It’s hard to believe it’s been three years. It seems like just yesterday we held you in our arms, sleeping peacefully after the tough work of being born.

Precious and peaceful, screaming and shouting, laughing and dancing, running and jumping, talking and singing, hugging and cuddling, joyful and tragic, we love you so dearly, our little big man!

I hope your day is magical and amazing, because you certainly are.

On that day you were so small and frail, yet also so very very strong. And the strength of mind and body you showed in your first few minutes of life has persisted and grown. You are so very strong, so exceptionally smart, and so touchingly beautiful, my girl. Not a day goes by when we don’t pause and consciously consider how very proud we are of you and all you have achieved. And every day holds the strong promise that you will achieve even more.

You have achieved so much this year. But three things stand out. First, you have learned to swim. When we enrolled you in the local infant aquatics class you were practically afraid of the water, and unwilling to put head under. It was a struggle, but over the course of six weeks of daily lessons you learned to overcome your fears and “swim, float, swim” your way across the pool. Swimming now brings you great joy — you appear so utterly confident and happy when you are in the water — and we are proud of how much physical confidence, skill, and grace you have gained from this experience.

Second, you have learned to read. You can now read entire books (the “Bob” series has been especially fun for you), and are eager to read words on signs when you see them. As a result you started kindergarten early this year, joining the “Grizzlies” class at Sunset Daycare half way through the year. And despite joining in “late”, your teachers report that you’re doing great, keeping up, and even teaching the other kids a thing or two. It makes us so proud to know that you’ll be entering “real” kindergarten this Fall well ahead in reading and math. Go Anna go!

Third, you’ve demonstrated that you can be a fantastic big sister to your brother. It brings us such joy to see you two talking to each other and playing with each other. He loves you so very much, and looks up to you, and you return the love with a caring, tender heart.

Thank you, Anna, for being part of our family, for letting us love you, and for giving us so much love in return. Happy birthday, little big girl! We love you!

It seemed like only yesterday that you were born. I remember holding you in my arms, touching your soft face, amazed at how perfect you were, and how happy we were to have you join our family.

How the time has flown! How you have grown! You look like an adorable little old man in your big boy clothes, stomping and running and “Daddy, big jump”-ing around the room. Fearless, and totally heedless of gravity you roll and wiggle and climb your way around and over and through any obstacle like the little monkey you are.

Your vocabulary is stunning at times (“pyramid”), and you are nearly speaking in full sentences (“Anna, I watching the balloons”, “Daddy, please read me book”). You know all your colors, and can count all the way to 12 in English and sometimes in Spanish too. Your ABCs are not far behind. Your teachers have been amazed. We constantly hear people tell us how smart you are, how polite and “present” you are, and it is a joy to see how many new things you are learning each and every day.

You bring joy into any room. No one can resist your amazing smile. You adore your big sister and your cat Max (“I go pet him. Give him huggies.”), and most days they adore you right back. You look forward to meeting your friends each day at daycare (especially little Winter, whom Anna assures you you will marry some day).

We miss our baby boy, and your momma cried the day you got your first haircut. But we also shed proud tears as we think of how much you have grown, how much you have accomplished in this last year, and how much we look forward to watching you become.

Precious and peaceful, screaming and shouting, laughing and dancing, talking and singing, hugging and cuddling, we love you so dearly, our little big man!

Thank you, Noah, for being part of our family, for letting us love you, and for giving us so much love in return. Happy birthday, little one! We love you!

Four long and too short years ago you were born into this world. Our firstborn, our much beloved daughter, and our favorite girl in the whole world.

This past year seems a blur, filled with so much activity. You’ve spent your time this past year learning to ride horses and having fun learning gymnastics. So much energy! Naps have become a thing of the past this past year. It wasn’t too long ago when we were worried if you’d ever learn to run and jump, and now it seems that running and jumping are all you ever want to do. Which makes us as proud as we are tired.

You’ve done a great job in preschool this past year, and we’re amazed you’re already learning to read. Soon you’ll be reading to us and your little brother whom you alternately adore and despise, in roughly proper measure.

Two casting camps and a trip to Alabama were highlights of the year as we continue to work to make your left side stronger. Thank you for putting up with all that, and with the constant reminders and exercises we make you go through each day.

Four going on fourteen, your parents frequently say. Precocious and demanding and joyous and laughing and screaming and kicking and beautiful and snuggling and saying such grown-up things.

Thank you, Anna, for being part of our family, for letting us love you, and for giving us so much love in return. Happy birthday, little one! We love you!

You arrived a little early, eager to meet your momma and daddy and your big sister and your beloved Max, and to start to get to know the world. Like your sister you were strong and vital from your very first moments, and you remain so to this day — such an active, curious, rambunctious little boy.

What an amazing person you are. There is such a sense of peace and presence about you. And joy! A basic, fundamental happiness.  Your smile is a weapon you wield quickly and eagerly, and to devastating effect alongside your beautiful blue eyes. Together, they melt hearts and seem to solve any hurt.

In your constant learning, you teach us new things every day. Your enthusiasm and optimism and curiosity bring us all such joy. More than anything you constantly remind us to relax and see the world through your new eyes and enjoy these first learnings once again. It is such a joy to embrace you and your sister and each other and appreciate each new moment together.

Thank you, Noah, for joining our family and for and teaching us so much. Happy birthday, dearest boy. We love you, and are so very proud.

April was… filled with birthdays! Happy birthday dad! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to Roby and Colin! Anna helped make cakes and blow out candles and open presents. Yeah cake!

