A brief update with no pictures.

My title is descriptive, non?

Anyway, I'm a blogging slacker, terrible daughter(-in-law), lazy chronicler of family life, and all around awful person deserving of the worst kinds of flagellation.

*ahem*

Be that as it may, here's an update on how we're all doing, from smallest to biggest.

Lottie: Continues to be tiny. As of 01/16/2015, the day after her first birthday, she weight 17 pounds and 13 ounces (6th percentile) and was 26 inches long (~2nd percentile, but the doctor thinks she's probably a little taller than that). She's apparently quite a lean baby, which is funny because her cheeks are still all chubby and chipmonk-like. She signs and says ten words: Mama, milk, all done, water, kitty-cat, cheese, banana, cracker, more, and shower. She's not walking yet, but she crawls like nobody's business, and she can stand on her own for a long time and likes to walk while holding hands. Personality-wise, she's a bit of a delicate flower. She's very happy and jolly if people are talking to her, but takes it quite personally if you ignore her for even a second, and she wails if she feels slighted. If Jim speaks harshly to her, she sobs like she's been beaten.

Jim: Is huge! He's almost 35 pounds now. His vocabulary is great, and he likes to add little accents now like "oh man." He also likes to be very descriptive. It's not that he doesn't like peanut butter (although he really, really doesn't); it's that peanut butter is "so yucky and bad and awful." Preschool is going well (email me if you need a link to the preschool page, which is probably your best bet for reliably updated pictures of the boy), and he'll be starting Pre-K in the fall. His academic skills are right on track or a bit better than average, but what I'm really excited about is his constant improvement in social skills. He's still rough, crazy, and boisterous, but he gets along very well with other boys and always has a pack of friends to play with at school or at the playground. Girls still tend to find him a little alarmingly wild, though. He's already signed up to play soccer this summer and is terribly excited about it, and we're thinking about swimming lessons, too.

Leah: Is...normal! Not much to report. I'm writing a lot of freelance stuff to earn my keep, and I'm baking a lot more than is good for anybody. Most recent project: Shaker Lemon Pie, which includes the rinds and all. It's delicious stuff, I tell you, but Noah's not a fan. I've also been running a lot to train for a half-marathon in Columbia in March. This morning, actually, I ran a local 5k race and beat my old record with a nice shiny 31:27! I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's terribly exciting, I assure you.

Noah: Is turning into a total meathead! Okay, not really, but he's been hitting the gym a lot (partially because he likes it and partially because Jim adores the childcare there). Aside from that, he's been massively into computer things. Surprise surprise? Maybe not, but he's gotten to do more computer-building than usual, so he's a pretty happy fellow. He's also looking forward to a potential deployment this year, so we'll all see how that goes.

Okay. That's where we all are. I'll see if I can update with pictures soon, but seriously, you know how this goes. Be happy there's a post, okay?