"Boobies"

Noah's favorite food by far is blueberries. He LOVES them. He wants to eat them all the time. If you ask him what he wants to eat, nine times out of ten he will say blueberries. Or at least he tries... It actually comes out "boobies." It is pretty funny. Unfortunately, since he loves them so much he talks about them quite a bit. In the store. In restaurants. At church. Pretty much if you have been around him at all lately, you have probably heard him talking about "boobies." As I said, it is pretty funny, but can also be slightly embarrassing when walking through the grocery store with your kid yelling "boobies" at the top of his lungs. Or at our small group Bible study, having him give a shout out to "boobies" during the middle of the prayer. I tried to get a video

to capture the memory. It is not the easiest to hear, but hopefully it will be good enough for posterity sake.

His Daddy's Child

Several weekends ago, we took Noah to Krispy Kreme for the first time. Noah immediately loved it. He loved watching the donuts being made and especially loved eating them.

If you know Brian, you know that he also loves Krispy Kreme. He may be the only person over the age of 10 who wears the hat the ENTIRE time he is in the store.

We went back to Krispy Kreme weekend before last. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Noah started saying "donuts." We didn't realize he knew that word. We ate our donuts and were getting ready to leave when a lady who worked there came up to us and asked if Noah would like to come in the back and make a donut. I don't know that Noah particularly cared, but Brian was all for it. She tried to get Noah put on a glove and do it, but that definitely wasn't happening so they ended up just watching.

Dipping the donut in chocolate...

Putting sprinkles on it (I think). Noah did end up doing this part.

Intently watching the process.

Posing with the lady from Krispy Kreme and the donut they made.

It was a fun trip, and one that Brian will never forget I am sure. :)

New Love Replaced...

Last April, I posted on "Noah's new love"... a pair of blue sandals with fish on them. Well they have definitely been replaced now. He likes all shoes, but is particularly fond of one pair.

That's right, a pair of my slip on red flats. As you can see, they can be worn with pajamas ...

Or everyday wear...

Or sometimes just your underwear...

He will disappear into our closet and emerge from our room wearing them saying, "Mommy's shoes." It is pretty funny.

I am sure that one day, he will be embarassed by this post, but adolescence and adulthood would just not be the same without a few embarrasing pictures to bring you down a notch.

Halloween and Booka Face

I have been meaning to post for some time now, but just never got around to it. I knew it had been a while, but did not realize until just now that it has been over a month since my last post. Well, here goes nothing.

Booka Face

Since Noah could say pretty much anything, one of his favorite things to say has been the word "booka." We have no idea what 'booka" originally meant, but around Halloween, "booka" became synonymous with pumpkin. A couple nights before Halloween, we bought a pumpkin to carve. Noah was SOOOO excited. He loved the "booka."

Here he is kissing his "booka"

When it came time to carve, he wasn't quite as excited. He wasn't to keen on the slimy part.

He did pitch in and do a little scraping...

But mostly he just wanted to watch me carve and try to grab the knife. It made for some very fast carving. I would like to put a disclaimer on the shots of my belly... I am pregnant and Brian didn't warn me what they looked like while he was taking them. There is really just no way to make a semi-pregnant belly look good when you are hunched over on the floor. Oh well.

Once the pumpkin was carved, it became known as "booka face."

He was so excited about it...

Kissing the "booka face"... Only slightly dangerous with a lit candle in it. :)

Every night until that poor pumpkin was completely rotted, we would go outside and light it and he would scream "booka face" at the top of his lungs and run around. It was so much fun to watch.

The next day showing off his "booka face" with his "face shirt" on.

Halloween

One of Noah's favorite things to do in the last month has been to put a blanket on his head and blindly walk around the house saying "Hi."

