23 months…

 Everyday life, monthly updates, Noah  1 Response »
Feb 022012
 

(i promised him I’d get this out before he turned 2….we’re getting close though!)

Well, you finally did it. You climbed over your crib rail and let yourself out of bed. We’ve spent the last few weeks trying various things to keep you in. A sleep sack worked for one night and then you figured that out too. Now it’s hit or miss on if you’ll get out or not. The gate is up so you can’t wander but we need to find a better solution soon, i’m nervous about you getting in and out by yourself.

You always tell us it’s “cold outside” in reference to anything cold or outside but not always necessarily together. Like, you’ll grab daddy’s face after he comes in from outside and say “cold outside” or you’ll grab your milk and say “cold outside”…doesn’t matter. Any reference to cold is appended with “outside”. I love it!

You’re asserting your independence more and more. Most days you have to pick out your own clothes. You strip off everything I pick out and insist on doing yourself so I’ve kind of given up. You even wore PJ’s to school today because it wasn’t worth the fight. Dinner time is much of the same. You have to do it yourself or ask for help. If I offer or try to do it for you all hell breaks loose. It’s so cute when you ask for help though…you look up and say “hep mommy” and then I melt.

I plopped you on the scale the other day (after you brought it out to me) and you were 28 lbs. Then I managed to get you to stand still long enough to get a height. 34 inches…almost a full yard!!! We’ll find out at your dr’s appt next month where that puts you. I’ve moved you over to 24/2T clothes for the most part although you still wear some of your 18mo PJ’s.

Lastly, your temper has arrived. I’m attributing it to the early arrivals of the terrible 2′s or possibly the sleep issues we’ve been fighting but man – you can be sweet as pie one second and the next a raging ball of anger hitting and throwing and just yelling like some’s stole your favorite toy. There’s no rhyme or reason most times. Sometimes it’s because I did something that you wanted to do yourself (like open your yougurt) or we had to take a non-permitted object out of your hands (like the screwdriver or the sharpie marker that I really need to remember to take out of the drawer you can reach). Sometimes it’s becuase Macie looks at you cross eyed…or uses her jedi mind tricks to make you think she’s going to steal a toy. I don’t know why most times and often times a modified time out is the only fix (or a bottle of milk, which seems to cure alot). Your MeeMa would say that it’s payback for all the tantrums I threw as a kid (apparently I could throw a fit with the best of them) and perhaps she’s right. Wow, I can totally feel her pain now.

In any case, you always make it better you saying “sorry mommy” (or whatever object you threw) and petting my face (or the object you tossed:) ). Being your mommy is challenging alot of the time but so incredibly worth it.

(and since I’ve been seriously slacking on the photos, here’s a video of Noah’s new trick. I have no idea who taught him this).

Fun in the snow….

 Noah  No Responses »
Jan 212012
 

Last night we got our first snow in a while so even though it was covered with a layer of ice in the AM we bundled Noah up for a quick jaunt outside. He made it about 20 min before he started saying “it’s cold outside”…which is his queue to come back in.

He’s not a huge fan of the snow (much like sand – which will make our trip to the beach in Feb a challenge). He’s fine if it’s not on him. Which means he won’t pick it up and kinda freaks out if it gets on his boots (where he can see it). But, at least he was outside. We’ll keep working on the snow thing.

22 Months….

 monthly updates, Noah  No Responses »
Jan 132012
 

so many weeks late!

He’s just a huge bag of tricks these days (and feels like a huge sack of bricks when you pick him up…).
– He’s talking more, stringing two words together (sometimes three). I love hearing “I love you mommy” or “mommy daddy I you”…
– He’s climbing all over everything and is much more confident on the stairs. Most days he goes up with out holding on to anything and can go down a few steps without help as well.
– He can jump off the ground and both feet clear. He’s getting more and more height as the month wears on. He loves to jump jump jump…
– I stuck him on the scale this AM and it said he was 28lbs so he seems to be holding stead (although it doesnt feel like it).
– I still can’t/haven’t nailed him down to get a height. I guess we’ll just have to wait until his two year appt next month.
– Gosh, this is what I get for not doing these on time…i’m merging this month and last month:) oh well..

I’ve already started thinking about his 2 year party. I swore to myself we’d keep it family and close friends but as I assemble the guest list it just keeps growing. I can’t help myself. I just need a theme now…Thomas is so over done but he loves it so much…

Well hello there….

 Everyday life, Noah  No Responses »
Jan 122012
 

Long time no post, I know. I have a good reason but will have to fill you in later:) I had so many posts planned but never got around to actually writing them. I even had pictures! Perhaps soon….

Anywho, we went to the National Zoo the other weekend and thought I’d drop some pics on here for your enjoyment (and my mothers request:) Hi mom!).

My inlaws for down for the weekend and we just happened to have an amazing 60 degree January day so off to the National Zoo we went. What a great time was had. Not all the animals were out but the most important ones were – the lions! We all know how much Noah looooooves lions! All the other animals were cool but it was the lion den we couldn’t tear him away from. He stood in awe as they walked back and forth. All at once the male started to vocalize and Noah roared right back at him!!

