Cookie, Please

Like most kids Noah loves cookies. His favorites are these oreo-like cookies that we get at Trader Joe's, called Joe-O's. His addiction seems to be curbed by flavor selection. If we get vanilla he'll be content to have just one cookie. If we get the chocolate kind he wants more than one. A lot more than one.

The funniest thing about his cookie habit is the way that he asks for a cookie. He clearly knows that cookies are special treats and really pulls out all the stops to get one of these goodies. He'll come up to you with fidgety head and hands, avoiding initial eye contact. Once he's got your attention he'll look up at you with his head sideways. And then, he'll give you the look. Big eyes open wide with just a touch of a grin as if he knows that what he's asking for requires 100% charm. Ever so shyly, ever so quietly you'll then hear him ask, "cookie, please". Often times it's so quiet you have to ask him to repeat it and he will; with even more shifting and bigger eyes and then a flat out smile. He knows he's got you at that point. I mean, really, how can you say no to that?

Spiderman

Noah will occasionally come down to the office and ask to play with one of the pez dispensers from Daddy's collection. Recently he discovered the Spiderman pez and thinks its quite cool. Friday afternoon he was playing with Spiderman and saying, "walk, walk, walk" as he marched Spiderman around. Grandmother explained that Spiderman couldn't really walk because he doesn't have legs. She suggested that perhaps he could hop instead. I guess this made sense to Noah because he then exclaimed, "Spider Bunny!" and has been calling him this ever since.

Where Daddy Go?

Noah is very concerned about his family's whereabouts. He is constantly asking where so and so went--"Where Mommy go?", "Where Daddy go?", "Where Gramma go?" etc. Oftentimes, he asks this when the person he is looking for is standing right next to him. When you point out this fact to him he will he just laugh.

Today Grandma was here for her usual Friday play date. After lunch Jeremy had to go into the office for a few hours so of course Noah asked, "where Daddy go?". Grandma explained that he had to go to work. Noah then told Grandma that Daddy went to the "store to get cookies". Ya, sure kid. Wishful thinking.

Noah's 2nd Birthday

After going round and round about what to do for Noah's 2nd birthday we settled on a small family affair. Wanda did a little party at daycare with cupcakes and singing so we figured he got a "friend" party already. The loot at his 1st birthday was insane so we didn't want a repeat of that (50+ people?!) given that this was the first year that he was going to really understand what this whole birthday thing was all about. As it was, even with a small group he got a ridiculous amount of presents.

Noah's all about the choo choo so clearly we had our theme for the day. We started out with a brisk morning ride on the steam train in Tilden park. Noah had developed a wee bit of a cough so we kept it short with just one ride. Amazingly he was okay with this. While he napped we put together his cake (a train), decorated the place (with trains) and put out his new train board in anticipation of all of the train related goodies he was going to get. Instead of buying him a train table or board Jeremy and I made a train board for him. We made it larger than store bought ones and even painted the island of Sodor on it for him. (Wikipedia is amazing!). When Noah woke up he was excited to see everything and even said, "wow" when he saw his cake (which made it all worthwhile for me). We spent the afternoon eating cake (he had 2 slices), opening presents and building track. He loved everything and mostly remembered to say, "tank ew". It was fun to see him get the hang of the whole present thing. He started out so tentative, but was pro by the end of the day tearing into presents quickly and excitedly.

After bath time he asked for "more birthday?" and cried when he realized it was all over.

UPDATE: Potty and Big Boy Bed

Potty Time
I really can't believe that potty training is this easy so I'm prepared for some eventual backlash. But, so far, it's been a huge success. Noah has been peepeeing in the potty every day for 15 days--even when he goes to Wanda's house. On average he pees in the potty three times a day. I'm sure he would go more if we remembered to ask him more. But, when we do ask more often than not he'll scream, "Sticker!" and run off towards the bathroom. The train stickers are extremely motivating. He actually likes to sit on the potty and hold them so he can pick out his chart sticker and his hand sticker. We moved him to pull up pants yesterday and that seems to really make him feel much more independent.

Bedtime
Noah has slept in his bed for a week now so we're guessing it's safe to remove the crib. The bed has been a big hit and he really likes to read in bed more than anything. Now, along with night-night reading time we have to climb in bed with him each morning to read a few books before starting the day. I'm not sure where he got this idea, but I like it. Extra cuddle time is always fun.

