Newly Nine!

 Noah, my sweet middle boy, is turning nine today. What a perfect opportunity to celebrate a child who is cuddles and smiles and math genius and cause-of-mommy's-gray-hairs all in one. Here are some things about Noah right now:

Favourite Food: Cake and ice cream, pancakes run a close second and pasta gets honourable mention (except pasta with tomato sauce)

Favourite Books: Bone, Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, For Better or Worse (do you see a trend?)

Favourite Games: Super Marvel Squad, Angry Birds (any variation),

Favourite Subjects: Spelling ("It's so fast!"), Bible ("That's so fast, too!"), Math, Piano

Dislikes: Work, tomatoes, cauliflower, and hot days. (Also zombies.)

What do you want to do when you grow up?

 "When I grow up, I want to marry Emily and build a house or buy a house that is so nice, and buy beds or bunk beds for my kids. And also, I'd get Wii and XBox 360 and Nintendo DS."

 Last week, we studied the story of Midas' golden touch. For their notebook page after, they had to write what Midas learned ("there are things more important than gold"), and what they would wish for if they had had that opportunity. This was Noah's wish:
"I would wish for all the video games in the world, except zombie and monster games."

When Noah was a baby, he was the cuddliest of all our children. He would snuggle right into the crook of your neck with his arms tucked in front of him and go to sleep. Once he became the "middle", there was less time for all those cuddles, which he seemed to handle well, but he still loves his hugs and kisses.

He is a sweet, sensitive boy, but he also likes to play rough-and-tumble--to a point. He gets excited and doesn't always know what to do with himself, which can annoy his brothers and friends somewhat.

He also loves to sing while he does his schoolwork, or listen to music. This annoys both his brothers, but especially Jabin, who would love everything to be perfectly silent while doing his work. Mommy is still working on solutions to the problem...

Noah is gifted in math and music, and although he struggles with the writing process, he has a wonderful imagination that can come up with some really great story ideas.

Noah gave us a scare a couple of months ago when he silently disappeared as we got up to leave the A&W. His boots and coat were still there, but the last I had seen him out of the corner of my eye, he was heading out into the hallway of the mall. Ten minutes of panicked searching in the bathrooms, stores of the mall, and around the outside (at -20C) had Jason and I both (mostly me, I'm sure) starting to become VERY alarmed... when we discovered that he had gone to the bathroom in the handicapped washroom, in a back hallway we didn't know existed, without bothering to tell anyone. He still forgets to communicate things like that because his mind--while fertile--works on only one row of the garden at a time. :-) Despite Jason's and my extreme, obvious concern and reiterations about how important it was to tell us (and take a Bathroom Buddy) when he does that, he still did it the next time we were in the restaurant. Things like that take constant repetition with him. I am encouraged, though, that he is finally starting to remember to excuse himself from the table after a meal... about a third of the time, anyway. :-)

Noah, we are so thankful that you are part of our family--and that we didn't lose you that day! By God's grace, you are growing into a wonderful young man. We are excited to see what the next year has in store for you, Little Big Man.

Happy birthday!