Makin' a Splash

While visiting at Grandma and Grandpa's house this week, Emma sunscreened up, put on her big girl bathing suit and went on her first official swim.

Daddy was all ready for Emma's first swim, but...

Oops.  He got a little distracted by Noah, and failed "Swimming with Baby 101" when he let Emma crawl head first into the pool.  Heads up Daddy!

Emma loved the pool, and I think we will soon have a water baby on our hands.

Easter on the Island

We headed south to Grand Isle for Easter weekend. The weather was beautiful.  The company was great, and both our kids had a great time. Noah found his own stretch of beach to comb right out the back door of the camp. He threw shells in the water, he drew letters in the sand, he made shapes with his shadow.

And, every afternoon he took a massive nap because he was pooped from all the activity.

One morning, we took a real beach walk with Grammy, Pa Pa and Aunt Mo. The minute we stepped on the beach, Noah took off running. He kept turning to see if we were following, but didn't slow too much. When we finally caught up (thanks Aunt Mo), he slowed down and realized he was exhausted.

 He asked for Aunt Mo to carry him back.

Noah did hang out one early afternoon with the big cousins. He headed to the end of the dock where the kids were jumping on an inflatable trampoline.

He asked for his swimsuit and was outfitted with a life jacket. As I was walking him back out, I told him, "this is the Gulf of Mexico." When he jumped into the water, he shouted, "I'm in Mexico!"

He had a lot of fun in the water, but wanted to be held at all times.  He was not a fan of the muddy bottom.  I don't blame him.  Thanks Brooke and Zack for taking turns holding him. 

Emma had her own share of fun at the beach.  Lots of kiddos looking to play and hold her.  The winner of all kids was Andrew B. who made Emma laugh everytime he stopped to talk to her.

Emma also got some cuddles from her big cousin, Morgan.  She is definitely a close second to Morgan (aka D.K.) in the bed head department.

Here's a little nap time with Grammy rocking in the salty air.

Emma even got a little pool time at the end of the dock.  She looked so stinkin' cute in her new swimsuit from Grammy.

All the grand kids ready for church. It was not my family's best outing at mass. Emma decided to sing loudly throughout, and well, Noah was not feeling the quiet mouth.

What's an Easter weekend without an egg hunt?!?

No picture, but Emma was crawling around downstairs when she spied Tiger, Aunt Mo's black lab, sitting on the ground paws outstretched. Emma started crawling towards her. Tiger started crawling slowly towards Emma. When they were nose to nose, Emma finally called chicken, and I scooped her up. Cute!

Thanks Aunt Mo and Uncle Jeff for inviting us. We had an awesome weekend!

Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny found us in Grand Isle.  He left a trail of eggs from one end of the hall to the other.  My kids have been dealing me some pretty early mornings lately.  Easter morn Emma woke up to eat around 5:00 AM, and since our family bunked together, Noah woke up just as Emma was getting back down.  Daddy was able to keep him quiet until about 6:30 AM.  I then decided to let Emma and Daddy sleep, and Noah and I headed to the front to check out the Easter loot.

Noah coming down the hall.  Check the trophy and army men are still in hand. 

The Easter loot

I'm not really sure if we reminded Noah or not about the Easter bunny coming, but he sure was excited to see all his treats.  Inside the Lorax lunch box was a leap frog alphabet toy, and reinforcements were called when Noah requested assembly of his Trio Shark Boat. 

Emma loved her surprises too.  An IPhone like Momma and a Snow White baby doll.

Happy Easter!

From our two little beach bunnies!

Noah's Got Talent

We are spending Easter in Grand Isle with family. Tonight was the customary GI talent show followed by awards coined the "Grand Isle Grammys" by Uncle D.  Noah was paired with Blake for the talent show. Blake has gotten really good at playing guitar, so he asked me what song Noah knew. I suggested "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. Blake googled it and in a couple hours was ready to perform.

Noah was super pumped for the talent show. Excited hands and feet were in full force. I bribed him with a piece of gum to sit next to Blake and perform.  He did awesome. He sang most of the words somewhat clearly and only changed songs once.  And, when the performance was finished everyone burst into applause. I so loved his face when everyone started cheering for him. It. Was. Awesome. I was so busy watching his reaction that I didn't snap a picture, but here's a freeze frame of the iPhone video. No scripting or acting just real and true emotion. My heart is so full.

 

 

Thanks Blake for being such an awesome big cousin. I love being surrounded by people who without question love and accept our sweet boy for exactly who he is and who most importantly are some of his biggest cheerleaders. He and Blake won the talent show, and Uncle D awarded him with a gold statue and a box of sixteen parachute men. He fell asleep tonight holding both in his hands.

Egg Hunter Extraordinaire

The week leading up to Easter holiday, Noah's social skills class did lots of Easter egg hunt practicing.  Notes home from school stated Noah was a "egg hunter pro!"  We had a few hunts with some friends, and Noah had a blast.

Hunt #1 with our neighborhood playgroup

Sampling the spoils

Hunt #2 Our backyard with friends

Finding some shade to "hatch" the eggs.

Emma is ready for some egg hunt action.

Hunt #3 The real deal - school Easter party 

Check out all the eggs in his basket. Yay Noah!

  Noah went up to a friend, "Hey, look at all my eggs."

What He Says - A Beautiful Mind

Can I just tell you how much I love this article. My little guy's mind is such an amazing thing, and I honestly see so much for him in the future.

- The Upside of Autism For too long, we've assumed that there is a single template for human nature, which is why we diagnose most deviations as disorders. But the reality is that there are many different kinds of minds. And that's a very good thing.

Noah fingering the necklace I was wearing. "what is this?" he asks. "What is it?" I respond. "A cross," he says. "Who lives on the cross?" I ask. "Jesus," he says (pause) "It looks like a 't.'" Yes it does, sweet boy.
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Noah's been into watching Fraggle Rock. A few mornings ago Noah grabbed Emma and said, "look Mom, I caught a Fraggle."
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He reaches out to touch my face while I'm next to him in bed, "Mom, you have cold on your cheeks."
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Letters are his thing. Tonight he was playing Dr. Seuss's Super Stretchy Alphabet game. After he put each lettered chip on a square, he would go through this huge dissertation that went something like, "oh yes. This is my favorite letter. Do you know what letter it could be? The letter S. The S makes the sss sound. Can you name a clothes that starts with the letter S? Socks. Yes you're right. Socks. S is for silly socks." Seriously, every letter went something like this. T was "can you name a vehicle? Train. A tired train."
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Tonight I was bathing both kids in my bathtub.  I was promoting Noah to give me opposites, and I said, "Emma is little, and Noah is..."  His response, "Medium."  "And, what about Momma?" I ask.  "Big."  He replies.  "And, Daddy?"  "Daddy is more bigger," he says.  I continue on asking about Grammy and PaPa and finally the boys and girls.  He informs me that the boys and girls are medium like Noah.  "But not Blake," he says. "Blake is big."  There you have it B, according to Noah, you are officially an adult.