Field Trip - The Bounce House

Noah was feeling well enough on Friday not to miss his field trip at the bounce house.

I am not camera savvy enough to get non-blurry pictures of Noah at the bounce house.

He did a little sliding.

Which he really liked, but...

The draw of the gameroom was too much for Noah to resist.

Cheese!  I love the bounce house!

Injury Time Out

Yesterday, Noah and I were rushing off to school.  Typical.  With me growing life and everything, I have been working on Noah trying to climb into his car seat without Mommy's help.  It involves a lot of "let's go, let's go, LET'S GO," and "get in your seat, get in your seat, GET IN YOUR SEAT."  So back to yesterday, Noah was climbing into his seat, and I was hurrying him along, when he started complaining about his knee.  He was climbing over quite a few things to get in, so I just pushed some stuff out of the way, and hoisted him up. 

After listening to the Philadelphia Chickens song about 10 times during our 30 minute drive, we finally arrive in carpool.  Noah's teacher comes to get him out the car, and they head into school.  Not 15 minutes later, my phone is ringing, and Noah's school shows up on caller ID.  What can possibly have happened this soon I wonder?  It's Noah's teacher.  She says that Noah is limping pretty badly.  He is not putting any weight on his right leg.  The motor skills teacher is noticing that he had tripped a few times, and he was just not acting like Noah.  I tell her I am coming to get him.  I can't help but think that I totally ignored my son's injury while getting into the car.  Great mothering right there. 

So, I pick him up, and he is definitely limping.  Favoring his right leg.  If I ask him if his knee hurts, he just says, "it's all better," which translates to, "it hurts."  My story gets a bit boring from here.  So, I'll be try to be brief.  I debate on whether to take him straight to the pedi or go see Daddy first, since we are only 5 minutes away.  I opt for Daddy, so in we go.  In the meantime, I make a call to the pedi who said that we should probably just go see an orthopedic since it's not like kiddos to usually limp.  So, I call the ortho, and they can't see him until Monday.  At this point, I convince Daddy to call up his peeps and have an x-ray done to make sure it's not broken.  All I can think is that it's broken, and I am going to have to limit this child's activity.  Is that even possible?  X-ray complete thanks to several handfuls of jellybeans.  It shows no broken bones.  Major relief.  Did I say I'd be brief?  You are going to feel so cheated when we get to the end of this post. 

So, I decide to take him to the pedi anyway just for her to check him out.  By the time we get to the waiting room, Noah has been sitting in his stroller, Daddy's lap, a chair or his car seat for about 3 hours.  He needed some movement, but his leg was still bothering him, so there was a lot of this going on. 

We saw the doctor who did a thorough exam.  Noah did so great at the doctor... again, the jellybeans helped.  Also, I may or may not have promised him ice cream after.  When the doctor, wanted to check his toes, Noah said, "no my knee."  She explained to him that she needed to check his whole leg, and he really listened and did so well.  I was so proud!  He didn't really complain of any pain, but just a couple times he said, "it's all better,"  translation, "it hurts."  The doctor basically said to pump him with ibuprofen and that if he was still limping by tomorrow afternoon, come in for blood work, and keep his ortho appointment on Monday.  I asked about limiting his activity, and she just said that kids listen to their bodies way more than adults, so it really wasn't necessary. 

By  mid-afternoon after a dose of ibuprofen, he seemed to be doing much better.  And, this morning well, I didn't even notice a limp, so... we went to the bounce house.  I know... totally anti-climatic.

Everything I Want in Life For My Child Can Be Summed Up in This 15 Second Commercial

Happy Hump Day!

Five Things Friday 1.21.11 - This and That

1.  A while back I found this super easy idea for a reward sticker chart.  I wasn't sure if Noah would quite get it, but in my night waking desperation, I decided to give it a shot.  And, although, I think the improvements seen at bedtime lately have more to do with consistency than stickers, I have continued to use the chart.  And, Noah has continued to reap the rewards.    It's pretty crude, a sheet of computer paper.  At the top, a small bed with a little stick figure with some "zzzz's," and next to it, a picture of a car driving on a road to the "ice cream house."  I love that Noah calls it the "ice cream house."  Then a large ice cream cone in the center of the page with six circles in the ice cream.  Every morning that Noah spends the entire night in bed, he gets a sticker on the cone.  We completed our second chart today, and so far, he has only had one day with no sticker.  So, today despite the 30 degree temps, Noah enjoyed a yummy chocolate ice cream cone.  

I think he liked it.   

