2011 Christmas Card

The First Metro Ride

Today, we took a family trip into D.C. to go to the Natural History Museum. I'm a bit ashamed to say, this was Noah's first ever ride on the metro. We usually just drive into the city, and that has seemed easier up until now. But since we're no longer lugging things like a stroller, taking the metro is fun. Noah really enjoyed the ride, though he got bored while we were underground.

As for the museum itself, he enjoyed himself, but what he liked most was pressing buttons when there were interactive things available. This seemed to interest him more than actually seeing all the cool things at the museum. Oh well, the time will come when those dinosaur bones are really interesting, but right now they're just big skeletons.

He did however like the insect zoo. Here is a picture of him holding a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. Strangely, while that didn't bother him, he did get a bit freaked out in the butterfly exhibit (the room where the butterflies fly all around and can land on you).

The Fire Station

Today was the annual open house at all the Fairfax County fire stations. Noah and Sophia went over after gymnastics. We've done this now for the last 3 years, but Noah still really enjoys it. His favorite part today was watching the ladder go up on the truck. I just love this picture of the two of them. So sweet.

Gymnastics

Noah and Sophia have been taking a Saturday morning gymnastics class over at the Lee District Rec Center. I usually forget to bring my camera, but had it in my bag this morning. Noah is really enjoying it, and we love Ms. Rachel, his teacher.



Here are some videos from this morning's class. The first is during their warm up and the second is Noah doing a forward role. There are usually several other boys in the class, but none of them were there today except for Noah.

Grandma Jean Visits

Grandma Jean left us today after a 2 plus week visit. The house will feel pretty empty without her. The first picture above is one that Noah took. Pretty good for just playing around with the camera. The second is from our trip today to the fire station open house.

Burke Fall Festival

We spent Sunday morning at the Burke Fall Festival with Evie, Sophia and their respective parents. It was a beautiful day after a week of non-stop rain. We had meant to go the previous weekend, but it would have been a mud pit.

Noah went on his first ever pony ride. He looks very serious.

He enjoyed this roundabout ride a bit more than Sophia did.

And no trip is complete without the big slide.

Outer Banks Vacation 2011

We had a wonderful-- though unfortunately abridged-- vacation down at the Outer Banks of North Carolina at the end of August. Hurricane Irene came through there a couple days before we were scheduled to go down, and OBX was evacuated. We were supposed to go down on the Saturday, but weren't able to get there until the Tuesday because of some of the damage done, specifically to the one and only road up to the town where we were staying. But in the end, we did get there and had 3 and half days of fun at the beach with our friends.

Noah LOVED the beach. He really loved playing in the waves, but also enjoyed digging in the sand with his friends. The hurricane left the surf pretty rough, so he couldn't really go swimming in the ocean, but that was fine.

We plan on trying to do an OBX trip every summer, at least while the kids are young, because it's such a nice and easy vacation. It was great to go with friends. Noah loved sharing a room with Greydon-- that might have been the highlight for him, actually.

Summer Recap

I've been really remiss this summer in my posting on Noah's blog, and in picture taking... so here goes my attempt to recap on some of our summer events. I'll do a separate post on our trip to the Outer Banks at the end of August.

One major event that I haven't posted about is that this blog will be changing names in February from Noah to Noah and Zachary. Noah is going to be a big brother. Of course, I don't have a scanner, so I'm unable to scan in the ultrasound pictures. Oh well, everyone knows ultrasound pictures look like fuzzy gray blobs anyway.

OK, looking at the very few pictures I have from this summer... I really did not bring my camera with me often. I'll have to do better in the fall.

Not really an exciting picture, but I only have a couple dud pics from Greydon's birthday party. Noah has become a huge fan of cheese pizza in recent months, so this is definitely his favorite meal these days.

These pictures are from Sienna's birthday party. Sienna had a wonderful jump house set up in the back yard, complete with a face painter/balloon artist. Noah had a fantastic time!

And, these pictures are from my birthday. Evie looks like she's trying to escape.

Darren and I got Noah a bike for his birthday. Unfortunately, the summer was extremely hot, so there weren't a lot of opportunities to ride it, but we did get in some bike time. This was a really fun day out bike riding with Greydon.

Swimming Lessons

Noah and Sophia had their first day of swimming lessons today. They were great in the pool with the their teacher, Ms. Kristin. I really want him to take lessons because he has absolutely no fear of the water. Usually he goes in with us with water wings (we call them "swimmies"), but these lessons are to get him used to being in the pool without them. He loves to be thrown and go entirely under the water and bob back up, but that's all with the water wings on. It's definitely time for real lessons. We'll see how it goes, but maybe we'll need to do private one-on-one lessons at some point.

One of the things they learned today was how to sit at the side and then turn over onto their stomachs to slip into the pool.

The teacher also tried to show them how to be comfortable on their backs.

Noah seemed a little rigid.

Goodbye Tendersteps

Yesterday was Noah's last day at Tendersteps daycare. While I'm so excited for him that he's starting at Little Acorn Patch for Pre-K this Monday, it is so sad for us to leave Tendersteps. He has been there for nearly 2.5 years, and it has been such a wonderful place for him. We will always be grateful to Sangeeta and Danette for being such wonderful teachers. I always felt comfortable leaving him there. He has learned so much with them. He has always been loved, and he has always been happy. I couldn't ask for a better formative daycare. So, it's with mixed emotions that we say Goodbye Tendersteps. We will miss you.

Four Year Old Stats

Noah went for his four year old well check on Friday. He weighs 41 lbs (85th percentile) and is 41 3/4 inches tall (81st percentile). He had the second MMR, second Varicella and the last in the DTaP series (I think it was the last anyway). He's now vaccine ready for Kindergarten next year.

