Goobs

You never know what this Goob is going to do.

The other day while Connor was at school, Noah woke from his nap & said, "Kee-kee, ABCs, couch!"  Translation:  Noah wants to watch ABC videos on the couch with his blankie.

So I got the tiny boss situation on the couch and he proceeded to point to his toes and say, "Kee-kee toes."  Translation: Cover Noah's toes with his blankie.  

So I did as he asked yet again.

As I walked into the kitchen, Noah muttered something else, yet again.  "ABCs bay-her bed."  I asked him if he wanted his bear from his bed, and he explaimed "YESSS!"  So off I went to retrieve it.

When I handed him his bear and he hugged it so sweetly, he says, "Mouse bed?"  I then told him, if you want your Mickey Mouse too, this is it!"  I went in to grab his Mickey Mouse from his bed and brought it to him.  

He then hugged both stuffed animals and watched his ABC videos intently with this face....

This kid!

Then big bro came in from school and he immediately grabbed a blanket and cozied up with Noah on the couch.  The boys decided to watch videos of children opening 'surprise eggs' (basically easter eggs with random toys inside).  They just sat, Noah asked, "What's this?" after each toy was revealed and Connor sweetly explained each one.

They were funny to watch.

Then on Wednesday night just before bed, Connor went to bed later than usual.  Let's just say Connor's front tooth could have easily come out a week ago, but he was too afraid to pull it out.  I tried giving him tips, letting me wiggle it, etc, but there was no getting this child to pull his tooth out.  It was finally to the point the tooth was discolored since it wasn't getting any blood circulation and was literally hanging by a thread.  

Our night went like this.  Brush teeth, wiggle tooth a tiny bit.  Tooth starts to bleed.  Connor panicked thinking he was hurt, but I explained how it's normal & it just means the tooth is ready to come out.  Connor ran down stairs to show Matt.  Connor was convinced the bleeding was now hurting him, so I suggested a little ice to numb his gums.  Back upstairs we went.  Connor wiggled tooth to the point the tooth could now spin 180 degrees.  He was still afraid to pull it out, but we giggled so much at how funny he looked with his front tooth spun around, that he had to run downstairs to show Matt yet again.  When he finally came back upstairs, I told him the tooth was coming out tonight & we just needed to do it.  He was still afraid, so I got my hand in his mouth fast & popped it out!  He was overjoyed and ran back downstairs to show Matt his new smile!

Phew!!  This is the 2nd out of 4 teeth I've had to pull out when Connor wasn't expecting it!  Good grief! Haha!

"Mom, remember how I said I didn't trust for you to pull out my tooth.  Now, I do!"

The Tooth Fairy delivered a whopping $6 for his tooth this time!  She even left a little glittery dust on the dollars.  We have 2 more wiggly teeth too.  My sweet boy's smile is ever changing these days!

Ducks! Ducks! Ducks!

I had to reschedule one of my weekend sessions for last night, so had to leave Matt with the boys for about two hours.  I received some sweet pictures while I was gone!

Our neighbors at the end of our street got their son LOTS of ducks for his birthday.  They created a koi pond on their patio, clipped the wings of the ducks, plan to raise the ducks until they are grown, then hope to have the ducks live in the lake behind our houses.  I'm assuming the ducks will be dependent on being fed, so I'm guessing they'll still have ducks to feed each day in their backyard.  Not sure how all that will work out, but excited to know we have lots of little duckies down the street!

A group of the neighbor kids (and parents) trotted on down to visit the ducks.  From the reports and pictures from Matt, our boys thoroughly enjoyed it!  I hate that I missed it!

I'm sure it won't be long before we go back to visit them again!

Fall Festival with my boys

We ventured out to a nearby farm for a little Fall Festival.  It was refreshingly easy, low stress, and both boys were entertained.

AND they miraculously sat together without squirming for a picture.  This hasn't happened since Noah was immobile.

We thought we might look for a few fish on their little dock & were delightfully surprised to see baby alligators, fish, and turtles (what Noah likes to exclaim as "turdies",,,which always makes me laugh).

