Oh-Bla-Di

I’m not sure that I’ve been able to find anything that makes our kids happier than running around nearly nude.  Ava asks every single night if she can run around with no pants and Noah has been known to walk around tugging on his clothes trying to get rid of them.  Usually, we make them keep their clothes on (those tile floors are cold!) but, on nights when it’s still too long until bedtime and the TV isn’t an option, nudity is where it’s at.

Their favorite game to play is “chase” which just means that they run around screaming like crazy people.  The only reason this is acceptable is that it’s the happy kind of laughing screaming rather than the “I want something now” kind of screaming.  I’ll take loud and happy over loud and cranky any day – either way, it’s all just loud.

Strangely enough, the other fun game to play when running around in one’s underwear is dress up.  Anyone remember this?  Well, apparently, the Michael Phelps look is genetic.

If Noah had more words, I’m sure he’d be saying, “Silly parents, clothes are for grown ups.”

We’re way overdue on a monthly update for Doozers, so I figured I’d better get it posted before we get back into the hustle of back-to-work. Noah turned 16 months a few days ago, so here’s a little bit about what he’s up to these days.

At 16 months, Noah…

:: weighs 21 lbs, 8oz, and is 32 inches long. Not much weight gain from his one year check up, but he’s put all his effort into getting taller.

:: is a full up walker, almost a runner. Doozers started really walking at 12 months and three weeks and gets around like a champ now. He’d very much like to run, which we can see when he moves a little faster and his left arm swings faster than his right. Adorable….really looks like he’s winding himself up.

:: has a few words. Milk, milk cup, dog, duck, baby, shi-shi (train), shs (shoes), Daddy, Dada (Ava), Mamé (Binky), yes, no, & “oh, whoa!” He has nothing to use as my name, so I just assume any screaming is directed at me.

:: knows signs for please, thank you, all done, more, bye-bye, and high five. He will also blow kisses.

:: will sit still for pictures because they’ve taught him to at school, but he only does group shots and must be sitting. No standing photos with his sister and candid shots only happen if your shutter speed is fast enough.

:: loves to play with Ava, but often doesn’t understand her “rules”. He just generally plays a little rougher…banging teacups and Godzilla-ing her block towers. He’s delighted and she’s writhing on the floor in hysterics. Good times.

:: really enjoys reading books. But, he doesn’t like the ones with too many words on each pages and you kinda have to sneak new ones into the rotation since he likes repetition of the familiar. Favorites are Global Babies, Goodnight Moon, The Big Red Barn, Hello Day!, Eyes, Noes, Toes, Peek-a-boo!, Planes, and Pat the Bunny.

:: sleeps for two hours every day at nap time (12pm-ish to 2 or 2:30pm-ish) and goes to bed between 6:30 and 7pm. He’s up between 6 and 7am each morning. He still uses his Binky to sleep, but won’t put it back in himself. We still get up a couple times a night to plug him.

:: speaking of the Mamé, we’ve scaled back its use to just bed and car (no Mamé at school except nap time) and this week were cutting it cold turkey. If he doesn’t need it to sleep, he won’t wake up looking for it, right?

:: loves Pokoyo. It’s the cartoon short on right after Peep and he drops everything he’s doing and comes running to the tv room for Pokoyo. Adorable.

:: is fascinated with things that go. Trains, cars, trucks, plasma cars, airplanes, it all rocks his socks. Christmas was very transportation themed for him this year.

:: has mostly overcome his vampire-like tendencies. While he still makes some biting attempts at school, it’s not as frequent and he hasn’t actually made contact in a couple of months. His teachers get most of the credit for this since they’ve really been helping him work on using his words and learn to share.

:: really loves school and seems to have quite the happy world there. He learns so much…he was “singing” Skidamarink the other day and doing the hand movements for it. He also follows directions really well and is very good at putting toys away. Will definitely miss this amazing influence for him when we move.

:: loves to play piano, but insists on doing it himself.

:: can open all the doors here…including the front- and garage-doors. Deadbolts are a must.

:: can climb the stairs, up and down.

:: is sort of a dare-devil and climbs a lot. He also falls a lot…not necessarily off of stuff, but usually over his own two feet and into sharp corners. His poor face is always black and blue from all the bumps.

:: is still one of the happiest kids we know. He’s pretty chill, unless he wants some specific, and is a wonderful addition to our family.

We love you bunches, Noah. Can’t imagine this little life of ours without you.

We love our kids’ school for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that they throw big holiday parties and invite all the families in.  I remember that it was always so fun to be in my school “off duty” when I was a kid and so I’m glad our kids get that chance here too.

