Animals of the Southern Hemisphere

Noah loves this map of the world with animals that we got for him for his birthday back in June. He's not tall enough yet to know the animals in the Northern hemisphere, but he's getting really good at identifying the animals in the Southern hemisphere.

Christmas Morning

Noah had a wonderful Christmas morning opening presents. He was very interested in all the wrapping paper! Darren and I got him a slide (and a few other gifts), so there's a video of him going down the slide below (it starts out dark, but doesn't stay that way.).

Grandmoo and Grandpa got him this tunnel.

Christmas Eve

Noah's Grandmoo and Grandpa are visiting us this week to celebrate Christmas (it's Christmas with the Jews at our house!). Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve when we opened our stockings.

Noah's Auntie Lisa made this stocking for him.

The First Night of Hanukkah

The first night of Hanukkah was last Sunday. Noah's Aunt Lisa and Uncle Myles came over for dinner and presents. Lisa and I sang the prayers for the first time in years. Not that Noah has any idea what we're doing, but I'd like to make sure Hanukkah remains a tradition for him, rather than just doing Christmas.

Dinner at Greydon's House

We had dinner last night at Noah's friend Greydon's (and his parents') house. Same crowd as usual. We like doing this monthly dinner with the kids thing. Of course, my pictures all came out badly as usual (I so want a new camera).

Boogie-Woogie

Setting Up The Christmas Tree

Last weekend, we put up our Christmas tree. This is the first time Darren and I have gotten one (despite doing an ornament exchange with my sister and brother-in-law for the last several years). It was my first Christmas tree ever except for one year when I lived with my friend Patty. It was Darren's first real Christmas tree ever. I'm proud to say it has been a week and it is still standing and doesn't look dead (amazing as neither of us is a "plant person" to say the least. Noah is really excited about it. He points at it all the time and tries to say tree.

Here are the guys setting up the tree. Noah seems more interested in our lamp.

The final product.

A Real Haircut

We took Noah on Saturday for his first real haircut. I've trimmed the back once more, but this one was legit. He did a great job, and didn't seem at all afraid.

Thanksgiving

Noah had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Fortunately, his pink eye was all cleared up by Monday evening of Thanksgiving week. So, Tuesday afternoon we went to the soft play room at the Lee District Rec Center. Noah LOVED it, especially the ball pit. Of course, I forgot to bring my camera, so no pictures. Then on Wednesday, my friends Anne and Jud and their son George came to visit us. We were having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures. They live in Rhode Island, but were down visiting family for the holiday, so we do not get to see them often.

Noah's Grandmoo, Grandpa and Aunt Sue came down late Wednesday night, so Noah did not see them until Thanksgiving morning. Here are some pictures from our time with them. Notice there is no picture of Noah eating a big Thanksgiving meal. That's because he wouldn't eat any of it... typical. Chicken nuggets on Thanksgiving for this one.

Here he is showing off his driving skills.

This is the post for stackable soft toys... not sure why Noah thought it would be good to eat.

Hanging with Uncle Myles

Grandpa is reading Noah a story.

Going for a ride with Grandmoo.

If you ask Noah "what does a tiger say?" he will open his mouth wide and make a whispery growl. That's what he's doing here.

Here's Noah hanging out with his Aunt Sue.

And, of course, he had to prepare for Black Friday shopping (No, we did not do that).

Lining Up the Cars

It must be a boy thing... he just loves parking his cars and moving them around.

A Tough Couple of Weeks

Noah has been sick off and on for the last few weeks (hence, not a lot of new pictures). First he had what I now think was roseola, then a stomach bug, then the weekend before Thanksgiving he came down with pink eye. All the cool kids in daycare were getting it apparently. Fortunately, the eye drops the doctor gave him worked like a charm, and by Monday evening he was good to go.

Fun with Connor and Kaitlyn

I had the day off on Tuesday for Veterans Day, so Noah and I met up with a Connor, Kaitlyn, and their moms for lunch, and then we headed over to the playground at Lee District Rec Center. They enjoyed the slides and playing house.

"knock knock, can we come in?"

The three of them really enjoyed throwing wood chips into the air and on the slide. I'm still finding wood chips around the house because Noah had them all over himself. Needless to say, he went strait into the bath when we got home.

Noah's Toy Box

Mara (Mia's mommy) sent me some nice pictures from the dinner we had with them and Noah's other friends a couple weeks back. Here is one that is especially cute.

O-Baby

Noah Loves Virginia the Cow

On Sunday afternoon, the three of us headed over to Oxon Hill Farm for a walk around and a chance to see the animals. Noah especially loved the cows. A very nice park ranger let us go into the chicken house so Noah could see the hens, rooster, turkeys and peacock. Then he let us watch him milk Virginia the cow. Noah loved Virginia.

Here Noah is watching another cow on our way up to the dairy farm to see Virginia.

Noah got to pat Virginia on the back while she was being milked.
And here's our friendly park ranger milking her.

Grandma Jean and Auntie Debbie Come to Visit

Noah's Grandma Jean and Auntie Debbie spent the night with us last night on a stop over on their way from England to San Francisco for vacation. Noah loved having them here and was very sorry that it was such a short trip.

Party at Noah's House!

On Saturday night, Mia, Sienna, Greydon and their families came over for dinner. Noah had a wonderful time with his friends. He enjoyed showing off all his toys (literally, the entire toy box was emptied onto the floor in the kitchen), running around the couch with the other toddlers chasing him, and eating the yummy cupcakes I made for the kids (with the secret ingredients yellow squash and pumpkin).

Here's Noah and Mia having a laugh.

Sienna is enjoying the chocolate frosting from the cup cakes.


"Hmmm... how fast can I shove this into my mouth?"

Greydon's happy to chomp on some grapes.

Sienna really loved Ole and Audrey. Here's Noah showing her how to pet Audrey.

Mia just liked hanging out in this little booster seat.

Once all the toys were out, Noah and Mia decided it would be fun to climb into the toy box. They looked like they were making wine.