WOW, I know I am going to miss a bunch of things to tell you about Noa and all that she is doing these days, but I will do my very best.
Our biggest milestone recently was going “pee-pee on the potty” 
She’s been asking to sit on the potty almost every day for about 6 weeks now, and finally, when we were in the States, she asked one day, I took her and she “made a splash” (Daddy’s requirement for getting a treat This was a very exciting moment in Noa’s life, one I hope will be repeated many times in the near future.
Noa’s vocabulary seems to grow every day and she is a MOTOR MOUTH. I love all her little chatter and she is so good at communicating. She is saying 5-7 word sentences now which is pretty crazy. It makes her seem so big. Some of my favorite things that she says:
“Hold you please” (meaning “hold me”)
“Wawa do it” (”Noa do it” – ok not my favorite thing she says, but telling of her stage in life)
“Help me please” (see, she’s not TOO independent yet)
“Meeeesheee” (”excuse me”… it’s the best when she says it to the dog or to Martha when they are lying on the floor in her way)
“Home!!!” (whenever we pull the car into any parking spot. The last few days she’s been rotating in saying “church!!!” every once in a while too)
She still loves to sing and dance and read a ton. When we have our sitting-on-the-potty marathons, she just wants me to sing songs that I can do motions to, or bring her stacks of books to read. Her favorite songs are “I’m in the Lord’s Army”, “Pharoh Pharoh”, The Lord’s Prayer, and “Rejoice in the Lord Always” She also loves to sit with out Trinity Hymnal and just sing…
Here she is, totally influenced by the Japanese who say “peace” when you take a picture.
I am so thankful to have a kid so well self-entertained. While Noa loves friends and loves to be with me, she is very good at playing on her own too. She can sit for so long with her baby dolls or a cell phone or some books or my measuring cups and be completely occupied. She has quite the imagination and it’s fun to see that come out. Here she is, making her important calls while Aunt Martha makes her’s.
The most wonderful thing to witness in Noa’s life this last year was watching her become a big sister. Not just in the moment that Martha was born, but in the months since, Noa has really grown into such a wonderful big sister. She is so conscientious of Martha and how she is doing. She loves to share with Martha and praises Martha when she “shares” with her. She always wants to hold her, hug her, kiss her, make her laugh. It is really incredible to see and I have absolutely loved watching her step into role as big sister. Our big struggle with her right now is that she has gotten a little rough in her loving. Sometimes she squeezed just a bit tight when she hugs or accidentally knocks Martha. We are trying to work on learning her own strength and being gentle.
Noa is such a nurturer in general. She loves babies, even her dolls, and want to care for them. Today in church, when we were praying, she pulled her doll onto her lap grabbed the baby’s hands and put them together like they were folded and whispered in the baby’s ear “Praying, God, shhhhhh.” It was funny and sweet to see her doing the same things that we do and say to her with her baby. She also loves to take care of Rusty, my parents’ dog who is with us these 3 months that they are in the States. She always wants to boss him around, but also make sure he’s got food and water and walks and that he gets plenty of petting. Here she is with a little statue in Nana’s yard. She thought he was just the right size for her to hold and care for.
In the last few months, Noa has really been into dressing up and looking “pretty”. She loves to get her nails painted, but “poppin” (lipgloss) on, pretend to put make-up on, try on shoes, try on clothes, etc. It is so fun to see her girly side coming out and we have fun doing our girly things together. Here she is in my Moroccan scarf and her Moroccan shoes from Uncle Jon, Aunt Maggie, and Annie ’s trip this last summer.
Our friends, the Pfeils gave her this pretty cinderella dress for her birthday. What a treat for her to have a REAL dress-up dress finally. It’s also been funny because she has totally gotten into asking us to draw princesses for her. Every time we draw them, though, they need a star in their hand, I guess because of the wand that came with this dress. So funny! 
We are so thankful for the sweet friends that God has put in Noa’s life, both here in Japan and around the world. She loves talking about her many friends (some of whom are far away and we only see pictures of them). She is great at remembering names, especially of other kids. Here she is at church, with friends Mikuni and Isabel, after falling down from “Ring around the rosie”
And here she is with Minori-chan.
I’ve actually been really surprised with how much Noa picks up and remembers about people. She knows all of her cousins’ names, almost all of her Aunt and Uncle’s names, and most people that we see on a semi-regular basis here in Japan. She also knows the names of sever
al friends just from their pictures on our fridge. It’s amazing to see how much of a “people person” she already is.
Of course, it’s clear to see her favorite people are the ones she is closest to…She loves loves LOVES her little sister, “Baffa”. 
Other things that I wanted to note is that Noa continues to be a great eater. Her favorite foods are still fresh fruits and veggies, green soybeans “edamame”, and anything sweet she can get her hands on. She loves “treats”, as we call them She is taking one nap still, usually around 2- 2.5 hours and sleeping from about 7:30 – 7:30 at night. She is super ticklish and giggly after supper and is always making us laugh with her antics. She has discovered that the best way to get Daddy to stop chasing her or tickling her is kiss him, so she’ll turn around from being chased, and grab his face with two hand and just plant one on him. It is super cute to watch. She still loves to be rocked before bed and is always up for a lullaby and a cuddle.
I wanted to post some photos of the girls’ room. Here you can see their side-by-side cribs. This has been so sweet to have them both in their cribs where they can see and hear each other as they fall asleep and wake up.
And here is what it looks like as you enter:
See that monstrous looking bed? (monstrous for my baby, that is), that is where Noa will be sleeping very soon, I hope. I think it is about that time and so we have started talking about sleeping in a “big girl bed”. I can’t believe she’s old enough to be doing this, and while I am so excited to see her grow and become more independent, it also makes my heart ache to see another symbol of her babyhood fading away…*sniff*
Anyway, here is the side view of their room, with Noa showing it off.
Thanks for bearing with us, if you are still reading this
We’ve actually decided to change our website and probably have two separate blogs. Eric originally started this blog as a way to chronicle our life as missionaries in Japan and a way to keep people posted about our life and ministry. I sort of high-jacked it and made it a virtual scrapbook for our girls as well. So, anyway, this may be my last update on here about the girls’ age updates. I will let you know once I know for sure and what our family scrapbook’s new address will be.
As always, thanks for caring about us and reading about our girls!
Oct
12
