Oh-Bla-Di

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!

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.”

Since it’s been seventy degrees here for much of the “winter,” we’ve been doing quite a bit of work in the garage and outside.  One of the by-products of a military life is that a family ends up storing a bunch of stuff for “the next house.”  We’ve got a full complement of yard care gear that we’ll never use in our plastic grass/xeriscaped yard here in Vegas, for example.  We’ve also got a whole lot of winter gear that will be great when we’ve finally got snow to shovel and play in again.

Since we were outside and the entire contents our garage had emptied itself onto the driveway, the kids found plenty of stuff to try to kill themselves with or otherwise make into toys.  If you’re wondering, this is what sledding looks like in Las Vegas.

These kids aren’t going to know what hit them when we finally get to Dayton and they have trees, grass, leaves, and actual weather events to play with.  It’ll be like having a park in our own yard!

Before it’s time to blog Valentine’s day, I realized that I’d better finish blogging Christmas!  I was on such a roll that I posted Christmas Eve on Christmas Eve, but then got swept up in the Christmas fun and never shared about the actual day.  I have about a billion photos to share, so bear with me.

Just like last year, Noah was up first and we got to hang out with him for a while before Ava joined us.

After everyone wiped the sleep from their eyes and combed their hair (sidenote: always hated this when I was a kid, the getting all dolled up before heading in to tear into gifts, but now as a mom who needs just a bit of time to be presentable for all the pictures, I totally get it!), we headed downstairs to see if Santa had been to visit!  Clearly, he had.

We opened stockings first and then moved on to the gifts from Santa.

Ava asked Santa for a “Bambi toy” and a panda bear. Noah was less specific, but lucked out anyway with a favorite book and some cars.

Santa also brought the kiddos a toy to share – a tunnel!  So much fun!

We took a break for breakfast at this point – breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and mimosas are officially a tradition now.   After we filled our tummies (and Mommy & Daddy scored some coffee), it was back to the presents!

Gifts were unintentionally sort of themed this year.  Ava received lots of great books (perfect for a pre-reader) and Noah is now the proud owner of lots of “things that go.”

Ava’s new “typer,” a vintage Craigslist find that she LOVES.
 Every quiet time she spends quite a while typing her manifesto in her room.

One funny story from the day, that I want to be sure gets recorded, is that John P. Casey basically saved Christmas.  While each of the kiddos received lovely gifts, we usually stay away from character toys, etc.  Since Ava received so many books (mainly from us) most of her early present opening was of the “not a toy” category.  She and Noah were both delighted to open up Woody and Jessie dolls from John.  Commercialization for the win!

Of course, the packaging of the gifts was also one of the hits of the day!

Both kids got just a little something handmade/homemade for the holiday.  Even though it’s a time consuming thing for Matt & I, it’s really important to us that they know that we invested some time and effort (not just money) into making this a special holiday for them.  Noah’s gift was pretty simple – a soft bucket for all the new matchbox cars he received.  It’s sitting in front of him in this picture (where you can also see his new car mat – that thing has gotten a workout so far!).

Ava’s homemade gift was a little more complicated – a dollhouse made from to cabinet drawers purchased at the Habitat Restore.  It’s perfect for her growing Playmobil collection.

Artwork and windows that she can rearrange to her heart’s content!

The kids were wiped out and ready for lunch by the time we opened all their gifts, so Matt and I set ours aside for later and got them fed and down for naps.  We spent naptime opening our own gifts (Matt scored a new cooking thermometer and I got an iPhone 4s!) and finishing putting together new toys in advance of an afternoon of playtime.

When the kids woke up, we spent time just playing with the new toys and taking some new wheels out for a spin around the block.

Thanks, Mahgie & Poppie, for the new wagon and scooter!  They are a huge hit!

Matt roasted us a turkey for dinner (perfectly done with the new thermometer) and we brought the day to a very lovely end with a delicious family dinner.

In the end, Christmas 2011 was just was we always wanted – lovely, fun, and relaxing.  We spent the next week just playing and enjoying time at home before returning to work/school and it turns out that was the very best gift of them all!

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.