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.

Toys

I am not sure why we buy Noah toys. When really all you need is a large box and a lint remover. He crawled into the box and managed to get back out, but found the box to be endlessly fascinating. We play throughout our entire day and I find very little of it is with toys. We do a lot of exploring and Mommy is there is make sure we don't fall and get hurt.

The funny thing is that at this time I was working on ripping out a closet to install the new components I had put together and he wasn't nearly as interested in what I was doing. Today it was the cat's litter box. I barricaded it with a rolled up rug and a baby gate. Noah managed to get through both and start sifting his hand in the litter before I could get to him. So now we are working on "no you can't play in the kitty litter." Never a dull moment.

I'm old!

It is official I am old. I know what you are thinking "37 is not that old." Oh yeah, well guess who had to go for a mammogram. That would be me. Not really a terrible experience although I feel sorry for any small chested woman because my girls are huge and manage to squeeze with little problem. Still doesn't rank as an experience I am looking forward to in the future.

I have discovered that the Wiggles are the world's best workout. Noah has recently discovered that there is a TV in our house. We were playing downstairs and he found all the buttons on it, so I tuned in to an age appropriate show and we watched the Wiggles. He loves them. He had seen the Doodlebops before and really enjoys them as well. So I decided that if the show came on Noah and I should dance. There songs are only a few minutes long, but what a workout. You move constantly the whole time. Noah thinks dancing around is fun and has started to dance at any music he hears around. It is super cute.

Currently, Noah and I are digging out the living room from all the school stuff. Really I am digging out and he is taking out the stuff I just put away. He thinks this is quite fun. Tomorrow I am going to clean while he is asleep. Much easier.

Sad ending and new beginnings......

Well, yesterday was the big day. I went to school and packed up my belongings. Let me tell you that 14 years of teaching is a lot of stuff.

This only scratches the surface of what has to be sorted and organized before it can be stored. It was sad to leave everyone. I really loved my job and am excited to eventually go back. Noah and I will be having fun over the next couple of years. We have even signed up for our first mommy and me swimming lessons.


I am constantly amazed at how things change with Noah. We have trying forever to get him to walk. We play games with walking. Daddy and I will stand on either side of him and we will walk across a room together, but no cigar. He climbs onto the toilet and then into the sink, but will not walk until.....

Today for whatever reason, Noah decided to walk. He walked about 10 steps across the kitchen by himself. I loved it. Daddy and I made a huge deal of this and danced around singing, "Noah was walking..." Noah thought this was hysterical.

He also decided to ride on Daddy's shoulders. We have watched older kids walk around on their dad's shoulders and we were waiting until he could handle supporting himself, well today he thought this was grand.

It was a great day. Two big firsts for Noah and I redesigned a closet in my house, while Noah took a nap. Again, I am endlessly amazed at what you can accomplish while they are asleep.

New Tricks

I had a friend who told me she really didn't like the infancy stage, but loved toddlers because they do tricks. I was thinking, but my infant did tricks--smiling, laughing, rolling over. Those were good, but these latest ones keep you on your toes. Here is an example...

Yesterday, I am making the bed and Noah is playing the bathroom, like he usually does. I go in expecting to find all my make-up strewn across the floor and Noah with a brush in hand cleaning the bathtub. This would be the norm most morning, but noooo.... I find him in the sink. He has learned to put the toilet seat top down, climb on it and climb into the sink. So my son is happily brushing his teeth and looking at himself in the mirror. He can do this in under a minute, so you can't turn your eyes away for a second.

Trick two is mimicry. Noah has taken to mimicking everything we do. So each night, we go downstairs and play in the bathtub and wash his hair. Noah decided that if Mommy rubs his hair with wet stuff in the bathtub then this must work at dinner too.

This would be shampoo via ranch dressing. Yummy ;)

One of the things we are currently enjoying is the Adams' Family Band. The three of us play a bunch of instruments to make our own "music." Noah thinks this is great. I do have to say that the instruments he got for his birthday from Mirella are one of his favorite presents.