We were waaaay past nap time and I’d half expected him to crash on the way back to the car but no, he wanted to watch and check out everything as we walked back. We strapped him in and listen to him roar for a little while and then he fell suddenly silent. I looked over and he was out for the count. He slept the whole way home and even let us carry him upstairs and put him in his crib to finish the nap. I think he had a good time.


(check out the new gallery! Now you can page thru the pics instead of clicking one by one!!!)

Noah’s Day….

 Everyday life, Noah  No Responses »
Dec 182011
 

We declared today “Noah day” and started bright and early for his first real train ride (well, Metro train but train none the less). Our destination was the Natural History Museum in downtown. They had a great fossil exhibit with life sized T-rex skeletons and other dinosaurs that we thought he’d love and we were right!

He was mellow and kind of timid on the metro in. It could have been that he was a bit sleepy and it could have been the new experience but for the most part he just hung out in DH’s lap looking out the window. Once we got to the city it was a cold walk across the mall to the museum. Noah was all bundled up so I think he could have gone for miles, the rest of us not so much. I was happy to get inside (and subsequently strip off all the layers).

It was early in the morning so things were still really quiet. We made a bee line for the butterfly exhibit because DH missed that last time and didn’t want to this time. What a cool exhibit! It did cost $6 to get in for DH and I but it was so worth it. They led you thru an airlock and on into the enclosure. It was hot and humid and just crawling with butterflies! They were flying everywhere! Noah called them “planes” at first until we could get him to understand “butterfly”. It was great watching him oo and ah and track the flying critters.

After that we moved on to some boring stuff like rocks and gems and the Hope Diamond! Haha…boring for Noah anyways. The saving grace was that they had a bunch of things at each station to touch so we let him down and let him manhandle the rocks. A quick diaper change and some lunch and we moved on to the main event…the dinosaurs! He ooed and ahed and roared to his hearts content. I let him down to walk and he ran back and forth between the various pieces of the exhibit pointing and saying “tell me” which is his way of asking that things are. We found him incredibly brave when the big teeth were a good distance away, as soon as you held him closer his tune changed and all he wanted to do was hug your neck. It was so adorable.

From there we headed to the mammals and the ocean rooms. He was all about the monkeys once he realized what they were. He pointed out the horses too as he saw them. Soon it was nap time and DH and I knew he’d never nap in there. So, we headed to the museum of Art in hopes of boring him to sleep. It worked!

However, once he was asleep we both realized that a trip down into the metro would wake him immediately so we walked till our feet hurt and then found a spot to sit and wait out the rest of the nap. It was then that we heard this loud ruckus coming from down the hall. The banging was followed by singing. Intrigued, DH and I (along with Noah) strolled down to hall to find a high school choir set up and singing an African drum song (with drum and clapping included). Seems we timed things exactly right and enjoyed a free concert from the Central Bucks Highschool – West’s choir in the Rotunda of the National Art Museum. Mixed in with their normal set (which included songs in Latin and Hebrew – acapella!) they wandered into the audience and encouraged us to sing along as they sung familiar Christmas carols. They were exceptional (had me in tears a few times) and it was the perfect way to cap off a great day. Noah napped clear until the very end.

After all that we headed back to the metro for our trip home. This time Noah was refreshed from his cat nap and was bouncing on the seats and just having a great time in general. He was chanting “choo choo” pretty much the whole way home (thankfully it was a pretty empty train and no one seemed bothered by his gleeful screeches).

We had one more adventure in painting this evening but I’ll save that for another blog spot and series of pictures, this one is long enough:) On to the pictures!

Tornado!

 hilarity, Noah, Uncategorized  2 Responses »
Dec 122011
 

For some reason Noah woke up very very early (5:30am) and just didn’t want to go back to sleep. Mamma didn’t want to wake up for the day yet so I figured I’d find the best of both worlds. I parked myself with a blanket and a pillow on the floor of his nursery and shut the door. I figured he could just play around me.

I woke up and hour or so later to this:

Notice the toys clustered around the pillow, where my head was. I ended up with a few in my face but nothing enough to wake me up I guess. Aside from the hour that this took to clean up, he had a great time and momma got her much needed beauty sleep!

Night time diaper change up…

 cloth diaper, Noah  No Responses »
Dec 072011
 

So, our cloth diapering has taken another turn and presented a new challenge. Nothing like keeping you on your toes! Noah’s been consuming milk and water like it’s going out of style (to the tune of 8oz of milk and 12 oz of water before bed – not to mention the 6,8,12 oz of h2o or milk in a sitting during the day!). He’s been peeing thru his diapers left and right. We’ve adjusted our daytime changes to happen more frequently or closer to the times he consumes those vast quantities of liquid but at night we have a whole different challenge – I’m not waking a sleeping baby!

