way behind on all our 2010 activities. Guess I better get to it.

Our little miss Maya turned 4 in 2009, and it's been so much fun watching her personality develop. She can be very nurturing and motherly for her little brother, but with that comes a tendency toward bossiness. And I like to say that she is the most OCD of all my children. She likes things to be done the right way (ie., her way) or she will let you know about it. But Maya also is very witty and has excellent timing and delivery. She often will make a comment that has Ryan, Jaida, and I, all cracking up just thinking about it days later. Maya loves to run. Ryan will give Maya a "ready, set, go", and she will be off taking laps around the outside of the house with Noah trailing behind for about one lap. Noah loses interest pretty quickly, but Maya will just keep running and running. And then when she's finished she's very excited to show you how hard her heart is "beeping". Maya does not love bugs. Spiders, ants, bees, ladybugs, roly-polys, it doesn't matter. She doesn't like them. One day she was practically inconsolable because there was a ladybug on her shoe. Maya likes to make up songs and sing them to you. She likes to draw pictures and cut them out with scissors. She likes to sleep with her bed covered with stuffed animals and toys and just a little space left over for her to lay on. She likes to pretend she is a puppy. Maya likes tiny treasures and she likes to keep them in a little treasure box. Pennies, buttons, beads, they are all precious to her. Maya is very good at puzzles and can write the names of everyone in our family. Our little lady is so much fun and we feel blessed to have her in our lives.

Our little man Noah turned 2 in 2009. The last 12 months have been monumental in terms of his development. I think he learns new words everyday. Which also means you need to watch what you say in front of him. He is ALWAYS listening! And he is also quite the charmer. He knows how to turn it on when it works to his advantage. His teachers tell me they have the hardest time redirecting his misbehavior when he gives them his best grin. And I know exactly what they mean, he does it to me all the time. But even as charming as he can be, I never know for sure when he comes close to me, with a glint in his eye, what he's going to do. It seems he's just as likely to stroke my cheek, kiss me, or tell me he loves me, as he is to pinch me, bite me, or tackle me. He often will tell me, "Crabs will snap you, alligators will bite you, tigers will EAT you!" And he can turn just about any item into a weapon. His current favorite is using the stick part of the stick horse as a gun or sword. Like Maya, Noah likes to pretend that he is a dog. But while Maya likes you to give her dog commands that she can obey, Noah likes you to give him dog commands so he can look you in the eye and say, "No!" His favorite way to buy time or ignore anything he's told is to say, "One minute." We hear it most often when we tell him not to do something or to stop doing something. He says, "One minute," and just keeps doing whatever he wants. Noah loves to climb and jump. Never was this more apparent then one Monday morning last November when I heard a thump, a door opening and closing, then my door opening, and saw Noah sauntering into my room. Up until that morning, he had been sleeping in a crib. But once he figured out how to scale the side and stick the landing, that was no longer an option. It took awhile to convince him to stay in his bed all night, and it's still not always fool proof. Most of the time, after I put him to bed at night, I won't hear from him again until he comes in the morning to ask me if it's "wake up time". Noah is a character and it seems there's never a dull moment with him around.

I don't tell you often enough what the kids are up to, so I thought it rated an appearance on the top ten.