Brothers

Joshua recently told me "I'm a growing boy. Next Halloween if my Buzz Lightyear outfit doesn't fit maybe I can be Woody."
Me: That sounds great. Then maybe Noah can be Buzz Lightyear.
Joshua: Mommy, Noah can't be Buzz. He's not a Space Ranger.
Me: Oh, then who will he be?
Joshua: He can be pig...

Spoken like a true brother. In the spirit of that, here are some pics of my boys playing together.

Brotherly love

Too much brotherly love...

Tooty, Fruity, Shake Your Booty

Noah is 18 months old

I'm not sure how this is possible but my adorable baby boy is now 18 months old (and looking more like a little boy than a baby boy)! Noah is growing and growing. He is such a snuggly happy boy. I'm behind on my posts and have really been needing to post all the wonderful things he is up to these days. He and Joshua get along famously. Noah is trying so hard to emulate his big brother and Joshua likes this - most of the time. Now since I'm a numbers kind of girl who likes statistics I'll post the details from his 18mo check up and then get into all the fun facts about Noah.
Height = 33.5in ~ 80th percentile
Weight = 25lbs 13oz ~ 50th percentile

As you can see Noah is tracking to be a tall fellow. Matt and I politely like to remind Joshua of this when he's sitting on his brother "You know Joshua, you'll always be the older brother but you might not be the bigger brother so maybe you can play nicer with Noah..." The checkup went great. The funniest part was that during the checkup Noah was very busy and kept looking through a few books in the exam room. Every time Noah saw an animal with teeth he growled at it - and Noah has an excellent growl. The dr was talking to me and then stopped mid-sentince to ask "Um, is he growling?" He thought it was funny that - according to Noah - spiders and sharks both growl. Noah is still not much of a talker but he does have an understanding of words and uses a lot of gesturing to get his point across. He is doing great. Here are some fun facts about Noah:

1. Noah is an excellent sleeper. I sing him his bedtime song, we say our prayers, then I lay him in his crib and he goes to sleep - no tears or complaining.  He crosses his ankles, puts his booty in the air, and snuggles a lovey - usually his Mickey Mouse.
2. Noah's bedtime song is an adaptation from a Sandra Boyton book. It goes like this "Noah Chatham of mine. Everything about you is especially fine. I love what you are, I love what you do. Ohhh Noah Chatham I love you!"
3. Noah loves Elmo. For a long time he called him "Melmo" which we thought was adorable but a few days ago he changed it to Elmo.
4. The one part about Noah that gets the most compliments are his eyes. I frequently hear "He has the biggest brown eyes I've ever seen! They're beautiful." And I tend to agree. :)
5. Noah attends Miss Kathy's Pre-K and is in the one-year old room taught by Miss Cheryl. Noah loves Miss Cheryl and she loves him too.
6. Noah is quite the popular boy at school. His classmates love calling him "No-WAH" probably because he likes walking around saying his name like that too, something he just started doing. To make a cheers reference, he's like Norm when Norm entered the bar.
7. Noah is a great eater. He'll eat just about anything. If only Joshua would take after him in this area.
8. Speaking of eating, Noah loves eating at the child's table with Joshua. He'll make his prayer hands when Joshua blesses the food mouthing the words like he's thinking about joining in.
9. Noah still does not have much hair on top, though the back is filling in nicely. His hair is a light blonde.
10. Noah likes naming his body parts. He really likes poking you in the eye while saying "Eyes." His other favorite is to raise his shirt and pat his belly finding his "bebo."
11. Noah also likes to raise his shirt and pat his belly after he's eaten - a trick I like to say he picked up from his daddy!
12. Noah loves to follow Joshua around and do everything his brother does. He wants to play with the same toys, knock down brother's block towers, drink from brother's sippy cup, etc.
13. Joshua and Noah really do get along well. They talk in the car, sit next to each other on the couch or chair, and double team daddy when they are in "hop on pop" mode. It's very sweet to watch.
14. Noah loves when you sing to him. He really likes Itsy Bitsy Spider, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, and the Elmo theme song. He sings along with me sometimes. It's super sweet.
15. Noah loves dancing. His style is mostly to sway side to side but he has the biggest smile on his face while he's doing it!

I could go on and on. Noah is such a blessing and Matt and I are so glad to be raising this precious little boy. Joshua, my 3 1/2 year old going on 5 (if you ask him) is such an inquisitive boy and helpful big brother. We are all going to have so much fun as our boys continue to grow. Happy half birthday Noah!

Clowning around with Daddy

Matt is a great daddy. He's very hands on the boys. Recently they had a hop-on-pop/ pillow fight night. I managed to get a few pics of the fun.

I included the picture above because it cracks me up that it's one of those classic too much brotherly love kind of moments. Joshua can really put a squeeze on you. Noah's about to start screaming and Joshua has no clue. But don't worry, Noah may be the little brother but he always gets even...

