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!