We explored the farm area & made our way over to the mini petting zoo.  Noah just loved the cow!  The boys got to feed the animals fruits/veggies.  Connor was apprehensive to feed the cow, donkey, and goats, while Noah dove in fearlessly.  Noah would have brought the cow home with us if we let him!

Noah spotted the playground & had to do the slide a good 100 times.  Mr. Too-cool-to-play Connor stood with me for a few minutes then realized it still looked fun & hopped on up on the playground with Noah.

Noah tried out the big boy swings for the first time and definitely loved them.  We made our way back to the car with two pumpkins for both the boys to decorate this Halloween.

We now have a napping toddler & my biggest boys are rooting on their Fantasy Football teams on the couch.

Happy Sunday!

Dad's B'day!

Papa was surrounded by lots of people that love him tonight (mostly little boys) to help celebrate another birthday!  There was football, a variety of desserts, ice cream sharing with my 2 year old 'seagull', difficulty sharing toys, quick baths, and a race out the door to get home for bedtime.

"Buh Bye Papa" was on repeat out of a certain toddler's mouth for the first 5 minutes of our car ride home followed by a mini dance party to the Jungle Book soundtrack.

We know how to party it up!

Look who's TWO!

My BABY is 2!  Over the past week or so, Noah has definitely been acting two!  Lots of whining & meltdowns over the tiniest things.  I remember telling Matt how when he's two, you'll know based on how he acts.  Man, was I right!

If he's not melting down though, he is the cutest stinkin' mischief maker ever.  He's talking so well, which definitely helps.  When I decided to do his b'day party with an ABC theme, I knew he'd be beyond thrilled.  Man, I was right again!

The first thing he noticed when he woke was the alphabet decor :).

Then we moved on to gifts!  Noah was really liking this whole birthday thing.

 After I got Connor to school, I picked up some balloons to use as party decor & as a cute photo prop.  I figured we could get an effortless photo of Noah by tying some balloons to his new bike and just have him ride it down the center of the road.  Well, Noah had other plans for me.  After a firm "NO!" from him, he trotted away, picked his nose, and chuckled to himself.

Oh, this child.

After waking up crabby from his nap & being very hot/cold for the few hours leading up to his party, this little stinker finally caught a 2nd wind & was one happy kid with his ABCs.

When family began to pile in, the fun began.

The babies enjoyed the balloons...

 Noah unwrapped oodles of great toys!  We were amazed at all the educational/ABC toys & we didn't get a duplicate of anything.

Connor was the sweetest big brother ever-- helping read Noah's birthday cards, opening Noah's gifts, and showing him how to use them.  He came to me after gifts were opened & asked for some crayons & paper.  He brought back a paper with the alphabet written on it & he said he wanted to give it to Noah since he didn't get him anything for his birthday.  I adore his sweet little heart.

Noah's favorite part of the party was when everyone sang, "Happy Birthday" to him.  He just sat there & was amazed.  When we were done singing, he exclaims, "Again!"  

Thank you to all who came & for all of the wonderful gifts!

My ALMOST 2 year old

So I've had the itch to change the large photos in my living room.

I have an absolute favorite photo that I took of Connor of his face upclose...

Seriously it's an all time favorite.  His clear green eyes, freckles, and real smile.  I can't get enough of it.

So I took on the mission of trying to get an up close, face on, picture of Noah, so I can blow them up and hang them in the living room.  

Quite possibly the hardest photography mission I've ever been on.

I've tried bribery.  Peek a boo.  Fun distractions.  Begging.  

You name it.  I've tried it.

So I've given up!  I talked myself into using an up close picture of Noah from about a year ago, since I'm just dying to refresh our photo wall...

So as I sat looking up the best place to order huge metal prints of these photos, I came to find out I didn't save this photo of Noah in a high enough resolution a year ago to blow it up huge.

So I'm back to square one.

Oh, life's challenges!

