Merry Christmas!

Two thousand nine began with me cutting my hours to part time at the mental health center where I’ve worked as a youth psychotherapist for nearly five years. Part time has allowed me to build a much different life than I’ve ever had before. My new life is filled with playing with and teaching a toddler, continuing old and exploring new hobbies, hanging out with old and making new friends, and building a private practice.

Luke continued working as a Critical Care Nurse in the Neuro-Intensive Care and the Burn Trauma Units at the University of Utah Hospital. Most exciting, he was accepted to Oakland University’s (Michigan silly) Advanced Nursing program, to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. We’re still waiting to hear from a few other schools but it looks like we will be moving in the fall. We are DREADING selling our house.

Henry continues to ‘light up our lives and fill our nights with song’ (or crying). Actually he has been sleeping through the night for way over a year. He turns two in March.

Henry speaks non-stop (mostly about tractors and trucks), he loves music of all genres and likes to sing and dance. A few months ago I thought it would be funny to teach him the Flashdance “She’s a Maniac” rapid foot dance and it has, very unfortunately, become his favorite song. He demands to watch the music video 10+ times per day. It’s driving us nuts.

I know every parent brags about their children and thinks their children are the best/cutest/smartest in the world, but Henry really is incredibly smart. He can identify the difference between letters and numbers—knows how to count to three, knows the first several letters of the alphabet (he even sings the ABC song), and knows many colors.

Henry is social with adults and children, befriending people at the store, at church, or anywhere we go. He gets excited about being out and about; he often begs to leave the house when we spend too much time (a couple of hours) at home. He loves spending time outside even in the bitter cold, visiting his “mamma” and “pop-pop” (grandma and grandpa) and all of his aunties and uncle next door, “helping” mommy clean and daddy fix things, and feeding “cows” with Pop-Pop. Mostly, he loves his “kitty.” He loves the cat so much it is adorable. He has never been rough with her (though the reverse is not true) and loves to kiss her, hug her, pet her, follow her around, toss cat toys to engage her, talk to her, etc. I have several names for her and he has learned them all.

We hope 2010 brings you peace and joy.

Love,

Myndi, Luke, and Henry