Come Lately

I think I am in a “Calm Before the Storm” set of months here – that coming storm obviously being baby labor (Oh Lord help me) and the following year of daily baby laboring. :) Throw in the move to Nashville that we are prayerfully and peacefully waiting to come our way and we should have a real hullabaloo before years end.

Until then, things are really kinda nice. Noah keeps us giggling. We’ve had a good bit of activity showing our house. I have taken on 6 plants (4 ferns, and 2 pots of salvia flowers) - I am NOT the green thumb type of girl, so this is literally, me turning over a new leaf. I am surviving the summer without my precious MMO and it is not as terrible as I thought it would be. Noah is getting his last 4 teeth and I am just so excited to see them come in. My sister had her second baby, Natalie, last weekend and we are heading over to GA to see them next week. Josh has done some really good selling at work lately even to the point of meeting his quota for the year – which is a big deal. We are going to getaway overnight for our 6 yr anniversary next month, so I am really looking forward to that. I love staying in hotels and eating out WITHOUT a toddler in tow. I am loving my new CD although I believe the CD is not all that new – One Republic. Again, thank you, Christy, for pointing me in the right direction. As you might have guessed I am reading several good books. Josh and I have gotten back into playing some games in our free time, namely Mancala and Rummikub. I do so love games…or rather, winning games. :) And the weather has been in the 80’s - who doesn’t love that? Which reminds me….Seriously, is there anyone who doesn’t love Chik-Fil-A? Seriously.

Love this face!

Seriously, though - they don't come any cuter than this! This is Noah's excited face when you have just offered him something he is glad to hear about.

Noah's venture into the world of chocolate has gone quite well. M & M's really float his boat and dribble down his belly in chocolatey drool. He is drinking half milk/half soy these days and there have been no negative reactions, so I think we are in the clear. So just picture me with that WooHoo face of his. :)

Something else really cute, he calls baby sister Anna, "Nanna." Yet he still refuses to say his own name. Go ahead, try to get him to say Noah, he will act as if you aren't there. Kids.

Thanks, Christy, for the pic! Good job capturing it!

I am an addict

Oh man, I am so addicted to this stuff:

Backgammon Online

Keeping Lists

Paper Towels, Clorox Wipes, Wet Ones, Baby Wipes, Kleenex

Sitcom Reruns of Friends and Reba and Nick at Nite

Tigger and Pooh – love it! (That Tigger just kills me)

Target

Jon and Kate Plus 8

So You Think You Can Dance

Crystal Light Fruit Punch (the powder for water bottles)

Amazon.com

Chapstick/Lip Gloss

Running a Fan on me at Night (even in winter)

Email/Blogs

Snoogle Pillow (thank you Kendra...how will I ever part with it?)

Sleep Function on TV remote

Styrofoam Cups

Shopping Consignment for Kid Stuff

Sunglasses (even cloudy days hurt my eyes and give me headaches)

Movies (even watching the same ones over and over)

Treasuring Toddlerhood

Today was a very big day for Noah. We turned his crib into a toddler bed in order to get one toddler milestone under our belts before the baby comes. There was just no end to Noah's excitement about this change. And he actually stayed in his bed at naptime as if it was still his crib, so we are pretty pumped about that, too. :)

I had Christy, a friend from college, come visit this week, and on one of our days we headed to Bridge Street Town Center. Noah rode the carousel, called to the ducks, violated mannequins, and experienced the water fountain play area with a good bit of caution, but fun, all the same. You are probably wondering what I mean by that mannequin comment...well, just take a look...the boy is obsessed with belly buttons.

Anyway, what follows is my top 20 list of toddler treasure-type-things that I don’t want to forget about Noah’s early toddler days (in no particular order):

1. Streaking proudly through the house naked and giggling just before bathtime.

2. Trying Goldfish crackers for the first time and LOVING them.

3. “Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue” toy car button that gets pressed over and over again.