Choices

Apparently, it's hard to commit to eating just one thing sometimes. Tonight Noah wanted pasta for dinner. It's his favorite so that wasn't a big surprise. After taking a few bites he then asked for applesauce. A few bites after that he wanted crackers. Shortly after that he wanted raisins and finally he asked for rice. I thought it was a pretty disgusting meal totally devoid of vegetables, but he seemed quite happy about his motley selection.

Halloween Fun

Halloween snuck up on us this year so we never made it to a pumpkin patch for the requisite cute kid sitting amongst pumpkin photos. We did, however, do other fun things to commemorate the event. The day before Halloween we went to Montclair Village for the annual costume parade. We thought it would be fun for Noah to see all the kids dressed up. The event was chaotic and we choose a poor spot to sit (right next to the shopping carts full of candy to be given away from Rite Aid) but Noah got a balloon and seemed to have fun. He also got to see cops on motorcycles, horses and a marching band.


On Halloween morning we went to Boo at the Zoo which was fun. We did their scavenger hunt, checked out all the animals and rode the sky chairs, carousel and train. I think Noah's favorite part was seeing the elephants participate in an Easter egg hunt with pumpkins. It was pretty cute to see them hone in on the pumpkins and eat them like apples. Of course, the tiger and monkeys were a big hit as usual.

That night we had a dinner party with a bunch of friends.

Noah was supposed to be a punk rocker, but in true punk fashion he never actually let us put his entire costume together. For the parade we didn't have the right hair product so his hair ended up being rather pompodour-ish. He looked more like a 1950's Fonzie type of guy...well, except for the Sex Pistols shirt and the studded belt. For the zoo we remembered to add buttons to the jacket (for that more authentic punk look) and we had better hair product,, but Noah wasn't nearly as patient with us. His hair ended up being half spikey, half mohawky and really weird looking. Too bad we never even got to spray paint it blue.

Big Boy Bed!

Surprisingly, Noah has not climbed out of the crib again. He likes his crib. He likes to sleep and more importantly he seems to like lounging in bed in the morning. He'll lay in there and talk to himself and his animals. He'll kick the wall, roll around or just lay there humming and singing. Since Booboo, Zadi and Great Booboo are coming soon for his birthday we thought it might be nice to go ahead and buy his big boy bed so Great Booboo has a comfortable spot to sleep when she's here. (We figured that Noah can sleep in our room in the pack n' play.) We found a nice Trundle bed with matching nightstand so we went to pick them up today along with a new mattress. The plan was to set it all up in his room and give him some time to get used to everything. But, he instantly loved the bed and wanted to climb right in and read some books. He also clearly expected to sleep in it tonight. Kenny was over for dinner, as he is on most Sunday nights, so Noah wanted Kenny to read to him and put him night-night in his big boy bed. I was a little jealous, because it was the first night, but he does love his Kenny. ;)

Peepee in the Potty!

Before Noah got in the bath tonight Daddy asked him if he wanted to go peepee in the potty. He said yes, sat down and went peepee! I quickly ran down stairs grabbed some paper, drew a quick chart, and scrambled for some Thomas the Tank stickers I had just bought in preparation for such a milestone. Noah seemed a little confused by why we wanted to put a sticker on this hand-drawn chart because he likes to wear stickers on his hand. So, we gave him one for hand and one for the chart. After much clapping and praise we called Booboo and Zadi and Grandma to tell them what a big boy he was.

Love is in the Air

Our son has a girlfriend. Her name is Claire and she is a cutey pie with great big brown eyes and a sweet little bob hair cut. Wanda had previously mentioned that they seemed to really get a long. One day we were asking Noah about his friends at day care and noticed the way he really emphasized Claire. His voice literally got all soft and wispy. Jeremy and I laughed and said, "Oh, oh, somebody's got a crush."

Then, about a week or two ago Wanda told us that Noah had kissed both Claire and Paige that day (!). Apparently, he showed Claire his appreciation for sharing a toy with him by giving her a kiss. Paige, another little girl, saw this ran over and asked for a kiss too, so Noah obliged. (What a little player!)

