Norah 9 months!

Well, my dears. Another month, and another late post. At the rate we're going, Norah will be telling you how her school day was before we get to a year's worth of pictures. So why keep going? Well, you see, just last week we were reading about Liliana at 7 months, and at her nervous, excited parents in the weeks before Lily was born, and those same confident and excited parents just before Norah was born and we realized this is more than a newsletter- it's a memoir, and a record, and a narrative to enrich the picture book that we all have of our own childhoods. So we're going to keep going. But I digress.


At nine months, Norah is realizing that those legs are pretty useful. Pulling herself up on everything, and taking quite naturally to the idea of walking. And eating- don't feed her, just hand her the spoon, otherwise she simply does not want it. Unless one of the big kids has it- then she'll take anything and everything she can get. And fortunately, she is totally beloved- by Logan, who always makes sure to have an extra bok-u-gon (so?) for her. Kaya, who runs to say good morning when she comes down the stairs, and of course Liliana, whose favorite moment of any day is when Mama walks in holding sisteer to wake her up rather than going alone- "Seester- did you cone to wake me up? I will give her my bear. I played with it when I was a baby, so she can play with it now!"


Speaking of Liliana- she continues to amaze. You can see in the pictures the big girl coming out in her. She's got 3 modes right now- jumping, reading, and playing with dolls- big dolls, little dolls, imaginary dolls. She takes role playing to an incredible level- admittedly, most of the stories revolve around one disney princess or another- but the complexity of her story lines and the way she loses herself in her games is truly amazing to watch.


So, as Winter rolls into Spring and we report and reflect, enjoy the pictures- a double dose- our Christmas trip to Hawaii AND the month of January. Hopefully you see what we see- four amazing kids figuring out how to be themselves and love each other in a crazy house. Norah, I think this is your official welcome month from baby to toddler. Big kids- watch out- there's a new sherrif in town ( :

love,
liliana, norah, marita, and ian

Norah 8 months!

Birthdays! Happy birthday Kaya and Lily. How did 2 and 3 years slip by? How did eight months slip by? The funny things about having kids- your life goes on hold, but you totally don't mind. You're watching their lives pick up steam, and man are they picking up steam. While we wrestle with what to get for Christmas, Liliana wrestles with Logan and Kaya, and Norah wrestles with sleeping and with wanting to be a big kid but not quite being there yet. Fortunately, there are 3 wonderful big kids to help her along- I think she'll get it pretty quick.

What else? A visit from Grandma Alice- always a hit, and Hannukah and Christmas. The kids are always mesmerized by the lighting of the candles, and ecstatic at the prospect of hanging ornaments (and Norah by the prospect of eating the ornaments, of course). Liliana is obsessed with a couple of her holiday books- especially "Light the Lights", which follows a family celebrating Hannukah and Christmas. Everybody's looking forward to Hawaii at the end of the month. Honestly, it was a very quick month, but everybody's healthy and happy. More to report in the New Year.

aloha,
liliana, norah, marita, and ian