Well, ummm...

It's been a long time. We've been doing find here, preparing for Alex's 3rd birthday! (All he wants is a "boo coo cay!"--blues clues cake).

Alex's speech is coming along really well and with that comes greater assertion of his will. He's very good at giving me a teen-agery sounding O-AY, MOM! When I ask him to do something. Miriam is discovering that Alex will not always bend to her will. I'm proud of that boy. Miriam is not one to be crossed. He's a brave one.

Last week Miriam hit one of her friends and I grabbed her arm to make her look at me and:
"Miriam! We do NOT hit!"
"Mama! We do NOT pinch!"
"I'm not pinching you."
"Yes, you ARE!"

She's been running around the house barking like a dog and licking people. We have to remind her, when we're out in public, that although she is allowed to bark, licking strangers is a no-no.

Noah has been teething lately is wants to held often. When I get overwhelmed by all I have to do, I remind myself that he'll be little for such a short time. He's really a delightful, loving, smiley little boy. He's almost 11 months old. It's funny that although he has both "girl" and "boy" toys surrounding him, he's gravitated to cars, trains, keys, etc. Although he does also love the little strawberry shortcake dolls. I wonder if we inadvertantly do something that makes him go toward those things. We generally don't hand him toys--we let him discover them for himself.

I do wonder what's up with my children. I could never have weaned either of them by a year (not that I wanted to), not without some drama. Noah is as attached to my breasts as he was 6 months ago. It doesn't bother me, in fact, secretly I'm glad that I must make some fine milk--they both nursed far more than they ate solid foods--even at ten months. Because my doctor suggested delaying solids until a year b/c of Noah's mammoth size, this works out well all around.