Fall is here....

When I was teaching I always new that Fall had arrived because the children suddenly went slightly insane. I always attributed this to the cooler temperatures and the fact that recess was slightly longer because it was just to beautiful to go indoors. I have now discovered that Noah also shares the insanity. Over the past week we have had some big accomplishments and some wacky behaviors.

Noah and I shared our first true conversation. It went something like this....
Noah: Mommy apple
Mommy: Are you hungry? Would you like some blueberries?
Noah: Please
Mommy: Okay let's go to the kitchen.
And off we went. He got his blueberries and was as happy as could be.

We went to our first kiddie concert. I was supposed to meet my SAHM group for the first time, but had no idea that this is what I would find.
I never did find my group, but Noah and I had fun all the same. We will try to find another activity to go to. Besides after about 20 minutes, Noah decided he was done and left for Sears.
Noah has also found various and a sundry Stephen accouterments. This will teach him to start putting his things away or at least very high.

Noah loves Daddy sunglasses. Almost as much as he loves Sam, his super cat sidekick.




Now you would think this is enough horseplay for one little boy, but no. He didn't want the dog to feel left out, so after creating a minor flood in my kitchen, Noah pretended to be the dog and lick it up.

And finally we have gotten him to settle down in his room and sleep. The toddler bed has made all the difference. It took about a week for him to become completely comfortable, but what we could not manage after the hospital visits with the crib, we have made it with the bed. He likes to have the freedom to get up when he is ready. Now I find he will get up and start playing in his room. And he just looks so cute. :)

Mr. Mischief

My son is 17 months and fearless. First it was the deck and realizing that you could move a chair to the edge and look over the side. Second, it was the sink, all you need to do is climb up on the toilet seat and fall into the sink basin. Now it is the bed. This used to be a safe refuge. He could get down easily and is very aware of the edges until I cleaned the fan. Several days ago, I had to clean the fan which requires me to stand on the bed since I am short. So now I present my monkey grooming on the bed....
Noah has also decided that the world is so much better since he discovered Vaseline. I'm not sure what he thinks it is, but first he tried to put it in his hair and now it is on his lips. We just have to get him to understand that a handful on your face is a bit much.



It was everywhere. It was a great motivator for cleaning the bathroom though.

Today, the INOVA Fairfax Hospital people came to take Noah's picture. It was very fun and the people were very nice. Noah thought it was fun. He got to play and a whole bunch of people paid attention to him (that is his favorite thing). Two of them were young women and he was in heaven. He even flashed them his killer grin. We are going to be doing a video for the hospital as part of a testimony to be played on INOVA Fairfax TV. I had no idea how many people it took to do an ad campaign. Luckily they wanted an intimate setting so we used our postage stamp backyard. Personally, I am amazed they made it all in the house at the same time.



Daddy was in charge of getting Noah to look in certain directions and to hand him toys. There are a bunch of pictures of him with his bathing suit sun hat. Apparently it worked well in the photos and Noah loved wearing it. Mommy's job was to sing various Wiggles tunes to keep the smiles going. Luckily my blog doesn't have sound and the only one who loves my voice is Noah.

Trifecta

1st in the winner's circle we have walking.

Noah started walking in earnest on Thursday, but I was afraid this was another of his "look mommy I really can do it" and then never do it again. Luckily it is Sunday and he is still walking up a storm. This is the end of his walking across the room. By the time I got the camera out he was already to Stephen. We are also not sure what is up with the hat, but it has been a staple over the last several days. He can't wear it enough.

2nd in the winner circle is "the big boy bed." I went to Babies R' Us and got Noah a toddler bed. I wanted something close to the floor so he could get out when he wanted, since he has figured out how to crawl out of the crib. So Stephen and I put it together on Saturday (we got rained out of RennFest).
I don't know why, but I love to put together furniture, so this was a very fun project for me.

3rd in the winner's circle is that I have finally finished the first page of Noah's Sub. There are 8 pages total and page one has taken me 3 years, so at this point I believe I will be in my 60's by the time I finish.

But this still deserved a Steve Carrell happy dance, so I did one. :)

New Ways to Play

This has been quite the weekend for us. We had a great time at Ashburn Park with Henry, Jenni, Debbie, and Mirella. It was a very fun playground with lots of things to climb. Noah is a big fan of climbing and enjoyed the playground immencially. He also managed to pick up several 9 year old girlfriends while he was there. I am interested to see how he reacts the first time someone doesn't want to play with him. It was great to see everyone and play with Henry. I miss when Noah was that little. Noah decided at one point to climb into Henry's stroller, now he crawls in and out of his own. It works well in that it gives him a few minutes to play with the straps before he gets out. As always I am nervous he will fall, but so far has managed it like a champ. Sadly, I left my camera at home, so I don't have any cool pics of our playdate.


Today, we went back to the park with Daddy and had a nice lunch, then it was time to run errands and do some work at home. I broke out my clarinet in what seems like an eternity and Noah and I played. He couldn't figure out why it didn't work like the tin whistle. He kept blowing and blowing, but didn't get a sound. He also thought that sucking on the reeds would be fun, so he took one out of the box to test it out. After a while he gave up and moved on.



Noah has also learned to swim in the bathtub. I guess he figures if you can't be in the pool the bathtub will do. Usually, when I want him to get out of the tub, I just let the water out. Today I discovered that he knows how to turn the water on "cheeky monkey." So I will have to develop a new plan or I will never get him out of the tub.