Now I know my ABCs!

We definitely have a kid who loves learning on our hands. Thank God! Noah's idea of fun yesterday was writing his letters in order on his easel. That's almost as good as him saying to my mom and I last weekend as we were driving home from dinner, "let's do something fun...let's count by tens to one hundred!". We both looked at each other and burst out laughing.



This is the typical look I get when I ask him to smile:



Once in a while he comes through for me and gives me a real smile. Isn't it amazing how much he looks like his Uncle Kyle/Grandpa?!

It's so much fun being a big brother!

A few days ago, Noelle was sitting in her high chair playing while I was doing something in the kitchen (I can't even remember what it was...it certainly wasn't cooking!). Noah walked over to her, without any prompting, and said "I'm so glad you came out of Mommy's belly baby Noelle". This kid melts my heart several times a day. He always knows how to say the right thing...he's going to be dangerous if we don't channel that properly!

Having a baby sister means having a whole new set of toys and gadgets to play with. It amazes me how he uses his imagination to find a way to play with her toys. Yesterday, he asked me if he could use her Robeez (they're shoes for anyone who doesn't know!). I would normally tell him no but was intrigued to see what he would possibly do with a pair of baby shoes. Hide his superheroes in them, of course. Duh.

After I pulled Noelle out of her bathtub, he decided it would be fun to try to fit in it. Let's just say the bathroom floor got cleaned when I wasn't planning on cleaning it.



Noah decided yesterday that it was time to measure Noelle's head. He and I have a little game where I measure his head and he didn't want Noelle to miss out on the fun.

Unsuspecting of what's about to come:

Noelle being very tolerant:

See? It's so much fun having a little sister!

Pearly Whites :)

I am crossing my fingers that Noelle gets her 'teeth genes' from Rob and not me. After all we went through with Noah's baby teeth (our $2,500 out of pocket expenditure...that was fun), it would be nice to have one out of two without any problems! In Noah's defense, we're not convinced that all of the dental procedures he went through were necessary. We did get two different opinions with pediatric dentists but they both agreed. I'm pretty certain they're in cahoots with each other, though. Amazingly, since he's been seeing our regular family dentist, he's had no further problems. Go figure...

She loves to chew on the toothbrush...then again, what doesn't she like to chew on!?



We have to brush our teeth after we eat junk like popsicles (which she loves!!):

She goes straight for her two bottom teeth with the toothbrush:

Sleeping on the job

I'd fire the Friday nanny if she didn't work for free!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I intended for this to be the last picture but, yet again, I can't figure out how to manipulate the pictures to go where I want them to go (ERIN?!?! KYLE?!?!). I swear up and down that cut and paste does NOT work! Neither does trying to upload them in a certain order or using a different internet browser. It is so random and so frustrating! I can calculate pensions and code calculation engines but I can't figure out how to get pictures in the right flippin' order...agh!

I was pretty proud of this idea this morning. I didn't even see it in a magazine or anything. I was looking for a heart shaped cookie cutter at the same time as I was making Noah scrambled eggs and lo and behold we ended up with this:


Here is where I really wanted to start this post...

When Noelle was born, I heard from several people that my reign as princess was over. I didn't need to be told...the moment Rob saw her I knew it! Her continuous and infectious smile doesn't help me have any chance of getting my crown back. Oh well, I treasure her just as much and I had an extra three years of reign whereas Rob lost his title on 8/17/05 :)

In past years, I'd be showered with jewels. This year, Noelle was the only one who got a little sparkly something:








As always, the box was the biggest hit:

Noah was so precious helping her open it and explaining that boys buy for girls and girls buy for boys on Valentine's Day. We haven't taught him about the inequality in our house where the boys get shafted on Valentine's Day and he was quite pleased with a $2.99 heart balloon and a box of chocolate (which I must add he flipped over to make sure it was "Made is the USA"...that's my boy!) so no need to go there!

(Noah just came over to the computer and said "hey, that's a picture of me trying to take Noelle's gift from her"...that's a better caption than "Noah helping his sister open her gift"!)

By 8:00 a.m., we had already delivered a dozen roses and Valentine's gifts (since when did Valentine's Day become the new Christmas?) to Nana and Grams. We caused a big commotion at Grams' house because the animal farm went nuts when they heard us arrive. Oops. It was a covert operation at Nana's house because she was still sleeping and didn't hear the doorbell. I'm thinking she heard it and got scared to death because it was so early in the morning. Poor thing was probably freaked out when we let ourselves in and were whispering as to not wake her up. The goodies were left by the coffee pot so she'd be sure to find them first thing. I can't wait to hear if she was up and freaked out or if she was really able to sleep through all of the giggling!

Rob has to work today but he wanted to try and visit with the moms before he had to go open the park...unfortunately that meant that it had to all be accomplished before 8:00 a.m. I've always heard that the way that a guy treats his mother is a really good indication for how he will treat his wife and that is so true of my husband. This morning was a great illustration of that!

Hope everyone enjoys this Hallmark holiday :) I'm going to enjoy hanging out with the kids and Uncle Kyle/Aunt Erin are coming to visit for the day so I'm sure it'll be an adventure (for Noah, most of all!). We've had 3 offers for free babysitting so maybe Rob and I will sneak out tonight!

Two quick Noah 'funnies'

Noah and I were talking about God yesterday and I told him that he was one of the best gifts that God ever gave to me. To that, he responded "did I come in a box?".

Then, I was typing an email and I shouted to Rob "how do I spell 'clout'?" (Yes, I know that is an easy one but it just didn't look right...) Noah came running to me and said "It starts with letter 'c' Mommy". How precious is he?!

In unrelated news...Noelle has bronchitis (so does Aunt Jen...) so we're having a grand old time. Rob and I took her into the pediatrician this morning and he gave us lots of medicine which I detest giving her but I know she needs it this time around. The next few days should be a load of fun with the 4x/day breathing treatments. She's her happy little self, except when you go near her with the nasal aspirator :) Good times!

Siblings...

Noelle is really starting to look at Noah with adoring eyes. It's absolutely precious to watch the expressions on her face when she looks at him. It's pure love, for sure! He does such a wonderful job entertaining her (when he's asked) but mostly just tolerates her at this point. It won't be long before they really start interacting and we are anxiously awaiting it. I pray that they will always be close :)

She's going to have to learn to love video games in order to further their bond! She does enjoy watching him play as I witnessed today:



Who needs Disney World when you have your own character appearances at home?



Spiderman made another appearance sans the mask: