Disneyland/California Adventure Vacation

Yes, we just went to Disney 6 months ago, but we won't be going for awhile since we will have a new baby here in April. Jake and Elisa wanted to take their kids so we all decided to go together. Mimi also joined in the fun!

After taking our picture at the entrance, our first stop was Dumbo. All Noah would say the entire ride was "Dumbo - weeee weeee!"

Next stop were the tea cups. They make it sound like such an innocent ride, but my stomach won't allow me to go on it so I'm always the photographer for this one. Then Jay took Noah on the rockets which he calls "rocks" and says "round and round and round." It's amazing how many new words he's added to his vocabulary just over these last few days.

Later we visited Pooh and Tigger. He knows Pooh by name because Nana gave him a stuffed animal, but he confuses Tigger sometimes rotating between Tig and also calling him Pooh at times.

Eeyore was also with Pooh and Tigger. Noah thinks he's a sheep and says "baa baa" at him while they were bonding. It was so cute!

Then right around dinner time we spotted a Dole Whip stand. I always thought it sounded familiar but didn't realize that this was a treat we used to have growing up. It's a pineapple whip (similar to ice cream) that is way more delicious than it sounds. We broke some rules and had dessert before dinner. I'm embarrassed to say that after dinner, Mimi decided to come back with more Dole Whip for dessert at the normally appropriate time. Noah helped her carry the receipt.

Mimi took Noah on one of the carousels. He loves fish and took a little while to decide which fish he wanted to sit on. We visited Pluto a little later on. Noah barked at him the majority of the visit.

While Noah napped in his stroller, we visited the animals at the petting zoo and took a pic with Jessie (I think that's what I heard someone calling her.)

We finally were able to track down Mickey on our last day. Noah couldn't get enough of him and Mickey definitely felt the same way. Noah was laughing, giving him five, singing the "hot dog" song to him, and loving him with hugs and kisses. Afterward, Gabe and Noah tested out Mickey's car. Noah, of course, wanted to do everything Gabe did. He had so much fun having someone around to goof off with!

We spotted Goofy in Toontown. Noah gave him five (or ten in this case). Noah blew him kisses as we walked away.

This is Noah in jail.

My 27th birthday was on 10/2 so Mimi took us to the Cheesecake Factory. We had the most delicious meals and topped it off with cheesecake. Yum!! Thanks for a great meal and a great time Mimi! I love you!

Unfortunately, Mimi and I were both exhausted after dinner so we decided to call it a night. And when I say night, I mean before 9:00. When we're at home, Noah goes to bed at 8:00 but this was vacation so Jay put him in his pj's and took him out for one last father/son hurrah! They went on the tea cups, the carousel, and the rockets.

Then on "It's a small world". Jay said Noah waved to all the characters/kids the entire ride. That's a long ride!

As soon as he was put in his stroller to head back to the hotel, he fell asleep. I'm pretty sure Noah had a really fun vacation.

18 months

Oh my gosh, I can't believe my baby is 18 months old today. He now weighs 23lbs 11oz (20th %tile), 31 3/4" tall (35th %tile), and his head measures 19.2" (77th %tile). By the way, that is not a dirty face. He fell in the neighbor's garage and is still healing. Dr. Nason was thrilled again with his progress and is impressed with his vocabulary and development in general. Nana started making a list of all the words Noah uses. There were at least 50 or 60. We didn't give him any vaccinations this time because we don't want him to feel any less than perfect for our Disneyland trip next week.

Silly Boys

Jay and Noah have fun wherever they go. While waiting in line to get an oil change, Jay thought Noah would enjoy playing in the stacked tires. He was right!

Family Fun

I have been wanting a bike trailer for awhile now. We just now decided to get one since the weather should start to "cool down" soon. In the mean time, we will be taking early morning and evening rides. Noah LOVES his new ride! We woke up early Saturday morning and rode our bikes up to McDonald's. They have a toddler area where he loves to play!

Doctor's Appointment

This morning I visited my doctor for a check-up. I am 10w 3d today and was able to hear the heartbeat on the doppler. It was such a beautiful sound at 171 beats per minute. I, unfortunately, lost a couple pounds since my last appointment due to my illness, but other than that, everything looks great. My next appointment is in 4 weeks.

He did it again!

This is the last time I will post about his bathroom usage, but we are so proud of this little boy that he is starting to understand the concept of the potty. This is Noah putting his second sticker on his drawing. It's hanging on the fridge at his level. Everytime he walks by, he stops and looks at it.

Yes he did!!

After a short hiatus, Jay decided to give the potty thing another go. This big kid went poo poo on the potty! He flushes the potty himself, then waves and says "bye bye poo poo" as it swirls away. Jay could not get rid of the smile on his face (yes, Jay's face) because he was so proud of him. Of course, we know this is only the first time and it won't be a total victory until he can go consistently. Here's for hoping!!

Gift from my two loves

I guess I should have taken a picture of these when I got them but that was definitely the last thing on my mind. I won't get into details, but I came down with something terrible on Wednesday night. As Jay's mom would say: "It was all bad!" I am feeling about 75%, but am still pretty nauseous and tired. I know that this is partially due to pregnancy, but even that is all so new to my because I had next to no symptoms with Noah throughout the entire pregnancy. Anyway, Noah and Jay brought me flowers to help me feel better - they worked - well, they're working. I love my two loves! Thanks for thinking of me!

He said it!

On Wednesday night, I came down with some sort of bug. I was in bed all day on Thursday so my mom took care of Noah. After months of my mom's encouragement, he is now calling her Mimi. We always knew he could say it because he's said it on "accident" a few times, but would never say it if asked to on command. She is thrilled to say the least.

Hungry Boy!

Can you believe this kid? Jay and I were totally feeling Steak Escape (and we had a coupon) so we headed over to the mall for lunch crossing our fingers that Noah would like it too. We both ordered the ham and turkey sandwich, tried cutting some small pieces off, but everything fell off the sandwich. It's never good when Noah's food falls apart because then he picks and chooses what he wants to eat. If it's all together, he doesn't really care. So I offered him a bite of my sandwich and he hung on for dear life. He loved it and ate that whole thing. A few people from the surrounding tables thought he looked so cute handling that huge thing (of course we couldn't have agreed more) so out came the camera.

Friends

These are a couple of Noah's best friends popping bubbles at church. Kristin (22 mos., daughter of Don and Nicole) is on the far end, Noah is in the middle, and Ezra (29 mos., son of Joshua and Mandy) is closest. They are a little older than him, but he doesn't mind. He learns so much from them and loves playing with them. We are really good friends with both of their sets of parents. We met them at church and now are super close. In fact, there is rarely a Sunday that goes by that we don't swim and have dinner with them at "the community house." The "community house" is Nicole's parents second home that they recently bought but haven't moved into and encourage us to use so it looks like people live there.