ayrie and shiya,

you are sleeping so soundly in the room next to me!  I can hear your peaceful breathing and it’s wonderful.  I am trying unsuccessfully to shut off my mind after a 12 hour day at school.

Tonight I had class late as I do every Thursday this semester.  Monica picks you up from school (thank you monica!) on Thursdays and you go back to monica’s house to eat scrambled eggs, build marble towers, play in the leaves/snow/sun and run away from Eryn the zombie.  Tonight you were already showered and in pajamas when I got home at 8pm with wet hair and smelling wonderfully of soap.  Monica was reading you books and you were delighted!  Shiya, you jumped into my arms as soon as you saw me and Ayrie, you dove under a blanket, wiggling and giggling as you tried to hide from me.

Monica left and Ian came down to say good night.  He’s about to leave for Chicago for a week and a half and he always misses you a lot when he’s gone and you miss him.  I mean, who else is going to build snow tunnels with you for hours with cool stairs and crawl spaces besides ian?  Somehow you convinced him to read you books too!  After Ian left I tucked you in and yes, read you more books!  We read “The Three Questions” as we have for two weeks straights.  Shiya, you love the pictures and the sound of Nickolai’s name.  Every time I turn the page and a new animal is introduced you yell with delight.  You start out next to me when I read to you and by the time we get through the books you are on top of me.  Ayrie, you listen intently and study all of the facial expressions.  You are trying to figure something out but I am not sure what it is.

Lately Shiya you have been so in to farm animals!  You play with them, draw them, sing made up songs about them, pretend that they are living in my pockets… and Ayrie, you are learning how to read.  You looked over emmy’s shoulder and read the word ‘wild’ as she was typing it into the computer and you were able to read the names of some of the states when we were putting together the US map puzzle.  And today when I was telling you that two e’s together make a long ‘e’ sound you said, ‘just like when there is a silent ‘e’!”  You are only 3!!!

me: “Ayrie, what do you want to do when you turn 4?”

ayrie:  immediately, ” I want to learn how to jump really, really high! Brady is 4 and he can jump so high.  Right now I can only jump high on the trampoline.”