Noah's obsession with water continues...

now we just added sand. We went to Hilton Head last week. It was Noah's first time to see the ocean, and to say that he liked it would be the understatement of the year. I'm putting all of the pictures from Noah's 1st trip to the ocean in the slide show because it would take me another day or so to go through them and get it down to 2 or 3 pictures to post.

For music just click the speaker symbol.

The day Chris almost renounced his "Northern-ness"

For my Birthday, Chris took me to Savannah for a night. It was great! Noah stayed with his Nana and Grandpa in the condo at Hilton Head. I love that little boy, but it was definitely nice to have the time away. We stayed in the Marriott on the River, which was great. Wednesday afternoon Chris and I walked by the shops on the water and that night Chris treated me to a nice dinner on the river. On Thursday we went to Lady and Son's Restaurant for lunch. It was FANTASTIC! Chris and I got the all-you-can-eat buffet, and OH MY GOODNESS. Each thing that we tried, Chris said "it couldn't be as good as ____" but of course it was even better. Yummmmm! We both ate until we could eat no more. I even had 2 servings of collard greens. (and until last Thursday, I hated collard greens...)

About the new shoes...

Since we had some comments about the shoes, I thought I would give a status report. Noah still loves his new shoes. He has pretty chubby feet, and these shoes are the first pair that he doesn't scream when I put them on him. They actually fit him and with the velcro can be easily adjusted. We have tries a few of the slip on soft leather shoes that I think are cute, but they are so hard to get on Noah's little chubby feet, that I've pretty much quit trying for a while. I've heard that baby's feet flatten a little once they start walking, but we'll see. He is very close to walking, and with the weather turning a little cooler barefoot isn't really an option anymore, and he doesn't like to wear socks because he slips around. Can you tell Noah and I both love the shoes? The only problem is that they only go up to the 24 month size as far as I can tell. Maybe a few of the styles have a larger size, but I'm not sure. Luckily, Noah's feet are pretty small, so we should be good for a bit longer.

I put a link to the website where we got them in the "New Shoes" post.

Picking out the perfect pumpkin

Noah and I went to Yahoo Farms today with a few friends. The weather wasn't great, but the kids didn't seem to care. It was a cute little farm with some animals that we could look at and great pumpkins. The prices of their pumpkins were fantastic. (even their HUGE ones) Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Here are some pictures of Noah and the girls (Allison and Emma) They loved the turkeys and the chickens. The owner said that we needed to be very careful around the turkeys...something about "they like to peck at fingers."

Noah was trying to find the perfect pumpkin. I'll post a picture of him with his prized pumpkin after we decorate it. Sorry about the lighting; we were in the barn looking at those pumpkins because it was drizzling a little outside.

New Shoes

Noah just got a pair of new shoes. Too cute! He actually kept them on most of the day. Here is the website where we ordered them from. Once he starts walking, I'll let you know how wonderful they are. For now, they're just plain cute!

New facinations

Lately Noah has been very busy. He is fascinated by doors, whether it be cabinets or big doors. We've put locks on most of the cabinets in the kitchen, but I decided not to take away all his fun just yet. Noah loves Tupperware! He thinks it is great how it slides across the floor and how it stacks. Chris even found him "surfing" across the kitchen floor on one of the larger lids. Who knew there were so many uses for plastic storage containers. I now have to wash out the containers before I use them, but that is a small price to pay considering I can work around the kitchen without having to worry about what Noah is doing.

Bacteria Free!

Woo Hoo! The strep throat is finally gone! Noah went to see Dr. Luk this morning and received a great report. After 2 rounds of antibiotics, his throat finally looks better. There was a down side to Noah finally being well; he had to get a shot. He was a real trooper and barely cried. What a brave little guy! He even played "Peek-a-boo" with the nurse. Too cute.
...next stop whole milk...

A note from Abby

I have a bone to pick with the dogs in my neighborhood, more specifically the escape artists that live in the yard behind mine. It just isn't neighborly for you to keep showing up in my yard and my friends' yards. In my opinion it is proper dog behavior for you to yell at me from your side of the fence. I promise I can hear you; there is no need to get any closer to give me messages. Also, every time you show up, I don't get to go outside...It's just not fair.

All of this ranting has made me tired. I'm going to take a nap.

-Abby

Such a big boy

Noah loves to look outside. We have been looking outside a lot lately since the 3 escape artist dogs moved in behind us. We'll save that story for another day. I just thought that this picture was too cute! He looks like such a boy in the picture.

It was a little chilly when we left the house this morning, so I put Noah in long sleeves. It didn't occur to me that he hasn't really been in long sleeve in about 4 months. I guess in "baby time" that is forever because he spent about 5 minutes just staring at his sleeve. Every once in a while he would reach up with his other hand and touch it. ...pretty funny...

