What's New With Noah

I feel terrible that I haven't been taking notes on what Noah is up to these days. I want to have something to look back on someday so I am going to put it here. Since both boys (actually all 3) are resting right now, I will do my best to give an update.
For the first time, Noah asked, "Why?" yesterday. I thought, "Oh no, here we go..."
When we say his name or call for him, he responds with, "What?" It's so cute.
One of his latest things is flipping light switches. For a while, he would push his little step stool ladder around to flip them on and off but then decided the ladder was too much work. So now he wanders around from room to room flipping all the switches down. He's still too short to flip them back up so we have random lights on throughout the house depending on if the room has multiple light switches.
Noah knows all of his manners AND uses them the majority of the time.
He is beginning to use the first person a lot more when speaking. At times he still calls himself Noah but is now saying "I, me, yours, she, he, you, etc"
He tells us stories or recalls events the way he remembers them. It's so interesting to hear things from his perspective.
He has days where he likes Nate more than others. Recently though, he has begun to rub his head and arm and also tries to make him laugh by making silly faces.
Not only does he help Mimi with "chores" at her house (using the hose on whatever he wants and sweeping random things) but he also helps me. He loves to use the Clorox Bleach Wipes and also helps put the soap in the laundry and move clothes from the washer to the dryer. He obviously then has to push the button to turn it on.
He recognizes gender which is funny because I never really quizzed him until I noticed he was calling girls "little girls" and boys "little boys" and using them correctly. We were at the playground the other day and he was playing with a 4 year old girl calling her "little girl" when she quickly corrected him - "I'm a big girl!" He responded with "Oh, okay."
He prefers to drink from an open cup but we still have him use one with a top most of the time.
We still are not 100% sure if he is a lefty or righty. It seems like he switches from one meal or activity to another. If I HAD to guess, I would say righty.
Noah is also showing more signs of love. Not only does he say "I love you" but he also will come up to me and rub my back. Jay is taking advantage of him and asking him to rub his shoulders all the time.
He uses feeling words and will talk about himself or others being happy, sad, excited, angry, etc.
Every time someone coughs, Noah tells the person they're sick, they have germs in their mouth, and they need to go to the hospital. The germs in the mouth part is because I taught him to cover his mouth when he sneezes or coughs so he doesn't spread the germs in their mouth.
He also prefers all the doors in the house to be closed. He closes all doors behind him and likes to be the one to open it upon entrance.
He loves to sing and picks up on the lyrics easily (we're talking children's music that he hears often - not random radio). I am definitely going to get the video camera out because I have to let everyone witness how cute he is. He sings "BINGO", "There Was a Farmer", "Jesus Loves Me" and loves all the songs on his childrens bible songs cd, "Row Your Boat", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Rock-a-bye-Baby", the Wonder Pets theme song, and others that I'm sure every kid is singing. If he doesn't know the words to a song he lip syncs. It's so funny!!
Thomas is still his favorite thing in the world.
He knows all of his letters (what they look like and the sound they make) but hasn't quite caught on to the numbers. He can count to 22 (once in a while he messes up 14 and 15) but doesn't recognize them all. He doesn't show much interest in learning to recognize them either. I can tell when he doesn't want to play with the flashcards with me anymore because he'll say the same number over and over for every number just to get me to stop. I'm learning now..
There's a billboard with a picture of the hospital Noah and Nate were born at. Jay and I hadn't seen it until Noah pointed it out saying, "Noah and Nate born there. Noah and Aunt Jenna visit Baby Nate, Mommy, and Daddy. Noah no want leave. Noah cry." Aww.
When it's quiet and he all of a sudden hears something, he makes a suspecting face and says, "Hear that (dat)?"
He's also starting to actually play with others. Before he would just chase other kids around, but now he communicates with them what he wants to do and what he wants them to do. He also listens and follows their instructions if they have an idea what to do.
Noah knows now about monsters. He doesn't seem to be afraid of them, but it worried me when he said they were in his room. I was concerned that he was scared but he reassured me that he wasn't by explaining that it was a happy monster on his Leap Frog Letter Factory movie. He says that it "the letter T" hides behind his curtains. He's a little confused though because the actual monster is the letter A but he thinks the T is also a monster since he hides and jumps out.
He's taking soccer right now but we're not sure he likes taking the classes. The first week, he did pretty well. The second week, he was a mess. He sat on the sidelines and wanted me to hold him the entire time. Did I mention he swatted at the coach. Yes, he did. The third week, I thought it might be best if Jay just took him. So the two of them went and Jay said he did great. He wasn't interested in playing for the first little bit but then decided to join the other kids and have fun. I was so happy to hear that he enjoyed what is supposed to be something fun for him.
Noah chooses which books he wants to read throughout the day and before bed. It melts my heart to hear him "read" me bible stories: "Zacchaeus, you come down - I'm going to your house today!" Except, when he says Zacchaeus, it sounds like Ikeas. His other favorite bible story is about Jonah and the whale. There's a picture of Jonah inside the whale that he just can't get enough of.
We haven't put the twin size mattress on his top bunk yet so he loves to hang from the bars above calling himself "Monkey Boy".
We have gotten a taste of the "terrible 2's" over the last few weeks. His pediatrician seems to think it's this and also still not being #1 all the time since Nate has joined our family. So we've implemented a sticker chart for him where every time he has good behavior and listens without putting up any kind of argument, he chooses a sticker and puts it on his chart. Once he gets ten, he gets to choose a place to go with either Jay or myself. This is uninterrupted quality time doing whatever he wants with whichever parent he wants. I have to admit that this has really helped. He absolutely loves stickers and is usually very eager to earn another. He gets stickers for things like setting the table (napkins, spoons, forks), sharing, washing his hands, having his teeth brushed with no trouble, and anything else he does that's positive.
This is all I can think of now, but I will try to give another update sooner than later.

