Noah at 5

I am really far behind with the blog-- too much to really catch up entirely-- but I did want to log in Noah's and Zachary's recent stats.  (And, I'm back dating this post to June, even though it's August) So here is Noah at 5:

45 and 1/4 inches tall- 91st percentile
44.3 lbs- 74th percentile

I had a harder time with Noah turning 5 than I have in previous years.  It just seems like he's such a big kid now.  And he's about to head off to Kindergarten at Lane Elementary too.  I can't believe it.  The night before his 5th birthday, I had a hard time saying goodnight, knowing it would be the last time I said goodnight to my 4 year old.

Things he's into:  Angry Birds, Ninjago, Star Wars, but garbage trucks remain his absolute favorite.  He loves his ipod touch, or playing aps on my iphone.  Too much technology.

School: Noah is doing a wonderful job with reading.  He has a ton of sight words memorized, and he can sound things out when he wants to as well.  He was in the top reading group in his pre-K class this past year.  He would bring home reading homework every Friday, but it was almost a joke how easy is was for him to do.  He's also doing really well in Math.  Absolutely top of his class.  I think he's going into K with more skills than I had when I left 1st grade.  He also loves science (Mad Science at Little Acorn Patch), and is a general curious, intelligent little boy.

Sports: This year Noah took a gymnastics class, a soccer class, and swimming.  He did a wonderful job with all of them.  We'll probably do some private swimming lessons at some point, as I think he's gotten as much as he can fromt he group lessons.  He has no problem going under water at all, and will dive for toys.  But, he still needs to learn real swimming technique for swimming with his head above the water.  He did a fantastic job with soccer though, and really seems adept in that area.  Next summer, I think we'll do soccer camp for a while.  He seems pretty athletic overall, so I'd like to make sure he has the option to really learn some sports.  He'll also watch just about any sport on TV, including things like Golf or Tennis.  Speaking of Golf, he loves it.  Grandmoo and Papa got him real clubs for his birthday. He also loves mini golf.

Movies/TV Shows:  Noah still likes watching things like 101 Dalmatians, the Lion King, Monsters Inc, Toy Story, etc, but he would rather watch TV shows on DVD than sit down for a full movie.  He really loves Scooby Doo right now.  That's probably his favorite

Brotherly Love: Noah is a wonderful little boy.  He is the best brother imaginable.  He is so good with Zachary, and Zachary totally adores him.  He loves when Noah plays with him and will laugh his little head off.  Noah is really patient with him, much more than I thought he would be.  It is really wonderful to watch them develop such a good relationship.

Friends: Noah is still friends with all the old friends-- Sophia, Greydon, Mia, Sienna, Sean-- and has met tons of new friends at school.  His best friend at school is Gabriel (a different Gabriel), but he has lots of other good school friends.

Welcome Baby Nora

Noah an Zachary have a new baby cousin.  Eleanor Kathryn Stover was born on April 25.

Zachary 2-months Stats

This photo was taken on Zachary's 2-month birthday.  Look at those cheeks!  He has filled in a lot in the last month and it showed during his doctors appointment the following week.  He weighed in at 10lbs, 11oz, which is the 11th percentile, a big jump from last month when he was 1st percentile.  He is now 23 inches tall, which is 41st percentile, again a big jump.  His head is in the 73rd percentile!  Smart kid.

He had his first DTaP/Hib/IPV shot, Prevnar and the Rotovirus oral vax.  They now combine DTaP, Hib and IPV into 1 inoculation, which is great.  Poor Noah had to get 4 injections at his 2 month appointment, but Zachary only needed 2 because of this new combined shot.

Zachary almost never cries.  The evening after he got his shots he cried for about half an hour strait and was hard to sooth.  That's the most I've ever heard him cry!  He's such a good boy!

A week at Grandmoo and Papa's house

Noah, Zachary and I (and Audrey and Ole) spent a week with Grandmoo and Papa while we had new floors put in in the living and dining rooms.  I wondered if the fun of Grandmoo and Papa's house would wear off on Noah after being there for a week.  Nope.  I swear that kid could be there forever.

And here are the new floors

Zachary's 1-month Stats

Zachary had his 1-month well child check this morning. He weighs 7 lbs, 7.5 oz (1st percentile still, though gaining weight well) and measured 20 1/4 inches tall (6th percentile). He measured the same height at his 2 week check, but it's very possible that the 2 week check was off a little, because the kid is certainly growing. His head is 14.5 inches though (46th percentile). He's a big headed kid. Zachary had his 2nd Hep B vaccine at the visit today.

Clemijontri with Evie

On Sunday, Noah, Zachary and I joined Lisa, Myles and Evie for a trip to Clemijontri. Zachary stayed snuggled up in the moby for most of it, while Noah and Evie ran around and had fun. It's amazing how crowded that place gets on weekends, and keeping up after the kids is rough.

Swimming Lessons

Noah is back in the pool for weekly swimming lessons at Mount Vernon Rec Center. He did a great job on Saturday at his first class!

boys in the bath

Just a comparison shot of Noah and Zachary at about the same age.

Brother Love

Noah is such a loving big brother. Since Zachary was born, Noah has been a bit more demanding of Darren and me, but incredibly patient and loving with Zachary. He always wants to show Zachary things, give him kisses, hold him, etc. It is really sweet. He wanted to be a big brother so badly.

Zachary at 2 weeks

Here are some beautiful family photos that David took of us when Zachary was about 2 weeks old

Zachary's 2-week statistics

At just over 2 weeks, Zachary weighs 6 lbs, 5 oz (1st percentile- but well past his birth weight, which is the important thing) and is 20 and 1/4 inches tall (24th percentile). He's still not even as big as Noah was at birth but the kid is growing well.

A Complete Family

Zachary Maskel Lamb was born February 10, 2012.
5 lbs 11 oz (a peanut, despite my gestational diabetes) and 19 inches long.

Winter 2012

The winter of 2012 went by in a blur as we prepared for the arrival of Zachary. We did lots of fun things, none of which did I bother to write about in the blog. Suffice to say, Noah enjoyed his last few months as an only child, but was very excited to become a big brother.

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.