I’ve tried cutting him back to just the milk bottle but he just stands in his crib and cries. I even let him cry it out for like 10 min before my heart broke and I gave in. I filled his cuppy and he was out in 5 min! So…it seems we’re left with a camel of a child whose diapers cannot contain the river of pee he generates. I gave up for a while and used disposables at night out of shear desperation (mamma needs her beauty rest!) but then was mad at myself because we’ve made it 21 months without having to resort to disposables for more than just an occasional thing. So I was on the hunt for ideas. We tried all hemp, we tried more pads, less pads, tested the diapers for repelling, bought new diapers…nothing was working.

It wasn’t until I was organizing his diaper stash that I remembered he had a few wool shorties that I bought back in the day. At the time they were a little large and I just didn’t quite have the hang of them so we tossed them back to the back of the rack. If you’re read on here before, wool is amazing at absorbing moisture. Plus it’s antimicrobial and some how doesn’t retain the toddler pee smell even if it gets a little damp. So, it was worth a shot and I’m sooo happy I tried it. He had a dry night in what seemed like forever. Trying to prove it wasn’t a fluke we tried it again the next night…dry again! Woohoo…

Slowly I stopped worrying about how much he drank in the evenings and came to love that the woolie has stood up to the test! So, for those interested, here’s the system:
1 BG 3.0 whose PUL is questionable
1 microfiber insert
2 joeybunz hemp inserts
1 woolie over all of it

Plus we put him in fleece PJ’s because it’s cold in his room which acts as yet another barrier since fleece has great moisture properties too. In the AM the woolie is a wee bit damp and the inner diaper is soaked. I just turn the woolie inside out and lay it flat to dry. We’ve used it for a week and it still doesn’t smell – color me impressed! I ordered two more off etsy last night so we have some to rotate thru as they need washed and I can’t wait for them to arrive!

The bonus? Noah loves is “undies” to the point where he cries if I don’t put them on fast enough! Win win!

Snuggling

 Noah, Sappy  1 Response »
Nov 302011
 

Noah’s been on a bit of a sleep strike lately. I blame it on his two year molars – 3 months early:) Or the stuffy nose that seems to just show up once we hit November…either way he’s been waking at 4 or so and just wanting to snuggle. Problem is, he’s so big that it’s hard to snuggle in the rocker like we’ve always done in the past and he’s still in the crib so climbing in with him is out of the question. So…in an act of desperation and need for sleep (for the both of us), I brought him back to bed with me. DH warned me that this could become a habit but honestly, the sleep is not the most restful so I don’t think we’ll find ourselves in that spot. I’m aware of him in our bed and have an arm out to keep DH from rolling back on him plus the little bum in the face or feet in the stomach as he finds a comfy position is bothersome.

That said, I can’t tell you how much I love waking up nose to nose with him and watching him break out into a huge smile and giggle as he pats me on the cheek saying “mamma nose” or “mamma eyes”. Or when if I wake up before him and he’s laying there all stretched out, arms up over his head and his legs straight out below him.

Anyways…I’m not going anywhere with this other than waxing over my snuggly little man:)

21 months!

 monthly updates, Noah  No Responses »
Nov 272011
 

and just like that we’re another month closer to being a 2 year old (and weeks late on his update). The terrible twos have started to rear their ugly head as Noah tries to assert his independence with “no” or “noah” when he wants to do it himself. Most of the time it’s cute…others? Not so much. Timeout is slowly gaining popularity in our house.

It’s been a busy month with hikes, trips to park, driving to see friends. You name it and we’ve probably done it or thought about doing it this month. In all the craziness and driving we’ve found that stickers can keep a babe occupied for hours as will my phone with either movies of him on it or toddler lock…

Stats for this month:
- 26ish lbs (he won’t stand still)
- 32ish inches (again, this standing still thing is an issue)
- lots of words and babbling. He’s starting to string two or three together…like bye bye doggie, what’s that? etc… He’s constantly babbling and more and more I’m hearing real words in his babbling.

This kid is non stop! From the time he wakes up until he naps he’s just one big ball of motion. It’s exhausting but so amazing. I just love his sweet little smile or the way he says “mama” when he wants something (followed usually by “peese” or “now!”)…

There’s no movement on the potty front, he still likes to sit on it but nothing has happened yet (well, there was one fluke that we made a big deal of but he was so confused…it hasnt happened since:)). It’s still early and I’m letting him lead for now we go with it as he shows interest.

Anywho…I’d promise more posts but life has been crazy lately. Perhaps I’ll find some time to queue a few up:)

Lazy but cute post…

 Noah  1 Response »
Nov 112011
 

We’ve been busy around here but I did manage to get some cute video of Noah dancing and playing with his car.

Enjoy, I’ll try to write a real update soon:)

Choo choo….

