New activities, Harry Potter Injuries, and Fruit Friends

Now that Mike is working 5 day weeks, and Noah is becoming more active, we have been searching for fun things to do together. The latest has been coloring. I think he more enjoys taking the crayons in and out of the box more than anything else. We also had a MAJOR head bonk this week, nailing the dining room table face first right on the corner. The result was a nice Harry Potter-esque bruise/dent on the forehead. Finally, Noah has been befriending fruits lately. On the cruise he carried around an orange for literally 3 days straight. We named him Sunny and Sunny went to sleep with Noah, took a shower with Noah and went into Mexico with Noah. Amazing! The last night of the trip we had a solemn ceremony where Sunny went overboard to be with the fishes, since we knew he wouldn't make it past US customs. But all is well, today we purchased a new friend, Kiwi. Noah and Kiwi took to each other right away and have spent the morning together. We'll see how Noah feels when we have to hack Kiwi up at dinnertime. Oh Well!!!

Feeding time a the zoo!

Noah is quite the eater these days. Well, I guess he's always been an eater. But lately it's gotten out of hand. On the trip he devoured Tia's poppyseed muffin sans hands. Then this morning I left him for literally 10 seconds while I ran to take some trash out. Mistake! A 15 month old plus a cup of milk within reach minus parent supervision equals.... a mess! We went to the doctor yesterday. Noah is weighing in at 24 pounds even (the 50% for his age) and 32 inches tall (the 75% for his age). This means he gained about 1.5 pounds and grew 1 inch in the last 3 months. So perhaps the eating is necessary. I just wish it didn't require all the clean up!

Visits, Pirates, and Flip Flop Incidents

We had a really fun 4th of July weekend up at the Lake. It kicked off with a visit from Kathleen and Emmett, which was wonderful, on Friday. Friday night involved some martini-fueled bag playing with all the cousins that we don't have much photographic evidence of. Speaking of photography, Tia brought along her camera (which is bigger than her) for school and got a few shots. Then on Saturday there was the annual parade on the island. This year was a pirate theme, so the boys got tattooed and scarred and looked great. After the parade Noah waited patiently as 4 cousins tried to "share" their suckers with him. It was very sticky, but very cute. Finally the weekend culiminated with Josh rescuing my flip flops. They had ended up on the roof during the previously mentioned bags night. My cousin Deewee and I were locked in a battle royale on the bags field (aka the driveway, with a couch there for spectators, very white trash). I was caught up in the moment and threw my shoes at him, he proceeded to throw them on the roof. Fortunately my tall brother used a ladder and some golf clubs the next day and came to the rescue. Thanks Josh! Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th!

Noah and the Sprinkle Pool

If you were to ask Noah, the best part of the trip was the Sprinkle Pool. They had this area with tons of sprinklers and a big mushroom shaped sprinkler in the middle that he LOVED to run around in. It had some timed sprinklers (like geysers) that Noah would stare into and wait to get blasted in the face with water. It was hysterical to watch. We got our workouts chasing him around make sure he didn't faceplant too massively. Towards the end of the trip he discovered the salt water pool. It was so funny to watch his face (picture lemon face times 12) when he got some salt water in his mouth. Heck, next time we don't have to go on a cruise, just buy 20 sprinklers and Noah is all set!

Dressed to the Nines!

We managed to get the earlier dinner seating on the boat (6pm). And, amazingly, Noah made it to the sit down dinner with everyone 2 nights of the trip. One night we dressed him in his best clothes, a suit my mom found at the Cossitt Clothing Sale and that we share with Fred. He looked awesome and so of course we took 800 pictures that night. Here are some of them.

We're back!

Hey! Well, we're back from vacation. We had a lovely week cruising from Fort Lauderdale to Key West, to Cozumel, to Belize and back to Florida. Noah did amazingly well for all parts of the trip. I'll post more pictures and stories as I download them, but for now I've scanned in some of the professional photos. We did a swimming with dolphin excursion and it was amazing. Then there is the group shot, there you see my cousin Brian (in the orange shirt) for whom this trip was in honor of. His buddy Lantz is in the yellow shirt. Great time had by all, more to come later. Glad to be home!

Summer Fun...Finally!

Well the summer weather has finally arrived in Chicago. I know, I know, in 2 weeks I'll be screaming about the heat. Noah LOVES playing outside now and since we've resealed the deck and added some cheap indoor/outdoor carpet, he's able to move around without fear of splinters. I found a pool for $4, of course they only had pink, but he'll live. He loves playing in the pool regardless of the weather. So, some days we just play in the pool with no water! We have had many a "naked tantrum." That takes place when we come inside from playing in the pool and we strip down all our clothes and then realize that we now have to stay inside and we stage a massive scream-fest minus all clothing. It's pretty funny. In other news, Noah has really started to throw/catch/kick balls and so there has been a lot of that. We're headed out on vacation later this week, a cruise with Grandma Chris, Grandpa Phil, Uncle Josh, Tia Tia, and my cousin Brian and his friend. Should be interesting. Meanwhile, Webster (the big brown dog) and Ellie will be guarding the house. Hope everyone is enjoying the weather!