How Does Your Garden Grow?

About a month ago, Noah watched an episode of Sesame Street where the "word on the street," was GARDEN.  Noah is a huge fan of the "word on the street."  He gets so excited to learn a new words and add to his vocabulary.  So, don't be surprised if he asks you, "what's the word on the street?" 

Have I mentioned that my parents have the best back yard ever?!?  Grammy also has lots of gardens, so I figured our recent visit was the perfect opportunity to grow some flowers.  I picked these up from a local nursery.  I was going for rainbow colors, but Noah really wanted to include some pink. 

And off we go.  Step one.  Get some dirt.  Sand toys make an awesome fill in for gardening tools in a pinch. 

Noah was such an awesome helper.  He carried the bucket of dirt and his shovel all the way from the shed to the playhouse. 

I cleared out all the old dirt and leaves, and Noah poured in all the fresh dirt.  In all honesty, it was both his and my first time planting flowers.  I think we had some awesome teamwork going.

Ready to "grow some flowers."  I did the planting, but of course, there is no photo evidence.  I have to admit... somewhat fun.  Maybe I should attempt this in our own garden. 

Admiring our handiwork.

Sweet Kisses

Noah is finally getting the hang of giving kisses. He is pretty selective about when and how, and he definitely will not give one on command, but when he decides a kiss is warranted... well, it is just about the sweetest thing.

Like the first time, just about a month ago, when I was lying in the grass outside his grandparent's house staring at the sky. Next thing I know, Noah's faces is blocking out the sun and nose to chin, I get a great big kiss.

Or like last week, when we had strolled to the park, and Noah was running in circles underneath the playground equipment. Next thing I know, he runs up to me and gives me a big kiss on my leg. I bend down, point to my lips, and muah... kiss no 2.

And like today, while I was talking to the case workers from the early intervention program, and he climbed onto the couch next to me, grabbed my face, and gave me a kiss on the mouth.

All unsolicited and all so sweet. Almost like an "oh, by the way Momma. I love you, and I just have to say it!" Well, I love you too, Noah. So very much

Worth the 2.5 Hour Wait

In preparation for our much anticipated drive out of town, Noah and I spent the morning at the car dealership getting my truck checked out. At about 9:00 AM, Noah and I dropped the truck at the service department and headed over to the waiting room. Luckily, it was empty. I switched the TV from Regis and Kelly to Clifford the Big Red Dog, and we settled in for our wait. Sigh. It is times like this that I really miss my dad.

The room didn't stay empty for long, but I figured we were here first. So, cartoons stayed on, and the people didn't seem to mind, not that they were overly excited about Noah running in circles around the room. Noah ruled that waiting room. The long wait was pretty uneventful except for the part where he pulled all the red straws out the coffee cart and tried to steal a granola bar from a lady and a highlighter from an old man. Clifford rolled into Sesame Street and Sesame rolled into Word World, and I figured I'd put the now 5 other adults out of their misery. Noah and I headed outside to a small bench to indulge in some goldfish and Fanta. I pulled out my phone to send Daddy a quick picture. I told Noah to smile, just like always, and when I pulled the phone around, this is what I got.

I love this picture. Noah smiling and looking right at the camera. One take. Totally worth the wait.

5 Things Friday 7.23.09 - The Explosion

In the past week, Noah has really started talking, and I am starting to think that this is the explosion that everyone is talking about. He is labeling everything, starting to repeat more and more, getting really good at following directions and even starting to communicate things he wants. Here are 5 of my favorite things over the past couple days.

1. I was drying him off after bath and leaning over him drying his hair. He reached out and started rubbing his hand over my face saying, "dry, dry, dry." It was so sweet. I wasn't saying dry at the time, but it is probably something I usually would say. And, the fact that he was imitating me drying by rubbing my face was so heart-meltingly precious.

2. He is really started to be aware of getting hurt when he falls down. It is something I have been working on with him. I'll say, "Ouch, did you hurt your hand/arm/foot? Are you okay? You're fine." All the while rubbing the injured area. So, now when he gets hurt, he'll say one or all of the following: "Owwwhhh. Fine. Fine. Fine. Owkay. Owkay."