Yesterday, when we picked him up Wanda told us that he is clearly quite smitten with Claire. She said that he will often wait for her to finish eating, many times resting his head on her arm or sitting on the floor by her chair. She again mentioned that they really seem to have fun together and even enjoy the same things like running, swinging and eating (they're her biggest eaters). Wanda called them "kindred spirits".

My, my, my they do grow up so fast. (sniff, sniff)

Into Thin Air: Climbing the Crib

Noah's usual morning wake-up ritual is to hum, talk to his binky which he calls "baby", talk about "choo choos" and then yell loudly and abruptly, "MAMA!". Today, he did most of the same but began to say "mama" again and again and again. No yelling, just talking it out. Every once in a while he'd throw in a "down".

Mama, mama, mama, mama, down.
Mama, mama, mama, mama, down, mama.

I figured there was no way I was actually going to sleep through this mantra so I got up, got dressed and went to the bathroom. When I opened the door I was momentarily shocked to see an empty crib. And then I looked down to see a smiling boy who looked very pleased at his major accomplishment. (I was pleased that I didn't open the door on his face that was mere inches away.)

Panic immediately set in.
"Nooooahhhh!? How'd you get down? Show Mommy how you got down!"
And then I picked him up and put him back in the crib where he dutifully demonstrated his cat like agility and need for an adrenaline rush. Once he hoisted his leg over the top rail instead of hurling himself over, like I expected, he balanced his entire body on the rail while squealing in delight. After the excitement of balancing his body on the inch-wide rail (while Mommy watched in horror) was over he carefully climbed down the other side. And then smiled proudly.

We'll be shopping for a new bed today.

Big Boy Undies!

Noah flat out refused a diaper today. And by the word "refused" I mean, he threw an epic, full body, screaming on the floor tantrum. A diaper just isn't worth my sanity (or his) so I put on his shorts without one and proceeded to bug him every 15 minutes with, "Noah, you gotta go pee pee?" I did some research online about our predicament and found that this was actually good news. Apparently, the hardest part of toilet training is "motivating" the child that they don't need the diaper. If they don't want the diaper then check that little hurdle off. Herding Noah around the living room to ensure he only stayed on the hardwood floors was becoming difficult so Jeremy went to the store to get some pull-ups and big boy undies. He returned with some that had trucks and fire engines and all kinds of cool stuff. Noah immediately wanted to wear the red ones with gorillas. Not even 5 minutes into their maiden voyage he christened them with an "oh oh". So, we put on a new pair and gave him some paper towels to clean up his mess like a good boy (another Internet piece o' wisdom--make the kid do the dirty work). An hour later he came back from the kitchen saying, "Pee pee, oh oh". We ran, but we weren't fast enough to make it to the potty. After cleaning up his second mess he agreed to wear the pull-ups. While the overall event didn't end in total success (no pee pee in the potty), it was really cute to see him trying to be a big boy. And was a lesson to us that he's ready to start the long process of saying bye bye to the diaper. Amen!

New Day Care

Noah started his new day care today. I was pretty nervous for him because we'd just done back to back trips (to Costa Mesa and then to Alabama) so his schedule was all out of whack. When I dropped him off he started playing immediately while I chatted with Ms. Wanda. I figured he'd have some kind of breakdown when I said goodbye, but instead he just ran over and gave me a big kiss on the lips and went back to playing.

At the end of the day I picked him and got the full report from Wanda. She started out by saying that with most kids there's a week or two of adjustment, where they're just all out of sorts and learning their place. But, not with Noah. She said that he "owned it". He was just instantly comfortable, happy, confident and direct. He was able to communicate with her immediately and told her specifically what he wanted. She said he was very easy going and friendly and "the sweetest boy" she's ever met. He played well with others and knew how to share. He also gently directed kids to play the way he wanted them to play (by gently pushing their back) and they responded by happily following him (!?). Finally, she summed it all up with, "I love this child".

It's one thing to think these things about your child--but its another thing entirely to hear it from a professional; someone who spends all their time with kids. I felt very proud and so excited for him because I know that he's going to continue to have so much fun there.

