Taking Care of Baby

As an after school treat, we saved a new set of "hero" legos for Noah to build after school.  I am trying to convince him that the Joker is a bad guy, but he keeps telling me, "Mom, he's smiling!"  I'm pretty sure the "duh" is implied.  

I lost track of Emma while I was helping Noah.  And, I found her in our bedroom.  I just knew she had found something new to climb on, but instead, I saw the sweetest thing...

She had pulled this little doll out of a box in her closet and carried it all the way to my bedroom where her baby stroller was, and she was pushing her baby back and forth.  

Melt my heart.  As a little side note, my grandmother made that doll along with about 20 others for both me and my cousin.  Love that Emma is playing with them.  Thanks Mom for making me take them home.  

Kisses for baby.

Happy girl!

School Is In Session

Today Noah started Pre-K, and his note home from teacher said, "Noah had a fantastic day! He was so interested in his new friends and made a point to greet his old friends.  Really saw a huge change in his length of attention."  I love that note home, but let's fast forward about 12 hours.

3:15AM.

Noah had gone to bed a bit pumped up for school.  He really loves it... the whole learning thing is so in his wheelhouse.  I'm pretty sure he gets it from me.  Ha!  Just kidding... we all know that's all Daddy!  So, he went to bed with visions of the calendar and alphabet running through his head.  To my surprise, guess who pops into my bed at 3:15AM, ready to start the day!?!  After a bit of musical beds, me bringing him to his bed and lying with him, me leaving him in his bed chatting while returning to my bed, him heading back to our bed still chatting, and finally, me bringing him back to his room with a "Noah!  If you don't go back to sleep, you are not going to school tomorrow!"  Guess who finally went back to sleep around 5:30AM.

I let him sleep in a bit until about 8:20A.  I managed to get him up, dressed, teeth brushed and first day pics all in a matter of about 10 minutes which made us only about 12 minutes late for school.  Breakfast was a banana and a bag of pirates booty.  Cereal does not travel well.  Better luck with meal planning tomorrow.  En route, I did clock the drive from an exit about 6 miles closer (12 minutes to school door) and then proceeded to make a call to our real estate agent.  This commute may need some condensing!

Ready for his first day of Pre-K.

Emma was having no part of being left out of the pictures!

Not your turn yet, sweet girl!

Emma - Fourteen Months

Precocious (adjective) : /priˈkōSHəs/ (of a child) Having developed certain abilities or proclivities at an earlier age than usual.

It's my new favorite word to describe Emma. Tonight as she was playing in the bath, I was sitting on the floor next to the tub. I was distracted and didn't notice that she scooped a cup of water from the bath. She then dumped it over the side of the tub onto my lap. I looked her right in the face, she smiled and said, "uh oh." 

Her independence is continuing to rear its ugly head. She wants to eat by herself. Hold her own drinks. Eat things in full bites... Heaven forbid, I break them up into little bites. And, she seriously won't eat or drink if she doesn't get her way. My dad would call that a "tat due" French for hard head. When she's done with something she shakes her head with an affirmative no.  She has learned to climb, and tries to get onto everything.  Our couch is just low enough for her to climb right on top next to brother.  It is at present fenced off with a baby gate, but she still tries to get around it.  She fell off twice and landed backwards on the ground, but that has not seemed to deter her either.  Since, we spent a bit more time at home this summer, Emma has been on more of schedule.  She takes two naps a day anywhere between 2-3 hours and is still down for the night between 6-6:30P, but when she is up, she is up.  A constant flurry of motion.  Not too dissimilar from Noah at the this age.  She can point to her nose.  She can follow directions.  She is still obsessed with footwear, which does not bode well for the future.  She says Momma and Dada.  Still no Noah, but I've been working on it.  She says Pa Pa, which is super sweet.  Her favorite foods are avocados, tomatoes and just like brother... cheez-its.  She has started to be a bit clingy and will sometimes cry when babysitters show up.  She says "hi," and "bye," to almost every stranger we meet.  She also loves to go up to any kid and give them kisses.  But, she does cry for the babysitter.  Go figure.  She has also learned a bit of the fake cry, and it is pretty funny to see her trying to work us at such a little age.  She loves to dance, and she will lift her elbow out to the side and shuffle her feet.  Her favorite song is Call Me Maybe.  Here a few cute shots from the month.

The diet coke thief.

Uh-oh spaghetti-o's!

Enjoying her new favorite spot.

Love this face!

iPhone Purge Friday 08.26.2012 - S is for Summer

So, it's not really Friday... it's Sunday, but tomorrow is Noah's first day back at school, and I am long overdue for a post.  Not a lot of blogging this summer, or a lot of pictures for that matter.  The summer seemed long, but it was a good one. Busy. Crazy busy, but who isn't.  I went ahead and did a little phone/instagram purge.  So, here's a bit of random from our summer.

A little smile practice.  Noah is much improved from the start of the summer.

Grandpa taught Noah how to snorkel on a trip to Louisiana.