3. Want is one of the signs/words that his speech therapist used a lot to teach him to request things. It is something she tried to make him do every session for at least 10 times a session. Well, I think it finally caught on because he signs it constantly, and follows it up with a "wunt, wunt, wunt." At the grocery this week, he even signed/said it on the cracker aisle. He also started saying cracker. I can't in good conscience call it a sentence since they were a little spread apart, but I definitely got the message.

4. The counting is something he does a lot throughout the day. His therapists seem to think that he is using it as sort of a regulatory tool when he gets upset or bored or whatever. Their suggestion to me was to try to use the counting as a way to encourage interaction. The key also being to make the counting functional. He has a small toy with a crab, some fish and a starfish on it. He always goes over and counts them, so I started repeating after him with "one fish, two fish, one crab." Now he will still count them, but say, "one crab, two fish, three fish, four star."

5. I find that a lot of the things he is starting to say regularly are things that I say to him pretty consistently. The most recent that makes me laugh the most is "yay!" He started it yesterday, and any time we finish doing something or playing something, he will look at me, pause, and say, "yaaay!" It is really cute!

Swim Lessons

I decided to sign Noah up for some "Mommy and Me" swim classes. The classes are thirty minutes long. Noah has learned to hold on to the side, tolerate floating on his back and fill in the words to Humpty Dumpty. He has not learned how to close his mouth under water. In fact, I am pretty sure he drinks quite a bit of chlorinated water during our half hour swim.

Time to practice swimming.

Not visible in this picture, but I promise his mouth is wide open.

Ahhh... this water kind of tastes funny.

Gulp.

The Sign Says Stop

Through therapy, I've learned that Noah is a very visual child. He gets the message much clearer with signs and gestures and pictures. Noah loves to play in our bed. It is pretty high off the ground, and he can get on it without any help. I usually keep the door to our bedroom closed, so he only goes in there when I'm with him. Well, he and Daddy must have had a field day while I was out of town last weekend because on the Monday after I got back, he only wanted to climb on the bed. He would not listen to "no," so finally I grabbed a sheet of paper, drew a stop sign in red crayon, and taped it to the door. He was not happy. He would go to the door, point to the sign, protest a bit and walk away. This went on for a little while, and then he decided that he had a enough. This is what I found.

I guess he technically followed the rules. He didn't open the door until the stop sign was down. Too bad he was the one tearing down the sign. Do I have trouble on my hands or what?

The Water Park

My nephew Zachary is in town, so we needed to find something fun to do while he was visiting. We decided on the local water park. This was only the second time Noah and I have been, and I revisited my previous post to see my thoughts. Two things. 1. I was much funnier and more creative at the start of this year before Miami beat me down, and 2. the water park is much easier and more fun with a 10-year old in tow.

Here is Zack, the 10-year old.

Here is Noah, the water-loving, very active toddler.

Here is Zack carrying Noah up the steps to the slide.

Here are the boys sliding.

Here is Noah getting the hang of the steps himself.

This park was no Big Kahuna, but Noah had lots of fun sliding with cousin Zacky.

Here is Momma getting into the sliding action.

What a fun afternoon at the water park! Thanks Zack for being such a great big cousin and spending the day splashing with Noah.

We love you!

The Terrible (Almost) Twos

Noah knows the word no. He also knows how to communicate the word no. Sometimes it's cute, like when he says, "uh uh, uh uh" shaking his whole body from side to side. Sometimes it's not, like this morning.

Noah had My Gym this morning. We had kind of a full day with a car nap planned for later in the day, so gym class was sort of a lagniappe activity. I have a habit of always keeping a fresh sippy cup in my bag. Noah knows this so as soon as we got to gym, he decided he was thirsty. He was whining and trying to get into my bag for his sip. I gave it to him in the lobby, but of course he didn't want to give it up to go to class. So, if I took the sip and tried to lead him into gym, he fell to the floor kicking and screaming. If I let him keep the sip, but stopped him from going into gym, he fell to the floor kicking and screaming. The "no food or drink" sign was staring me in the face, and I was not letting him in that gym with his sip. We were at what you call an impasse, and Noah was not willing to bend. Rules being rules, I carried him sip in hand kicking and screaming to the car. And, as soon as I got him buckled, he threw the sip down and calmed for the ride home.