Last Day with Mouang

Today is Noah's last day with his nanny, Mouang. She has been with Noah 3 days a week for a year now and even longer with Max. We are so happy and lucky to have had her in our lives. Mouang has nurtured and played with the boys and taught us how to be more disciplined with our routines around meals and nap times. I'm filled with mixed emotions about saying goodbye, but I know its time the little boys move on. They're ready for change. And hopefully Mouang is too.

An Early Birthday Present for Mom

Today was our last day visiting Booboo and Zedi in Costa Mesa. As I was busily packing up our stuff Tobey asked if I could take a break to open an early birthday present, which, of course, I was happy to do. :) I was a little bewildered by the size and flatness of the present and even thrown more for a loop when she said it was from them (Gary and Tobey) AND Jeremy.

When I tore open the paper to reveal a wood back I was even more confused. Finally I flipped it over and saw my boy! My beautiful blue eyed boy in all his glowing little glory. My first reaction was to burst into tears. It's one thing to blow up a photo of your favorite picture, but to have someone paint a rendering of your child is completely awe inspiring and I would think terribly intimidating for the artist. I mean, this is my child. I look at him all the time. I know his every little eyelash and I know his spirit. A painting has got to be dead on, otherwise it will always just look wrong to the parent. This was dead on. It was perfect. Noah's light and smile and eyes and spirit were captured perfectly in a way that was different from the original photo. I was blown away. A million thanks to Gary, Tobey and Jeremy and a million more to the artist, Jethaniel Peterka, who clearly studied my little angel and got him just right.

Noah's Great Grandmother

Noah's Great Grandmother died today. It was just over one month ago that we lost his Great Zadi. Thankfully Noah got to meet his Great Grandma (and Grandpa) last October when we traveled to Missouri.

Yo Gabba Gabba

Noah loves to watch Yo Gabba Gabba--and actually so do we. He's a big fan of DJ Lance Rock so I guess it should not have been a big surprise to me this morning when he insisted on wearing this out to the car. Thankfully he took it off before we got to Max's house. :)

Noah's Great Zadi

Noah's Great Zadi died today. It's a great blessing that they got to meet and play. I'm just sorry they didn't have more time together.

Cookie?!

We wanted to sit outside and enjoy the sun with some cocktails and oysters today so we headed to Sea Salt in Berkeley. I would call their menu "adventurous" seafood. They've got all the usual seafood fare too, but the menu is often peppered with weird things like heads and livers. We ordered a bunch of cheap happy hour apps for dinner including fried smelt. Fried smelt is yummy, but it's pretty fishy, and quite clearly it's a fish. There's no disguising what you are eating. We gave Noah a sample pretty certain that he wouldn't be too into it. But, he loved it and ate several back to back. When he no longer had any on his plate he signed for "more" and then said, "cookie?"

Just to be clear...Noah has had cookies and knows that they are super delicious and something to be craved. But, clearly he has a loose interpretation of what exactly a "cookie" is.

Doctor Visit (18 months)

His stats:
Height: 35.25 inches (95th percentile)
Weight: 27 pounds 2 ounces (50th - 75th percentile)
Head circumference: 49.5 cm (90th percentile)

This was the first time since his birth that he broke the 50th percentile on his weight!! Yay, gettin' chubby!

Potty training is in our very near future

They ("experts") say that you have to wait until your child meets some criteria before you start potty training--beyond just being over 18 months. If you start too early it's futile and you could actually slow your kid down and make the whole process take longer. I'm not in a hurry to start potty training but we're definitely seeing the signs that Noah is getting ready...

1) Noah has become the biggest, most obnoxious squirmy worm on the changing table. He hates having his diaper changed.

2) When his diaper is wet he will spread his legs and squat while pulling at his crotch. Occasionally he has pulled his diaper down so his little butt hangs out.

3) He likes the toilet and laughs when we use it. He also likes to flush for us.

But last night he did something that showed me he had a greater understanding of this whole toilet thing than I thought he did. I let him run around naked while I prepared his bath. He was playing in his room so when the bath was ready I went to get him. He was standing behind the rocking chair looking all upset and pointing at his little blanket that had fallen from the back of the chair. I calmed him down and said, "it's okay, just pick it up" but he was still upset and would only just point and whimper. When I bent over to pick it up I saw that there was a small puddle right next to it. He began to cry even more when he knew that I had seen it. I explained to him that it was okay and I quickly cleaned the puddle up. As soon as it was clean he was fine. Clearly he knew that potty didn't go there...either that or he's a total neat freak. :)

18 months today!

