Nathan will be 3 years old in less than a month! He is still the sweetest little boy I could have ever dreamed of. He is so articulate and makes friends wherever we go. He asks me several times a day, "mama, what's that man's name?" I tell him I have no idea but we can ask him if he wants. Nathan does want. He asks people their names all the time. Some he ends up in a full blown conversation with, some he shys away from. He always repeats what I ask him to repeat though, such as "It was nice to meet you" or "Have a nice day" or "See you next time". If he doesn't shy away from them he ends up telling them WAY more than I could possibly imagine. Most times I don't need to translate any of his sentences to them. People tell me all the time that his speech is amazing. I don't know about that. I just know that this child of mine is amazing to me. He is one of my most precious gifts from the Lord.

Ava, 15 months old now, is very slowly starting to say a few words. She says "up" sometimes but puts her arms out for us to pick her up ALL THE TIME. She gets very frustrated when I don't drop everything and pick her up 3 zillion times a day. She will fling herself on the floor and have a full blown tantrum if I allow her to. She gets angry at the drop of a dime and is convinced that she is in charge! She may be right now, but not for long, if I have anything to say about it - every time I try to do something about it, she outlast me.... She is also saying a very quiet "by by" and waves bye bye. She is very capable of following directions when she wants to - she chooses not to most of the time though. Her will is MUCH stronger than Nathan's ever was - and hopefully will ever be. More times than not, I end up sighing and thinking to myself, "Maybe she'll learn next time� in regards to trying to teach her that it is NOT OK to throw food on the floor or put just anything she wants into the trash or climb onto tables or stand in chairs or take folded clothes out of drawers or play with items that are off limits..... Sigh. I sometimes wonder if she will ever learn. Or if I'll live long enough to see it...

One quick picture from last week. Ava isn't really pointing - she is holding out her arms for me to pick her up. Her fingers just happen to look as though she is pointing at the camera.