This display is just par for the course of what I've been getting the last few weeks. I've heard of the terrible twos, but Noah is still two months away. Sigh. What happened to my sweet little boy. Noah's speech therapist sees these tantrums as a good sign. He's communicating his wants. The tricky part is showing him that I understand. I spend a lot of time saying, "oh, you're upset. I'm sorry you're upset, but..." I'm trying to ride this phase out gracefully, but it is beating me down. Well, today is done, and in the words of my onscreen idol, "tomorrow is another day." Wish us luck!

Who Doesn't Like A Good Mix Tape?

Noah loves music. The IPod gets kicking, and I swear you can see his little ears perk up, his head cock to the side, and the sweetest little smile touch his face.

Yesterday, we were heading on an emergency run to Target to pick up the 3rd book in the Twilight series. I mean, seriously, who ends a book with a cliffhanger like that. It was the witching hour for us between 4:30 and 5:00... too late for a nap, too early for bed, and not quite dinnertime. En route, I plugged my IPhone into my car stereo, so Noah could hear some tunes. The drive to Target was quick. We got into the store, and I plopped Noah into a cart. As we headed to the back of the store, he started shaking in his seat. I could tell he still had the tune in his head, so I started singing the song that had been playing in the car. He looked at me like I was nuts and started to protest a bit. Ouch. I thought I sounded pretty good. So, I handed him his sippy cup, which he angrily tossed in the back of the cart. OK, really, this is where the talking would come in handy. What Noah? He reached out for my purse hanging across my body trying to reach inside for something. I realized he was looking for my phone to continue listening to his music. So, I pulled it out, and we happily continued our shopping trip to Noah's very own soundtrack.

For posterity's sake and for anyone else whose interested, here are a few of Noah's favorites. Feel free to chime in on what is on your kid's mix tape.

All Together Now from All You Need is Love: Beatles Songs for Kids
Hello Goodbye from All You Need is Love: Beatles Songs for Kids
Black Horse & The Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall
Bubble Toes by Jack Johnson
Steal My Kisses by Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Hot Dog! by They Might Be Giants
Taylor by Jack Johnson
Shoo Fly Pie from Short & Sweet Andrew & Polly
Jelly Man Kelly from Short & Sweet Andrew & Polly
Goodnight from Short & Sweet Andrew & Polly
The Sharing Song by Jack Johnson
3 Rs by Jack Johnson
Spider On The Floor by Raffi
I'm Yours by Jason Marz
Bubbly by Colbie Caillat

Open Shut Them from Sing Gymboree

We Take Our Little Hands from Sing Gymboree

Drenched

The Winnie the Pooh park at the Magic Kingdom has a splash pad that Noah has been drawn to at every visit. So, this time I had the foresight to bring a change of clothes.

And boy, did he need it.

Jonie on the other hand. She didn't get the memo about the splash pad, and her boys didn't ask first. Here is Andrew soaked and loving it.

Here is Joseph running through the spray. They were sopping wet and had to call it a day after the park.

Dripping wet and probably a little chilly, but Noah had a blast.

Me and my sweet, soaked boy.

All Aboard

Today Noah and I met up with my mom's group at the railroad museum. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a pretty cool place and really cheap. With my zoo membership, I got a 20% discount, so it only cost me $4.80 to get in.

We got our tickets to ride the 11:00 AM train and the front desk clerk told me the train room would be a good place to play while we waited. The museum was outdoors, and there were 4 real tracks loaded with huge trains. Our walk to the train room took us all the way down to the end of the first track.

Noah was a little intimidated at first being so close to all the big locomotives, but he soon warmed up.

We finally reached our destination! A huge room filled with trains and tracks. What a great idea!

I think Noah could have played in here all day. We did stay about 2-1/2 hours, and he was still not ready to leave. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, and he is still napping. I think this is an outing we will be taking again soon.

Grammy's Backyard

Have I mentioned how miserable it is not having a grassy place to run and play at our apartment? On our recent visit, Noah had a blast playing in Grammy's backyard. After spending a week sick in our apartment, the freedom of the outdoors was just what Noah needed. The weather was a little chilly, but mostly sunny and beautiful. He ran. He swang. He slid. He climbed. He crawled into hard to reach spots. He picked up sticks. He picked up acorns. He played in the sand. He splashed his feet in the pool. He had so much fun!

Running with sticks.

Crawling under the tire swing.

Hiding out in the playhouse.

Playing in the sand.

Climbing up the slide.

