The State of the Smiths

The last few months of 2008, Liam nearly had me convinced he was color blind. I swear he was wrong about colors more than even chance alone would predict! But by golly - I think he's got it down! He's even getting gray right these days. Also, he for sure knows six shapes, so at least he isn't TOO far behind Megan (who could do 13+, including trapezoid and parallelogram at age 2). He's talking up a storm, with sentences! Liam started school (daddy and me) this month, so we're expecting an academic explosion, or at least a paint explosion or something similar. This kid is a total clown and LOVES to imitate big sister. We've gotten one pee-pee in the potty out of Liam (probably an accident). Getting out the baby potty seat has only renewed Liam's extreme fondness for toilets. His physique still most closely resembles a protein malnourished African child, but he is healthy and growing, so I guess he is just "small boned."

Megan has been telling us she is four for the last two weeks; her 4th birthday is next Thursday. Everyday I see more and more of myself in her, which is not necessarily a good thing. She's a whiz at logic but can't come up with an original thought to save her life. The inquiry,"Megan, can you make up a story about this picture?" resulted in a full-blown tantrum: "I am NOT going to do it and I am NOT talking to you!" She also does not function well out of her comfort zone. Unfortunately, I can relate. ;) Megan LOVES dancing and ballet, except she refused to go to ballet class, we think because she didn't like being in the spot-light. She does LOVE school and is still super excited about letters and learning to read. Plus, she's been working hard to master writing with lower case letters. Her toys of choice: puzzles, games and art projects (no dolls for Miss Anti-imagination!). Unfortunately, we have to use the same toys over and over and over again. "Megan, can't you do any other puzzle besides Tinkerbelle?" "Nope, I only want to do Tinkerbelle because it has the most pieces (100!)." So not much variety, but you gotta love that attitude!

Mac has found renewed zeal for his fitness quest. In fact, the rumor is he is going to run the Eugene Half Marathon this May, but he doesn't want anybody to know that for certain so he doesn't cave under the pressure. He still writing about fitness at Get Fit Slowly. Mac restarted pre-school this year and gets to go to kiddie music class once a week! He managed to get in one round of golf on a dry day and he'll be more than happy to tell you he shot a 42 on the back nine. I know, I can't contain my excitement either!

As for me, I work, run, and sleep - that's about it. I took second place in "Oregon's only half-marathon in January," which continues my long streak of second place finishes. Always a bridesmaid! There are still a hundred things I'd like to do to the house, but I never seem to have enough time or energy. Oh well, someday. Top priority is getting the new grow light set up; It's time to start spring seedlings! Good thing, too, we've eaten almost everything from the freezer and most of our canned spaghetti sauce, too. Still plenty of green beans, though!

That's the state of the Smiths for the start of 2009!