A lot.

2. Dean and I went to the movies this past weekend to see Country Strong because I love me some Gwyneth Paltrow. I cried through the entire movie. Did I mention I was pregnant? The entire movie.

3. Noah and I shared our baby girl news with our good friends yesterday afternoon.  Pink balloons and cupcakes were enjoyed by all.  I love this picture and love these kiddos.  When I told Sara (second from the left) that I had a baby in my belly, she looked at me, eyes wide, and asked, "Did you eat her?"  And, later on reminded me, "don't you eat her again!"

4.  Tonight while reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Noah was pointing out all the different items that the caterpillar eats on Saturday.  Here's the list: a chocolate, an ice cream cone, a pickle, a cheese, a sausage, a lollipop, a... uhhh, a crawfish, a muffin and a watermelon.  He doesn't know what the apple pie is and is totally convinced that piece of sausage is a crawfish. 

Speaking of Eric Carle, it is worth noting here that Noah completely loves Brown Bear and Polar Bear.  They've used both books at school pretty consistently.  It goes without saying that he completely has them memorized.  If I recite it to him out of order to him, he thinks I am teasing and is pretty quick to correct me with a laugh and "nooo... that's not right."  Momma does not have a photographic memory like you do, buddy.  His speech therapist tried using it as a tool this week during a session.  And, she was super excited about how attentive he was.  Ummm... yes ma'am, it's all about the motivation. 

5. The other afternoon I went into Noah's room to find all the pictures from our behind the sofa table on his nightstand.  Right next to his two empty picture frames.  I think someone is trying to tell me they want some pictures in their bedroom. 



Notes from Early Pregnancy

10/17/2010: I appreciate the good sign of nausea, but at 5 weeks. Ugh!

11/2/2010: Settling into a level of functional nausea. Wondering if Noah is tired of eating hot dogs and watching afternoon tv marathons yet.

11/4/2010: Little one measures perfect at 7 weeks, 4 days. Doc confirms there is just one. Estimated due date is June.

11/16/2010:  And, just like that, I'm feeling better.

11/20/2010:  Sort of.

11/25/2010:  Still feeling a bit nauseous at random times during the day. Have no energy. This growing life stuff is kicking my butt.  I am starting to feel girl because of this ongoing sickness.

12/1/2010: 11 week doctor's appointment. Surprise ultrasound. Such a great profile of the little one. Dean and my dad call "it's a girl."

12/16/2010: I asked Noah what does Momma have in her belly, and he said, "baby Jesus." Oh, I hope not... That's a lot of pressure.
 

1/20/2010: 18 week ultrasound.  Baby girl looks great.  Doctor checks, double checks, and triple checks the gender.  Starting to feel movement.  Going to bed dreaming of baby girl shopping.  Feeling happy and blessed. 

Big News

This summer our family of three will become a family of four, and we are super excited to announce that it's a...

Baby Girl!

Noah is pretty excited about the news.

Or maybe it's just the balloons.  Either way, we are all super excited!

Photo Booth

Noah and I spent the afternoon at the mall.  Isn't that what everyone does on national holidays?  As we were leaving, I decided a quick sit in the photo booth was in order.  I'm so glad I did.  I love these shots.  Thanks for being such a sweet boy lately, Noah!  Momma is so proud of you and all your hard work. 

The Sweetest Big Boy

Report from Daddy on bathtime:

All by himself, Noah took of shirt and pants and put them in the dirty clothes hamper.  Then, he pulled off his diaper and threw it in the trash.  Finally, he hopped in the tub where he took a big gulp of the water coming out the faucet.  After his coughing stopped, he looked up at Daddy, and said, "Oh my goodness."  Man, I love this kid.

The Cat in the Hat

I may have talked a bit ad nauseum about Noah's recent affinity for Cat in the Hat.  I guess it's just because he is really, really into it, and there isn't many things that I can say that about.  I think it all started around October.  When I asked him what his classmates were being for Halloween.  He told me that his friend C was a penguin.  I asked his teacher and apparently, C was not a penguin, but was the Cat in the Hat.  I realized then that Noah didn't who the Cat in the Hat was.  That got me to wondering why the little girl in her class wanted to dress as one.  And, that is when I found the Cat in the Hat (Knows a Lot About That) on PBS.  Kudos to PBS Kids for super cute programming.  Martin Short as the voice of the cat... great idea! 

