geminigirl | Nov. 20th, 2010

We threw around the idea of selling our house at a loss, buying something new for about the same price that we could sell our house for and rolling the difference into a new mortgage. I'm not sure we'll actually pursue it any further than talking about it and looking a little on line at houses today, but it's an interesting thought.

I keep looking at this photo and wondering where that baby went...

I love that photo of Naomi-we took it last year on Thanksgiving Day, but she's so grown up now. She's not the baby in that picture anymore.

Naomi is fabulously polite-she makes me laugh sometimes. She insists on a fork and spoon at mealtime and will do things like eat string cheese with a fork. If Cayne is walking around without a shirt she tells him "Oh my. Broken!" She says things like "Pardon me." She's becoming helpful-putting on her own shoes and climbing into her car seat-and we remind her how much we appreciate that she's a "good helper" when she does these things. She still surprises me with words I don't know that she knows, which thrills me. She is starting to do things like tell us about being cold and hot. She talks about how the penguin flies. She likes to hide in places, pop out and tell us "Surprise"-it works better if we don't hear her sneaking in...she does whisper but she doesn't always get that the concept is ongoing. She's working on learning colors and does okay with them. She tries to tickle her sister, coming over and wiggling her fingers and saying "tickle tickle." She insisted on taking her "baby" (a small bear that she sometimes carries around the house or pretends to tuck in or comfort) to Costco with us today. This morning she greeted me with a star shaped bead and the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" sort of...apparently in Naomi-land, the song goes:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I do?
Up above world High
Like Diamond Sky
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I do?

Miriam is starting to initiate games like "May I have it back" and "Peek a Boo." She says "Mama." She is very into putting things into/taking things out of containers. She filled an old vitamin bottle with pretzels the other day. She's walking more and more, and absolutely in love with her big sister. I can hardly believe she's almost a year old-it's gone by so very fast.

While I was nursing Miriam recently, Naomi grabbed my breast, squeezed it and said "too small!" Very funny. She also tried to help the baby latch on.

We bought the first of the Chanukah gifts today-we bought Naomi a Crayola digital camera. We saw it at Costco and the child is so very much into her toy camera that we thought she might like a "real" one. It's a 2.1 megapixel camera that stores a few hundred pictures and can be expanded. And you can upload the pictures and edit them. I don't expect great photography but it's a good place to start and I'm sure she'll have fun. Still trying to figure out what else the kids are getting besides a book.

I'm sad that we're not going to be with my family for Thanksgiving. Last year was the first time-we knew we wouldn't be there because I was way too pregnant to travel. And then of course there was the fact that my brother was in a coma. This year the travel would be overwhelming-it's challenging enough to travel with kids, and at the holidays too? Not happening. So I'm trying to plan a Thanksgiving menu and trying to enjoy the fact that I can worry just about the four of us and don't have to cater to the various tastes of my family...for example, there's no question about whether or not the stuffing should have mushrooms in it-it will.

And on the subject of gratitude, I'm grateful for my friends who support me and love me and challenge me and make me laugh. Friends and far are good for me, and it's been especially nice to get to know and hang out with