My my, Naomi

Naomi is a hoot. She can say her own name, which isn't new news, but it's cute to hear a 2-year-old say their own name. She used to say, "Yomi," but now she quite clearly says, "Naomi."
Since we've been in Washington DC, she has been excessively clingy. I swear, she would spend 90% of her waking hours within about a foot of me. If I dared leave that circle, she would cry and generally throw a fit. Joy! My favorite was when I'd be in the kitchen, either chopping something at the counter, or especially cooking something at the stove, and she'd come wedge herself between the counter and my legs and push on me, trying to reach my arms to climb up into them.. Yeah, you try sauteing anything like that.
One thing I love, though, is that the moment she wakes up, she'll stumble into my room and climb into bed with me. Occasionally she would go back to sleep all snuggled in my arms, but usually we would just slowly wake up together. If it was before 6:00 (like occasionally when she'd wake up at 4 or so), I'd just take her back in her room and tell her it was still nighttime and have her sleep in her own bed.
While we lived in China she wasn't very snuggly at all, so I've really appreciated this development. Last week she stopped coming in every morning, but now she'll come every couple days or so. It makes me happy.
Naomi's kind of hilarious and likes to laugh. She makes me laugh, though, when she has a runny nose, because she will wipe her nose directly onto the carpet. I mean, it's gross and we have to clean it up, but it's hilarious to see her little pigu up in the air while she's wiping her face on the floor.
She likes to play pretend, and she has a special squeaky voice that she saves for her toys when they talk to each other. She'll play with her sister, and occasionally she gets her feelings hurt when Penny (or other kids) don't want to play what she does. So her lower lip comes out, the tears start, and she comes running over to me to make it all better. It's very sweet, and it means a lot to me to have her trust like that.
One more thing. Naomi loves to say prayers. If we say prayers at the table or before bed, she enthusiastically volunteers to pray. And it goes like this: "Heavenly Father, of the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Usually someone else gets to pray after her, but sometimes we'll let that do the job. Either way, it's wonderful to hear her.