 Noah  No Responses »
Oct 292011
 

Noah really loves making vehicle and animal sounds and one of his particular favorites are trains. “Choo choo” is the first thing out of his mouth at the site of a train (and sometimes car or truck too..we’re still working on that..). Anywho, we took a trip to the mall the other day and they have a train that drives thru the corridors and I knew as soon as we saw it drive by that I’d be riding it later that afternoon.

He really had a great time. Smiling ear to ear when he saw daddy waiting along the path for him! I had to pry his little hands off the door when the ride was over, he didn’t want to get out!

I so love this age! He gets so much joy in the simplest thing and that’s amazing to me. His laugh or quick “i wuff ew” can turn any day around and I just melt when he diggs his little head into my legs as he hugs tight. Gahh…I love that little boy!

20 Months!

 Monday Minute, Noah, Sappy  No Responses »
Oct 242011
 

Woah…just stop right this second, we’re into the last quarter of his second year of life! In just 4 short months my little man is going to be 2 – oh my. When the heck did that happen? We’ve been having so much fun the last few days that I wasn’t until my Babycenter monthly email arrived that I remembered his birth anni!

This month we’re free of dr’s appts so I’m guessing he’s 26 or 27lbs. He’s gotten a bit taller and if I can nail him down for more than 2 seconds I’ll see how tall he is. He’s at least counter height if that’s any indicator and those little arms are about 1/2 a counter deep. I know this because he can reach way more than he used to. He’s even figure out that his little drum make a great step in a pinch.

He’s very verbal but still not really stringing stuff together. He knows what he wants and can communicate it, just not in any type of sentence form. We get alot of “dis” (what’s this?) and “down” (sit down! or get me down!). He’s getting really good at Thank you, Mommy and Daddy. Tree and boordie (birdie) are favorites as well. He knows that he has to wear a “hat” if he’s going for a bike ride and certainly knows “no” when he doesn’t want something.

This Halloween he’s going to be a lion because his favorite thing to do is find the lion in his 100 words book and *roaaarrrh* (hand motions included). He roars/growls for bears, gators, dinosaurs, and other menacing creatures. Speaking of the 100 words book, he knows what most of the objects are if you ask him to point them out. We’re now working on getting him to say what they are or find them for us.

He loves to dance and sing to his silly songs CD’s and asks for his Calliou DVD by name (infact, he chants Calliou if you don’t respond quickly enough). I’m trying to placate with silly songs vs. allowing him to watch TV but there are just some times you need to get stuff done and Calliou keeps him engaged for 20 min at least! He sings along to the ABCs and will do the motions for Head, shoulders, knees and toes.

He amazes me at every turn. The things he know and understands just blows me away. I still can’t believe he’s mine and that I get to keep him (although on some days sending him to live at his grandparents is an appealing choice). His kisses are sweet and my heart just melts when he yells “mommy” and then wraps his little arms around my legs or neck for a hug. He makes us laugh all the time (and some days makes me cry but I guess you need the hard days to enjoy all the others). We’re truly blessed to have an amazing little man like him.

OBX…

 Noah, photography, Travel  1 Response »
Oct 082011
 

I’d planned on a series of posts about our adventures to the OBX (Outer Banks, NC for those not down with the lingo) but seeing as it’s taken me two weeks to even get thru the pictures we’re going to cover it in one big one with lots of pictures!

NOTICE: SKIP TO THE BOTTOM IF YOU JUST WANT THE PICTURES….I won’t be offended (well, at least not a lot offended)

Overall our week in the OBX was thoroughly enjoyable. In the days leading up to it the weather outlook was bleak. They were still recovering from the hurricane and then tropical storm and the weatherman was not hopeful we’d have any sun. We arrived to lots of rain and stormy seas and had to unpack in very wet conditions. Fortunately for us the rain stopped around dinner and we were able to get our first glimpse of our beach. It was rough and stormy and there wasn’t much to it but it was our beach!

Where I’m more prone to grab a book and read on the beach, DH (and his parents) are doers. They like to get out to do and see things. It works well with a toddler that gets bored quickly so everyday there was an adventure or two. We hauled our bikes the whole way down there so on three of the mornings we decided to take them out for a spin. First day we started at our house and rode south into Duck and around. We rode thru neighborhoods and down to the beach and back. As we were making our way back to the house we decided to huff it up one more set of little hills and *snap* DH’s chain breaks. This was the first of three bike related calamities!

Day two of biking we rode north. About 5 miles in I noticed my ride was getting a little tough, kind of like I’m plowing thru sand. I looked back and my rear tire was low. We stopped for a second to check it out (in a bad spot where the mosquitoes were munching hard on us!) and you could hear it hissing. DH always carries a pump and a spare so we just had to roll to a more convenient spot to fix it, no problemo. Haha..right! The pump didn’t want to work so we were sunk. MIL and I worked our way back to a nearby diner (me carrying my bike because it wouldn’t roll anymore) and DH and FIL headed back to the house with Noah to fetch the car. DH spends the rest of the afternoon trying to get my wheel fixed so we can go out again later in the week (which yields ride #3 and flat #2 – this time on DH’s bike, not mine!)

