Have You EVER, in Your Life...

... seen someone clean their cereal or hug thunder? I have! Seriously, I've seen it! This morning, Maya was standing in her tower, eating some Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries (her pick at the grocery store, by the way) and drinking some orange juice. She spilled a little of the juice, so Dad gave her a paper towel to clean it up. After she mopped up the juice, she proceeded to wipe down her cereal, piece by piece. Once each morsel was properly cleaned, she popped it into her mouth and ate it! "Mmmmm... Yummy seerow (cereal)!"

Then, it started to sprinkle outside, and we heard some slight rumbling in the sky. Once the lightening strikes got closer and the thunder picked up intensity, Maya and Dad stood at the window, watching the trees blow in the wind. Maya was intrigued by the thunder, and it quickly became apparent that she wasn't real comfortable with the noise. Every time it would start, she would hold perfectly still, listening intently. Immediately after one particularly loud clap of thunder, she trembled her whole body and exclaimed, "Eww... SARED, tunder, Yiya!" (Eww... scared, thunder, Maya!) Dad quickly explained, "No, punkin, thunder doesn't hurt us. It's just loud noise." Maya replies, "Oh. Saw-ee, tunder. Saw-ee." (Oh. Sorry, thunder. Sorry.) Then she leans forward, presses her cheek on the sliding glass door, extends her arms out wide, placing her palms against the glass, and softly says, "Awwww...". SHE HUGGED THE THUNDER!

So, like I originally stated... Have you EVER, in your life?? What a precious little girl. I just can't get enough of her little toddlerisms. She's just so curious, smart, sweet, big-hearted, adorable... the list goes on and on!

ALSO, all day today, Maya has been singing "Happy Birthday" to me! I'm going to try my best to write it out as she sings it... "Hap hap hoo-hoo! Hap birtay hoo-hoo, Mama! Hap hap hoo-hoo! Yay! (insert big grin, jumping up and down, and clapping here)" Often when she sings it, she'll string together several names or just her own, so it will go like this, "... Hap birtay hoo-hoo, Mama, Papa, Da-ee, Baby, Yiya, Mama...". She's SO stinkin' cute!

I had a great birthday, by the way. We just laid low. Will made an egg wrap for breakfast. I took Maya for a run/walk in the jog stroller, during which she yells over and over, "Run, Mama!", and I do! Will made chicken and veggie kabobs on the grill for lunch. I took a VERY small nap with Liam, which was awesome! I love cuddling with that boy!! We had Jen, Brian, and Max over for pizza and a play date for dinner. Later, the boys went to Culver's and brought home some yummy, yummy custard! It was a really nice birthday!! A quiet day with friends and family... exactly what I wanted!