Brian and I thought he would make a perfect ghost for Halloween. We bought some white fabric from Walmart and I cut some eyeholes in it. As we were buying the material in Walmart, he was already putting it on his head saying "Hi." We just knew that it was going to be great. The weekend of Halloween, Brian was on call and worked pretty much the entire weekend. After a while of just me, Noah started getting pretty cranky and I started going crazy (pregnancy hormones were not helping). By the time Sunday night rolled around, we had both had enough. Noah refused to wear his costume and I resorted to tears. I gave up on the ghost and decided to go with Handy Manny putting him some jeans and a green tshirt. After all, he LOVES Handy Manny. I then tried to put a hat and tool belt on him, but that did not go over well. There was lots of screaming and many tears shed. Finally we loaded up in the car with him wearing jeans and a tshirt and headed to our church's Trunk-R-Treat. He was the only kid not dressed up, but I didn't care. I was just glad to be around other adults instead of at home by myself with a screaming toddler. Here he is with his friend Liam who's Mom managed to get him into an adorable Frankenstein costume. Way to go Crystal!

At least he got happier...

The closest he came to wearing an actual costume.

I guess there is always next year...

Mr. Independent

Independence... Something Noah really wants these days.  I feel like in everything he does, he is trying to prove how big he is.  A few examples...

-- When we go on walks, he ALWAYS has to hold Rudy's leash and he does NOT want anyone else to help him.  Hands off the leash.

-- He refused to eat in his high chair anymore.  He only wanted to be at the table eating off a plate, not the tray.  

-- He wants to brush his teeth himself.  This has always been an issue, but seems more so now.  We bought a stool for the bathroom sink and he thinks he can do it all now that he can climb up to the sink himself.  

-- He doesn't like sippy cups anymore.  Although he still uses them, sometimes it is a battle.  He just wants a big cup because that is what Mommy and Daddy use. 

-- At the store, he does not want to ride in the cart.  He wants to push the cart and bring me various things off the shelf that he thinks we might need. 

--  He does not like to hold your hand and will run away if not watched carefully. 

-- A couple weekends ago, we had corn on the cob for dinner.  I raked all the corn off the cob for him.  He was eating it like a champ, until he noticed that we were eating it off the cob.  He would not eat another bite unless it was on the cob.  Once he cleaned up the cob, he tried to put his corn back on the cob and eat it.  

-- He does not like to have his sncks chosen for him.  He likes to go to the pantry or refrigerator and pick out what he wants.  He does not always get his way, but he tries.  He also wants to get his cup of milk out of the refrigerator himself.  He climbs onto the ledge and reaches to the top shelf, pulls it down, and then closes the door.  

On the one hand, it is exciting that he can do so many new things and that he is his own person.  On the other hand, it can be very frustrating because he is still small and can't do everything on his own but gets so upset when you try to help him.  I am learning to be patient and let him try to do things on his own even though it would be way more efficient and much cleaner if I did them myself.  Much like Noah,  I have a long way to go, but I'll get there one of these days.

Hard at Work

I was just looking back at some pictures from a few weeks ago and saw this.  It made me laugh.  One day Noah brought me a toilet paper roll while I was in the kitchen cooking.  

When I turned around I saw a trail of toilet paper back to the bathroom which is all the way across the house.  He was so proud of himself.  And, Yes, I rolled it back up and we used it.

The Latest Trick

Noah has always loved the water.  Swimming, bathtime, the sprinkler, the toilet, Rudy's water bowl... You name it, he will play in it.  His latest water accomplishment is floating on his back.  Obviously in the bathtub, he is lying on the bottom of the tub, but he does it in the pool as well, with Floaties of course.  He will arch his neck all the way back until his head is completely underwater.  Then he will come back up and just laugh.  He thinks it's great.  And I almost forgot, last week he jumped off the diving board for the first time.  Like I said, he loves all things water.  

18 month stats

We finally went to the doctor today for Noah's 18 month check-up.  Here are the stats:

Weight:  29lbs (80%)

Height:  2ft 9.3in (75%)

Head: 49cm (75%)

He did okay.  This was the first time he has ever experienced any stranger anxiety with the doctor, but I guess an 18 month streak of complete cooperation is pretty good. He got one shot which he of course cried for, but quickly bounced back with some Handy Manny stickers and a trip outside.  Last check-up until TWO!  He is getting so old!

Pizza, pizza

Noah has never been a fan of pizza.  He has never really liked it (Not totally convinced that he is mine) and has definitely never said the word.  The other day, I wasn't feeling well and didn't feel like making dinner so I asked Brian if he would pick up a pizza on the way home.  