I have an odd child though. He was so good while getting his shots. He didn't even say ouch. Then, when it was done he told me "That was fun. I liked those shots." I'm not really sure what to make of that. Then he said "I was a little bit afraid, but it didn't hurt." Wow.

Noah at Four

I can't believe that my little guy is four years old. It's just amazing how fast the last four years have gone by. In four more years he'll be eight. Eight. I can't even fathom that. Noah at four:

• Is a truly sweet little boy. I feel like we're so spoiled and lucky to have him because he's just a really easy kid to parent. So easy to love.
• Is a lot less picky about what he wears than he was a year ago. It's a lot easier to get him dressed and he's not so set on specific colors (oh, the days of orange and yellow phases).
  
• Loves to see his grandparents. Nothing is more fun than going to Grandmoo and Papa's house. He loves to point out the trucks and the water towers on the way down I95. He won't stop talking about them the whole way down. It's just a running commentary of everything he sees out the window. He's also really looking forward to seeing his Grandma Jean when she comes to visit us in October. It's always amazing to me how--even though he only sees her once a year-- he always talks about her and knows her immediately when she visits us.
  
• Is obsessed with trucks. He likes all kinds (and apparently I like tankers because he always says "look Mommy, a tanker! It's your favorite), but his favorite kind of trucks are garbage trucks. The kid has a strange fascination with garbage trucks and dumpsters. Hoping this isn't his future career.
• Is such a smart little boy. He's not reading yet, but he memorizes books so quickly, it almost seems like he is. I know one of these days it's just going to click for him. He is really into numbers as well as letters and can recognize numbers up to 1000. He knows his right from left (as in, "Look Mommy! Look at the big blue truck on the left!").
• Still says some really funny, cute things. He loves to play hide and seek, and when he's seeking he will say things like "Where she can be?" in this sweet little voice. The other thing that I love is when he wants to know what day of the week it is, he'll say "What today is it?"
  
• Has my sense of direction. He always knows where we are, and if we take a turn he wasn't expecting, he points it out and asks where we're going.
  
• Also has my love of rides and my stomach, because he LOVED our trip to Dutch Wonderland and all the spinning rides.
• In all other ways resembles Darren.
• His favorite toys are trucks. He also loves his ipod (a birthday present for his third birthday) because he loves to watch you tube. At the moment, he's very interested in a little mini golf putting green that we gave him for his birthday, and his plasma car, another birthday present from Aunt Sue.
  
• He also loves games and puzzles. We've been playing Candy Land for quite some time and we now have Trouble and Chutes and Ladders.
  
• Still loves books. He likes the longer Doctor Seuss books a lot these days. Things like The Sleep Book, The Butter Battle Book and Horton Hears a Who. He's also into The Wump World, The Look Book (also a birthday gift), and the infamous "White Book" which lives at Grandmoo and Pappa's house (and always will). In general, he seems to be looking to branch out to new books lately. I think he gets bored with the old standards.
• Loves movies. He will watch a single movie over and over for a few weeks, then switch to a new one. At the moment, the favorite is 101 Dalmatians, but he also loves the Toy Story trilogy, The Incredibles, and Cars. As for TV, the only channel we really let him watch is Sprout (the PBS pre-school channel). He loves Caillou, Kipper, Fireman Sam, and (unfortunately) The Wiggles. He doesn't really watch the Disney shows at all any longer.
  
• Is still a fantastic sleeper. He wakes up at night maybe once every six months... maybe. And, he's very easy to get to sleep.
• He's still a picky eater. He likes meat and fruit and bread, but really won't eat pasta-- at least he won't eat it at home. He's also not great about eating vegetables. When he does eat veggies, they tend to be things like raw carrots and raw red bell pepper.
  
• Is entirely potty trained. He's even in underwear at night now.
• Is still a big fan of Manchester United. He knows all the players, even the minor ones, and he knows all of their numbers. He loves to put on his "Scholesy outfit" and watch the games with Darren.
  
• Has started swimming lessons. He needs them because he has no fear of the water. He has been wearing water wings and going in with us and totally knows how to swim around and swim on his back if he is wearing them. He'll jump from the side of the pool and go under the water entirely, then bob back up. He doesn't even need to hold his nose.
• Just had his last day at Tendersteps and is getting ready to start at Little Acorn Patch for Pre-K!
• His best friend in the world is Sophia. His other friends are Mia, Greydon, Sienna, C.J. and Wyatt, and the other kids from Tendersteps: Gabriel, Matthew, Lucca, Isabella, Elijah, and of course his sweet little cousin, Evie.
  

Here are links to Noah at three, at two and at one.

Noah and Sophia's Birthday Party

We had a joint birthday party for Noah and Sophia on Sunday morning at a old schoolhouse in Arlington call Carlin Hall. It was a great spot for the party. There was a large room inside to eat and do crafts and a great playground for the kids outside.

The first thing the kids did was to color in shrinky dinks. They each were able to make a necklace and a bookmark to bring home with them.

While the shrinky dinks were baking, the kids got to play outside on the playground.

It was really warm and Noah was dripping with sweat, but enjoying himself all the same.

And of course, there was cake. We had a cupcake cake made so each kid got a cupcake. No slicing needed.

Pre-Party Costco Trip

In preparation for Noah and Sophia's birthday party last weekend, Gretta and I took the kids to Costco to pick up a the food. They just looked so cute in the cart together, I had to snap some pictures. Sophia's such a peanut, it's hard to believe that she's actually older than Noah because she is so much tinier.

More Pictures from our Pennsylvania Trip, Care of David