On the days we didn’t ride we went out and explored Duck and the surrounding areas on foot. There was still quite a bit of debris and standing water so places we’d normally be able to go were close or so mosquito infested that it wasn’t worth it. There were tons of shops and stuff to keep us busy. DH even played the part of my hero when I dropped the camera lens cover off the side of the boardwalk into the water and he climbed down to retrieve it!

Later in the week the weather they’d been talking about all week finally arrived we spent the day at the aquarium on the main land. It was a nice change and Noah really enjoyed himself. He actually sat down with DH and watched the divers shows in the big shark tank! I couldn’t believe (nor could I believe that I ran the whole way back out to the car to grab the dSLR because it’s better in low light only to find when I got back to the building that I forgot to swap the battery and it was dead – oops).

Anywho, I’ve talked enough. On to the good stuff…

19 Months

 monthly updates, Noah  1 Response »
Oct 012011
 

So I’m a few weeks late on this. If it means anything I created the post on the 23rd…it just took till now to fill it out:)

He’s growing by leaps and bounds, with each passing day I see more comprehension and more communication from him. He’s 26lbs and 34 inches tall and he looks like a tall skinny little boy it’s so crazy! I’ve noticed that while he’s really verbal, he doesn’t really say much. Just lots of babbling with occasional comprehensible word thrown in. He can usually get his point across. I’m not worried mostly because his spatial and reason comprehension is very good. You just watch as the little wheels turn in his head as he figures out how to undo the buckles or latches on the toys he has or works thru the puzzle to put the pieces in the right spots.

Coloring is a favorite past time as is pushing things over to whatever he can’t reach and then climbing up. He knows his animal sounds and most of his body parts and can point out most of the objects in his 100 words book when you ask what things are. I can even get him to participate in the “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” song which is soo much fun.

He’s a hugger and a kisser (but only when he feels like it) and he’s spontaneously affectionate (melts my heart when he runs over and hugs my leg and says i wuv oooo!). His mood is almost always happy except on the days where he gets up on the wrong side of the bed, then it’s just miserable all day. I never look forward to nap and bed time more than those days.

This past month we spent a week a the beach (as you’ll see in upcoming posts if I ever get to write them) and after a quick introduction to sand he was all about walking around and digging. I think he favorite part was the bike rides. He loves that little trailer.

Anywho…I can’t believe we’re in the last few months before he turns 2! Where does the time fly!

Word{ish}less Wednesday – The many faces of Noah

 hilarity, Noah  No Responses »
Sep 072011
 

Looking thru some old pics I had to laugh at all the funny faces Noah gives us…

Zoo Fun….

 Noah  No Responses »
Sep 062011
 

Driving around the area where we live, you’d never guess there’s a 30+ acre zoo with Kangaroos, Llama, Monkeys, and the like within just a few miles of us. I think it’s an awesome hidden gem in our town that I know we’ll take advantage of more as Noah gets older. Just a 10 min drive and $24 (plus a cup of food to feed the animals) we had a few hours worth of entertainment for everyone (plus we got to work on our animal sounds!)

The first thing we ran into were the prairie dogs (which were new this trip). Noah was instantly intrigued and our time in the stroller came to an abrupt halt. He wanted out to explore on his own. We spent the next hour hopping from birds to horses, owls to snakes, pigs to goats and monkeys. We even saw some Kangaroos!

Kangaroo!!!

Checkin out the piggies

Aww...they're cute when they're this tiny...

Trying to get to the piggies

Checking out the goat...before it ate his hand...

Then it was time for the safari ride! They have to giant tractors that pull trailers thru the 30 acre preserve and the best part is the animals approach the wagon for a closer look (hoping you have food for them). They have a bunch of prong horn type guys, llamas, ostriches, buffalo and watusi.

Invasion...

Watusi?

Buffalo!!

Let’s revisit that Watusi thing…

Watusi....


WTF!

These guys have the most enormous horns that just look freaky as they jut out from either side of their face. They hail from Africa and the largest set of horns on record were 36.3 inches around and something like 12 feet tip to tip. That was over 100lbs of horn on either side of their head! They were really curious of our wagon but forgot about the size and presence of their horns so you have to watch yourself.

Towards the end of the ride Noah started to nod off (and leak thru his diaper – beautiful) which was our signal to make our way back to the car. A quick covert diaper change in the corner, a few more monkeys, an alligator, and a lemur and we were on our way home. Seeing that we were approaching nap time, I was proud of how well he kept himself together as we worked our way back out to the car.

That was the perfect way to spend the morning as a family:) I loved watching Noah’s face light up as he recognized the animals from his books (and met new ones). I can see us using this Zoo alot as he grows older.

A lazy post…

 hilarity, Noah  1 Response »
Sep 052011
 

Lots going on here so I’m going to be lazy with this post and give you videos:) It better represents Noah lately anyways:)

He’s to the spontaneous affection stage much to the dogs dismay. DH came down stairs to find him chasing the dog and kissing her. He managed to catch this bit on video.