 As soon as Brian stepped out of the car with the box in hand, Noah started exclaiming "Pizza, pizza!"  We sat down at the table to eat, and he put away almost two whole pieces.  I'm not sure where this child came from, but I think there is more of a chance of him being ours now.  By the way, if you have not had a Hot-N-Ready from Little Caeasars before, you are missing out.  So good, so easy, and so cheap.  Yummy!  

18 Months

A year and a half.  Really?!?!  Wow.  I am a little slow in getting this up, but he hasn't changed too much in the last week and a half. :)  Here's what he can do...

-  He has added several words to his vocabulary.  He can say Mommy, Daddy, Rudy, doggie, bird, ball, Bible, car, moon, choo-choo (for train), Uh-oh, poo-poo, tee-tee, something that means milk but does not sound like it at all, cheese (both the food and smile at the camera variety), bye-bye (he gets very excited and into it), hi (which he likes to say over and over), keys, shoes, hop, helicopter (pronounced ha-cop), and cheetah (I know, random).

-  He knows several body parts... belly button (his first to learn), eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, head, hair, feet, toes, hands, fingers, and I think arm.  We are working on knees.

-  He loves to make animal sounds.  He can do dog, cow, horse, elephant, monkey, owl, snake, sheep, bird, chicken (sort of), and lion.  I think he is starting to do cat now too, but it doesn't really sound like a cat.  

-  He is still not much of a climber.  He loves to be on the couch/bed, but never tries to get on them himself.  

-  He is somewhat of a picky eater.  He eats A LOT of the foods he likes, but doesn't like to branch out to much.  He loves cheese, cheese quesadillas, mac n cheese (are you seeing a trend?), spaghetti, most fruit, and is pretty good with vegetables now, at least with green beans, peas and lima beans.  He is not a big fan of meat and he doesn't always like sweets.  Sometimes he eats them, sometimes he doesn't.  Weird.  He is a very suspicious eater.  He won't try new things if we just give them to him.  We have to leave them on his plate on the fork for him to examine and study before trying them.  You would think we were trying to poison him with the way he carries on when we are trying to get him to try new foods.  His two favorite foods right now would probably be mac n cheese (which he can eat an entire box in one setting if given the opportunity) and amazingly enough, lima beans.  He can put away some lima beans!  This picture makes me laugh because there used to be peas and carrots on his tray.  He ate every single pea and left every single carrot.

-  He is still a good sleeper.  He usually goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes up about 7:30ish.  He just recently transitioned to one nap a day and it is usually 2.5-3 hours.  Fantastic!

-  He has been getting his molars in now for about a month.  They have come one at a time, just drawing out the agony and crankiness.  I barely knew when he was getting his other teeth, but the molars have been a different story.  Awful!  

-  He has started becoming a little awnry at times.  He likes to scream, an act that we are trying to discourage, so if you see us and he is screaming, please don't laugh.  I know it is funny, but please don't egg him on.  He doesn't need any encouragement.  He also likes to hit when he doesn't get his way, another act we are trying to discourage.

-  He still bites some, but not as much as before.  Still only Brian and I and only when he is wrestling with Brian or really tired.  

-  He absolutely LOVES Rudy.  They are pretty much best friends.  They play together, wrestle together, sometimes eat together when Noah sneaks into the kitchen to get a handful of Rudy's food.  Noah loves to get a goldfish in his hand, show it to Rudy, and then run away as fast as he can holding it out taunting Rudy and laughing hysterically the whole time.  His other favorite thing to do is walk Rudy.  When we go for walks, he always has to be holding the leash.  Sometimes if Noah is driving us crazy, we make Rudy "take one for the team," leash him up and let Noah walk him around the house.  Sometimes I worry that Noah is driving Rudy crazy, but Rudy seems to enjoy the playmate and is very protective of him when strangers are around. 

