Saturday, March 27, 2010

Behold!



Oh, how they make me laugh! I knew something was going on in the laundry room. Noah does everything Isaac does now. This is sometimes a little scary. Isaac has been banned from going around the railing on the front porch and jumping off, but it's too late. Noah's already there.

Monday, February 22, 2010

For the Unbelievers

See? Told you.
Pretty dang big!
29 Weeks.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Too much snow!!!








My Utter Silliness

Yes, I know she doesn't care yet. But she will. Besides, everyone else got one (even the neighbors)!
On another note, we've discovered balloon swords are awesome. And now we have a bunch of balloons and a pump and directions...and Isaac and Noah are in heaven. Who knew that would be such an ingenious V Day gift?
Oh, and yes, I am this big. Actually, bigger. A guy at work yesterday asked me if I was having twins and even added "it look like it...." Three more months to go!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Love It

I'm feeling a random post urge. I'll try to string it together somehow.

Noah closes his eyes and asks, "Mommy, can you see me now?" He is so much fun. He's strong enough to open the fridge now, which is sometimes a relief and sometimes a pain. But recently he tried to open the front door so he could catch up to Isaac. The result was "I can't unlock it! I too strong to open the door!"
Noah cracks me up with his many facial expressions. The best is when he's trying to convince you of something and his face tries really really hard to look super serious about it. I don't have a picture of that.
This is my exact expression in a good many of my childhood pictures.
Isaac's got this amazing mind, always thinking. "Mom, do you know what will happen if you run really hard into a wall? You'll make a person-mark!"
I, on the other hand, am not always thinking. "I want you to never have absent-mind skills again," he told me.
Noah's naps are always iffy. His behavior reflects the amount of sleep he gets (duh, like all kids). He loudly announced at dinner, "I'M SAD." Us: "Why are you sad?" Him: "Because I'm...NOT HAPPY." However, when he's throwing a fit, it's possible there are other feelings involved. Me: "Are you sad?" Him: "I'm not sad; I'm FRUSTRATED AT YOU!"
We have been on a couple of field trips with preschool lately. Above Noah is trying on Brother Shannahan's firefighting helmet at the Hampstead Volunteer Fire Station. We learned SO much! I think I missed that day in preschool when I was a kid.
Can you tell these guys are brothers? We went to Snyder's factory tour, but it was kind of lame, so we drove across town (Hanover, PA) to see the Utz factory again. So much better! Besides, they allow cameras inside.
A few weeks ago we were driving as fast as we could so I'd make it to a meeting. I was late, so I was pushing it around all the country road curves. One particular turn made Noah especially nervous, because an oncoming car alarmed him. "AAH! YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY, MOMMY!"

Isaac really loves to have a brother he can play and pretend with, not to mention bossing and blaming. About half the time Noah answers with "Okay, Isaac," but sometimes he says "no" or just ignores him. During these times, Isaac used to be able to make Noah come or pay attention by saying "Noah, OATMEAL!" and Noah would come running. That doesn't work anymore, though.

Isaac is still like Johnny Lingo, the shrewdest bargainer on the island. Once, when I was trying to get him to eat something, I offered, "Would you eat it with brown sugar?" Without hesitation, he countered, "I'd eat it if it was a cookie!"
Sometimes Isaac makes an effort to help Noah feel empowered during playtime.
I: "Noah, which sword do you want me to have?"
N: (choosing) "That one."
I: "Well, I don't want that sword. It's a crappy sword."
He's already made plans to see his friend, Jacen, who moved to Virginia last year. "Guess what? On the 40-tenth we could go to Jacen's, or on the 47th." I think that sounds far away enough that it might be possible.
He's got some cheek, though. If he's eating a PB&J and you're having Chinese, he'll tell you, "I don't like your smell. Could you please go away?" He's very sensitive to smells.
A few months ago, on his birthday, he kept referring to his rifle as a "rival." When I tried to correct him, he retorted, "It's my birthday, I can say it any way I want!" I had to relent.

