Wednesdays at our house

Noah helped Dave fill his little pool tonight. Dave titles this shot "Conjuring the Garden Hose Monster."

Lots of time in Concordia

We have been loving the cooler weather lately! After those awfully hot and humid days earlier in the month, the 70-degree days were a relief!

We've been playing outside a lot lately, but Noah's been playing more with his lawnmower than with his play set. That's OK - it will be fun for years to come! He also really enjoys running up the hill in our backyard and chasing us back down! He can go up and down that hill for minutes on end.

Dave blew up Noah's swimming pool this week, and they enjoyed a dip in the whale Friday evening!


We've been back to Concordia a lot lately. We went twice within four days for Grandpa Larry's and Kaylor's birthday parties. Noah had such a good time playing with his cousins and walking up and down the stairs at Grandma Pat's house. He even said "bye" to everyone and gave hugs and kisses before we left last weekend - he's usually pretty stingy!

The latest trick is taking all his clothes (including his diaper) off at night.


I'm not exactly sure why, but I feel like it's just something to do. After asking several moms at work if they'd had this happen (none of them had) and them giving me much more philosophical reasons than I was thinking, I asked Carol (his babysitter) if he did this at nap time, too. She said he hadn't and suggested putting him in a Onesie before bed. Genius! He hadn't worn a Onesie since he turned one, but he sure can't get out of them now! She said her daughter had done the same thing as a toddler, but she would take her diapers off in public, like at the park or in a store. So they started duct-taping the diaper (not on her skin, just on the material). That's why I love Carol!

We spent yesterday in Independence at Jonathan's birthday party and in Concordia at Tonya's wedding. Noah and Dave, however, did not get to see the wedding! Noah didn't have a nap yesterday and was getting pretty vocal in church. He hit his head on the pew and started screaming while the bridesmaids were coming down the aisle, so Dave grabbed him and headed outside!

We came home late this morning and put Noah to "bed." He was in his crib for about an hour and a half, but I don't know that he was actually asleep more than about 20 minutes. He at least had some quiet(er) time.

Now, Dave and Noah are cleaning out our cars, and we're getting ready to head out to buy diapers and groceries! Looking forward to a normal, quiet week.

TWO!

Noah is two! We can't believe he's so old already! I keep thinking back to how different he was a year ago - he had quite a few teeth, but he wasn't walking or talking. He clapped, but he sure wasn't running around screaming and laughing like he does now.

Noah has quite the sense of humor! Although he rarely does so in front of others, he finds things just hysterical at home. We were laying on our bed yesterday, and he thought it was hilarious for me to wipe my hand across his mouth. Why was that funny? I have no idea!

Noah also likes helping Dave exercise. He likes to jump on Dave's back when he's doing push-ups. What you miss with this picture is hearing Noah say, "Up . . . down," while Dave is exercising!

Carol was on vacation last week, so we were, too! We didn't do much earlier in the week. Dave and Noah got up early one day and went out to do "man things," like go out to breakfast! We went back to Dover for the week Tuesday. No idea why, but Noah screamed and screamed and screamed that night because he didn't want to sleep in his bed at the farm. Dave said it was close to 4 a.m. when he finally fell asleep with us in our bed! He doesn't sleep with us, so this was really bad! I don't know if it was because something in the room spooked him or he just wasn't used to being there, but it was awful! The next night we started bedtime sooner, and it still took two hours to get him to sleep, and he slept with us that night!

Noah spent Wednesday with Grandma Norita and Aunt Kelly, so Dave and I could take our cars to KC for some work at the VW shop. Dave installed the garbage disposal in the kitchen there. One of those things you don't realize is a luxury until you don't have one!


Dave and Trevor walked along the railroad tracks from the house into Lexington on Thursday morning! It took them about 3 hours to cover 11 miles! We did some work around the house that afternoon, and Noah spent the night with Grandma Pat and Grandpa Rusty. We all needed the sleep! Noah slept 11 hours there and missed all the fireworks going off!


Friday morning we went back to KC to pick up my car, and I met Grandma Pat and Noah at Rusty's store in Odessa, so we could order balloons for the party! Dave wanted to have at least 100 balloons at the party because Noah loves them so much. They cost $1.25 per balloon, so I ordered 10! It's a fraction of 100!

Some of our Columbia friends came out early, and Noah spent the night with Grandma Norita. Dave, Jason and Trevor went to dinner and spent the rest of the evening at the house. Brandi, Laura and I went to the city and picked up Tori (a former co-worker) and Alia (Brandi's cousin). The five of us went to First Friday in downtown KC. It was so fun! Several art galleries in the area have open houses, and there are great restaurants in the area. I think everyone's favorite part of First Friday was the dance/hip hop group performing on one of the streets. They were so much fun to watch and so very energetic! We went to a great little bar near the Power and Light district for a couple drinks. We were the only ones there for about an hour, which was pretty nice but surprised us because it wasn't that early! Then we went for dessert at Bristol, on the bartender's recommendation. He (Brandi named him Tommy Dimples. Yes, his name is Tommy, and he has dimples) did not steer us wrong on this one! We each ordered a different dessert and passed them around. Mmm . . . I think the cheesecake was the winner! I think everyone had a great evening out and about. Can't wait to see the pictures Brandi and Laura took!

We went grocery shopping Saturday morning and spent the rest of the day getting ready for the party. I think about 30 people were able to come out; it was a great group! We didn't get to spend much time around the fire, as it was raining early in the evening and people congregated in the shed. Noah had so much fun playing with the other kids and running around. He did much better with the cake this year, though he was thoroughly confused by the singing!


He was blessed with so many gifts to celebrate his big day! Lots of neat little toys, but I don't remember any that are terribly noisy! He got a scooter, a water/sand play table, trucks, a pool, instruments and a few other outdoor toys. He loves them all! He got his bubble mower from me and Dave, and he looks so proud of it! He likes rocking it back and forth, like he sees Dave do with his mower. Definitely a great purchase!


We're glad to be back to normal this week. Noah's been sleeping much better since we got home, and he's been more cuddly since turning two! He doesn't seem to mind voluntarily giving hugs and kisses this week. Again, no idea what that's about, but we like it!

He had his two-year check-up yesterday and is doing very well, according to the doctor. Even if he's a tiny guy! He is about 32.5 inches tall but only weighs 22 pounds! He doesn't eat very well, but, as the doctor (and everyone else with common sense) reminds me, he will eat when he's hungry and there's no point in trying to force it. No one wins there!


Considering how very different he is from a year ago, we're excited to see where this next year takes us. Go, Noah!