I did manage to get a few pictures of Noah yesterday while we were at the pool.  Here he is...Mr. ALMOST 2 years old.  He's convinced he's already two.  His lack of patience & meltdown ability proves it.

(I forgot to pack snacks on our mini pool trip & Noah never fails to swim, then assume it's snack time.  All I had on me were my kid photography lollipop bribes in my camera bag, so I let him have one.  Now, all the kid wants is a "pop."

The kid's got it made.

This was tonight.

Tonight was feeding the boys fast food in the trunk of my SUV.

Tonight was always having one hand on Noah at all times as he roamed the docks nonstop.

Tonight was a long stretch of time without catching any fish.

BUT...

Tonight we ate dinner & watched Sea Tow work for a good 45 minutes to get a boat off a sandbar and C & I giggled as the boat nearly tipped over in their efforts.

Tonight Connor and Papa caught 4 fish, one after another, and even catfish and tiny snapper are thrilling beyond belief.

Tonight Noah loved the letters on all the signs at the boat ramp more than anyone has ever before.

Tonight my sweet Connor couldn't wait to have his special sleepover at Nana & Papa's.

Tonight was great.

My ABC Fool

For anyone that doesn't know Noah, I must explain his alphabet obsession.  

It truly is an obsession.

It all started with him enjoying ABC videos on Youtube over a year ago.  From there, he just wanted to only play with alphabet toys, sing the ABCs, watch the ABCs, and point out all letters no matter where we go.  He even finds letters in the strangest places.  He'll point to the grout of the tile & shows how it makes an "X."  He'll point to the tree outside where the branch merge up from the trunk and show me how it forms a "Y."  I can make it longer in Target if we start with A and point out each letter in the alphabet in order on signs/products as we shop.

It could really drive you crazy.

On the upside, his Dr. states he knows what an average 5 year old knows when it comes to his letters (mind you, he's only 22 months).  He can recite his ABCs, identify lowercase and capital letters, rearrange letters so they are in order, trace each letter with his finger on the Ipad, makes all the letter sounds, and invert his letters correctly (flips a 'W' to make it an 'M', flips a lowercase 'b' to make it a 'd' or a 'p').  He's kind of like the 3 year old kid on the "Ellen Show" that can recite his presidents...except with his letters knowledge!

It's pretty amazing to see how much Noah is learning and reciting, as I didn't experience this with Connor as this young age at all.  I was excited when Connor said the word, "Duck" at around 2 1/2 years old.  Noah, on the other hand, can say over 200 words already.  

So Noah talks a lot.  Can't image where he got those genes from?!?!

He plays with his letters everywhere.  On the couch, in his bed at naptime, in the tub, in the car, on the potty...the darn alphabet is all over my house!!

 Can you guess the theme of Noah's 2nd birthday party?!

1st day of 1st grade!!

Well, today was the day.  Summer is officially over.  We ended the summer yesterday with an evening family trip to the pool.  Bed time went surprisingly smooth.  There wasn't any whining or complaining about having to go to school.  I think anxiety kept Connor from finally falling asleep until close to 9:30pm, but when Noah & I went to wake him up this morning at 7:30am, he woke happy!  I was almost positive I'd get a "I-don't-want-to-go-to-school" comment and grump face, but to my surprise, I didn't get that at all!  He got dressed without trouble, brushed his teeth without being asked, and was ready to go!  I snapped a quick picture by our traditional spot and had hopes to get one of the two boys together, but Noah was busy grabbing his bucket of chalk thinking that since we were outside, we were doodling the ABCs in the road.  I knew a picture wasn't happening, so I just kept the happy-no crabby trend going & we hopped in the car.