Noah's revenge

Noah's 1st Haircut

The baby mullet is no more! Tonight we trimmed Noah's hair for the first time (insert wild cheers and clapping from Daddy). I'm sentimental about my boys' hair and it's hard to cut their hair the first time, especially Noah, who - let's be honest - has worked really hard to grow it. Noah has very little hair in the front and it was getting long in the back. It was definitely time to do it and he looked ever so handsome afterwards. Matt held Noah while I trimmed the back of his hair in the kitchen. He has a real champ. Check out the before and afters.

Before

After

And then there was one...

I'm really behind in my blogging. In an effort to catch up, I'll depend on facebook, the texts on my phone, and the technology that allows me to backdate posts to update our lives. So the first part of February... pretty much sucked. Matt and I are super busy working the tie-in outage at the plant and then we were hit with the flu. First Matt was sick, followed a couple days later by Joshua, followed a day later by me. I think the picture says it all. We were all pretty miserable. Noah however was chipper and running at 110%. Joshua and Noah had both had a flu vaccine so at least Joshua didn't get as sick as he could have been. I found out that we were some of the first cases of the flu in Pensacola, the ground zero so to speak. Luckily I don't think we spread it around and kept the germs to ourselves.

Before we got sick I met up with my mom and the twins in Mobile and we went to a Mardi Gras parade with some cousins. We all had a good time. Joshua thought it was really cool. I learned something at the parade. I knew that they threw beads and moon pies at the parades, but they also threw stuffed animals, random toys, and bags of dry roasted peanuts. I tried not to freak out but was a little uneasy at the bags of "poison" being hurled in Noah's general direction. No matter, it was still a good day.

Joshua, Noah, and the rest of January

Brothers having fun

Joshua is all about talking and playing games and making up friends. Today he was playing with his Woody the cowboy toy only he said it was "Busty" the cowboy. He and "Busty" had a great time playing in the car. And Joshua loves to play games. We recently introduced him to Chutes & Ladders which he loves... mostly because this version has a superhero theme and he enjoys assigning everyone their superhero before we play. I think his favorite part about this game is that we usually play it when Noah is taking a nap so he loves to tell us "I think Noah needs a nap and I need to play my game." even if it is 9AM on a Saturday morning.

Noah is such a happy baby. He loves dancing, laughing, and his brother. He usually falls asleep clutching one of his loveys close. He alternates between the Raggedy Andy doll (that Grandottie made him), Mickey, his giraffe, and Barney. He loves to hug and snuggle his toys. It's so precious and new to us as Joshua never cared much for plush toys. He sways and claps whenever he hears music. Joshua is also a fan of dancing, especially if he's dancing to the Big Bang Theory theme song. I can't really describe his "moves" so I'll attempt to video them and post it to youtube.

The boys are really starting to play well together. They wrestle and wrangle for the same toys from time to time but they usually work it out with few tears. It's fun to listen to them because Joshua is doing all the talking and Noah is giggling and throwing out the occasional "Da!" They are well on their way to be good buddies.

I like to read!

Today Noah is sick with a double ear infection and an eye infection. Poor baby! I took him to the doctor's office and he was a sick little fella. Fortunately he should bounce back quickly. I will comment that there was a student doctor in the room today with our pediatrician. At one point the pediatrician and I we were talking about allergies and our doctor mentioned Noah is allergic to apples, strawberries, peanuts and cashews. The student doctor turned to me and said "Really? I couldn't live! I love those foods. I couldn't imagine not eating apples and strawberries, wow or nuts." Our pediatrician tried to cover for him and casually said "Well, it's not that uncommon. I have lots of young patients allergic to strawberries and nut allergies are on the rise, though he is my only apple allergy..." He handed me the prescription, told Noah to feel better and quickly left the room. I suspect not long after that there was a discussion about how to not make the patient and patient's family feel worse about a diagnosis than it actually is, especially one that won't change, like a nut allergy. Matt and I had a good laugh about it. It reminded me of a scene in Zoolander where Ben Stiller's character said "How do you live!?!"

My Blue Angels

My Negotiator

I tell Joshua stories all the time but here are two prime examples of my expert negotiator. I must admit that I thought I'd have more time before he started to outsmart me. This is humbling. Well for your amusement...

Case 1
Joshua likes to eat a snack in the car on the way home from school. There are two snacks that I offer in the car: individually wrapped fruit snacks and granddaddy crackers (aka Nilla wafers). I usually let Joshua eat 2 fruit snacks, one right away and one after we drive over the bridge. (I should add the the entire drive from daycare to the house is about 30min so it's not that long of a drive.) I do this to make them last longer so I don't have to listen to how hungry he is the whole way home. Recently Joshua said "Mommy can I have 2 fruit snacks?" I repeated my standard answer and said he could have one now and the second one after the bridge. He said "Okay so the first one before the bridge, right?" I agreed as I handed him back his snack. He happily ate it down right away and asked for his fruit snack about 5 minutes later. And here's the rest:
Me:  We aren't even to the bridge yet. You know the rules. You'll have to wait.
Joshua: But Mommy, you said I could eat the first fruit snack before the bridge.
Me: I know and I already gave it to you and you ate it.
Joshua: No Mommy, you gave me the second one and I already ate it, now I want the first snack.
Me: What? No I gave you the first snack and you ate it.
Joshua: No you gave me the second snack first and I ate that one. Now I want the first one. You said I could eat it before the bridge. Pretty please!