I found him doing the same to his sock monkey this am (and he’ll kiss us too, it’s just harder to film).

This one he’s demonstrating his new trick – animal sounds!!! We work on them in the AM on our ride to school. Ignore the bottle, most of the time he takes a sippy. Sometimes however he gets in a mood and the bottle is the only thing he’ll drink from. This is a battle I’m choosing not to fight yet.

(as I was uploading and watching the video, Noah heard it and started making the sounds along with the video…so funny:) )

Silly Songs….

 Noah  No Responses »
Sep 032011
 

Noah loves his silly songs CD….

(this one’s for gramma:) )

Hurricane schmurricane….

 Noah, photography  1 Response »
Aug 292011
 

So this weekend was a bit damp and breezy thanks to Hurricane Irene. We were cooped up inside most of Saturday while it rained and blew and Noah was in rare form. I guess he woke up on the wrong side of the bed and just cranked alllllllll day. Topped off by not being able to go outside (and the fact that he could see his swing on the floor of the sun room) we were a bit miserable.

Momma took a quick break around nap time to get a hair cut at a real salon (yes, there is a difference between a $30 Hair Cuttery haircut and a $70 spa/salon cut. The head massage alone was worth the extra coin!) but then we were back to trying to entertain a crank pot child. I tried to get some pics of him but they were all like this:

Sunday was much better. He was still more mischievous than normal but we were anxious to get out and both clean up the yard some and enjoy the beautiful weather that Irene left in her wake.

At one point during the yard work DH mentioned taking a bike ride. Noah immediately ran to the front of the house and in through the open garage doors to find his bike helmet. It was hanging up so he yelled at me and pointed saying “mine..mine…mine”…until I gave it to him. Once I pulled his down and strapped it on him, it pointed to DH’s and said “daddy..”. I pulled DH’s helmet down and Noah ran it out to DH in the back yard. So, with himself and daddy outfitted, he ran back to the garage and pointed to the last helmet and said “mommy”…guess it was my turn. At this point there was no turning back. I ran to change while DH strapped noah into his little trailer. A quick sippy and some cheerios in a snack trap and we were off. He really loves going for rides in that trailer but then again who wouldn’t – toys, snacks, lots of fresh air. Heaven!

After the ride we had a little time before bed so Noah played hide and seek with daddy:

Climbed up on things he wasn’t supposed to:

And congratulating himself for figuring out how to stop, start, and change tracks on his silly song CD.

Overall a good weekend that was thankfully uneventful given the circumstances.

18 Months….

 monthly updates, Noah, photography  No Responses »
Aug 232011
 

Holy moly…He’s a year and a half old now. And to celebrate the occasion, he cut a new tooth, contracted croup and survived an earthquake. Boy knows how to do it right!!

Stats
26lbs (they weighed him on the big boy scale today!)
? inches tall. I can’t get him to stand still long enough.

Language
He’s got too many words to type out. He’ll mimic everything you ask him too and he’s started to pair up sounds with animals and objects. He’ll ask to color with crayons, for you to sit next to him, and he’s good with answering with an affirmative yes or adamant NO!. He babbles and has full conversations with himself and i swear I hear him singing some times.

Motor Skills:
Running is his preferred mode of transportation, climbing is the next (although that’s not necessarily transportation, just havoc causing). He stacks blocks like a champ now and has mastered most of his toys. You’ll find him dancing when there’s music and spinning circles till he’s dizzy (soo funny). Hand him a wooden spoon and a pot lid and you have hours of entertainment. Loud entertainment but entertainment none the less.

Potty Dealings:
He’s interested in the potty and all that is involved and will sit on the seat but doesn’t quite get what to do when he’s up there. I put him on in the evenings before his bath just to get him used to it.

Sleeping/Eating:
He sleeps pretty well when he’s not cutting a tooth or has croup:) Still 7/7:30 – 6:30-7am. They still give him a 2.5 hr nap at daycare and that seems to work out really well. Eating on the other hand is hit or miss. You can always convince him to eat a waffle or a banana but outside of that we just have to try until something sticks. I know he won’t starve but sometimes I worry.

Anywho…enough blabbing, on to the pics. This shoot was harder than I thought it would be. I really needed someone else to help wrangle him while I got the shot ready. My keys helped some but in the end it was a pretty quick shoot.

Wordless (ish) wednesday

 Noah  No Responses »
Aug 172011
 

He loves his fresh produce! Right off the vine, a tennis ball sized tomato still warm from the sun.

Missing gem…

 hilarity, Noah  No Responses »
Aug 152011
 

It’s been a while since I offloaded my point and shoot camera apparently. I found this little gem on there from a few months ago….

Soggy Weekend….

 Noah  No Responses »
Aug 142011
 

Who ever said you can’t have fun in the rain? Nobody said that? Okay, well they should have so that I could prove them wrong! We headed out yesterday morning to meet up with the cousins and my SIL/BIL for a night of camping – in the rain. This was Noah’s first foray into camping so we wanted something easy and all.

