Halloween Hint

Guess what Noah is going to be for Halloween this year.

Geaux Tigers!

I Love This Face

Noah was not in a good mood today. Yesterday was his 15 month well baby checkup. At what age to you stop calling them well baby checkups? Every day he is looking more and more like a toddler, especially with his new haircut, and he is leaving his baby days far behind. Anyway, yesterday was his well baby checkup, and he got shots... in his arm! I don't think I got shots in my arm until I was 18, but the doctor said that's where they go, so we listened to our doctor. Ouch. Poor Mister No.

I had been looking forward to this doctor's visit because it would be our first in Miami, and it would be a chance for me to voice my worries over the no talking. The nurse came in to take his stats, and he is a growing boy. No more worries about being too little. He weighed 25.5 lbs (50%). He measured 33 inches (90%)! And, his head circumference was 18 inches (holding steady in the tenth percentile).

I really liked our new doctor. It turns out she is childhood friends with one of the fellows with Dean. After we exchanged stories, she said, "OK. Let's talk about your son. Does he talk?"

Noah is walking around the exam room babbling away.

Doctor: "OK. He talks. Check."

Me: "Wait. Wait. Wait. He doesn't talk."

Doctor: "Sure he does. He's talking right now."

Me: "But he doesn't say any words, and he doesn't point, and he doesn't mimic."

Doctor: "Look," she said. "He's only 15 months. He's a boy. He's active. He's interacting with his environment. He's made eye contact with me several times. If he turns 18 months, and he is not pointing or mimicking or saying any words then we can worry, but right now... I'm not worried."

Wow. That was exactly what I needed to hear. My take home point... stop comparing him to other kids. Every kid is different, which of course I know, but it sure helps when your doctor confirms it.

Cartoon Cut

I commented to Dean yesterday, that if Noah was a girl, I think I could get a pony going. Once the words left my mouth, I knew it was time for a haircut.

The proof.

I decided to try out one of the kiddie cut places in town. Everything went surprisingly well. I did have to talk the stylist out of using the electric trimmer. Luckily, "no" translates easily from English to Spanish. And, I did have to take away the root beer flavored hard candy sucker that she tried to give Noah. Umm... hello, he is one. Good thing I had some animal crackers in my purse.

Noah sat so sweet and quietly for the lady.

Especially, when she turned up the volume on the TV.

After.

I wonder if I will ever stop feeling a little sad on haircut day. It makes him look so grown-up. Good thing it grows fast.

Dropping a Nap

For the past two weeks, Noah has been denying me his afternoon nap. There are several things that factor into his decision. 1. He's been sleeping later. Until about 7:00 AM. 2. He's been going down for a morning nap later. Anytime between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM 3. He's been sleeping longer for his morning nap. Anywhere from 2 - 3 hours. 4. He's not ready to go down for a nap between 2:00 and 3:00 like usual. For a little boy, with a pretty consistent bedtime between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM, a nap after 3:30 PM does not fit into Momma's schedule.

Unfortunately, this is what happens around 4:30.

Seriously, does this look like a little boy who only needs one nap?

It looks like we have some schedule adjusting to do.

Noah and His Shadow

Noah found his shadow today.

He walked right up to it.

He had a few things he needed to say.

He stomped on it.

He backed it into a corner.

Then he turned around,

And walked away.

Chugga Chugga

Since my "No TV" experiment, our time spent at home involves lots of playing, and I decided Noah needed a new toy. Last time we visited Grammy's house, Noah loved the train table in the playroom. I have been thinking about buying him his own train and tracks for a while now, but I didn't want to spend a ton of money, and I didn't want to go train crazy. I have been eyeing the choices for a while now, and today I found the perfect set at Toy R Us.

My First Railway by Brio. Ages 1-1/2+. They had me at the packaging. Very cute! What do you think, Uncle PNut?

Here is Noah playing trains. Don't be mislead by the photos. He spent very little time actually chugga chugga-ing on the tracks. He pretty much picked his favorite two trains. Red and blue., the colors he knows, and he took off with them. He pretty much carried them around the rest of the afternoon. Maybe tomorrow, he will be a little more interested in the tracks. Overall, I think they were a hit.

P.S. - I am not kidding about the color thing. He is pretty consistent in choosing red and blue toys to play with. Daddy taught Noah red while in Naples, so lately it has been mostly red. Here is a cute picture from this morning. Notice the red block.

