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.

Time for a Trim

Several days ago while I was giving Noah his bath, I noticed that when his hair was wet it went down his back almost to his shoulder blades. Needless to say it was time to bid the baby curls goodbye and get a haircut. At first I was going to go to my hair salon to get it done, but decided that it needed to be done sooner and Noah can only handle so much of a drive. Today, Daddy and I took the kiddo to Cartoon Cuts. They saved his curls for us and put them with a card that says the date and location of his first haircut. Our little boy is growing up.

Now, I am hoping people will quit asking me about my daughter. :)

Back from Vacation

For this year's vacation, we rented a house on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and spent a week relaxing. Okay, everyone else spent a week relaxing. I got the task of cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the babe. So really same day, new location, but it was a lovely location. When you stepped out into the back yard you were looking at one of the estuaries to the bay. Gorgeous.

I did get some reading done and decided to work on my scrapbooking. I stayed up one night and got 3 pages done. That was as far as I got. I also tried some new recipes while I was there and made everyone the guinea pig. We found a seafood market and got some crabs and scallops. Super yummy! Stephen went fishing in the bay and caught a flounder, so I got to clean and fillet my first fresh fish. Not my favorite experience, but it tasted fantastic.

Noah had a wonderful time. He has become my official water baby. We took him to the beach for the first time. I expected him to last about half and hour, but two hours later I was dragging him from the beach. He would have played until he collapsed. The great part was that we were on the bay so the water was at our knees for a long way out. Noah didn't have to worry about not touching the bottom and he loved jumping the very tiny "waves." He became so comfortable with the beach that at one point I thought he was going to head out on his own until Stephen reigned him in. My son is fearless. I am hoping extreme sports are not in his future.



So now we are home and I can focus on finishing the last bits of cleaning my house. We just got a new water toy. It is a squirting beach ball. Can't wait to check that out!

Times They Are A Changing....

To say June was a turbulent month would be an understatement. In order to save time I will give you the quickie version. Stephen had a moment about how unhappy he was staying home and taking care of Noah; said things he shouldn't have said; I left him; we went to marriage counseling; we are back together; I have quit my job and am searching for one with benefits that I can do out of our house because I am staying home with Noah; and we have finally reached a reconciliation. The most interesting part about it is that we are probably happier than we have been in a long time. Noah is too. Although he smiles so much it is hard to tell if he is ever unhappy.

Here is a pictorial overview of the past month:

Grammy decided that we were old enough for a bagel breakfast sandwich and Noah decided that he should eat all of it. Most of it came tumbling out after he realized that he couldn't chew it.

Noah has become very fond of the dog bowl and enjoys "sink and float" experiments. Here he is testing dog food...last week it was my cell phone. He also likes to be like the dog and dip his face into the dog bowl.

And here we have his two great loves...water and girls. He is a nut for both. We went to my friend, Carla's house and played in her pool. It was the first time he has been in water without being able to touch his feet to the bottom. When we took him out of the float and put him on the stairs he decided to just walk and sank like a stone. Scared me to death...he thought it was funny.



I will be posted more regularly now. I should have done it sooner, but my writing also came out a little melodramatic and who wants to read that. Oh, yes before I forget we are up to 10 teeth now. He is pretty much munching down anything he can get in his mouth.

We are off to the beach for the next week. This will be Noah's first time and can't wait to introduce him to sand.