4. Crying when Elmo’s World is over on Sesame Street.

5. Wanting Blue’s Clues and only Blue’s Clues in his lunch routine.

6. Smushing his cheeks all over my face and making silly sounds all the while.

7. Actually believing his remote control truck really is sleeping just like Daddy told him.

8. Calling bye-bye and blowing kisses at everyone everywhere we go.

9. Instigating a good round of “chase me” as often as possible.

10. Being the worst kind of GRUMPY after his nap in the afternoon.

11. Mastering “Give and Take” agreements. (FIRST do this and THEN you can ….)

12. Saying “no, no, no, no, no” in his bed first thing after waking up.

13. Calling his stuffed animals by the sounds they make. (AhAh, UhUh, Moo, Rawr, Meow)

14. Helping to empty the dishwasher one utensil/plate/cup at a time.

15. Being the sweetest blend of baby and boy all in the same day.

16. Reciting all the names of the people who love him when he is going to sleep at night.

17. Blinking his eyes to pray while he grins and murmurs word-like sounds.

18. Repeating words with the right syllables, but nothing like the sounds you said. (i.e. "Daddy, come here" = "Daddy, fee hi")

19. Saying “No” and meaning “alright” midway through saying it. = “Nowight”.

20. Soothing others with kisses, hugs, with his very adorable “Aw-wwww” sound.

To be sure...there will be more to follow. I consider this blog my time capsule of sorts. :)

Pigs in Heaven

To keep myself from going crazy during these days of (what can only be called) Toddler Tedium, I have returned to an early love I had as a child - and that is reading. You know, just a little bit of adult thought and conversation thrown in with the Noah's usual, "no, no, no" or grunt, whine, fuss, or the oh so treasured "mommy, mommy" and the contagious giggle of satisfaction over the littlest things. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate staying home with Noah in ways I never imagined I would. In fact, I am midway through a list of daily treasures of Noah's antics and nuances that I will post as soon as I think I have captured his sweet little essence. But again, I just feel starved for some adult interaction and friendship and conversation, which I know is probably very normal for stay at home moms.

Anyway, all this to say, I have read almost 25 books just this year. I am in the middle of reading 3 right now. And the one I can't seem to put down (and not just because I am almost done with it) is called Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. Not only do I love the way she writes, the style and imagery she uses, but I just love her storytelling and the stories she weaves. This is the third book I have read of hers this year. She is now tied with my favorite author, Leif Enger - who sadly, has only written two books so far.

Milk Products - Take 2

Sooo, I may have been a little too exuberant in Noah's first milk product taste test. He had a couple slices of cheese 2 days ago. Josh warned me that may be too much for a kid that hasn't had it in two years. I thought, no - look, he's fine! And he was fine that whole day - no reaction, no breakout. But then yesterday he got diarrhea several times, wouldn't eat much, and threw up what he did. I am crossing my fingers that this is just a coincidental virus or something, or that his body just needs a slower intro. to the new foods. So we will hold off on the new food parade, wait for him to settle down again on the inside, and try again before we call the allergist back. I probably would have already called her except I am afraid she will say wait 6 mos. or something. Wish us luck on test pattern 2. I liked Shannon's goldfish idea, so that is waiting in the wings. :)

But Noah is full of energy still and playing hard and being silly. Summer is upon us, so have a look at some of our new summer fun in the backyard.

Bring on the Mac-n-Cheese!

As most of you know, Noah has a very restricted diet as a result of his milk, egg, and peanut allergies. This has been our story for the past year. But today is the day we kicked that sob story to the curb! Because we got the call that Noah’s bloodwork from last Tuesday (which, by the way, was oh so sad to watch) came back negative on the milk and egg allergies!! The nurse that called just giggled and joined in my celebration on the phone when I told her that this changes our lives, besides making my day!!

No more making 2 meals at every meal – one for us, and one for Noah. No more special orders at restaurants. No more cabinet of Noah approved foods. And hello cheeses, yogurt, cereals, chocolate, ice cream, butter, milk, cookies, breads, pizza, chips, pastas, dressings, mayonnaise, pancakes, burgers, etc, etc. Which now that I type the list I think sounds like a recipe for a heart attack, no? :) Needless to say, though, it will be quite a “whole new world” experience for Noah in the coming weeks as we carefully introduce this fun stuff to his eating repertoire. And it will definitely help us get some meat on his bones – he has been quite underweight for a long time now and understandably so – veggies, beans, fruit, soymilk, and meat can only do so much for a little growing body.

Sadly, but not really, compared to how happy we are about the other news, Noah’s peanut allergy was very high still – 3 on a scale of 1-4. So we will continue to have an epi-pen strapped to his stuff at all times for sure. But that is so much easier to avoid than the milk and egg stuff, so no tears here. It did help that his allergist reassured us that Chik-Fil-A cuisine is safe despite their using peanut oil – which was my one burning question as we made our way to the appt. It should come as no surprise then that we hit Chik-Fil-A on the way home just to celebrate!

Anyway, had to share the fun news for Noah! This really changes so many things about our day to day routine. So, so excited!