Crazy to think that we have an 18 month old! When I look at the baby pictures it seems like a lifetime ago, but also just like it was yesterday. It's true what I've been told that each age is more interesting than the one before. Noah just gets more fun and entertaining with each passing day.

He runs, he climbs, he can go up and down stairs by himself, kick and throw balls, play "hockey/golf" outside, and feed himself--pretty much every physical milestone he has passed way ahead of "schedule" (guess that's to be expected when you start walking before 10 months). But, he's still not that into talking. However, his understanding of vocabulary is quite impressive and communication isn't a problem. He understands most of what we say and ask him to do. Books are still his number one toy and he points to all the objects in the books while reading...he just wont say the objects. But, knowing his cautious personality I think he's just waiting until he can say full sentences before he really starts gabbing. We'll see.

Today marked a smaller milestone as well. He is no longer a vegetarian--he had two bites of my tuna salad sandwich and loved it. Of course. I guess we'll slowly start dabbling into the land of poultry and fish and see how that goes.

Funny Little Things Noah Does

Noah has a couple of funny little routines that he does in his day to day business that are pretty amusing. I thought they should be documented because I'm sure he'll outgrow them. :)

1) Noah loves food, but when it's especially good...or maybe when he's especially hungry he'll make yummy sounds while eating. He's also been known to makes these noises in periods of general bliss, for example, when going for rides in his stroller and when falling asleep. The yummy night-night noises can be quite loud.

2) Noah only uses the pacifier when he sleeps, but he likes to take the clip and pinch it on his finger as he makes yummy night-night noises. When he gets really close to sleep he'll lay the clip on his eye and move it slowly from his eye to his forehead. When he does this we know he'll pass out in mere seconds. It's very weird. Very.

3) When we turn on the television he has to hold a Wii remote and stand on the WiiFit. Eventually he'll get bored with this and have you put the Wii remote back where it belongs.

4) When you change his diaper he rolls to one side and slaps his own little butt while smiling up at you. I am fully to blame for this one. :( I couldn't help it. He's got the cutest little bottom and I just have to give it a little spanky spank whenever I change him. And, now he does it himself.

5) Sometimes when Noah takes a HUGE, HUGE bite of something (which is most of the time) I like to remind him to chew. Thankfully he hasn't learned how to shoot me a sarcastic glance and instead does this fake, move head side-to-side, and pretend-to-chew motion to which I say, "No, don't fake chew, REALLY chew!"

Other little fun things:

• Hands you his plate and silverware when he's done eating--in other words, clear my place setting, NOW! (In general, he likes things put back where they belong--toothbrushes, cups, shoes, etc)
  
• Must pick out his own shoes. He's quite particular.
• Likes to go to Mommy and Daddy's room and turn on the radio for some impromptu dancing.
  
• Cries over spilled milk. Literally. (Although yesterday he spilled some and just looked around for something to clean it up with and used my kleenex. I loved him just a little bit more after he did that!)
• MUST play outside often, regardless of weather. Staying indoors is not an option. Thankfully he has nice rain gear. :)
  

A New Strange Fixation

I'm not sure why but Noah has developed a fondness for putting leaves and dirt on top of his head. He thinks its hysterical when it drops down to the ground. Usually he's left with quite a bit in his hair and traces on his face. I'm hoping this is just a phase. :)

A Visit from the Kravages

Steve, Amy and Balin came for a visit. Noah was quite intrigued by Baby Balin at first and spent a lot of time carefully checking him out. I think he got a little bored with him though because he wouldn't do anything but lay around. I found him to be an absolute doll--so mellow and cute. He even managed to do his first rollover for us which made me and Amy cry like the mamas we are.

Happy 40th Birthday, A.J.

Noah stopped by Jen's 40th bday bash to wish crazy Aunt Jenny a happy one. I thought it was cute that they wore coordinating outfits. He left with Booboo and Zadi while Mommy and Daddy stayed for grown up fun.

New Boots for Noah

Noah got some cool new rain boots from Grandma. He couldn't wait to try them on. Unfortunately, they're a tad too big, but they sure do look cute--especially with his diapers.