We arrived and the sky was overcast but there was only a 30% chance of showers when I checked before we left. What I didn’t know was that that 30% was upgraded to 60% while we were driving the 3.5 hrs up there. Needless to say, even though we had some nice weather to get our tent up, lunch consumed and even fit a little swimming in, we got really wet. It started to pour around 4:00 and never quit for more than an hour or so at a stretch until the next morning.

You can see we spent some time in the car hanging out until the worst of it was over. Once it slowed down, DH and Uncle rigged up a tarp so we could eat dinner together and hang out. We had a great time even if we weren’t gathered around a fire roasting marshmallows.

Noah did great in the tent in his pack n play and actually slept more soundly than he does at home. The constant sound of the rain on the roof of the tent probably did the trick. Anywho, enough chatter, here are the pics!!!

The highlight of the trip was probably our baby raccoon visitor. I was was over at the car getting something and I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. This tiny masked face peaked around the tire of the car and looked right at me. As I rounded the car he set out across the campsite right next to our tent. He moved pretty slowly but never showed any aggression. He hung around long enough for me to call the boys over to see.

17 months….

 monthly updates, Noah, photography  1 Response »
Jul 302011
 

Just a few days late here:) It’s been super busy.

I just love this age with Noah because he’s such a little person with his own wants/needs and opinions. If he has a choice he’s outside, he wants to sit at the big table, he wants to feed himself etc. He’s understanding more and more and follows simple directions pretty well. He’ll mimic what we ask him to say and has been associating things more and more.

The other day I got a real “mama” from him in reference to me! Now he does it all the time and it love love love it! Such a sweet sound from him little mouth.

Eating is still a challenge. One day he’ll eat something the next he won’t so you never know. We have found a few tricks that work most of the time:
1. give him a fork – he loves to fork his own food
2. saddle him up to the table like a big boy – I took the tray off his high chair so now he can sit at the table or the counter like the rest of us and that seems to make him happy.
3. watch it with the snacks – I noticed that he was snacking alot. He’d grab his snack trap or ask for something and we’d just give it to him. Now I’m watching more closely and he’s eating normal meals better because he’s actually hungry when I make things.

Words:
in addition to last months we’ve added car, lellow (yellow), hat, Gabo (friend at school), lala (another friend at school), bano (potty in spanish), please, noooooo!, color, bye, backyard, and lots of affirmative grunts (typical boy) Plus he’ll mimic just about anything you ask him to.

fine motor:
- climbing! OMG this kid climbs now.
- running full steam ahead
- This kids grasp on cause and effect is amazing. He knows that you need to turn the hose on for water, that if he pushes that button something happens etc.

Favorites:
- balls
- blankie
- bottles
- water (if it’s a dirty mud puddle even better!)

He’s 25lbs or so and I’m not sure how tall (next month is his dr’s appt). He’s solidly in 18 mo clothes and wears size 5 shoe (although i can only get sandals on him since his little feet are so fat).

I can’t believe he’s going to be a whole year and a half old next month!

Birthday Fun and other weekend happenings….

 Everyday life, Noah, photography  No Responses »
Jul 222011
 

Yes, it’s friday and I’m writing a weekend post for the previous weekend. It’s been a busy week, what can I say?

This past weekend we took a trip up North to see the fam and celebrate my adorable nephews first birthday. A good time was had by all but wow, was it a whirlwind!

We drove up Saturday just in time for lunch. Noah’s cousins dropped by (along with my BIL and SIL) and we all spent the afternoon on the lawn snacking away and watching the kiddies entertain themselves with a giant red ball (which I didn’t get any good pics of, bummer!). After they left Noah happily discovered the hose and spent the next few hours watering himself. Grandma’s flowers benefited from this wet activity as well.

Sunday was spent setting up for the party and enjoying the company of family and close friends. I was elected to take pics of the birthday boy as he dug into his cake (and of course I was more than happy to oblige:)).

After a little while longer we had to pack up and head back home. It was a quick weekend but filled with fun, laughter, friends and family.

Biking baby..

 hilarity, Noah  No Responses »
Jul 202011
 

DH and I arrived home the other day just min apart. He had Noah out of the car already and was walking around the yard and I was greeted by a happy “mamama” from him (swoon…). Anywho, as I started to walk inside he followed me. As he passed the garage door threshold, he zeroed in on the bike trailer. This is the scene that played out:

I guess he wants to go for a ride! Of course, the good mommy that I am was happy to oblige and we did a few loops around the development. That’s actually a great workout! I pulled all 26lbs of him and 30lbs of the trailer up hill after hill in our neighborhood in the 95+ degree heat. Now, I just need to repeat that every night for the next month and maybe, just maybe these lingering 12lbs will melt away:)

Duet numero dos…

 hilarity, Noah, Uncategorized  1 Response »
Jul 142011
 

Noah’s always been aware of the piano in our house. When I was pregnant with him I’d sit and play for hours hoping that he could hear. As a babe I’d hold him on my lap and play songs for him hoping he’d pick up some musicality like me. Now, as a young toddler I was excited to find him walking over on his own and playing with the keys. These days he asks to be helped up on to the bench so he can play (pound) properly. I know it’s only because it makes noise and anything that makes noise under his command is a wonderful toy but part of me believes that he will grow to love the piano like I do.

