Adios Amigos

Noah, please don't leave me!

Caroline, pull yourself together. You're the one leaving me.

But, don't worry my sweet, little friend. Mississippi isn't all that far from Texas, and our mommies and daddies said they'll be friends forever.

Besides, we'll always have Miami.

Good luck in Mississippi sweet girl. We will miss your little family so much!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Dean and I made a day trip to Houston this past Saturday. It does require a bit of planning, but a less than 24-hour trip to Houston from Miami is possible. We had an appointment to meet with the decorator for our new house, and we decided that the day would run more efficiently and smoothly if Noah was not underfoot. So, we finally took Nanny Aunt Mo up on her offer to babysit.

Noah spent his day away from Momma at a baseball tournament for his cousin Zack. And, as any first time mother would who is leaving her child for the first time for an extended length of time (sad, I know), I left a list. Here is my email to Monique and her updated comments. By the way, I will be marking this in Noah's baby book as his first outing without Momma or Daddy.

Me: "Sunscreen and hand sanitizer in side pocket of diaper bag."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Sunscreen. Check. Used for all of us, thanks! Hand sanitizer. Did not use - sorry."

Me: "Clothes, crocs, diaper for tomorrow on table."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "One outfit used. Crocs. Great shoes, but get feet really dirty in playground. Diaper. Used-check."

Me: "Packed DVD player and puppy case of DVDs. His favorites are in the front of case."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Happy to say, used only one DVD and only dropped player 3x - sorry about that."

Me: "Change of clothes plus a few toys, books, diapers, and wipes in bag."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Change of clothes. Did not need. Toys. Nope. Books. Read two in the car after lunch. Diapers. Perfect amount. Wipes. We all used these also."

Me: "Don't forget stroller. He will sit in it. Use strap, but only bottom part. Once he gets out, very hard to get back in."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Stroller. Life saver. Um, but he can climb out of just the bottom part. Likes the top and bottom when he is with Aunt Mo and Uncle Jeff. Hard to get back in. Good to know, but he never got out."

Me: "Loves the straws from the milk/juice boxes. Will hold onto one all day."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Forgot about this one, but did carry around one stick and then the pen from the hotel room. Also, please tell the therapist that thinks he needs PT that he can jump on the bed in hotel rooms with a pen in his hand and not hurt himself... PT - NOT!"

Me: "Food in fridge. Strawberry, cantaloupe, pb&j, water, and OMG that's a lot of milk."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Fruit. Loved it. PB&J. Loved it. Water. Did not love it. Milk. Drank all of it before noon. Also loved an entire hamburger with bread and ketchup from the concession stand."

Me: "In the Rouses bag, banana, juice, sips, applesauce, snacks."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Banana. Didn't try. Juice. Two apple juices, two grape juices all mixed with a lot of water. It was really really hot, but this probably led to the the crazy hotel room bed jumping! Sips. Check. Milk in one and juice in the other. Applesauce. NOPE. Snacks. We all loved the animal crackers and Seth stole them and kept them."

Me: "The born free is the milk sip. He will suck on it all day."

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Check. Did not and did not fuss when I took it, but it did come in handy when we had to go from the stroller to the car seat for the 5th time."

Me: "Take pictures!"

Nanny Aunt Mo: "Definitely check."


Nanny Aunt Mo: "We really enjoyed having him... sweet, sweet boy!"

Me: "Thanks Aunt Mo and boys! We had such a productive day, and I am so happy that Noah had fun and was so sweet! And, congratulations to Zack for making it to the finals. Go Eagles!

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!

Two

We are spent Noah’s second birthday at the beach. Not Miami Beach, but on the good ol’ Florida Gulf Coast. Noah got to spend the day with, of course, Momma and Daddy, but also all his cousins.

The day started off with an early morning visit from Zachary, who joined Noah for his favorite show. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Most of the morning and early afternoon were spent at the beach, where Noah spent most of his time walking around in the sand and skirting the water’s edge.

Around lunchtime, he started to get a little sleepy, so he took a little rest with Momma. He actually never fell asleep at the beach, but did take a long afternoon nap.

After naptime, all the kiddoes headed to the area outdoor mall for Noah’s “party.” Here is everyone prior to partaking in some splishing and splashing.

What a great idea for Noah’s birthday. I don’t think Mister No could possibly have had more fun.

We headed back to the beach house for cake. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, of course, was the theme.

Family picture.

Clean Shaven

We took beach pictures on vacation, so for posterity sake Dean shaved his goatee. Noah noticed. He did a double take and couldn't stop touching Dean's face. Adorable!

Excuse me Daddy... something looks a little strange here.

Daddy, I think you're missing something right about here.

Where did all that hair on your face go?

So much softer, Daddy.

I think Momma agrees with me.

Thoughts on the Beach

This was not Noah's first trip to the beach. We do live in Miami, but this was his first vacation at the beach. On day one, Noah loved the sand and the water. 

He ran in the surf and kept going although he can't swim. He got a little chaffed from the sand/saltwater combo, and he must have remebered it the next day because he didn't go into the water again. 

He didn't mind the sand and ran down the beach not concerned whether we were following him or not.  He did not like sand on your hands though. And, even went as far as getting up from a sitting position with his elbows. He also decided when he was done and headed towards the stairs to the beach house. He definitely recognized where we were staying.

Happy 2nd Birthday Noah!

What a year! You spent 99.9% of year number two living in the sunshine state. About a month into your second year, you started running. I am sure you walked at some point before that, but it was so brief that it's barely worth a mention. Your teeth finally decided to grow and you went from 2 to 16. Your feet continue to grow and grow (you can thank your Momma for that), and you closed out your 2nd year wearing a 9.5 extra wide. However, you pretty much tolerate crocs which is fine by me because they keep you at a slower and more cautious pace. Although our OTs tend to take issue to this theory.

You spent half your second year being carted from therapy to therapy. At 18 months, you said zero words and now at 2, you have tons of words in your arsenal although you tend to be very selective on how and when you use them. Most often you can be heard saying, "ready, set, gggooo," and counting to ten. You are getting better at following directions and have been known to clean up, share, and when the mood strikes. You have decided to start throwing tantrums when you don't get your way, but they are usually very brief. I'm happy to know you don't hold a grudge.

You are such a sweet boy, and I love seeing your personality emerge. I really feel you are on the verge of that explosion of language, and I can't wait to see it. I can tell you've got a lot going on in that little head of yours. You remind me a lot of your Daddy.

I think this year I've definitely earned my Mommy badge. We spent a lot of time just the two of us. We explored a new city together. We went to Disney 5 times. We had a lot of fun during a pretty tough year. I love you so much sweet boy, and I am really looking forward to all the new adventures waiting to have in year number three. But, if I am being honest, I'm really looking forward to finally being able to stop counting in months. Math is so not my thing.

Here is year number two in pictures.

12 months

13 months

14 months

15 months

16 months

17 months

18 months

19 months

20 months

21 months

22 months

23 months