The Beach in Annapolis

Friends of ours from Darren's office invited us and some of his other work colleagues and their families up to Annapolis yesterday to spend a day at the little beach and picnic area that's down the road from their house. We were totally unprepared because we did not anticipate that Noah would want to go in the water after our last beach experience. But, the water was much warmer, the waves much smaller, the sand was not as hot, and Noah totally LOVED it. Of course, we did not have a swim suit, swim diaper, or towel for him... but that didn't matter.

This is little Oliver, Darren's boss's son.

Oliver is very friendly (a true Aussie), Noah was a little more reserved.

Noah is totally interested in dogs these days. These belong to our hosts, Dawn and Dave.

Noah wanted to play volley ball, but he was too small.

New Sneakers

Noah has new sneakers for the Fall. I love the See Kai Run styles, but they have thicker soles than the pedipeds that Noah is used to, and I think he has a harder time walking in these, so I'm probably going to get hima pair of pediped shoes too for the time being.

Noah's Summer Vacation

We just got back from a week away on the Outer Banks. We had a wonderful vacation with the most perfect weather possible. Noah got to enjoy the company of all three of his grandparents because my parents came down for the visit and my mother in law, Noah's Grandma Jean, flew in from England. Noah was not a huge fan of the beach. He didn't want to touch the sand, was terrified of the water, especially the waves (even though he was being held well above them), and generally whined most of the time we were at the beach, so we didn't spend as much time there as we had hoped. Next year will be more enjoyable for him I'm sure. Fortunately, we had a pool and hot tub at the house, so we spent a lot of time there. Noah liked the pool more than the ocean, but he still objected at first because it was a little cold. In general though, he really loved the trip. Here are some of the things Noah did on vacation.

Noah may not have liked the beach itself, but he loved the beach toys.

Because he hated the sand so much, he spent most of the time sitting on my lap.

And he liked to look out at the ocean... this is the distance he preferred.

Noah preferred the pool to the beach.

And he preferred the swing at the playground to the pool.

He also got to sit on the "grown-up" swing with Mommy and Grandmoo.

Noah got to eat ice cream, and get it on his nose.

Noah liked running around outside.

He also got to go on walks with Grandma Jean.

We also took a trip to Roanoke Island, which was absolutely beautiful. Here is Noah and Darren in a wonderful Gazebo out on the bay.

The trip to Roanoke was Darren's first time ever using the Ergo.

Noah loved running around at Roanoke. It made me realize that it's time we got a harness for him.

The best part of the trip was getting to spend time with all his grandparents.

Reunited

I'm finally back in town after having to go away for five days for SGA's Annual Meeting, which was at the Greenbrier in West Virginia this year. This was by far the longest time I've spent away from Noah since he was born. In fact, I'd only ever been away for two nights previously (two one-night trips), so this was hard. Much harder on me than it was on Noah I'm sure. I was supposed to be away a fifth night, but Noah was running a temperature so I came home a little earlier than originally planned. He was totally fine, but it's hard to be away, especially when your baby is sick.

Missing Something Important

Yesterday I had to work late, so I missed this little event in the early evening. Darren had changed Noah's diaper, and hadn't bothered to put his shorts back on him when he took him downstairs, so Noah was hanging out in just a diaper and a T-shirt. Suddenly, Darren said he looked up and there's Noah running around letting it all hang out. Fortunately, the diaper, discarded on the kitchen floor, was a recently changed diaper, and therefore clean. The little bare arse bandit himself. Hopefully this won't be a recurring theme in our lives, but I feel the need to stock up on duct tape.

ipod

My old ipod finally up and died last week. It had been on death's door for sometime now. So I got a new one. Noah was very interested in the box.

Noah had a fun weekend. On Saturday we met Karen and Sean in the morning and went for one of our long walks. Saturday night we had dinner with Miriam and Jeremy at their new house. Noah had lots of fun exploring everywhere. Beautiful old house, but will be a childproofing nightmare for sure. And, Sunday was mostly just an errands day. He did have a chance to go for a ride in his radio flyer at least.

More of Noah's Favorite Game

I swear, this kid is just obsessed with peek-a-boo. He loves to hide behind the curtains and then pull them open when I say "where's Noah?" He thought this was hysterical.

Here he looks a bit like a drunk.