Waxing poetically about this aside, these toddlers are damn cute aren’t they? My girlfriend popped over with her little one who’s only a few weeks older than Noah and we all played outside in the water until everyone was spent. After returning inside Noah walked over to the piano like he does alot now and started to pound. That attracted little K and the duet started. We plopped them side by side and just let them have at it for a while. One would start the other would follow and so it went for 10 min or so…

After their performance was over we were all spent and hungry. The pizza had arrived and the kiddies retired to the toy corner until they were ready to pass out. All in all a nice end to a good Saturday! (yes, i’m way late writing this post)

Noah’s own horsey…

 Noah  1 Response »
Jul 102011
 

Hubs laid down on the ground for a quick rest and Noah climbed on his back and started pointing to his bum and shouting poopies (I guess because we look down the back of his pants asking about poopies). While he was up there he decided to go for a little ride…

We were out with some friends this weekend and I have some pics to share but need to off load them first! Maybe I’ll have a few posts this week! Lucky for those of you that have stuck around during this wee little dry spell.

ETA: Yes, he fell off the horsey…no, he doesnt have a black eye, he has a purple horn on his forhead:) It looked alot worse than it was really. Today you can’t even tell he bumped it!

A good weekend…

 Noah  1 Response »
Jul 052011
 

Exhausted doggie, fat bellies, new freckles and a little sun burn (on us, not Noah), and not a care in the world equals an awesome 4th of July weekend!

The earlier part of the weekend involved my in laws visiting. We stuffed our faces with mass quantities of steak and pie (and other fixins). Went for walks. Enjoyed some small fireworks

Sunday night we discovered that Noah’s not a fan of the sound of fireworks (like, at all!) and during our neighbors big show I ended up alternating between holding him with my hands over his ears while he clung monkey style to me or sitting in the window box inside where he could see the pretties but not hear them (he even ooed and ahed a few times when we were inside). Once the loud booms were over he promptly went back to sleep.

Monday we finally baby proofed the kitchen by installing gates in the doorways to keep him out. We figured out that we just can’t secure all the cabinets and drawers because our cabinets are frameless and there’s nothing to attach the locks to. Moving everything above his level was a no go either so just keeping him out was all we had. Now we have one pressure gate that you have to climb over and one that you can walk thru. Thinking we need to do both as a walk thru but we’ll see.

We capped Monday off with a wicked, up hill both ways, hot as hell run (to burn off the pie and ice cream of course) and then sat on our roof to try to catch a glimpse of the city fireworks (which we could see thru a 3x3ft section of trees). Next year we’ll brave the crowds and noise and actually go to a place where we can see things.

Anywho, here are some pics from the weekend for your enjoyment:

Random weekend and lots of pictures…

 Noah, photography  No Responses »
Jun 302011
 

So it’s wed night and I’m just now getting to sit down. Such is life these days. We’ve had an awesome few weeks here punctuated by an impromptu trip to the beach this last weekend to visit a few friends. DH was in a volleyball tournament in Seaside Heights (yes, Jersey Shore territory) and our friends are just across the bridge. We’ve been trying to get out to see them and due to sickness and traveling with a toddler and a dog, we just weren’t connecting. Thankfully when DH called at the last min, they are open and agreed to put up with us:) I was so excited (she’s 20 odd weeks pregnant and I love me some baby bump:) Plus they’re just the most adorable couple!)

Saturday was spent at the tournament getting sun burned and seeing famous pro volleyball players. Sunday was spent at Island State Beach Park which was AMAZING! We loaded up our friends truck with 4 adults, 1 dog and one toddler in a carseat (rear facing even!) and went for a drive on the beach. I have to say, these guys know how to do it right! They had everything you could want for when relaxing on the beach! Prego mamma had a nice reclining chair with an umbrella. Macie had a nice long lead so that she could roam but not get lost (we let her off for a while to go swimming in the surf). We had snacks and drinks and even a portable potty (you’re out in the middle of a remote beach, there’s not restroom outside of going in the ocean. A portable potty, even if it’s just a bucket with a privacy tent, is a welcome feature)! There was a nice breeze blowing and it was clear and blue. While I didn’t exactly get to sit and relax since Noah was not a fan of the sand and just wanted to be held but that didn’t matter, I could totally spend every free weekend like that. Noah did finally warm up to the sand (but only with his shoes on) so my arms got a rest eventually.


(excuse the conflicting watermarks, i’m too lazy to fix them:) )

I actually found another set of pics when getting these ready that I’ll share tomorrow. For now it’s bed time:)

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