wake up, little gnomers

Whenever I hear Naomi stirring after her nap (notice, nap--not naps), I like to tiptoe upstairs and then open her door very quietly on the off-chance that she's not really awake, but just in between dreams or something. And as I peek in, I see this:

Followed by this:

And then, while I grab a clean diaper and pick up stuff around her room, she's like this until I pick her up:

I have to admit that I like it when she naps, but I also do love to get her right when she wakes up. She's all warm and cuddly and super happy to see me. Well, ok, she's super happy to see whoever comes to get her out.

life is great and i am happy

It's been 9 months and just a smidge more, since this little gnome graced our family with her presence. She is definitely the most opinionated and strong-willed of all three children and as mentioned on many previous occasions, still the loudest. She is not big on routine, especially for naps, but is a pretty good sleeper at night. She has no hesitation in telling you what she wants or does not want. For example, when feeding her, she looks down at the spoon to see what's coming at her mouth and if it's something she doesn't care for, she slaps the spoon with her hand. I suppose many of us would probably choose full-fat yogurt with cream on top over carrots, too, eh? And once she gets her little hands on something she wants (like a bin full of Legos), you have to be both smarter than her and the bin of Legos to pry those little fingers off. She's moved from army-combat-crawl to crawling on her hands and knees (except when on hardwood floors wearing long pants and her legs just splay out under her) and pulling herself to stand on everything. Like Nicholas, who started walking at just 9 1/2 months, we are convinced that Naomi will walk soon. Eek!

At her 9-month check-up, she was 19 pounds (50th percentile), 27 1/4 inches long (25th-50th percentile), and her head circumference was 45 centimeters (75th percentile). Perfectly normal, but we consider her our petite one. Only because we remember (correctly) that the other two were slightly bigger at this age--

Sophia: 21 pounds, 12 ounces (75-90%), 28 3/4 inches long (90-95%) and 48 cm head circumference (which was off the charts, as I recall).

Nicholas: 20 pounds, 10 ounces; 29 1/4 inches long. Sorry, no percentiles, although if I really wanted to, I'm sure I could look it up.

This is Naomi wearing my favorite shirt--if you can't read it, it says: "Life is great and I am happy. All smiles. All of the time." Whenever Naomi gives us one of those "we are so done having kids" days, this is the outfit I put on her and it makes us laugh.

And just so the record is straight, the picture above, was taken after this:

and this:

Despite all her drama, Naomi is loved and we can't imagine our world without her. Anyway, it's hard to believe Gnomers will be one soon. Gosh, it goes by so quickly.

heard at the dinner table

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this day. Thank you for my school teachers. Thank you for my church teachers. Thank you for my ballet teachers. Thank you for my friends. Thank you for my school friends. Thank you for my church friends. Thank you for my ballet friends. Thank you for Barbie. Thank you for my family. Thank you for my brother. Thank you for my baby sister. Please bless that Naomi will stop crying and go to sleep. Thank you for my mommy and thank you for my daddy. Pause. Please bless the food. Please bless the drinks. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

One day last week, one of Sophia's preschool teachers apparently was home sick. And that evening, in addition to most of what she said tonight, Sophia also said, "And please bless my teacher Mary. Please bless that she will feel better soon." And depending on the day, she also prays for her grandparents, her cousins, and her aunts and uncles. And almost everything under the sun. And on the rare sunny days here in Chicago, she thanks Heavenly Father for the sun, her bike, her scooter, and the park.