Free From the Bottle!

Noah had his 15 month check up last week and the doctor politely snarled when I said he was still on the bottle. It wasn't a big deal but she said it was time to make the transition. It's crazy because I see plenty of kids using a bottle up until the age of two or three, but stopping a bad habit earlier is probably better.

I figured since he had four days before he was with the nanny again I should try now. Plus, I knew his buddy Max wouldn't be with him on Monday so it seemed like it would be good to give him an extra day bottle-free before being around Max (who is still on the bottle). In my experience, everything with babies takes 3 days--introducing food, changing sleep habits, etc. so I figured it was enough time. And sure enough it was!

Day one (2/20) he only had two bottles (instead of three), day two he refused all milk--especially when I made the mistake of putting the milk in the same sippy cup that is usually used for his water. You would of thought I was physically hurting him!! Day three I remembered the cup with lid and straw that I got at Disneyland so we tried that. A totally new cup was cool and because it was different than his water cup he loved it and drank all the required milk for the day.

So, getting him off the bottle was easy. Of course I hadn't really thought of the emotional side effect which is I miss our bottle/cuddle time!! :(

Doctor Visit (15 months)

His stats:
Height: 33.25 inches (95th percentile)
Weight: 24 pounds 4 ounces (50th percentile)
Head circumference: 48 cm (95th percentile)

Big hugs!

Noah enjoys some cuddle time every now and then, but today he pulled out all the stops.

I was sitting on the floor and he walked over, wrapped his little arms around me, and gave me a big squeeze. When he pulled himself away he looked up at me with such love and affection with the biggest smile I had ever seen from him. Jeremy and I were both shocked and as Jeremy cooed, "nice Noah", "sweet Noah", etc Noah just looked back at Jeremy all smiles and hugged me again...and again...and again. He squeezed me so tight and several times he even patted me on the back. It was simply the most amazing thing ever.

Best iPhone Picture EVER!!

Noah loves music and fell in love with this old piano instantly. Uncle Kevin spontaneously (and thankfully) took this photo and it's now my all time favorite. I can't believe it was taken with a cell phone!!

Noah's Surgery

We are home after a very, very long day of surgery. It was, as expected, a very emotional day for everyone. Thankfully, we had a lot of distractions with Booboo, Grandma and Uncle Mark in attendance. Noah wasn't supposed to eat after midnight and the surgery was scheduled at 11am so we had to keep him busy and off of his usual routine so as to not miss his normal bountiful breakfast. Thankfully he slept in later than usual so we let him play in his room until we were ready to leave. He got to the hospital and was entertained by all the attention, some new books and a few random hospital toys and more books. He also just liked walking up and down the corridor.


We checked in at 10am and waited until it was time to go in and get changed into his hospital pajamas. As expected he hated going into the little examining room and lost it when they tried to take his blood pressure. Even all the playing with his doctor kit at home didn't ease the discomfort he feels when anything is restraining any part of his body. He cried. He screamed. I cried. I wanted to scream. After he got into his pajamas it was supposed to be a short wait, but the hospital was running late. We didn't get called back for surgery until after 11:30. As the time went on Noah got more and more hunger dazed and confused, but he kept playing. He did amazingly well.

The original plan was to give him some flavored medicine to knock him out before putting him under because I knew he would not like having the mask put on his face. I guess when the hospital started running late that plan got scratched because the next thing I know we were called into a small dark room with three other people and we watched as they put a mask on our screaming tortured baby. We held on to him as they counted to three and then suddenly he was out. It was the most gut wrenching experience. I immediately lost it.

After that, we left the room. I was still confused about what I had just witnessed--what happened to the flavored little pills? My only solace was that it was very quick. We were then moved to a different, quieter, more sterile waiting room--the same place we had been to on our pre-op visit.