The Latest

Over the last few months Noah has been saying things that I haven't written down but thought I should before I forget.. I am going to try to get some of these things on video but he doesn't usually like to say much when we have the camera in his face so we'll see... Anyway, he says things like
"Actually..."
"Hey, idea..."
"Try this..."
"My favorite..."
"Oh! Okay..."
He also loves having his animals talk to each other. He has three voices that he uses which I really have to catch on video. They're so funny. One is really high-pitched, one is really low, and the other is a gruff kind of sound. When he wakes up, I usually listen to him on the monitor for a few minutes just for kicks. The other day he had one of his bunnies talking to his giraffe:
Bunny - "Hi, I'm Bunny."
Giraffe - "Hi bunny, I'm Giraffe."
Bunny - "Be friends?"
Giraffe - "Oh, okay."
Bunny - "What want do?"
Giraffe - "Go Disneyland."
Bunny - "WEEE!! Dumbo. WEEE!!"
Then he must have picked up different animals and they were talking about one of them being happy, one of them sad, and the other was mad. I, unfortunately, didn't listen to the whole thing. I had to go look at him in person because he was just being way too cute over the monitor.
We also watched Alice in Wonderland (the original) the other night. We've never turned on a movie for him but thought that he might enjoy watching it with us. He watched a lot of it and now is obsessed with the Cheshire cat (or Cheshire kitty cat as he likes to call it). In case anyone doesn't remember the movie, the cat disappears and reappears throughout the movie so now Noah makes everything disappear and talks about the cat disappearing.

What Noah's up to

It is really getting difficult keeping track of everything Noah's up to. It just seems that he learns so much and progresses daily! He knows almost all of his body parts (hair, head, eyes, nose, tongue, teeth, hands, belly button, toes). He will repeat anything you say and jabbers so much. I really feel there's very little we can't communicate to each other one way or another. You can pick out a recognizable word or two in each babbling sentence. None of it makes sense though. He walks into the pantry, grabs a box of Wheat Thins, brings them to us, and says "cracker". I'd say it's probably his clearest word that he says. He knows most of his animals, but still won't say the name, but only the sound it makes. He'll see a cat and say "meow" instead of cat. It's cute though. Noah also loves stacking blocks. We bought him a set for Christmas, but has just started using them correctly over the last month or two. He loves playing with older kids and loves to do everything they do. I wish I could think or more to report, but it seems that he's really sharpening his skills rather than learning a whole lot of new ones. I guess I can mention that he sleeps from about 8:00 or 9:00pm to 7:15am. Noah has also officially weaned himself. He stopped nursing at 14 months almost to the day.

What Noah's up to

Noah amazes us everyday. He is soaking everything in like a little thirsty sponge. He is adding words to his vocabulary: pool, yellow, purple, milk, and yogurt. He is also learning some body parts: tongue (he loves to try to pull it out of his mouth and he will try to touch yours when you stick it out), hair, nose, ear, toes, and his favorite - belly button. He thinks it's so funny to touch his belly button. He loves washing his hands, but that's mainly because he thinks he's just playing in the water. He points out water everywhere he sees it. Jay and I have electric toothbrushes so when we brush Noah's teeth, he makes a little motor noise so it sounds like ours. It's so cute!! He has a little phone that he picks up and says "hello." One of his favorite toys are Hot Wheels cars. They are the perfect size to fit in his palms. He drives them around making "vroom vroom" sounds. This is my favorite that he is doing right now. He is such a copy cat too. If we stretch, he stretches. If we sneeze, he pretends to sneeze. He repeats almost anything we say. He's still such a little love. I thought by this time he would be super independent since he's walking, but he still loves to be held and sit on our laps. He gives kisses voluntarily (my heart melts with each one), he blows kisses, he loves tapping his hand on his mouth like an Indian. You know he's really showing his affection when he lays his head on your shoulder and holds his arms around your neck. If you ask for "love love", he'll come over and give you a hug (if he wants to). He has such a soft heart. When we tell him he's not allowed to do or touch something, he gets upset and runs over to us for a hug. Noah is still the light of our lives. Our love is still growing for him everyday!!

