1.5
Shocking as it is, Noah celebrated his un-birthday last week. It’s so hard to believe that we’ve gotten to get to know this little dude for a whole year and a half, but there it is…the calendar doesn’t lie. In honor of the eighteen months of Doozers’s life, here’s a list of eighteen things about him!
1. Noah likes to learn how things work. He likes to make blocks stack, put things together, generally inspect items to figure out what makes them go. He’s probably his father’s child.
2. Dude understands that most often, to make things go, he needs help. He’s not afraid to ask for it. Noah doesn’t have all the words he needs, but communicates pretty well with gestures and an earnest look.
3. Speaking of words, Noah says: milk, cup, shoes, trains, “I did it!,” please, “woof, woof,” meow, duck, sit, yes, no, socks, baby, bath, and dance. He also has specific gestures or sounds for airplane, helicopter, water (says “milk” while doing the sign for water), please, eat, all done, hi, and bye. Maybe there are more that they get at school, but these are the ones we can rely on at home.
4. Loves trains. He wakes up in the morning asking about his trains and goes to bed at night saying “whoooo, whooo.” The child is obsessed.
5. Thanks to his obsession with trains, we have finally succumbed to character toys in our house. We had held out against buying any toy that was a licensed character (the kids have received some as gifts, but we haven’t purchased), but have finally given in to Thomas trains. The trains Doozers got for Christmas are great, but they don’t connect by magnets, so he can’t take them apart and put them together himself. How were we to know that the taking/putting was the very best part? So, Thomas trains it is. At least the wooden Thomas trains fit the track we already have from the Plan Toys set.
6. Noah has three favorite books. They are “Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo,” “Planes,” and “Hello, Day.” If he has a willing reader, he’ll happily sit through these three over and over and over again.
7. We finally had to remove the plasma car from the house due to Noah’s daredevil antics aboard it. He could turn corners at inhuman speeds and I was constantly terrified he was going to break his nugget on the tile. I’m sure he misses it, but I know my furniture and walls are glad for the break from the pounding.
8. Other favorite toys these days are matchbox cars, larger cars, die-cast airplanes, trains, trains, and trains. Noticing a theme? I promise, the kid has access to plenty of other stuff, but he’s in love with “things that go.”
9. Our boy still really likes his music. Since the great playroom reorg of 2011 (post-Christmas clean out), the boom box is more available for use in that room. As I mentioned in #2, he’s been known to come find us, indicate that we follow, and then go bang on the boom box until we turn the music on. After that, it’s all booty-shakin’ until the CD is done.
10. Although he’s become more demanding and more opinionated as he’s gotten older, Noah is still an incredibly good sport. He’ll go along with just about anything if he thinks it means that Ava is going to play with him.
11. I’ll admit that the draw to the above pictured game (which was hula dancing a la Lilo & Stitch) was probably the nakedness involved. He LOVES to run around in nothing but a diaper.
12. Speaking of running, I find that I’m shocked that he can. Since I last updated about him, at which point “running” meant a fast walk with an even faster left arm, he’s really hit his stride. Also, he’s really super fast.
13. Dude uses his speed to his advantage to scare the crap out of us. He really gets around and, apparently, has absolutely no fear of high places or concussions. He falls a lot and seems to lead with his head. No matter how cautious we are, his face always seems to show the signs of his most recent toddler moment.
14. Speaking of scaring the crap out of us, Noah also likes to hide. The whole “two kids” thing can sometimes mean that we let him wander alone in presumed “safe” spaces. But, then when we go looking for him in a few minutes, he’s nowhere to be found. He’s decided it’s pretty funny to get behind a door or just around a corner and stay absolutely silent. While I was gone to Kentucky for a conference, Matt found him hiding in our closet after searching for ten minutes. Sneaky little dude.
Who? Me?
15. Doozers makes great animal noises. He can do “moo,” “cock-a-doodle-doo,” “woof, woof,” “quack” and “meow.” Meow is my favorite because he always tilts his head all the way to the right and uses his whole face to say it. Hilarious (and very cute).
16. Still loves Pocoyo. It’s a cartoon short that comes on after Peep and the Big Wide World, and he recognizes the National Science Foundation ad that runs in between the two. When that ad plays, he drops everything he’s doing (even trains!) and comes running to sit and watch Pocoyo. Seven straight up minutes of happy.
17. Has discovered Little Einsteins! Noah asks specifically to watch these shows by pointing to the TV, saying “Sit,” and then “Pat, pat, pat!” Honestly, the kids only get maybe half an hour of TV an evening, but he sure loves it!
18. Noah still gives great hugs and kisses. Even though we sometimes feel challenged by his determination and strong opinions, Noah is still a very sweet boy. He’s very affectionate and gentle most of the time (just don’t take his stuff 
).
Love you, baby boy. Thanks for letting us watch you grow up!
ETA: At his 18 month appointment Noah’s stats were 24 lbs, 2 oz & 33 inches. Growing boy!