The surgery took about 30 minutes longer than we were expecting (45 minutes to an hour and a half was the original estimate) and we started to get very antsy. Booboo went to check for us since we seemed incapable of actually communicating with anyone else. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Hui came out and told us something we were not at all prepared to hear. It turns out Noah does not have a second testicle. And, once they got in there and discovered this fact they had to be sure that what they had really seen on the ultrasound was a lymph node--which took a lot longer because they have to be sure. So, the procedure turned out to be an exploratory one, and apparently a necesssary one because they cannot leave a dead testicle in there. It is extremely odd that he was checked out in the hospital after birth and seemingly had a testicle, but now does not. Either someone at the hospital made a mistake or he lost one after birth--which is extremely rare and scary. I suppose we will never know.

He has a belly button incision and one on either side of his belly button and a fourth larger one in the lower abdomen. He had an injection that kind of numbed him from the waist down so he isn't allowed to walk around the rest of the night. He did well this afternoon--mostly just laid around all floppy on one of us. He had a small bout of nausea that caused some mild vomiting, but otherwise he's fine. We're giving him lots of love and cuddles and we're just thankful it is now a thing of the past.

Books, Books, Books

Noah's favorite toys, by far, are his books. He spends hours a day looking at his books. Hours. Each day he'll approach one of his bookshelves and systematically pull books off the shelf, carefully opening each one, and then dropping them on the floor. When he finds what he's looking for he will carefully peruse that book for a few moments and then go back to pulling each book off the shelf. Once all the books are removed he'll sit in the pile of books and spend more time with each.

I'm not sure what he's looking for, but his favorites seem to change fairly often. Consistently, however, he has been a big fan of books with animals, and specifically monkeys or dogs.

Pre Op Appointment

Today we went to Children's Hospital for Noah's pre-op appointment. I'd been looking forward to this because I knew that we would get all of our questions answered and actually see where Noah would be on the day of the surgery and walk through the general timeline of the day.

We met with a really nice counselor who usually meets with the children to discuss the surgery and their feelings about it. However, since Noah is so young he just acted out some of the procedures with Noah and a little doll. He showed Noah how he would get his blood pressure taken and be given some medicine to make him sleep. While doing this I started to cry and once those tears came I couldn't really turn them off. I know that he will be fine but he's my baby and thinking about him going under the knife just kills me.

I'm worried about how Noah will handle the little things that make him crazy--like having his blood pressure taken. We know from the last Ultrasound that he hates being restrained in any way. I'm worried about the brief seconds when the put the mask on his face to put him under. I know he'll hate it. How can we ensure that he won't be traumatized by this experience? Thankfully Children's Hospital claims to be particulary cautious in how they deal with kids because they don't want to cause unnecessary trauma. All I can do now is trust in the process and hug my little boy very, very tight.

Noah and the Shoe Fetish

Noah's got a thing for shoes. I don't know where it comes from--perhaps it was destiny. He did own 3 pairs of shoes before he was even born.

He loves to wear shoes so much that he sometimes cries when you take them off of his feet. On those rare occasions when he's not wearing shoes he'll find another pair and take them for a walk--men's shoes, women's shoes, gardening clogs, slippers; he's not picky. He loves them all. And come to think of it he'll even wear shoes on top of shoes!

Climbing Every Mountain, Even if it's Just a Piano

Noah is a proficient walker (and has been since 10 months) so it make sense that climbing is the next big thing to tackle. I guess I just thought it would be on things that made sense--couches, stairs, chairs, ottoman, etc. I also thought there would be at least some small dose of understanding, on his part, on what the edge of something means. Silly me. Aside from walking across our ottoman/coffee table, teetering on the edge and then deciding that it's a great place to bend over Noah has decided that his piano's keyboard is an excellent thing to stand on. He climbs carefully on the keys, stands up and then spreads his arms out as if to say, "ta da". More often than not Jeremy and I have run across the room, jumping over obstacles, seemingly in slow motion so we can grab Noah before he plummets to the floor. While I haven't been able to photograph him standing on the keys I was able to snap him exploring the other side of his piano (perhaps he's learning about stability?). Thankfully, Grandma was there to lend some support so I could comfortably take the picture. :)

Phoenix, Arizona

We went to Phoenix for 4 days to attend the wedding of Jake and Ritu. Noah had a good time swimming, throwing rocks, stealing people's shoes at the reception and eventually playing with his cousin Marlee when we spent a day in Anthem with Cydney, John and Marlee.

Noah's Obama Icon

To commemorate our new president I created an Obama icon for Noah at obamiconme.pastemagazine.com.