Little bit sick...

but no shots yet! So Noah has been dodging the shots for 3 weeks now. I think that he is conspiring with Dr. Luk. I'm completely kidding. The poor guy has had strep throat for 3 weeks; actually, he may have had it longer. I'm not really sure. I'm hoping that after our 2nd round of antibiotics that finish up tomorrow Noah will be rid of this nasty bug. We go back to see Dr. Luk on Wednesday to get rechecked and (I've never said hopefully but...) hopefully get his 1 year shots. This will be our 3rd try to get shots. I'll keep you posted.

This picture is of Noah after the Dr.'s visit last week. He doesn't really act sick until the Dr. tells him he is in fact sick...then his whole world falls apart. Unfortunately Noah also was getting a new tooth that day as well. If you look close you can see that he has the pacifier off to the side a bit to make sure that it is directly over the sore gum.
(Aunt Julie & Uncle Jim, your Birthday present made it on the blog. :-) )

Watch out Abby, there's a new dog in town

Actually, there are 2 new dogs in Noah's life. We went to Brian and Kellye's house for dinner this past Saturday night. It was fantastic! (I would expect nothing less) They have 2 Boston Terriers named Parker and Sadie Jane. Noah thought they were the funniest thing he had ever seen. Most kids would be scared of barking, licking dogs, not our boy. He was laughing so hard he could barely keep his balance. Noah LOVES him some Parker. :-) (actually after looking closer at the picture that may be Sadie...hmmm.) Of course if didn't hurt that he was hanging out with one of his favorite people too.

New coffee table

We finally got our new coffee table. It is great! Noah likes it because it has 2 baskets under it that we use to store his toys. I like it because now Noah's things have a good hiding spot.

New view from the back seat

Noah was pretty excited to be able to see out the front window instead of the rear one he has been looking out of for the past year. I think the look on his face says it all. ...priceless...

All we can say is
"Congratulations, Noah!"

The After Party

So then there was the after party...
Everybody was playing with Noah's new toys!

Noah and Nana playing


Grammie and Nana playing with Noah's new Magnetic alphabet
I think they figured something out. :-)


Noah loves his new magnets.
I think he has the "B" sound down.

It's Party Time...

Noah had a great Birthday Party this past Saturday. We had a relaxed cookout with friends to celebrate. Noah got to go in his little pool and he got to eat cake for the 1st time...not a big hit. You can go to Kellye and Brian's blog to see a picture of the big cake. It was pretty cute. Also, Noah racked up with presents. I told everyone not to worry about a gift, but not 1 person listened to me. I guess I wasn't forceful enough. Now our house looks like a regular toy store. Noah, of course, was thrilled that nobody listened! I will admit that the new toys make our day much more fun. Thank you to everybody. Here are a few pictures from the festivities.

Noah, Emma, and Allison hanging out in the pools




It's time for cake! Noah wasn't very sure about the cake.


Here is Noah opening his 1st present.
It was pretty much impossible to get him to move on after opening the 1st one.


Here is a picture of the party aftermath.
It's a good thing we didn't have any furniture.

Early Presents

Noah got to open another one of his presents early. His first early present was the Soft Sprinkles Tide Pool from his Grammie, which was featured in a previous post. The 2nd early present was this "Baby Grand" piano. He loves it. I actually think it's pretty cool too. It is from his Nana and Granpa.

Between his piano and his drum, Noah has become quite the musician.

Quality time...

Noah spent some quality time with Nana and Gran pa this past weekend. They came down from Baltimore on Thursday night to spend some extra time with Noah (and maybe Chris and I too) before the big Birthday weekend began.

Check out the adoring look on Noah's face in the 1st picture.

Nana's always up for playtime.

Can we say strong willed?

So...something has happened to my child in the last week. Noah now knows exactly what he wants and will make sure that you know if he is not getting it. Earlier this week, I was hoping that it was teething, but I really don't think so anymore. Short story... We went to the mall today with our new friends Kendall and her momma, Melissa. (By the way, it really was great fun.) Back to the story... I had to buy a new contour rug for the bathroom in the basement. I thought that Noah was being a good helper by carrying it for me. Well, (dramatic pause) when I had to take it away to let the person scan it, life for Noah was OVER. He produced tears and everything. I thought that I would be a strong mom and not give it back until he calmed down. If you can't tell, I'm new to this whole tantrum thing... So he got over his little yelling time (only minor embarrassment happened) and I gave it back. Noah is now attached to a toilet rug!!! We then walked through the mall with my little boy holding onto a toilet rug like it was his best friend. Melissa thought it was hilarious. I'm just glad that he fell asleep in the car on the way home so I didn't have to explain why he couldn't sleep with it.

We're calling for reinforcements!
Hurry up and get here Nana & Grandpa and Grammie!

New friend...

Yep, we have a new friend in our house, unofficially named "Neigh Neigh." Neigh Neigh entered our lives last night as a birthday present from Noah's Grandpa Bailey. So far he likes to sit on Neigh Neigh and watch Veggie Tales. He hasn't quite figured out how to bounce by himself, but he'll figure that out soon enough. Right now he's content just sitting on Neigh Neigh and playing with the mane and ears.