More Sandbox

I realized, looking back, how badly Noah really needed a haircut.  This is his second haircut and I think he looks like a grown-up little man with it.  He sat in the chair and held very still while the barber used the razor & scissors!  You can also see that he is getting much more comfortable in the sandbox... he runs over and tries to pull the cover off saying "up" every time we go out:)

Walking... finally!

Noah is doing a much better job of walking about on his own.  He started initiating this himself last Sunday night when we had friends over for a BBQ and he wanted their food.  By Monday night he was walking laps from our dinning room to bedroom for about 30 minutes while he smiled and was so proud of himself.  Each day now he gets a bit more confident and has a few more bruises on his forehead:)  The top picture he is Noah showing his sign for "hot" (which seems to often be interchangeable at this point with "stove").  The bottom pic was after he walked himself over to the porch railing.  

Memorial Day Celebration

On Monday we took Noah to the Memorial Day festivities in Lebanon.  The parade was actually a bit shorter than the East Millinocket parade (unbelievable I know).  We, unknowingly, stood right next to where they threw the wreaths into the river and gave a gun salute... Noah thought the gun shots were a bit too loud:)  We then went to the park where there was a dedication.  Noah has learned to clap (mostly for himself) and would always smile and clap about 5seconds after everyone stopped clapping... it was so cute!  He is also doing much better about not being afraid to stand on his own.

New Pool

Last weekend we also got out Noah's "pool".  As with the sandbox he was very frightened of it at first and had a strong preference to play with the hose instead.  We have gotten him to at least be willing to splash in it.  I wasn't as good as Gabe b/c I wouldn't get in the pool (the water was FREEZING), but Noah would stand in it at the end.  Maybe when the weather warms up a bit I will be more adventurous:)

New Sandbox

This weekend we finally got out Noah's sandbox... we have come to realize the he is a textbook "slow to warm" child.  He was scared to death of the sand... it took us three days, we progressed from touching the sandbox, to standing and hitting the sand with the shovel, to kneeling and using the shovel (crying if the sand actually touched his skin), to playing in the sand with his hands outside of the box, to finally sitting in the sand and letting it touch his hands and feet.  Luckily, after this slow introduction and Gabe getting in the sandbox with him he now loves it and walks over to it and takes the top off every time we go out to play:)

Cheerios

Noah plays in our cupboards often, but up until this point he hadn't made the correlation between the Cheerios he gets for a snack and what is inside the yellow box he plays with...

Jo Mary- Part 2

Just a few more pictures from our Jo Mary picnic after much hard work...

Jo Mary- Part 1

Noah and I made a recent trip to Maine to visit family and help clean out the campground.  We got some great pictures and Noah was a very good sport to tolerate all of the riding.  We took him down to the beach where we eventually had to carry him as the umbrella stroller wasn't exactly made for the sand.  He loves riding on his Nana's shoulders and chewing on this piece of driftwood, by the end he looked as though he had just eaten a bag of Oreos.  As a bit of background, when we went to Florida Noah was scared of the beach (sand, water, etc.) to the point of us having to carry him the entire time... apparently though he likes the freezing water of Jo Mary lake because as you can see I had to take his pants off for him to get in the water... he cried when I pulled him out...

Cat Toys

Noah loves sneaking behind the rocking chair to play with the cat toys and my cell phone:)

Mother's Day Hike

We decided to hike French's Ledges in Plainfield, NH since it was such a beautiful day.  The last time Noah and I hiked this the trail was covered in snow and ice!  Noah really enjoys riding in the backpack (or tolerates it well).  He is big into pointing now and still loves anything that makes noise when he shakes it.  He is also training to be able to hike Katahdin soon.  

Dad's First Bath

For a Mother's Day "present" Gabe decided that he would bathe Noah for the first time ever:)  I could tell that Gabe was very nervous the whole time as I wasn't allowed to be more than an arms length away.  So I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of the two of them.  I think Noah sensed that his dad was nervous and was on his best behavior... he happily played with his toys and only splashed a little.  Noah didn't even cry and put up a fight when it came time to put his pajamas on (as you can see he has this fire truck book we got from the library that he just loves and seems to keep his occupied, for the time being at least). 

Cinco de Mayo

Noah and Bonnie are becoming good friends, she knows he is willing to give her attention, and he is learning to pet her gently... it is very cute to watch them.  Noah is also learning how to put things into containers and how to take them out.  He plays with the pots and pans at least once per day while I am preparing meals.  He loves to play outside with his truck... it gets him where he wants to go since he does refuse to walk on his own yet, even though we have caught him several times taking steps.  He has quite a collection of rocks and sticks (and a golf ball) in that little bucket, all of which he usually tastes before putting it in the bucket.