16.67% Complete

Me: "I considered writing a post about all the things I hate about Miami, but decided I didn't want to be negative and have a big pity party."

Dean: "OK."

Me: "So instead, I decided to write a post about all the things I like about Miami."

Dean: "Yeah? How's that working out for you?"

Me: "Not so good."

Dean: "2 months down. 10 more to go."

Me: "Well, there is that."

The "No TV" Experiment

I have made it through day one of our "no TV" experiment and working our way through day 2. Unofficially diagnosed by Momma and Google, Noah is having a slight language delay. He doesn't really say very many words. He babbles a lot, but I can't seem to make most things out. There are tons of da-da-da, lots of ish-ish-ish, some ma-ma-ma and ba-ba-ba and just today some ne-ne-ne. So, anyway, there was this study, and it had to do with TV watching and children and how there is a relationship between children TV viewing and language delay. When I first read about the study, my first thought was apparently those researchers were not stay-at-home moms who liked to have their morning coffee before launching into a game of chase with an extremely active toddler. But, now that Noah is 15 months, and he doesn't say very many words, I, like any first time Momma, am starting to worry. Is it because of the TV? Can I reverse the effects of Elmo and friends?

He doesn't watch an insane amount of TV. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse first thing in the morning and a Sesame Street or Baby Einstien DVD in the late afternoon while I am cooking dinner. Sometimes, he will watch a little more, on those days when Momma is not feeling on her A game. But, most days he watches about an hour of TV. And when I say he watches TV, I mean he watches TV!

So, yesterday morning, I got a wild hair and decided to try a day with no TV. And, guess what, we made it through just fine. First thing in the morning, we hung out in his room. We read some books and played with puzzles and his shape sorter. And, in the afternoon, while I was making dinner, he played in his room by himself. I don't think he even missed Mickey and Elmo today.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go

I'm staying. Unless the 11PM or 4AM advisories show me different... I'm staying. I was going to head to Texas, but Ike is determined to sneak into the Gulf and leave Miami spared once again.

I'm no Jim Cantori, but the trend of this guy (Ike, not Jim) seems to be further west with every advisory. Hoping our family and friends are spared from another storm. Considering that not everyone is home yet and those that are have no internet to read this post, I'm sure they'd agree that Gustav was quite enough for this season.

Our Lazy Day Weekend

I meant to say... our labor day weekend, but it might as well have been called our lazy day weekend. When Dean found out he had the Labor Day weekend off, we decided to get out of Miami. We needed some family time, and we needed to take the option of Daddy going into the hospital out of the equation. I found a great resort in Naples, just an easy 2 hour drive through the Everglades. It was the perfect getaway.

Good thing we were driving because packing/traveling with family requires lots of stuff. Noah was happy to help. "Hey Momma, where are we going?"

The first day there Dean and I both got spa services. I had a facial, and Dean had a massage. It was awesome, and I think Dean enjoyed the relaxation too. We then spent the afternoon out by the pool. Daddy and Noah really enjoyed splashing and playing together.

We spent about three hours at the pool area. We swam, took several rides on the lazy river, had lunch, and just enjoyed hanging out together.

Noah was in such a great mood, which is not unusual for him. I took him over to the playground for a little while. It was playground geared more towards big kids, and he pretty much tried to eat the turf, but he sure had a blast doing it. He can pass for a big kid these days, right?

The day was overcast, which made the water really cold, but overall made the day really nice. By the time we got back to the room, Noah was exhausted. I made the executive decision to put him down for a nap at 4:30 PM. He didn't walk up until 5:30 AM the next morning. What a way to end a long day of fun... with a good night's sleep.

On Saturday, we started experiencing some of the feeder bans from Hurricane Gustav, so we stayed inside most of the day. Daddy and Noah hung out and watched some TV and played together. I hung out on our balcony with a diet coke and a magazine. What an enjoyable day!

Daddy and Naoh had so much fun on Saturday that Sunday, we decided on more of the same. A little bit TV and a little bit of playing.

And, on Monday, yep you guessed it, more of the same. We watched a lot of TV this weekend, but it was vacation. We also ate a lot of Double Stuff Oreoes. I told you... vacation.

We headed home yesterday, after spending much of the morning glued to the Weather Channel. We had such a great time this weekend doing... well, nothing. I can't wait for our next lazy weekend.