What Noah's up to

Although Noah has not officially used his potty yet, he has learned what it is and how to say it - "potty". He also says "poo poo" and knows that poo poo goes in the potty. A few newer words he's added to his vocabulary are "go", "block", "cheerio" (although it doesn't sound very much like it), and "truck". I'm not sure if I put this in last months post, but he also knows what the sheep says - "baa", the cow says - "moo", the duck says - "quack", and the train says - "choo choo". He really gets a kick out of us saying "chugga chugga, chugga chugga, choo choo!" We don't have stairs in our house, but ever since he realized that they exist, he goes straight for them - up and down over and over again. Noah is learning very well to help clean up. He wasn't very cooperative when we tried this a couple months ago, but he is really eager to help now. Noah seems to understand most things we say to him. We ask him to put something somewhere, come over here, let's go to noah's room, let's go to mommy & daddy's room, where's daddy (if he's in another room, he'll go find him), etc. It's amazing to think that he has learned everything he knows in only 13 months. We love watching him learn!

What Noah's up to

I realized that I haven't been sharing any milestones or cute new things that Noah's been up to with everyone. I have kept a "Baby's 1st Year" calendar so I do have everything documented, but from here on out, I'll keep you all updated. I know this is a pretty long list, but I know there are a lot of you back East that want to hear all this since you don't get to see him often or haven't met him yet at all. Hopefully, you'll be able to follow all this. I hope it's not confusing. Right now, Noah is really into books. He says "book" and will bring it over to you to read it to him. After you've taken the book from him, he turns his back to you which means "put me on your lap" all the while he is giggling because he is excited. We are reading quite a few books and he loves for you to ask him where things are so he can point them out. He will say a lot of the following words on command but if he's not in the mood to be tested, he'll just carry on with something he wants to do. He says fish, flower, baby, yuck, uh-oh, thank you (we have to tell him to say thank you), ba ba (water bottle), wa wa (water), up, cheese, tree, light, gup (grape), he knows the color blue and will repeat other colors we say, when we pull in the driveway I always say "we're home" then he says "home", ba-ba-ba (banana), anything circle is now "ball", bu-bu (blueberry), when he sees something he likes/wants, he points to it and laughs or says "mmm", Mimi and I always say "love love love" to him so he says "la la la" back, he says "whoa" when we go over a big bump or if he hears Jay or me say it, loves to hide behind anything and jump out and say "boo", says "oh" like he now understands something, if we sneeze he laughs and says "sss sss" which is him pretending to sneeze. He knows what the dog says "woof woof woof", he knows what the cat says "meow", he knows what the monkey says "ha ha" (he forgets the hoo hoo part), he knows what the lion says "rar". We tell him we're going to Mimi and Poppy's and he says "pop pop". Mimi's trying her hardest to get him to say her name. He loves to be chased around. We crawl after him and say "Daddy's gonna get you..." He runs for cover usually ending up behind the couch. He peeks out and thinks that if he holds his chin down, you can't see him. It's SO cute! Of course we pretend we can't see him until he's ready to be caught. He claps his hands. Even cuter is when we tell him we're going to pray and he'll clasp his hands together, but not for the entire prayer. Then at the end of the prayer when we say "Amen" he puts his hands back together. He loves pat-a-cake especially the "roll it" part. He thinks he's rolling it when he puts his hand on his forearm. Noah loves to crawl or walk back and forth between our legs. He is getting really good at throwing a ball. He understands that we throw or roll it back and forth to each other. He received a tee-ball set for his b-day and is learning to hold the bat correctly. We help him hit the ball. Then he fetches it and puts it back on the tee. He also loves to dance. He hears music and starts dancing all on his own. He bobs his head all over the place and bounces his knees up and down. He will dance on command pretty much anytime you make the request. He waves "hi" and "bye" and says "ba ba" (bye bye). Noah "gives five" and "high five", he loves to brush his own teeth (after we brush them) but really he just likes the taste of the toothpaste, he spins around in circles, likes to kick his balls around the room like he's playing soccer, he totally tries eating with his fork even if he has to pick up the food and stab it onto the fork himself, when I put on chap stick he wants me to put it on his lips too (I touch it to his lips so he thinks I'm applying some), he understands up/down and open/close, he likes to flip his toys upside down, he likes to stand on anything that is higher than ground level, he loves walking up and down the curb, he likes to sit in anything that will fit him even if barely like baskets and boxes, he gets on his scooter all by himself, he'll also pat your back if you're holding him. He saw Jay do that to a few people after hugging them. GG bought him The Letter Factory dvd for his birthday and he is already repeating letters. It's so cute to hear him participate with the movie. We just bought him a little potty. Although he doesn't get what's going on yet, Jay sits him on there after we eat (which is normally when he goes #2). He also brings Noah into the bathroom when he goes. He brings a book in there to occupy him and he's usually okay with sitting there for 5 minutes. We're not expecting anything to really click for awhile but we know we aren't hurting anything by giving him a head start. As busy as he is, he still LOVES to be held, and we still love holding him.