Beach Vacation

Joshua and Noah - August 2011

We went on a vacation to Rosemary Beach with mommy's family. It was so much fun! The weather and the water cooperated. It was extra special because Noah turned 1 during the trip (as noted in the previous post). Joshua really liked the swimming pool. As soon as we'd get to the beach he'd ask "We go to the pool now?" Noah did well in the pool and the ocean, though he was greatly offended when saltwater splashed in his face. He was really interested in the sand and wound up with a mouthful a few times. I have too many pictures to post so here are some of them.

Joshua showed Noah how you eat a cupcake. Noah says "I'm done!"

I was soooo glad we had the wagon to cart the boys and all our stuff. The picture you won't see is both boys strapped into their seats and towels, coolers, and floats up to their ears in the wagon. I think I'll be using it until their teenagers, though by then I'll have them pulling it rather than make them sit inside.

My Silly Monkey

Noah looks concerned with Joshua roars like an ogre

Ahhh! Brotherly Love

My other Silly Monkey

Noah is 1!

Happy Birthday Noah!

Look how you've grown!

Happy Birthday Noah Kinnaird! My baby boy is now a one year old. Time has really flown by. It seems like we were just bringing him home from the hospital. I partially think I feel that way because I feel like I haven't caught up on sleep. And Noah is a good sleeper these days, it just takes a lot of work to keep up with both my boys.

We are celebrating his birthday at the beach with mommy's family this year! Daddy is working but drove over to celebrate with us. An evening shower (with lightning) popped up so we weren't able to go swimming but we still had fun. Specifically Noah really got into eating his birthday cupcake. It was super cute! Daddy said he bet that if Noah could make a birthday wish, he'd wish for some hair!

Yummy!

Here are some tidbits about Noah:
* Noah has 12 teeth, including 4 molars!
* You are practically bald. Daddy likes to kiss his head and say "It's just like kissing a peach!"
* You are a professional walker - and getting faster! I miss not *hearing* you crawl as much. I say that because the way you slap your hands on the ground we can hear you all over the house - even when you are on carpet.
* His favorite song for me to sing to him, especially when changing a diaper is How Much is that Doggie in the Window. His second favorite song is Itsy Bitsy Spider.
* Noah is allergic to strawberries and apples.

* You have a temper. When you get angry, you yell, cry, put your head on the ground, and your face gets red. Recently you got angry at Joshua and yelled at him "Da! Da! Da! Da!" We don't know what you said, but we all knew you meant business!
* You babble a lot but do not form many words. You can say "mama" and "dada" but you don't say them frequently. You like to click your tongue and mimic when people click at you.
* You are a good eater. You nurse in the morning and before bed, but in between you enjoy stage 2 baby food, Gerber crunchies and puffs, and even bits of other food like peas and bananas.
* You are a great sleeper! Not only do you sleep through the night, but all we have to do is turn off all the lights and place you in your crib and you are asleep within 90 seconds. Yea! Daddy will say "I think it's time for Noah to power down."
* You love your brother. And you love playing with him and copying his every move. Joshua is a sweet big brother to you as well.

I could go on and on but this is already a long read. Mommy and Daddy love you soo much! Happy Birthday Big Boy!

Noah and Mommy

Noah and Daddy say "Hmmmmm"

Going to the Beach

Let's Go!

We arrived at the beach for a week of fun today! (I am backdating this post to tell a story but including a preview of beach pictures.) Joshua is super excited about going to the beach. After I picked him up from school a couple days ago we had the following discussion:
Joshua: We go to the beach now?
Me: No, we have to go home first.
Joshua: Why?
Me: Mommy has to pack our clothes.
Joshua: I don't need clothes, I need water wings!

My silly pumpkin! If only it were that simple. Of course he's always making me smile. Here's another car story. On the way home he told me in earnest "Mommy, did you know that in Alabama they have football?"

Bring me more rum!

I'm going to fly in the water with my wings!

Birthday Party for Brothers!

Happy 1st Birthday Noah

Happy 3rd Birthday Joshua!

We went to Birmingham over the weekend to celebrate Joshua turning 3 and Noah turning 1. We had a great time visiting with our family on both sides of the family. The boys especially enjoyed playing with their cousins. Joshua was somewhat of an expert at celebrating his birthday by this time, but Noah was a little unsure of what to make of it. In fact he wanted nothing to do with his beautiful birthday cake (which mommy decorated) and cried rather than played with it. What a difference between my boys! I remember Joshua absolutely tearing up his birthday cake. Of course I wouldn't have them any other way!

 

I used up all my creativity for the year decorating treats for the boys. My sisters helped me decorate cupcakes to look like the aliens on Toy Story. Ohhh! I think they turned out awesome. Then I decorated Noah's cake. I have to give props to Aunt Stoppie for mixing the icing colors to match the birthday plates. While I'm thanking people, and it takes a lot of help to have a party out of town, I must thank the Tiltons for hosting at their house, the twins for making a last minute trip to the store for a high chair, and then everyone else for coming!

Noah said "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to..."

Joshua spent a lot of time trying to blow out the candles before mommy helped.

Joshua loved opening presents so much that he helped Noah out as well. This worked out because Noah was still upset about his smash cake. Joshua was super excited to get his very own Toy Story bike and helmet. Unfortunately the helmet turned out the be too small (see, it's the helmet that's small, not my son with a large head) but Joshua wanted to wear it anyway so we loosened the straps as far as they would go and he wore it to ride his bike up and down the sidewalk. We had a great time! Happy Birthday Joshua! Happy Birthday Noah!

The Helmet

The Chatham's with Grandma and Grandpa Goforth

The boys with Granddaddy and Nana

The Chatham's with Grandottie and Jerry Pop

Joshua is 3!

I'm 3 years old!