So, after Noah started watching the cartoon.  I picked up the book on CD, which he loved.  And, then we started reading the books at home.  Noah just really, really liked it.  So, when my Nanny Linda asked me if I had ideas for Noah for Christmas, I suggested the Cat in the Hat, I Can Do That game.  I saw it on a trip to Target, and I thought it would be a cute. 

Little did I know, it would become the BEST TOY we have in our house!  It has become such a great therapy tool for Noah.  It is an awesome game for kiddoes like him.  It follows along with the book in that it has several foam pieces (the book and the fan and the fish and the cake and mother's new dress) and plastic toys (the rake and the ship and the ball and the toy man) that you use to complete different tasks on a deck of cards.  Noah started out just solo playing with the pieces, but we have progressed to playing together with the cards. 

I love that it follows along with the book, so we can use the game as a prop when we read the book.  I did have to order a stuffed Cat in the Hat doll because I got tired of holding the cake on my head.  It has been great for joint attention, imaginative play and following directions.  Of course, I am trying really hard to hang onto all the pieces for the time when we actually play by the rules. 

Noah with the fan on his belly.

Noah going over the trick-a-mistick with the fan between his legs. 

Momma lets him break the rules a bit.

Tangled

I took Noah to see Tangled this morning.  It was a really cute movie, and I will say it again... Disney is not afraid to kill off a character.  Noah did really well for the movie.  He ate almost an entire bag of popcorn, half a bag of M&Ms, only got scared during the Chronicles of Narnia preview, and only kicked the seat in front of him about 2 or 3 times.  All and all an excellent movie outing for Mr. No. 

Here is Noah all dressed up for his movie date with his friend M.  He wasn't a huge fan of the sweater, but he sure does look cute.

Here is Noah and M posing outside the movies.

And, here is how the kids sat for about 80% of the show.  What a fun date!

He's Got Skillz

Every morning when Noah gets to school, the first thing he does is go to motor skills lab.  There are swings, ladders, a ball pit, trampolines... anything and everything designed to get his motor running and his little body moving.  The kids are required to try everything at least once.  Some things Noah likes more than others.

The weather here was beautiful today.  A friend invited us to meet her and her kiddies at the park, so we did.  Noah did such a great job climbing up and down the play structure.  He was doing things that he was previously too nervous or intimidated by to try.  He did it all by himself and multiply times.  What a great job, Noah!

Climbing up, up, up...

To the top, top, top.

He was so proud of himself.

Love the look on his face as he makes it to the top.

Noah Says... "Geaux Tigers!"

Noah is super excited for tonight's game.

Actually, he is going to skip the whole thing in exchange for bath and bed.

But, he still thinks the Tigers are #1.

Momma, Momma, MOMMA!

Noah is talking up a nonstop storm, and every other sentence starts with a "Momma, Momma." Here are a few of my favorite phrases in the last five minutes.

"Momma, Momma, I need help!"

He alternates between... "Oh, yes... sure you can Momma," and "Oh, yes... you sure can Momma."

"Oh... I love to dance."

"Momma, Momma... Where are you?"

"Ok... Here it comes again."

Watching an episode of Blues Clues where the clues are a pencil, a notepad, and some string. N: "Momma, Momma... Go get it. Me: Go get what? N: String. Oh... Yeah that sounds cool!" Of course, he already had a pencil and a notepad in his hand.

"Oh, yeah Momma... you're doing a great job."

"That's right, Momma."

"Oh, yeah... I'm so excited!" Excited is by far my favorite Noah word. It's comes out more like "exigwid." Precious!

Yes, I am so happy with all this talking, but wow, that's a lot of "Momma's" in one day.

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December Daily 12.31.10 - A Little Late

Although late, I couldn't not put up a post for the last day of the month, so I apologize in advance for the random list.

1. Happy Birthday Mom (and Blake, who I owe a happy birthday post. Don't worry it's coming soon.)

2. All the Dr. Seuss has put Noah in a rhyming mood. Yesterday, I handed him an ice cream bar, and he said, "Ice cream bar. Shooting star." He was very proud of himself. And, today while playing in the backyard, he said, "mud pie in daddy's eye." Clever.

3. We're back home, and Noah's back in his big boy bed. I had no intention of ringing in the new year, but about 9:30PM last night, I heard some talking over the monitor. It seems that the neighborhood firecrackers were a little too loud for Noah. He was up and did not fall back to sleep until 12:30AM. Ugh!

4. Potty training did not commence over Christmas break as intended.

5. Blogging every day is tough. Props to my sister and to Blair. I promise to be back soon with fresh material.

Happy New Year!


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