Splashing in the pool.

Hanging out on the deck.

Water Park

Noah and I spent the morning at a local water park. It was Noah's first trip to an actual water park, and Momma's first trip to a water park having to actually be in charge of a toddler. For those who don't know, being in charge of a toddler at a water park requires wading through ankle deep water in a bathing suit, and sometimes standing in various squirters, spouts, and sprinklers that are all aimed at adult eye level. Climbing up and down drenched staircases only to get to the top where there are more squirters, spouts, and sprinklers all aimed at adult eye level where your only options are to carry said toddler back down the drenched stairs or to take one of the two baby slides to the bottom that according to the lifeguards do not go fast and are indeed the slides for the younger crowd. We did take each slide once, and I do believe that Noah, just like Momma, found the slides to be slightly scary.

This is the only picture I was able to snap of the morning. Cameras and water don't mix. We are taking a snack break. I snuck in goldfish crackers and grapes. I was almost busted by the security guard checking bags at the door, but I was able to successfully smuggle them in. Noah's attention is held by the lazy river. It was one of the few lazy rivers that I've been on that actually lived up to its name. We rode it four times. Much more Momma's speed. Noah had a blast today, and I definitely think we will be going back. Although, on our way home, Noah asked if we could bring Daddy next time. Umm... that would be a big YES!

And Then There Were None

13 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days.

This morning I woke up and decided we were done. Noah has been down to one nursing a day for about a week. I think it was more of a first thing in the morning habit, so today, I just gave him a bottle of milk. I actually think he had a better morning. I am pretty sure my milk supply was non-existent for the last few days, so the full bottle of milk must have been quite welcome.

I am pretty proud of myself for nursing Noah for as long as I did. It definitely wasn't always easy. I didn't pump a lot, so when he was eating 8-10 times a day, it was all me. Up in the middle of the night multiple times, all me.

In the beginning, he didn't take to nursing very well. Of course, going into the hospital, I had read several books on the subject, and I felt like I knew what to expect. I had no idea. You think it is going to be such a natural thing, and well, it is hard, at least it was for me. The one thing that the books kept repeating was getting the baby to latch on as soon as he is born. Well, Noah wanted no part of that. He did have a pretty rough delivery, so I can definitely understand.

During my stay in the hospital, the nurses and lactation consultants all hovered around saying things like, "don't worry he doesn't need to eat yet, when he is hungry he will" or "don't give him formula in a bottle it will just confuse him, feed him through a syringe" So, I tried not to worry, I tried to listen to all the conflicting advice, and I kept trying to get him to latch. My breasts were pulled and prodded. Someone mentioned something about a nipple shield, so Dean ran to the "Milk Bank" (clever name for the breastfeeding store, right?) to buy one.

Poor little guy, he barely had a sip of milk the entire time we were in the hospital. Born at 7 pounds, 15 ounces, by the time we were checking out, he weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces. As we were leaving, the pediatrician said, "I know you want to nurse, but he has to eat something." So, we gave him formula in a bottle, and he sucked it down. Sucking reflex. Good. The first four weeks were a battle. Me using the shield. Noah fighting to gain some weight.

I got great advice from my cousin Rebecca. "If you can make it six weeks," she said, "it gets so much easier." And, you know what, it did. And, it just got easier. My goal of six weeks turned into three months, three months into six, six into a year. So, here we are. 13 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days.

Weaning was such a gradual process that it was pretty easy for both Noah and I. I think I was the one hanging on to those last two. Noah has really taken to whole milk. Honestly, I am not too sure if it is the milk that he loves or the bottle I put it in. While most mom's are weaning their one year olds off the bottle, we just started the habit. I know I should probably have just weaned to a cup, but he does take both bottles and sippy cups. Bottles are strictly for naps and bedtime. So, I won't worry too much about it.

I really loved nursing my little guy, and I am a sort of sad to be done. It is a clear sign that the baby stage is over, and I have a toddler on my hands. I am looking forward to the next stage though... Noah needing Momma in different ways.

The Lady Behind the Camera

One of my job duties under the heading of Momma is family photographer. I take this task seriously and always have my camera on hand. I get to capture all these great moments that otherwise no one else would get to see. The downside is that pictures of me are few and far between. Thanks Pa Pa for taking these cute pictures of me and No. I love them!