Noah’s growing like a weed. Huge thunder thighs on the boy (check our pics on Flickr), but otherwise he’s just pretty large-ish like his sister was. Such a happy kid, though, full of smiles and smiles and more smiles. He generally behaves himself except right around Anna’s bedtime when he gets grumpy and starts to lose his little mind.  Yeah, bedtimes are tough these days in the Enssle household!

Anna’s been doing well. She’s getting more and more used to Noah every day, and she’s even being really sweet and loving with him lately. (Though from time to time she does ask us when we’re going to get her a sister…). She’s pretty much adapted to preschool, and is doing well there, too. We just had her evaluation with the school district therapists and, contrary to our own expectations, we’re probably going to “mainstream” her and keep her at Burlington instead of Tiny Tim. The hope being that she’s enough of a social butterfly that she’ll work hard to emulate the other kids and what they’re all doing on the playground and in the classroom.

Meanwhile Tara’s been somehow managing to keep up with a sysiphean workload. She’s back to work part time, and balancing all the drama at work with Anna’s horseback riding, PT, OT, preschool, and daycare appointments.  Oh, and the whole breastfeeding thing keeps her running on about 3-4 hours of sleep a night. I’d like to say I help out but it really seems like a drop in the bucket these days compared to her crazy schedule. (Thanks hon!)

Debbie joined us for a week, and it was wonderful. I think she had a great time with the grandkids, and she was an enormous help around the house. With her help we’ve finally got Noah’s room painted, curtains hung in the living room, some furniture re-arranged, and mostly caught up on laundry. Oh, and we ate well, too!

Work has been good for me. We’re busy! Very busy! Which is great in this economy, so I’m not complaining at all. Frankly, I’ve been spoiled of late, since Tara managed to let me sneak away for a couple days of camping and rock climbing with the guys from work, and then to a conference last week in Vegas. (‘Twas my first time in Vegas! Wow. It’s full of stars…). I owe her lots and lots of babysitting.

Max is annoyed at the dearth of lap real estate these days, but he’s getting by as best he can.

Well, enough said for now. Hopefully you’re all a little bit caught up. Really just the usual crazy insanity here.

Speaking of other big kids…we have a rather large baby in our house. Noah had his 2 month appointment a couple of weeks ago. The little man tipped the scales at 13 lbs (97+th percentile) and measured 23.5 inches in length (95th percentile)! What can we say…we have large children! Other than his size, he is healthy and doing well. As Neal posted recently, Noah has started smiling and talking a lot. He’s really such a happy baby. Anna’s 3 year appointment saw her measuring at 39 inches tall (95th percentile) and 33.5 lbs (75th percentile). She’s fallen off her growth curve a little in weight, but she had been sick the week prior to her appointment. We aren’t terribly concerned about it and neither is the doctor.

March was a very busy month for us. We did another round of constraint therapy with Anna down at Children’s Hospital. Anna was so cooperative with it all, and gained quite a bit of strength in her left hand/arm during this round. At about the same time, she transitioned from early intervention therapy services to therapy through the school district. She started district-based preschool the Tuesday after her birthday, and seems to like it. I guess I should say we *think* she likes it, but honestly she doesn’t like to talk too much about it, which makes Neal and me a little nervous. We’re also not sure how much “therapy” time she’s receiving and what the level of quality is. The other day I asked her if she’d seen one of her therapists that day, and Anna told me that she had and that they watched a movie. Huh? What’s the therapeutic value of a movie? Having been so incredibly hands-on during Anna’s therapy sessions in the past, not knowing what’s going on while she’s having therapy at school is more than a little frustrating for me. I’m thankful we are able to augment her district-based therapy services with private OT and PT sessions.

This week marks the end of my maternity leave. I’ve got mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I will very much miss my shadow that’s been with me 24-7 for the last 11 weeks. On the other hand, I’ve not had a moment to myself in 11 weeks, so work will be somewhat liberating. I feel less angst about leaving Noah at daycare than I did when I left Anna. Noah will be attending the same daycare as Anna, so the surroundings are familiar to us. We know the caregivers in the baby room (they took care of Anna when she was wee), and have a very good relationship with the center’s director. Still, it’s hard to leave your baby with others because no one can care for him like us. I hope his first day is not too stressful – I imagine mine will be.

I can’t even believe it. It seems like just yesterday. And it seems like ages ago, too. Granny and Papa are coming for a visit next week, and we’ll have a little party with family then.

But today you will open presents from your Grandad and smile.

Today Oma and Opa will come for brunch and give you hugs.

Today you will get to eat chocolate and “pinkalicious” ice cream.

Today we’ll take you out to Red Robin and get you a pink balloon.

Today your daddy and mommy will try their very best to make you laugh and giggle. Because that is the very best sound in the entire world.

Have a very happy birthday, my love!

And here’s wishing you many, many, many more.

Everyone’s doing well. Noah’s still spending the vast majority of his time sleeping (as is only right and good!). Anna is as enthusiastic about her baby brother as you could expect an almost-three-year-old to be (“he’s a real baby!”). Max greeted the newcomer with reasonable interest and has spent most of the afternoon upstairs hanging out with all of us (compare to Anna’s arrival, when he hid in the basement for about a week). And Granny’s been a superstar, handling most of the cooking and cleaning.

We’re off to bed soon.  We’ll see how our first night all together goes — here’s hoping we manage to get a little more sleep than we did at the hospital.

But it’s good to be home.

Note: I just posted the day’s photos on our Flickr site, including a pretty cool video of Anna singing a rousing rendition of “baa baa black sheep, havin’ you da wolf” for her baby brother.