Since every single parent wanted to park & walk their kids in on the 1st day, the parking lot was pure craziness.  I could sense Connor was getting concerned that we were not going to be the very first kids into school (like he prefers), so I had to think fast.  It was either illegally park with 12,000 other parents on the side of the main road or go back into our neighborhood & walk.  We opted to park illegally.  It wasn't ideal, but it worked!  We saw familiar faces as we headed to Connor's class & all was just going beautifully!  I made sure C knew where his backpack & lunch went, let Noah dance around the alphabet wall that was on display (he was beyond thrilled & would have easily stayed in class with Connor all day), gave C a kiss, and headed on our way.  Connor's buddy, Nor, was in his class this year again, so he immediately lit up when he saw a familiar friend in class.  My heart was at ease & it felt so nice!  Noah cried for the "Letters!!" as we left Connor's class, but he quickly recovered once he realized it was all about Noah until 3pm!

The Noah Monster enjoyed a trip to the Outlet stores to return Connor's sneakers (our only hiccup from this morning...C's new first day of school shoes were too tight when we put them on today, so we got to go try and exchange them).  He thoroughly enjoyed the playground area & fell asleep beautifully on our drive home.

Can't wait to hear how C's day was at 3pm!

The final days of summer

With school starting on Monday, we have been trying to savor the last few days of summer.  

On Thursday, I had a novel idea.  The boys LOVED dog sitting for our neighbor's dog a few months ago, so I asked them if we could borrow their dog, Tyson, for the afternoon.  They happily agreed!  I knew my house was due for a good cleaning, so didn't worry too much about having him in the house.  The boys were thrilled.  Having Tyson around made our normal day around the house that much more exciting.  

We bathed him.  We walked him.  Noah crawled all over him.  Connor cuddled him every chance he got.  He hung with us while we played with all the neighbor kids.  He was the best companion.

The boys reap the benefits of having a dog around & we can take him home when we're done.  It's really the perfect scenario! 

Then today, Matt got off work early & we planned a last minute trip to Venice Beach to hunt for shark teeth.  Matt picked up some kitty litter scoopers to use as our sand sifters & we were on our way!  We found about 5 sharks' teeth before Connor decided he wanted to build a sand castle.  We were just happy to have scored at least one shark tooth, so we didn't have a disappointed boy on our hands.  Noah wasn't crazy about the sand all over him, but once he started making turtle and octopus shapes in the sand with our beach toys, he was content!

Connor put the final touches on his masterpiece & it was really cute to watch him in action.

If only I pulled my camera out at our other memorable beach trip moments!  When it was time to head out, all the boys rinsed off at the beach showers & they just couldn't seem to get all the shells/sand out of their suits!  They all managed to get shovels full into their britches, so it was quite fun cleaning it all out.  Noah was beyond happy frolicking around naked in the outside showers!

Once we made it back to the car, I noticed that Connor's shorts didn't make it into our beach bag (he accidentally tossed them in the hamper at home instead of putting them into our beach bag before we left the house).  I had to think fast, since Connor's only bottoms were soaking wet & still packed full with grits of sand and shells.  I gave Connor a pair of my extra shorts for the time being and headed to the closest Target to grab him some shorts.  All worked out just fine & we had a great dinner before heading home (great is defined as Noah sat still through the entire meal and both boys behaved beautifully).  Our short trip to Venice was very worth it & a fun summer memory!

Slacking yet again...

I am ever-so-grateful to be so busy with photography sessions lately.  The only downside is that I don't feel like pulling out my camera much once I get home.

Since I don't have much to show for my own children lately, here are a few photos of kids I have taken pictures of! Haha!

But have NO fear!  We have the first day of school coming up Monday and shortly after that, Noah will be turning 2.  Two important events I promise to document soon!

Oh--just remembered--I did get a few photos of Noah the other day that I needed for his birthday invites.  It is SO hard to get cute photos of my children when I'm alone.  In this case, I had to run up and down the bridge to get Noah to smile, but make sure I was quick to grab him if he fell through the large bridge opening.  Ahhh!  

No photos of Connor.  I actually made a point to not take photos until after he got his haircut (I waited to do it just before school starts--I did his haircut this morning), since well...his grown out buzz cut isn't all too flattering on his already large head.  Yep, I said it.

More pictures to come of my own boys!  I promise!! :)