The Friday of Winter Festival is also a school-wide pajama day, so the kids went to school in jammies and parents are invited to wear jammies for the festival.

These two were so cute, it just made my heart ache that day!

At our school, each of the classrooms is open with a fun activity or project for the kids to do and there are decorations and snacks throughout the hallways.  But the main event is that each of the classes in the school practices a song or poem for weeks in advance and then does a little performance for the families at Winter Festival.

I’m so grateful for this school because they’re so fun!  I can’t imagine opening a whole classroom, filling it with sparkle paper and glitter and then inviting kids in to go nuts.  Can you imagine the mess?  But, no kidding, on Monday morning, you’d have never even known it happened.  Talk about extra effort for the good of the kiddos.

Making glitter snow angels.

Noah wasn’t so sure glitter snow angels were awesome.

The babies and toddlers videotape their performances and we get to watch the movie on the big night since there’s no way they’ll perform for a big group on demand.  But, the bigger kids all do a little show and it’s super cute.

Ava’s class performed the poem “Falling Snow” and then sang “Jingle Bells.”  We got an advance preview of her performance at home before we left for the party.

Ava was pretending to be shy when it was her group’s turn to perform and we’re not really sure why.  We know she knew her stuff and she’s quite the ham, so that will probably always be a mystery.  Regardless, we sure had a fun time and all those cute performances sure made up for the sugar crash the next day!

Noah got a plasma car for his birthday and is now turning it into an indoor indy car.  He prefers to ride it with shoes on so that his feet don’t slip when he’s turning tight corners around the kitchen island and dining room table.  While Doozers has definitely gotten to be a pro, he still gets pinned in the bathroom or in a random doorway sometimes.  Nevertheless, he’s so clearly delighted with his newfound skill that it’s hilarious to watch.

One of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while….

(Bear with me…when your baby turns one, you use a TON of pictures to tell the story.)

For the grown-ups, the birthday started Friday night as we did some prep for the party the next day.  Grammie & Grandad were here to help Matt and I get the cake ready.  In spite of a few stressful moments when we weren’t sure we’d be able to get it into a refrigerator, we had a great time letting our creativity run wild.

So, needless to say, yesterday was a momentous day.  Noah slept in until 8am.  Just kidding….he really did sleep until 8am, but obviously this day was HUGE because it was our baby boy’s first birthday.  Since his big sister didn’t hook us up with a chance to really sleep in, I had plenty of time to go get our party balloons filled and pick up some special treats for breakfast…donuts!  When we were all awake, we had a special birthday breakfast of breakfast casserole and donuts.

After that, we spent the morning just hanging around playing with Grammie & Grandad and even practicing some walking.  While he’s nowhere near proficient, Noah has taken about four or five steps at a time on several occasions.  He’s such a fast cruiser he hasn’t had much incentive to get up and walking in open spaces.  Because, really, when you can cuddle up with your big sister on the floor, why would you start walking?

Before we knew it, it was time to toast Noah’s birth and open his first present!

After lunch and during naps, we took advantage of some kid-free time to put some finishing details on the cake and decorations.

And, then, it was time for the main event…a first birthday party! The guest of honor had to be woken from his nap, but was ready to have a great time after a quick costume change and hair combing.

All dressed up in the outfit Matt wore when he turned one.  Thanks, Grama!

With the guests arrived, we set about preparing dinner.  For this party, we served Matt’s awesome In-n-Out replica hamburgers, pasta salad, fruit salad, baked beans, veggies, chips, salsa, guacamole & Liz’s famous green chiles.  We determined that Noah is definitely a meat-eater…he really tore into that hamburger!

Once everyone was stuffed with dinner, we took a little break and then rolled right into cake and ice cream!  Noah loved having everyone sing “Happy Birthday” and, just like his sister before him, reached right for the candle’s flame.  He wasn’t a very messy cake eater but sure gobbled it up.  After a while, though, the sugar finally got to him and he keeled right over.

After cake and ice cream, we got Noah into his new chair to open some presents.  He was surprisingly patient with and adept at the opening procedure.  Maybe his name was a clue, but there was definitely a recurring theme to Doozer’s gifts.  Animals and vehicles!  From a musical circus train, to dump & tow trucks, to a whole jungle full of animals, little dude is set for Little People animals.

Talking on his hammer “phone.”

Of course, opening presents is always more fun when you’ve got an adoring audience ooh-ing and aah-ing over your every rip and shred of the paper!

The big hit of the night was a gift from Grammie & Grandad.  Enjoyed by one-year-olds and 31-year-olds alike, the shiny red plasma car was an instant high-demand item!

Happy Birthday, baby boy.  Wishing you many, many more.  We love you!