My baby boy is 3! Although as Joshua would remind me, "Mommy, I not a baby, I a big boy." He usually follows this statement by flexing his muscles which is made more humorous by the fact that you can count all his ribs! We decided to take Joshua out for his birthday dinner yesterday since we had church plans tonight. We asked Joshua what he wanted for his birthday. His response "Steak and donuts!" These are two of his favorite things so first we took him to McGuire's where he nearly ate his weight in steak and bread. Noah did pretty good eating some of the senate bean soup and mashed potatoes. Afterwards we took him to Krispie Kreme so he could watch them make doughnuts and then take home a dozen. All in all it was a great evening!

Today he had a class party with the 3 year olds, the class he has been visiting and will formally join soon. I brought cupcakes and watched all his friends enjoy their cupcakes. Joshua is not really a fan of cake or icing so he mostly watched everyone else eat theirs after they sang to him. He would put the tiniest amount of icing on his finger tip and act like he was going to lick it. In reality he was wiping it on his upper lip which gave him a Hitler stash, not exactly a look we encourage. It's most important that he had fun.

So here are a few fun stories about Joshua and his likes and dislikes:
** Joshua really likes listening to Bruno Mars' Lazy Song. The song is rather slow paced where a line is sung and then the singer whistles. Joshua likes to use the whistling time to recap what was just said. It goes something like this:
Mars: Today I don't feel like doing anything...
Joshua: He not doing anything!
Mars: I'm just gonna lie in my bed...
Joshua: He gonna lie in bed!
Mars: Don't feel like pickin' up the phone so leave a message at the tone 'cause today I don't feel like doing anything, nothin' at all.
Joshua: He not doing anything. Nuffin at all!

Shhh! Sleeping brothers.

** Joshua likes to talk about taking a rocket to the moon.
** He likes to say he's a super hero. He really likes to be Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Spiderman, and Superman. Both when he's playful and when he's mad at you he's been known to fling spidey webs or shoot Buzz Lightyear lasers at you.
** His favorite tv shows are Super Why and Dinosaur Train (He's also a fan of Big Bang Theory and it's theme song)
** His favorite movies are Toy Story, Shrek, and anything Veggie Tales, especially Bad Apple and Josh and the Great Wall. And he insists on holding the case when watching a movie so that when he movie is over he can remove it from the DVD player and put it up.

Joshua watching Cars

 **His favorite foods are steak, crab claws, Krispie Kreme donuts, grape tomatoes, broccoli, and any fruit.  I'm particularly amused that he doesn't like loaf bread. When he does eat it, he'll eat the crust and hand you back the middle. We like to laugh and say when he's in school he'll be somebody's favorite lunch buddy! His favorite drink is cranberry juice.
** He enjoys being a backseat driver and telling me where to turn.  Of course he has no idea where we live but he's sure he knows how to get there.
** Joshua constantly amazes his mommy and daddy with all he learns. He can spell his name, count over 30, sing countless songs, count to 10 in Spanish, say the days of the week and most colors in Spanish. He loves having us read him a book and then he "reads" it back to us. Also he's a whiz at puzzles.
** Joshua blesses the food before meals saying "God is Great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food. By his hands, all are fed, thank you God for our daily bread. AMEN!" All we have to do to remind him is tell him to make his prayer hands.
** Joshua is very good natured. And I'm not just saying that because I love him - he really behaves well, follows directions, and is pleasent to be around. He's very gentle with his brother. He loves giving hugs and kisses and saying "I yove you!" to everyone. He's my little snuggle bunny who still sleeps in his mommy and daddy's bed - but we're going to start working on that. We love our little button boy so much and look forward to watching and hearing about all his adventures as he grows. Happy Birthday Big Boy!

Noah looks a little unsure while Joshua roars like a lion, or was it an ogre?

Joshua's Birthday Party

Joshua is having a few birthday parties this year. The theme for all of them is Toy Story as Joshua adores Buzz and Woody as well as the other characters. First we had a small friend party at our house. Then we are having a class party at school and a family party for both Joshua and Noah. The party this weekend turned out great. Joshua had four buddies come to the party and Noah had a friend there too. It was too hot for outside activities (temp ~99deg, heat index ~105deg) so we kept activities indoors. I think the kiddos liked the craft table the most. They got to decorate party hats. Happy Birthday Joshua! Thanks for coming everyone!

The birth mark

Me: Joshua did you color on yourself?
Joshua: No.
Me: What is that (I ask as I point at the marks on his leg)?
Joshua: It might be a birth mark.

*sigh* What am I going to do with that boy?

Noah's 1st Steps

BIG NEWS!! Noah took his first steps last night! We knew it would happen soon. Mommy and Daddy and Joshua are so proud of our big man. He took a few wobbly steps then fall down. He was startled when we clapped and cheered. Then he clapped for himself.

He has another new trick. He opens the kitchen cabinets and claps at himself. Then closes the cabinets and claps at himself. He hasn't tried to pull anything out yet which makes mommy happy. Good boy!

Also he has 3 more teeth coming in...just in time for Shark Week on the Discovery channel. And by the way, that brings his total up to 11 teeth.

The tables are starting to turn... Last week I took Joshua to a follow-up with his ENT (his tubes are still in place and look good). When we got there Joshua looked at the Medical Center Clinic which has 9 or 10 floors and said "Whoa! It too tall! Can we climb the tallest tower?" (Not the point of the story, but I love a good shout-out to Shrek.) So here's the good part. Both boys were loaded in the double stroller with Noah in the back. While we were waiting Noah realized if he straightens his leg he can push Joshua's seat. He did that a couple times and Joshua said "Hey! Stop pushing my seat Noah." Noah's eyes lit up big and he smiled a mischievous Eli smile and did it again.