-   He loves the show Handy Manny.  He has the toolbox and tools and he carries them around with him all the time.  Everytime the tools sing on the show, he starts dancing.  His other favorite toy would definitely be his trains.  He plays with his train table almost all day long.  I can't figure out why kids like trains so much.  It's not like they see them a whole lot in real life.  It is a mystery to me.  He always tries to put the cars on the train track.  They fit, but they don't have magnets to hold them to the other cars and he gets really frustrated when they get left behind.  He still loves to play with all his Little People animals from Noah's ark and the barn.  He knows the names of all the animals.  He can't say them, but if you ask him for a particular animal, he usually gets it right and brings it to you. 

-  He loves music and loves to dance.  

-  He loves to give kisses.  They are open mouthed, slobbery kisses.  When he does, there is always the fear that he is going to bite down as hard as he can on your cheek.  He rarely does though. :)

-  He loves to read.  He will go back into his room by himself and just read books.  His favorite books right now are "Before I Go to Sleep," which he got from my mom and "My Very Own Name" from Aunt Beth.

We love you Noah and have so much fun with you!  I am so grateful that God has given us the chance to be your parents.  Although everyday is not always fun and easy, we treasure every moment we have with you.  Thank you for being our son.  

After I wrote this, I realized that all the pictures were in his high chair.  I don't think it is because we spend that much time eating, although he is no lightweight.  I think it is becaue that is the only time I can get him still long enough to take a picture.  One of these days I will actually take him to the doctor for his check-up and get some stats on height and weight, but we have just been so busy lately.  

Wow.

I never knew a haircut could be so traumatic, but apparently it is.  I decided today that I was tired of hearing Brian say that Noah had a mullet and a rattail and started calling haircut places to find out how much they were and if they cut 18 month old hair.  First I called the kid place, "Pigtails and Crewcuts."  I thought it was a little expensive so I kept calling...  Sports Clips was three dollars cheaper and told me that since it was his first haircut he could get the MVP package for the price of a haircut.  Hmmm, "What is in the MVP package?" I asked.  The response was, "we give him a hot towel to put on his face"... Yeah that will go over well.  No thank you.  Next was Wal-Mart.  It was six dollars cheaper, but I had my reservations.  The last place I called, the girl told me that they would start over his ears because that is usually the spot that irritates them the most.  If he freaked out, then they would just stop because their "scissors can cut to the bone" and they would "hate to cut his ear off."  Yeah me too.  I talked to my sister-in-law who said that it was worth the extra six dollars to take him to the kid place so we loaded up and headed there.  He was so excited when we got there because they had a train table to play with.  In hindsight, perhaps we should have waited to let him play with it so we wouldn't have to rip him away from the train to get his hair cut.  

Mesmerized by the train.

Cheese!!!  So happy, for now...

Miss Lisa came along for the adventure and thankfully so.  She became the official photographer and bubble blower.  I don't think she knew what she was getting into.

The happiest face we got, in the first 30 seconds before he realized what was going on.

 Things started going South after that...

This picture cracks me up because I am so over the top excited and happy and he just isn't.

Resorts to trying to dive out of the chair.  I think he is trying to spit out some hair that he got in his mouth.

The next three are definitely my favorite.  Bless sweet sweet Shelly who stuck with him through this and kept cutting away, unphased by the screams and attempts to break free.  By the way, my child was the only one in the store that was screaming.  I just don't get how everyone else has such perfectly calm collected children.  What am I doing wrong?

My sister-in-law had told me previously that they had TV screens for the kids to watch at the place she goes.  Afterward I told her that they didn't have them at this place, but from the previous two pictures, it appears as though they did.  I guess maybe he wasn't quite bad enough to pull out all the stops. :)  We only got suckers and bubbles which, as you can see, were not completely effective.

Things got a little better once the cutting stopped, but were much improved once he was out of the chair and had some Cheerios and water.  Still not happy though.

After the haricut, we went to Panera where Noah was treated to his all time favorite, Mac n Cheese and he was allowed to eat it however he wanted, aka with his hands.  

After lunch we headed home for a nap.  He was asleep before we pulled out of the parking lot.  I guess 20 minutes of crying, screaming, and flailing your body around uncontrollably will tire you out.  Sweet sweet Shelly told me to give them a couple of tries before I gave up and went somewhere else.  Don't worry Shelly, we will definitely not be going anywhere else, for the sake of embarassment and Noah keeping both his ears.