Noah's Birthday

Hi Sidra,
There haven't been enough posts lately due to technical difficulties and I apologize. I aim to be more regular poster in the near future.
It was your brother's birthday today (Sept 28). He would have been 3 years old. We did what we have done on his last two birthdays. We went to the cemetery to see his grave and leave some stones. Then we went to Doernbecher's Children's hospital and dropped off some gifts for the children there. We usually give gifts that we might have given Noah had he still been with us. You seem to know about Noah, but I don't think you get it yet. You know his picture and can say his name after a fashion but you really don't know how he fits into the family yet. You will. When we do this next year you will have learned more about him and eventually you will know what he means to our family.
We also did a couple of other things with you today since you don't yet understand that his birthday isn't that fun for your mom and I. I am sorry to report that whileyou are not yet two years old you know the word "mall" and said it when we turned into the parking lot. You also recognized Starbuck's and mentioned "tea" when we passed it walking into the mall. Mainly we went there to return some merchandise but it turned out to be great place for you stretch your legs. After a short warm up period you hit full speed and barely slowed down. We had to do a near trot to keep up with you. There was a play area in the mall and you spent some time in there buzzing around in circles. You made it through all the little tunnels and crawl spaces and I think the only reason we were able to get you out of there was that you sped out the exit and before you realized you were out in the open we scooped you up and didn't look back.
Next we were in a clothing store with really narrow aisles and it was a chore tracking you down. You were making cuts like a football player returning a punt for a touchdown. I was relieved to be able to stay on your trail.
Then it was the Zoo. Agian you were fearlessly bound through the crowds there. Occassionally we would corall you into the stroller but you did a lot of walking and running there, too. We saw polar bears, penguins, a beaver, fish, two eagles and some frogs. We didn't see the six week old baby elephant because the line was at least an hour long and we were only staying for two hours.
Then when we got home you went around the local berry field with Jesse(dog) and I. You usually run for most of the way around the loop and it is probably half a mile. When we returned from our lap you saw the new toy shopping cart your mom bought you and you pushed that around the house almost non stop until bedtime. You were like the energizer bunny pretty much the whole day. You were pretty tired when we got you to bed. Through all the activity you had only napped for about 20 minutes. So you deserved to be tired.
There is a missing post since the last one, about your first trip to the emergency room. I still have to get that repaired.
Love,
aba