I love to eavesdrop on their conversations.
I: "You look like an alien."
N: "I'm not an alien!"
I: "Aaah! Alien!"
N: "Aah! Get out of here, there's aliens!"
I: "Noah, you're the alien."
N: "I AM??"
Once Noah was calling a stuffed dog a "dragon." Isaac could not rest until Noah knew the truth.
"That's a dog. Dogs don't blow fire neither eat people."
Every night after we tuck them in, Noah calls out "Mommy Mommy Mommy!" just for good measure. As we were closing the door one night, I heard Isaac say "Don't worry, Noah! I have a gun!"

Since Christmas, Isaac has told us, "I really want a fireplace in my next life." Hey, Santa still came!

Isaac was pretending to shoot "firebombs" at breakfast one morning and Noah was intent on staying neutral. "Don't shoot me with a firebomb, okay Isaac?"Of course, Noah isn't completely innocent of this crime. Not long ago he was holding his stick horse while I changed his diaper. "I'm gonna shoot you with my... horse!" Now that takes imagination.
Isaac is very patient with Noah, especially when they're watching a movie. Usually Noah will ask about 300 times, "What's gonna happen, Isaac?" Even on something they've seen a dozen times, like Mister Krueger's Christmas: "What's gonna happen to Jesus, Isaac?"Noah's not always super patient with Isaac, though. One morning Isaac was requesting cereal: "Cheerios-- Honey Nut." Noah immediately corrected, "MOMMY'S NOT A HONEY!" [I don't know where that came from.]He's also quick to correct me. I said "That was a mean cough" after I heard his little cough one day. "No, that was a cute cough."

Isaac's at a fun age. Right now we're reading "A Thousand Legals Under the Sea" and it's quite exciting. Hey, I had no clue what a league was (besides the baseball kind) until I was like 12.
Last week he went upstairs to find something, only to come back empty-handed. "I am mad as a HOWELL!"

Crazy Hair Noah took his hat off during grocery shopping and I was so glad I had a camera with me.


The above three pictures are from a tractor ride we went on all over the Coxes' property. They give a really cool tour; we had a lot of fun.
Isaac told me once after watching a Disney advertisement, "Mom, when they say 'the magic in our hearts' I can feel it." When you see this face, can you really believe otherwise?

I'm sorry for the bombardment! It's just what my life is like. And I love it!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Mary Had a Little Lamb



I do love it when interest is shown in the piano. The best part is the singing-along, though.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Number Two Is TWO!

The very happy birthday boy in the morning-- Getting a birthday hug from his big brother--

What happens when you say "put your heads together and smile" from the front seat--

Unfortunately, the Jump Zone wouldn't let us in (our original plan), but we had almost as much fun at Chic-fil-A, which is the boys' favorite place.



Birthday present excitement...

Noah got a kick out of the blow-outs when Isaac attacked him with them.


Party favor vs tractor

Isaac even got to give a gift. You can't see the expert wrapping job of the ball he's holding, though.

The theme was tractors and farms (especially the sheep variety).

Isaac couldn't wait to help Noah open all his presents before long. "Here Noah, I'll hold and you pull."
He was pretty excited about the cake.
Richard and Becky joined us for cake and ice cream, which made it feel like a real birthday party. They read our minds about the theme, apparently: now we have all the tractors in our collection!
We all enjoy visits with them, but the boys adore Richard and Becky.

The cake was kind of designed with Sweet Haven, the farm we live on, in mind. Just a bit. Of course, Katie is a sheep dog (not a Collie).
Noah enjoyed being sung to. He recognized that song from Isaac's birthday (and Isaac sang it to him a few times earlierin the day)!

One blow: one candle...
Another breath...

And this is the aftermath, with the poor animals quite stuck in the snow.

It was a great second birthday!
Before bed, Noah got to read his new favorite story (a present from Becky), and we usually read it every night now.
Happy Birthday, my sweet two-year-old! His latest quote about that: "I'm not a big boy; I'm TWO!"