I've been trying to write my dissertation prospectus, so spending free moments crafting words for a blog has seemed anything but enticing. Noah is napping, Matthew is making coffee, and I'm waiting for my sudafed to kick in and relieve me of this awful head congestion I've developed since yesterday . Being sick is no good. No good at all.

Anyway, the kids have been doing cute things and I've been trying to remember them...

Matthew told me this one just a minute ago. It requires some background: Abby has been learning about Chinese New Year and about the animals associated with different calendar years.
As she registered her first "webkin" (a stuffed animal with a website password to the webkinz virtual world on line), she entered in her info. with Matthew watching over her shoulder.
In the Name field: ABBY
In the birthdate fields: Month: JANUARY Day: 16 Year: RAT
No joke. She thought they wanted to know the current year, which she apparently knows is the year of the rat.

Now for a Noah moment: The sweet little dude has been giving us real kisses--sometimes without any prompting. He leans in to our mouths and gently rests his (open) mouth on ours for a second, sometimes two. I got two kisses in a row the other day. He gave Matthew a goodnight kiss last night. He seems to know the word "kiss." I wouldn't be surprised; he gets squeals of delight, smiles, hugs, and praises when he kisses us. It is probably my favorite thing he does. Noah is finally, officially, saying mama (or mum mum). He can also point at what he wants to see-- usually he is pointing at the bikes hanging from our hall ceiling. He likes to stick his fingers in the "cassette" (the intricate circular gear apparatus). He visits the bikes about 20 times a day. He's a grease monkey in the making, much to his daddy's delight.

Another Abby moment: We were watching something on TV-- American Idol, which she loves. A commercial came on for shampoo and Abby piped up:
A: Momma, I really want that stuff for my hair. I want my hair to be silky smooth.
G: Abby, your hair is gorgeous. It is already smooth.
A: But it isn't *silky* smooth. (she said passionately)

Here's a question I wasn't anticipating (it was inspired by a rowdy boy in her class):
"Momma, Adrien says girls are hot. Not like warm hot; another kind. What does hot mean?"
I didn't give her the low down--she's only six, for goodness' sake!

There are more cute moments, but that's all I can recall at the moment. I think we have the most awesome kids; seriously, I never expected them to be so cool, so funny, so genuine, and so loving. We have an embarrassment of riches in this home!