All I can say is wow, my son's a negotiator! How can you say no to logic like that!?! Of course I caved and gave him the other fruit snack. Now on to part II.

Case 2
As I've said I have two snacks in the car. The second snack, granddaddy crackers, is really for Noah, although Joshua eats them too. These are less of a choke hazard and Noah's not allergic to any ingredients. Anyway I usually hand them back to Noah two at a time because he is in a rear facing car seat and it's a pain to stretch back that far from the driver's seat when he can't see me and hand them to him. Anyway after handing Noah a snack I usually hand back 3 crackers to Joshua because, according to J's logic, "I get 3 because I'm 3 years old!" He must have been hungry the other day because he worked this angle:
Joshua: Noah is growing. He will get bigger and bigger and bigger. You should give him 2 crackers because he's almost 2 years old.
Me: Well he's not even 1 1/2 so I wouldn't say he's almost 2, but he is a growing boy so I'll give him 2 crackers.
Joshua: Well you know I'm a growing boy too and if Noah's almost 2 then it means I'm almost 4, right?
Me: Sortof, but Noah's not almost 2 though he will be 2 on his next birthday and you're not almost 4 but you will be 4 on your next one...
Joshua: So since Noah got 2 crackers for being almost 2 can I have 4 crackers since I'm almost 4? It will be fair mommy.

I really have my hands full with Joshua. These stories remind me a lot of myself when I was little. All I can say is that I hope Noah can outwit him from time to time, otherwise he and Aunt Stoppie will have a lot to talk about at family gatherings.

A few conversations

Joshua keeps us laughing and on our toes with his thoughts. Here are a few recent quotes:

"Mommy, scary tree is bad and you are good. That is why you are my friend and scary tree is not my friend."

Joshua: I want a different snack
Me: What kind of snack?
Joshua: I want something chocolate-y and very good.
Me: How about some cheese?
Joshua: Mommy, really?

Daddy: Do you want a donut for breakfast?
Joshua: Real Space Rangers don't eat donuts.
Daddy: Well what do you want to eat?
Joshua: I just want one little tomato.

Me: How's my astronaut?
Joshua: Mommy, an astronaut is an astronaut and a space man is a space man, and tonight I'm a space man.

This is sweet. On MLK Day we were in a parking lot when someone cut me off and I hit the brakes. Joshua asked what happened and I told him that that car wasn't very nice. Then he said "But Mommy, God loves everybody. He loves us and sent His son. That's why you're supposed to love everybody - not just the people just like us, but EVERYBODY." So true. Makes me think someone's definitely been paying attention at AWANAS.

Me: I have a fun surprise for you.
Joshua: Yea! What is it? A baby sister?
Me: Um, no but that would be surprising...

Can't wait til Noah really starts talking so I can post his silly conversations. I know he's got some funny things to say, he just doesn't know how to communicate them yet. He favorite funny thing to do these days is to pull his shirt up and pat his belly. It's hard not to laugh when he does this as he's so proud and laughing. That's my boy!

Yea Alabama!

The boys showing their team spirit at school.

So I first must open with Roll Tide! That's right, Alabama won the National Championship game against LSU. The final score was 21-0. It was an exciting evening in our house. This is Bama's 14th National Championship Title (Joshua's 2nd and Noah's 1st). We are happy for our team though Matt and I must lament "Why weren't they that good when we were in school?" Regardless I enjoyed dressing my boys up in their jersey's for school. And Joshua got into the spirit of things by electing to wear an Alabama toboggan despite the temperature being in the mid 70s.

Noah was not that interested in the game and fell asleep before half time. Joshua really enjoyed cheering during the game with his typical "Go Bama! Roll Tide! Haha - he fell down. Daddy that is a football, etc." We let Joshua stay up a little later and then put him to bed in mommy and daddy's room hoping he'd stay in there. Instead he kept coming out of the room for one more hug, one more kiss, more more high-five, one more Go Bama, etc. Finally he was asleep and we tried to quietly watch the game (which is hard to do).

Roll Tide!

On a completely unrelated note, I must brag on my Noah that he has learned to wipe his nose. This is a very important skill as it is cold and flu season. Way to go Noah!

Happy New Year

Joshua's ready to go hiking

Happy New Year! It's 2012 and what better way for me to kick off my blog than to quote a few of the many funny things my boys say and do.

Noah's favorite word is still "No." One of his favorite past times is to grab the tv remote and run away giggling. I think he always knows he'll get caught, but that's probably the best part.

Joshua recently told me "Mommy, I'm going to grow bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Then one day I'll be a person or somethin'."

Last night the dogs came inside the house and stood side by side wagging their tails wildly as Matt prepared their food. Joshua looked at them and laughed out loud saying "Look, the dogs are playing swords!" I'd never thought of it that way but what a perfect description!

This made mommy a little sad. Last night I asked Noah "Are you ready to eat?" and patted his high chair. He answered "Ya!" then walked to the big boy chair across from Joshua (a kid-sized table), patted it, and climbed into the seat. I think my baby's trying to tell me he's not a baby.