The Best of TImes, The Worst of Times...

My how time flies. I can't believe that Noah is two... until he goes limp and throws himself on the floor screaming because we told him not to run away. :) Other than that, it is hard to believe. Two is an interesting age, and I hear it only becomes more so. One minute, he is the cutest thing ever and I LOVE spending time with him. The next he is driving me crazy and I am on the verge of giving him away (not really, maybe). He definitely keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh.

- He talks ALL THE TIME. When he was 18 months, a friend of mine asked if she and the other developmental pediatrician fellows could practice doing testing on him. He did great on the problem solving part, but when it came to the speech part, he was finished. He wanted nothing to do with any of it and therefore would not perform. The attending was convinced that his speech was delayed (my friend knew he was fine) and was giving me tips on how to help him. Oh if she could see/hear him now. He never stops talking. And he repeats EVERYTHING. We have realized the phrases that we say frequently by listening to him. It is really quite hilarious to hear a two-year-old say, "Hmm, let's see here."

- He LOVES to be outside and cries everytime you come in regardless of how long you have been out. At the playground we go to, he loves to go down the "big slide." He always says he wants to go down the tunnel slide, but when you try to get him to actually go down it, he says "No, no tunnel."

- He LOVES animals of any shape, form, or fashion and he is not afraid of any of them. We have a turtle that lives in our flower bed. He loves to go pick him up and move him around the yard. Brian and I were a little more skiddish about picking up the turtle, but fearless Noah has no problem with it.

- Speaking of being fearless, he has actually started talking about how things scare him. We had our fireplace converted from gas to wood-burning. While the men were here with all the loud equipment, he said to me "I'm scared of those guys." Prior to that, I had never heard him speak of fear and don't know that he even knew what it was. Crazy how you learn to be fearful.

- He is a very picky eater... still. He loves mac and cheese, spaghetti, and "Yellow rice rice baby" (got that from his Dad). He will eat some vegetables and most fruits. He does not like foods to be mixed which unfortunately rules out most casseroles... Thanks for making my life easy Noah. :)

- He is still a good sleeper. He is in his toddler bed now and loves it. He rarely gets up, but I think part of that is that he still gets his pacis in bed. We are rather fearful of how his sleeping habits may change once the pacis are taken away. For now, he sleeps about 11 hours at night (8-7ish) and takes about a 2 hour nap. He will come into our room sometimes before seven, but is pretty good about going back to his room if it is too early.

- His favorite things to sleep with are a few stuffed animals (dog, big dog, polar bear and cookie monster), but most importantly, "big bus" and a flashlight. And of course his pacis...

- His favorite things to play with right now are balls, cars, trucks, sticks, trains, drums, blocks, and his Little People barn and animals. You think he is a boy?

- He is definitely a ham. He loves being the center of attention of a big group. Not sure where that came from... certainly not his mother.

Brian and I pray for patience daily. I feel like some days (a lot days), Noah spends more time in 'time out' than out. But it is that spirit that makes him so much fun too. We love him more than I ever would have imagined possible and thank God for him constantly (in between patience prayers:) ). I sadly did not take any pictures of him at his two year doctor's visit, but here are his stats:

Weight: 31lbs 7.4oz (14.3kg, 75-90%)

Height: 92.5cm (3ft, 90%)

HC: 50.5cm (75-90%)