Monday, April 21, 2008

Great American Fun





We had a fun trip to Great America yesterday!! Noah got to ride on his first rides - we even took him on the Whizzer! I think he really liked it, but he definitely got a worried look on his face sometimes. :-)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

A Day in the Life

Things have been going really well around here. Yesterday was a really fun day. Jaden, Noah, Danielle and I played with the kitchen in Jaden's room. Noah doesn't know how to play with many toys, but he knows how to eat! And, he thought pretend eating was just tons of fun! So, Jaden and Danielle would make up special recipes and serve them up to me and Noah. I think it's the longest that we've all ever spent together playing with toys.

Then, in the evening, we had a rousing game of hide and seek. Noah couldn't really figure out the hiding part (even with Mommy or Daddy helping him), but he sure had fun with the counting and the seeking! It was so cute because he'd always first go look wherever the last person was hiding.

It's amazing to me how well all three kids have been getting along. I really expected more shaky adjustments on everyone's part. Noah is a part of the family - just like that. Is he sometimes a pesky little brother? Sure. Does he sometimes try my patience? Yep. But, man, do we love him!!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

More Cuteness



As you can see from the first picture, Noah is no longer afraid of Sota. This is him trying to get a free ride. We really have an awesome dog - he just sat there calmly while Noah climbed onto his back. Noah's now also happy to feed Sota and has even been spotted giving him kisses. We've come a long way! (And yes, I realize that my family room is in a sad, sad state - I thought it was messy before, but Noah has shown me a new level of disaster - he is an expert at spreading toys, ripping papers, scattering DVD's and tossing crayons about the room. Quite a talent.)

The second picture is of Noah when we were having fun putting stickers on each other. He just thought this was hysterical!

Today, Noah, Danielle and I went to the grocery store. Noah is so cute because he really wants to help with things. He insisted on helping bring the groceries in. Even when we were down to just the things that were really too heavy for him - you should have seen how cute he looked carrying a big old jug of apple juice. :-)

Another funny story about helping - Whenever Noah is finished with his food, he will immediately hold up his plate for me to take it and say, "Fini. All done." Sometimes, he won't even wait until he's actually finished with his food - as soon as he's picked up the last piece, he'll hold the plate up with the other hand. "Fini. All done." We're now to the point where I can convince him to put the plate back on the table until everyone else is done with their food, but he still always at least tries to give it to me.
That's it for tonight. Thanks for tuning in. :-)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Cuteness

I so love waking up in the morning to hugs from a certain little boy! Most mornings, Noah wakes up and comes straight into our room and climbs into bed with me to snuggle. Now, this is pretty much the ultimate sweetness in my book. Jaden long ago figured out that he can get my attention at any time by saying, "Mommy, I want to snuggle with you." Yep, I'll pretty much drop anything at that point. And Noah is obviously figuring that out as well. Not only do I get hugs in the morning, but pretty much anytime I sit on the couch, Noah climbs on up into my lap. He does this cute thing where he hugs me and pushes his cheek against mine as hard as he can. It's a very intense hug. :-)


Some other quick cute things - Noah loves to play with my hair. A lot of times, he drapes it over his head and face and then giggles because it tickles him. His feet are also VERY ticklish, which is amazing to me since he walked around on rocks at COTP and it didn't faze him at all. How can he not feel rocks, but a little tickling drives him insane?

Noah absolutely LOVES the bathtub and is not afraid of the water at all. It's all I can do to keep him from actually diving into the tub - he lays down, ducks his head under, sticks his head under the running faucet - it's crazy! If Danielle gets the tiniest drop of water in her eye, she's calling for a towel. I can't wait to see him in the pool!!

There's lots more, but I'm getting tired, so I'll have to save it for later. Boy, do I love this little guy!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Another Little Update



I know it's been awhile since I've posted. It seems like time is flying by and I don't know where it's gone most of the time. Last week was a bit hectic since it was spring break, which meant both Jaden and Danielle were home all day, every day (normally Jaden is in school in the mornings and Danielle is in school two afternoons a week). Plus, Scott went back to work for three days last week (back a full week this week). It's definitely different to be home with the kids all day by myself. Noah takes a lot more supervision than Jaden and Danielle. And sometimes the three of them can get pretty crazy while playing together. It can be a bit challenging.

I've started giving Noah time-outs when he doesn't listen, and the first few were pretty rough. He doesn't like having to sit in one spot and the timer doesn't start until he stays sitting (I give him a little leeway, but he can't be crawling all over the stairs). And, after a time-out is over in our house, you have to say sorry for the misbehavior. Well, that was a MAJOR issue the first time. Mind you, Noah will generally repeat anything you ask him to say. He loves repeating. But, after his first time-out, he was mad and he absolutely refused to say, "Sorry Mommy." In fact, at first, he would just turn his head away from me and wouldn't look at me at all. I could tell that the other kids and the TV were a distraction, so I took Noah into the other room and sat him on my lap. I kept him there until he said sorry. He finally got to go play after about an HOUR and fifteen minutes. Yep - it was crazy. Sometimes Noah passed the time passively, sometimes he got upset and cried because he wanted to go, sometimes he tried distracting me from the goal at hand by talking about something else (usually pointing and saying "gade"). I just kept reminding him that if he wanted to go and play he would have to say "Sorry Mommy." There were quite a few times when I wondered if I should give up - especially when he would cry. I kept thinking, "How long do I do this for?" But, at the same time, I knew with almost absolute certainty that he knew what I wanted him to do and that he was just being stubborn to see if he could win our first battle. I was pretty sure that I was setting a precedent here and I really didn't want to give him the message that he could hold out for longer than I could. Still, I think I was reaching the point of desperation when he finally blurted out, "Sorry Mommy" (actually it sounded more like "sublunmb Mommy" - but that worked just fine for me). You would have thought that he won a marathon for all the hugs and cheering that he got for saying those words!!

Since then, time-outs have been much less painful. I think he decided that my excitement at him saying sorry was more motivating than his need to be stubborn (or he just decided he didn't want another hour long time-out) because the next time, he said it immediately. I was so relieved and so glad that I had stuck it out. I know he needs to start learning that he has boundaries in our household, but it really is hard.

Let's see. After that long explanation, what else new can I mention. Noah's getting better at the stairs. He can go down without us holding his hand now as long as he's not too distracted (but we usually still remind him "one step, one step, one step...). Naps have been on-again, off-again, which can be challenging. I'm pretty sure at COTP he took a three hour nap every day, so I'm not sure why he sometimes doesn't seem to want to nap now. Once again, I think he might be testing to see if I'll eventually just let him out of bed to play - but I haven't quite figured out the right way to handle this yet. Noah is starting to pick up a few more English words, but the doctor said that we should call the school district to have him evaluated since he's definitely developmentally behind in speech (we also want to do a hearing test to make sure that there's no remaining impairment).
That's all I can think of for now. As I keep saying, things are going amazingly smoothly so far. We really couldn't ask for much more at this point. :-)