The Difficulties of Filming a Singing Child

As you can see from these videos, it is exceptionally difficult to record Noah when the music hits him. He often stops as soon as the camera comes out, or does this... We need to work on his stage presence.

Mia's Backyard

Mia and her family hosted this month's get together. It was a slightly chilly April day, but sunny and pretty so the kids wanted to play outside in the backyard. They had a blast chasing each other around.




Greydon was the only one who wasn't really into the chase. He was far more interested in this bicycle pump.

But Noah, Mia and Sienna just ran and ran...

And fell...

They also had a wonderful time playing in Mia's climbing castle. They jumped so much I was worried the plastic might give way.


And of course, no outside fun would be complete without a tricycle ride.

Evelyn

We welcomed Noah's first state-side cousin into the world today. Evelyn Claira Stover was 7 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long. Noah hasn't met her yet, but he will once she is home from the hospital. She is lovely and both mom and baby are doing well.

Bunnyland

This morning Noah, Grandmoo, Papa and I went to Butler's Orchard in Maryland for their annual "Bunnyland" festival. We met up with Noah's friends Sienna and Greydon and their families. Noah was a bit moody, and less sociable than he usually is. But he enjoyed the slides and the animals. He was very upset though when it was time to go home (his new cousin was born today, so we really needed to leave Bunnyland) and he cried (SCREAMED) the entire 1-hour car ride home. It wasn't pleasant.

Noah was much better behaved last night when his friend Sophia and her parents came over for dinner. I have no pictures from that-- mostly because we were having too much of a good time to take pictures. Gretta (Sophia's mom) brought fantastic Lebanese food from her father's restaurant. It was amazing. Though, I can still taste the garlic in my mouth. Noah and Sophia played all evening and had so much fun.

Here are the Butler's Orchard pictures:

The Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar

Noah and I were doing some gardening this afternoon and came across a giant leopard moth caterpillar. It was huge with black prickles and red stripes. Of course, I had no idea what it was, so I wouldn't let Noah touch it. We came back inside to look online to see if we could determine what it was (it came up as soon as I googled black caterpillar with red stripes). Of course, by the time we figured it out and I got my camera, the caterpillar had crawled off, so I had to use this picture from a website instead of taking my own. Even in a townhouse, the backyard is full of interesting surprises. Though Noah may have been just as impressed with the earthworms we found as he was in this beautiful caterpillar.

The reason we were clearing through the yard is that we're getting it ready for our experimental vegetable garden. This weekend I bought garden soil, and cucumber, zucchini and green bean seeds. Hopefully we'll be able to plant them next weekend. I am not a green thumb kind of person at all. In fact, the succulent in my office has been dieing a long, slow death because I so rarely water it. But, I am determined to grow veggies this year. Ms. Sangeeta and Ms. Danette keep a garden at Noah's daycare and last year he was fascinated by the vegetables. I like the idea of him knowing from where food comes. Surprisingly, the parsley and rosemary that I planted last summer seems to have lived through the winter snows and are thriving, as is the chive plant in the planter box on the deck.

The Egg Hunt

Today we met up with Karen, Sean and Liam for Kingstowne's annual Easter egg hunt. It was a pretty quick hunt because there were a lot of kids of all ages taking part in the festivities. But, Noah and Sean were able to find a few eggs and enjoyed running around with their baskets.

Noah also got to meet the Easter bunny. He was very excited to be able to sit on the bunny's lap.