Happy Holidays 2011!

Well, Christmas is nearly upon us and we have some VERY excited boys in this house. We wish you all a wonderful holiday season filled with family and friends and good times. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Please enjoy our "holiday letter" blog-style. This year features a lot of Noah (shocker, I know). But Sammy has been holding his own around here, I'm sure he'll have his share of quotables for next year.

1/7/11: Noah often denies having poopy diapers because he hates the changing part. Today I, after a suspicious smell was noted, asked him, “Noah, did you poop your pants?” He said, “No mommy, I spiderman. I make a spider poop.” Ever the superhero.

1/15/11: Mike has been telling Noah how he has “old bones” and can’t be jumped on too harshly. Today Noah told Mike, “Daddy, I don’t have old bones. I have happy bones!”

1/23/11: I was explaining to Noah about how Sam had a cold and wasn’t feeling well. Sam was crying in the other room. Noah offered a helpful suggestion, “Maybe he needs to go back in your tummy?”

1/27/11: Mike was giving Noah a bath. They were just about done when Mike pulled the plug to drain the water. Noah asked about where the bubbles were going, and Mike said “To BubbleLand, where all the bubbles go to have fun!” Noah thought for a minute, watching the bubbles go down the drain. Mike asked, “would you like to go to BubbleLand?” Noah swiftly replied, “Yeah, but I’m a little bit afraid to go down the drain.”

2/6/11: Ellie was randomly barking at something and Noah asked “what’s she barking at?” and I said, “Who knows!” Noah thought for a moment then asked, “Is she barking at her nose?

3/12/11: After a night spent at Bamma and Bampa’s house, we went to Blueberry Hill for breakfast. Marcia and Cello, my parents friends were potentially going to meet us. Noah asked, “where’s marshmallow?” - meaning “Marcia and Cello.”

3/12/11: At a recent trip to Walgreens, Noah got a small plush Mickey with a hook on it for hanging on zippers and such. He calls it his “hooker Mickey.”

4/9/11: I was putting Noah down to bed after celebrating Mike’s birthday. We said our nightly prayers and Noah opted to pray for his daddy, “Dear God, please bless my daddy (you know the guy in the living room with Sammy). It’s his birthday and he is my favorite daddy. Please keep my most famous daddy safe and healthy. Amen!”

4/20/11: Noah recently got over an ear infection and was doing well. However during his bath I reminded him not to submerge his head because I did not want him to get water in his ears. He dipped his head slightly in the water and said “see mommy, I didn’t even get an ear confection!”

5/20/11: Mike's mom (Abba Abba) passed away and at the wake we were having a family moment at the casket, Mike and I were teary eyed and explaining to Noah what the casket was and how we should pray for Abba Abba. It was a very sad moment and then Noah turned to Mike and asked, “Is Abba Abba going to heaven in this box!” incredulously as if we were sending her via UPS.

5/21/11: At the end of the funeral for Abba Abba, Noah was very concerned about who was going in which car. He noted that Daddy was going in the big black car (the limo) and he was going in the car with Mommy, and that Bamma and Bampa were going in their car, etc. Then he asked, “Is Abba Abba walking to heaven?” You betcha she is!

6/8/11: Noah refers to things in the past as, “a long time a back ago.”

7/29/11: Meera and Jason were visiting with their twins Kali and Kirin. Noah had a blast playing with them at the lake house, but had some trouble remembering their names and nicknames. At one point, Noah was told to stop tickling Kirin, because he did not like it. Noah pouted for awhile in the corner and Mike went to check on him. He told Mike, “I’m sad about my new buddy, my buddy with the round head.”

7/30/11: We put Noah, Kali, and Kirin all in one room to sleep. We overheard them chatting over the monitor we had put in their room. Noah was explaining how they should all say prayers. We about fell over laughing when we heard Noah say, “Hey, Roundhead, say a prayer for me!”

10/1/11: Noah and CJ got to spend some time together after CJ's Great-Grandpa Hull’s memorial service. The boys went to the bathroom with my supervision, in separate stalls. Being recent potty graduates, they were both yelling tips to each other. Noah started with, “Aim for the water CJ!” and CJ responded with, “Don’t forget to shake when you’re done!”

10/1/11: Mike and I were talking about our wedding how we danced together. Noah thought for a moment and then said, “I wish I had a girlfriend to dance with!”

10/8/11: I took the boys to get flu shots this morning and as we were driving home, Noah whined from the back, “why did I have to get a flu shot, it hurt and made me sad, why did I get one?” I explained that it would help him stay healthy this winter. He thought for a moment, then replied, “Yeah, I don’t want to throw up in the snow, that would be terrible!”

10/22/11: Noah has been going through a very inquisitive phase lately and the number of “why” questions we hear each day is epic. Today, while visiting Josh and Tia at the lakehouse he asked Tia, “why don’t you have a baby yet?” She paused (probably to gather her thoughts and come up with an appropriate answer) and sagely responded, “because I’m not old enough to have a baby.” Noah, without missing a beat said, “Oh, that’s responsible.”

10/28/11: On a walk today we saw lots and lots of geese at the local high school fields and Noah told me, “Oh mom look, the geese like to eat the Mountain Dew.” I was puzzled and so we had a lengthy back and forth to try to get to the bottom of his statement. Finally I figured out that awhile back we had explained how the ducks and geese liked to drink the morning dew off the grass.

11/13/11: Noah’s interesting form of negation ~ “But Mom, I amn’t throwing it!” for “am not.”

12/7/11: After a conversation with Aunt Michelle about “sensible” coats to wear in rain, winter, etc, Noah came home and announced he was wearing his “sensitive sweatshirt.”