Sweet Baby Emma and I visiting Daddy at work.  

The same sweet and also trouble baby girl trying to get out of her exersaucer.  She got stuck.

Running the hospital halls on the way to therapy.

Celebrating in Louisiana.  Happy Birthday Pa Pa!

Stella & Dot.  My latest obsession.  Yes, all the jewels are mine!

This one loves to drink out of a big girl cup.  This one is filled with milk, but she's been known to snipe a d.c.

Five Things Friday 08.17.2012 - I'm a Big Kid Now!

1. Noah is now a big kid in the truest sense of the word. 60 pounds and 48 inches (4 feet).

2. He's into big kid cartoons like Scooby Doo and Mr. Men.

3. In the car this week, I tried to put on some music that I thought both he and Emma would like... "he said, "No, Mom... Not baby music."

4. Tonight Noah played outside for quite a while before bed. He came in for shower hot, sweaty and thirsty. He had a huge drink of water, and I was worried it might be a bit too much before bedtime. I suggested he sleep in a pull-up. Again, it was, "No, Mom. Babies wear pull-ups."

5. He also told me that he wanted a fish. "A fish for my room. Ok, Mom." Ummm... okay.

Summer Vacation - The Last Day

So, my thinking was this... Get to vacation as early as possible and stay late to eek out every last drop of fun. I completely forgot who I was traveling with. My extended family was on the road the last day of vacation before 7AM. With a flight that didn't leave until 3PM and a 10AM check-out, time was needed to be killed.

We had an extra passenger on our return flight. Seth. Fortifying our morning with some Starbucks.

Headed to the track. The only thing open at 9AM. Race cars. Arcade games. And a denial to ride the kiddie swings for Noah. He was too tall.

Alvin's Island. It's a beach stuffs bonanza. Plus, nothing says beach vacation like an airbrush t-shirt.

Lunch at Fudruckers with a quick perk at the gators. Worth noting that Emna ate gator bites. I'm pretty sure she thought it was chicken.

Headed to the terminal via rental car transport.

Emma was practicing social skills making friends with the big girls.

Home at last.

Summer Vacation - Pool Fun

Family vacation beach rentals come with lots of criteria. With a group of sixteen, we can sometimes seem like a demanding bunch... on the beach, big kitchen, number of beds, and a must - private pool.  The kids swam at all hours... day or night and had the best time.  This memory making is so much fun!

Zack goofing off!

Grammy and Emma Lou.

Jumping in!

Time for the stunts!

Got air?

Noah's turn.

Woo hoo!

Yes!

Summer Vacation - The Beach

The kids had a great time playing on the beach.  

Noah loved the water.  He had the best time jumping and getting splashed until he would inevitably get salt water in his nose/eyes/mouth and be done for the day. 

Emma loved the sand.   She had the best time digging her fingers in it until inevitably should would go to rub her eyes and get the sand in her nose/mouth/eyes then she was done for the day. 

This group was a bunch of great beach playmates!

Seth and Noah in the waves.

Brooke holding Emma at the water's edge.

Noah challenging Morgan to a game of beach crochet.

Zack tried burying Emma in the sand.  She wanted no part of that. 

Pa Pa was even able to get a bit of beach snuggle time with Emma.

And then came Daddy and the boogie board.

Yay for fun in the sun!

Climbing Mastered

Add climbing onto the couch to the list of skills Emma is adding to her arsenal.  In this video, she is climbing up to snuggle next to brother, but on previous attempts, she tried her stand up by rocking move and nearly toppled head first.  Guess who can no longer be left alone in the living room.  Sigh.  PS - Please note her "cheese" at the end of the video.  She says that any time I pull out my phone.  So cute!

Summer Vacation

So, I finally had the opportunity to sit down and download pictures to my computer and select my blog worthy pics out of the over 600 I took on vacation.  Out of all, this has to be my favorite.  What a great week my kids had being with their cousins.  I just love this crew! 

At dinner the last few nights, Noah led the group in a round of best/worst part of your day.  He went around the dinner table with the script, "Seth/Grammy/Uncle D/etc., what's the best part of your day?"  "And, what's the worst part?"  "Oh no, that's not good at all."  He was so cute, and everyone would raise their hand for him to call on them.  He would thoughtfully look around the table and choose the next person with an exaggerated pointing motion with sound effects to match.  Uncle D was pretty much cutting back flips to have his name called, and Noah actually waited to call on him last.  It was so funny and was such a cute representation of Noah's personality.  One night a few of the kids said there worst part of the day was "I didn't get to para sail."  Noah has now adopted that as his "worst part" answer at home.  Not sure he even knows what a para sail is.  We ended the week with a round of, "what was the best part of your trip?"  My answer seeing my children have so much fun.  It's just what it's all about, isn't it?!!  What an awesome vacation!

And, since Emma is missing from the pool shot.  Here's a little shot of her "cheese!"

Get ready for a blogging bonanza in the next couple days!