18 month checkup

Well we had our 18 month checkup. I am ever amazed at what he is supposed to have accomplished by now - walking fast/running, at least a 10 word vocabulary, eating with a spoon, and the list goes on and on. I must say I am pleased that Noah has reached these milestones, but Wow what a lot to learn.

Noah is working hard on expressing himself and getting you to understand his wants. Friday, Noah handed me the car keys (which he got out of my purse), and said "Mommy, go, Mommy," then preceded to walk to the door. I decided to see if he really knew what he wanted, so I picked him up and put him in the car and said, "Okay, Noah where do you want to go?" His response, "cookie." In Noah language, that means the grocery store because Mommy gets you a cookie when we do our weekly shopping. So I headed to the grocery store and we picked up milk and a cookie. It was exactly what he wanted and he was as good as gold. These are the moments I wouldn't trade for the world.

Noah is now a whopping 24 lbs 14 oz. and comes in at 32 inches. His head is still in the 50th percentile, but basically the rest of him is lingering around the 25th. I was surprised that we have now reached the point that we don't go back for a well visit until he is 2. It is so far in the future that I can't even schedule it yet. He isn't a baby anymore. ;)

Happy Anniversary

(sung to William Tell) Happy Anniversary, happy anniversary, happy anniversary,haaaappppy aniversary! Stephen and I celebrated our sixth anniversary today. We had a great day. Noah spent the day with Ammy and we went to Tysons and to Morton's in Reston. It was an amazing meal and Stephen and I enjoyed the alone mommy and daddy time. I don't think we have ever eaten a dinner so slowly. :) You can tell we have been married awhile. Presents have become more practical. Stephen got a Franklin Planner and I got a Japanese skillet. Not flashy, but exactly what we wanted.

Noah has taken to using his fudgescicle as a crayon. At Ammy's house he "painted" her shower and here he got to the stove.

Rally

On Wednesday, Stephen and I bundled up Noah and took him to the Obama Rally at Ida Lee Park. There is something about a presidential candidate being 3 blocks from your house that makes you want to go and see them. So we were there with the other 30,000-50,000 (depending on which news publication you subscribed to) people listening to Barrack Obama. Honestly, it was a good speech and he is a brilliant speaker, but what shocked me was all the people. Noah reached out and grabbed a guy who I am pretty sure was a Redskin and the guy laughed and patted Noah on the head. Noah also grabbed a women's sweater and made her his new friend. Then there was Tina, who we later discovered had met Stephen at one of his open houses and her best friend was the speech therapist in my classroom. I also ran into one of my former students. I felt terrible for getting his name wrong. He is in high school now and it was amazing to see how much he looks like a young man, not a kiddo. For so many people, it felt rather cozy. Luckily there was only minor rudeness from the McCain protesters, but you have to expect some of that from both sides at these things. It was definitely a cool moment. We snapped a ton of photos, but we couldn't get a good one of Obama he was just too far away.

On Sunday, it is our sixth wedding anniversary, so Noah and I slipped out to Tyson's Corner mall to check out some different gift options. We found several presents for Daddy for Christmas and I picked up one for Sunday. Noah and I had a blast. The mall is very fun. I discovered they have a Hannah Andersson store. We got some PJs on sale and enjoyed looking at all the clothes. If I were I rich man....all our clothes would come from there. They are fantastic. We also found that they put a CakeLove in the mall, so Noah and I had a cupcake. They are amazing. I want to get his new cookbook. I am going to add it to my Christmas list. Noah and I had fun and managed to make it to the car before the "I need a nap" fussies hit.

A Star is born...

We're a small star, but still a very cool moment. Noah is in all the local papers as part of the ad campaign for INOVA Hospital. I must admit it is very cool and we have saved a ton of papers for scrapbooking. Next we are filming a commercial for the local movie theaters. Luckily they don't want Mommy to talk which works for me. I like the background job. :)

After a week of Noah having a cold and on the neb again, I decided that Mommy needed a day out. So Daddy went to work and Noah went to spend the day with Grammy. I enjoyed shopping and the movie City of Ember that I have been excited to see. I have read the book to my students for the past three years and we really enjoyed it. Turns out that they just released the 4th book, so I picked it up after the movie and am enjoying it immensely. Noah enjoyed a Popsicle at Grammy's house.
It was a very cool day and I enjoyed the time alone while Noah enjoyed the love and attention.
Noah has also become quite the computer efficienado. The next Bill Gates...

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. :)