25 Random Things About Micah

1. Micah is all boy when it comes to getting sweaty and dirty...except at dinner time. He is quite particular about his hands being clean and always makes sure everyone at the table has a napkin.

2. He went through a phase where he wanted to grow his hair "long like mommy's." He gave up on that when his hair kept hanging in his eyes and now settles for the shaggy look.

3. If I had to choose just one word to describe him it would be independent. One of his first words was "SELF" and I put it in caps because he always said it very fiercely. I can still picture him struggling to do something and saying to anyone around, "SELF!"

4. He has the most expressive face. He can make the silliest, most serious, goofiest faces and they make everyone laugh.

5. He is in the "how many reasons can I come up with to postpone bedtime" phase. (Is that even a phase or just a state of being?)

6. He would do anything for chocolate and chocolate is even better if it is in the form of M&M's.

7. Even though he knows the name of it, he continues to call the letter M an "up and down, up and down."

8. He LOVES to laugh. At his own expense, at someone else's expense, at something he doesn't even understand, if there is laughter going on around him, he'll join in...most of the time.

9. He has a STRONG temper. And it can be set off instantaneously.

10. Though he adores his brother, he has reached the point where he is tired of doing everything the way Josiah determines it to happen. He is learning to speak his mind, state his own opinions and figure out what he, himself, wants. For example, he invented his own Jujah and Fahvey ("MY Jujah and Fahvey") because he wanted to be able to choose what they did or how old they were.

11. When he gets mad or hurt feelings, his first reaction is to hit.

12. His absolute favorite color is, has always been, and likely will always be blue. Every time he chooses a color, it is blue, whether it is for coloring, for wearing or for eating. All things are better if they are blue.

13. He doesn't really have a favorite movie or TV show. He likes to watch TV every now and then, but it doesn't really matter to him what it is. Just something for a little down time.

14. One of his favorite things to do right now is "type funny words" on the computer. I open a new Word document and he types a random assortment of letters and numbers that I try to pronounce as words. He always collapses in laughter.

15. He is very self-conscious about trying new things in front of others. So much so, that many times he will wait until he can practice by himself and feel good about how he's doing before he will do something new in front of people.

16. He loves bananas.

17. He has a great memory for everyday things like taking vitamins, putting his clothes in the laundry basket and his dishes in the dishwasher however,

18. He frequently forgets what time of day it is. I'd say at least 1/2 the time after nap he says, "Mommy, I didn't even have breakfast, yet." And many times throughout the day he asks things like, "Is it lunch time or dinner time?" "Have we had nap yet?" "Is it bedtime or nap time?"

19. He has no fear, climbs everything and likes doing things that scare the bejeebers out of me.

20. He will get very mad at you if, when he says, "I'm hungry.," you say "Hi, Hungry. Nice to meet you." (But does that stop me? Nooooo...)

21. He has thunder feet. I promise you he sounds like a herd of elephants is coming down the hall, even when he is just walking...even on tip-toe. It's at least ten times lounder when he runs.

22. He sticks out his tongue when doing anything that requires concentration.

23. I'm still waiting for him to decide if he is right-handed or left-handed. Every time I think he's chosen one or the other, he switches to using the other hand for awhile.

24. He's learning to appreciate the rules, though I don't think he'll ever like them. But he's finding out that keeping things fair for everyone includes keeping things fair for him. This is important when you have an older sibling who tries to run everything.

25. Underneath all of the rough and tumble, adventurous exterior, Micah is a lovey at heart. He's the one who chases me or John down when we're leaving the house and yells, "HUG AND A KISS! HUG AND A KISS!"

*BONUS* He points at you with his index fingers for emphasis when he's talking. Like this...this is very typical Micah:

That picture is almost 2 years old and he still does this. Only most of the time now he uses both hands.

25 Random Things about Emilia

1. Emilia loves food. The girl is a bottomless pit.

2. There is only one food that I have found that she doesn't like...bananas. Doesn't every kid like bananas?? Not her. She'll eat them mixed in something but not just plain, much to my dismay because they are the perfect, portable, mushy baby food! I got by with disguising them in graham cracker crumb coating for two days. She busted me on the third. Took it back out of her mouth, gave it a disgusting look proceeded to throw it and all the other pieces from her tray on the floor.

3. She loves being outside. If I go near the door and don't take her out she cries.

4. She rubs her silkie blanket on her cheeks to put herself to sleep.

5. She went from having 2 teeth to 6 teeth in about 4 weeks.

6. SHE TOOK HER FIRST STEP ALONE TODAY! I wouldn't say she's walking yet, but she did take one wobbly-bobbly step unassisted before she fell into my legs.

7. She likes Baby Einstein movies and gets very excited (with flailing arms and legs) when she sees the caterpillar at the beginning.

8. She is my first baby who has really liked Cheerios.

9. She knows the word "no" and will shake her head at me if she's headed toward something she knows I'll say "no" about, but she does (or tries to do) whatever she wants anyway. It's like she's saying, "I know I'm not suppose to do this but I'm still going to make you come over here and stop me."

10. She's a goober. That's the best word I know to describe her. She makes random goofy faces, noises and does other funny, random things that just make me laugh because I have NO IDEA what she's thinking.

11. She loves animals (you already know that, but 25 random things about a 10 month old is hard!)

12. She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES her momma and is beginning to appreciate her daddy, too.

13. Her brothers credit her with saying many more words than she really can.

14. Although she isn't shiny bald anymore, she still doesn't have much hair. I can at least put a bow in her hair, now. She pulls it out, chews on it and then tries to put it back in. It's really cute to see her set it on top of her head and wonder why it isn't staying!

15. She growls. Seriously.

16. Her favorite noise right now is, "Wowowowowow"

17. She likes to hold her toys up over her head in one hand with arm fully stretched out and flicking her wrist...like she's showing it off to everyone. She usually says, "ooooooo" when she does that, too.

18. She streches like no other kid I've ever seen.

19. Her tummy and her neck are her two most ticklish spots, and mostly just ticklish to kisses or zerberts.

20. She really likes the piano, but she pounds on it so hard that I don't let her play very much.

21. My talking Laa-Laa teletubby makes her laugh.

22. She thinks her brothers are the coolest kids ever.

23. Her nails grow super fast and she has scratched her face many times with her nails.

24. She's tough. Most of the time when she falls she doesn't even cry.

25. Sometimes when she wakes up she clanks her pacie down the crib bars like a prisoner with their mug.

*BONUS* She moans when she's falling asleep and waking up.

SNOW!!!!!!!!

I LOVE snow. My mom tells me that when we lived in Wisconsin I would stay out in the snow much longer than my brother and sister and sometimes my lips would even turn blue before I came back inside. These days I might not have the fortitude to stay out until my lips are blue, but I still LOVE snow. My grandparents live in Iowa and it takes real effort not to be jealous of the snowy pictures they send me in the winter. And to be honest, when we lived in Knoxville in the 80's I remember there being much more snow than we get now. But maybe I'm misremembering...All that to say that it has been far too long since we've had a "real" snow here in Knoxville, and I do use that term loosely because we still only had a couple inches. However, beggars can't be choosers and I was just glad that it SNOWED!! Josiah seems to have inherited my love of the fluffy, cold, white SNOW. He was the first one to notice it was snowing. We were playing in the living room when he suddenly said, "Hey, look! It's snowing!" Pessimistic me thought to myself, "Yeah, like it's going to stick." (Especially since it had been quite warm the day before) but lo and behold, it kept snowing and it stuck! Micah was funny because when he saw it was snowing he said, "God answered my prayer! Because I said, "Dear God, please let it snow and stay on the ground so we can play in it. Amen" but wouldn't you know, even after praying that, I had to FORCE him to go out and play in the snow! Emilia did venture out for a very short time, just long enough to sit in the snow and get cold and start crying. I don't have a snow suit for her, so she and I missed most of the snow fun, but we watched through the window and did at least help build a snowman...that Micah tore down in 2.25 seconds. (that's an approximation, but seriously it was down by the time I picked up Emilia and turned around.) Ah well. It's warm again today (in the 40's?) so the snow is almost gone. But it was fun while it lasted!

When the big flakes first started to fall...I was so optimistic, I took a picture because I thought it was my only chance.


The boys pushing each other down the "hill" on the "sled"





Emilia watching her brothers have all the fun in the snow.


Micah, Josiah and the "sled"...you know, they had a great time with it and that's all that matters!


Micah, "licking the snow"


The boys and the one-eyed snowman.


Emilia's ever so brief adventure in the snow.

Like Mommy, Like Daughter

It amazes me how, even at such young ages, my kids are watching me, observing me and even copying me! It's hard to know how much Emilia understands about everything she sees and hears right now, but I am constantly reminded that I shouldn't underestimate her because she probably understands more than I think! To illustrate this point, I have a video for you. Clearly, Emilia has been paying attention to how I call the cats to follow me, and being the animal lover that she is, she is already trying to get them to come to her, too. I've seen her do this many, many times and I'm still amazed that this little 10 month old girl has caught on to this! So, enough with the rambling...on to the video! (And I do apologize for the BAD videography)

Strolling Along

I told you in an earlier post about Emilia and her stroller. She still walks all over with it, but she's started something new with it, too. She puts her toy of the moment in it to stroll around with. When she gets as far as she can (she hasn't learned how to turn, yet) she bends over the back and takes out her toy to play with. I think it's cute! The day I took this picture, the shopping card was her toy.


OH! The pictures of Micah! I finally did get a picture:

He can write his name!! All by himself! Most of the time he even knows the correct names of the letters! :) Yea Micah!!

This last one is a picture Josiah drew for me last night. It's "a big bursting heart with Micah and Mommy and me (Josiah). Micah has the biggest face and mommy is in the middle."

I LOVE getting pictures from my kids. And though I know its not practical to keep it all, part of me wishes I could. Someday, they wont be drawing me pictures and I know I'll miss it. But really, what would I do with it all? So instead I sneak some of them into the garbage can...when the kids aren't looking, of course, because I sure don't want to be the one to tell them that mommy throws some of their precious artwork away!

I'll tell you about the snow later--yes! We have snow!!