Noah & Snow

Just a small clip of Noah enjoying the snow:)

Winter Snow

We were so happy last week to 1- get actual snow that was fluffy and fun to play in (not mixed with ice!) and 2- to actually be home for an entire day to enjoy it!!  We have been doing lots of traveling over the last month... Gabe to his interviews, to Maine for the holidays, to Chicago, and yesterday we just returned from a trip to New Haven Connecticut to have a second look at their residency program... so we are very happy to be here in NH for a bit!  Here are just a few pictures of Noah very much enjoying the snow... and daddy pulling him in the sled... and the hot chocolate we let him have after we came in... which we will not be doing again in the near future since after drinking about an ounce of the hot chocolate 1 & 1/2 hours before nap time caused him not to take a nap until about 3 & 1/2 hours later than usual!

Lincoln Park Zoo- Chicago

On our last day in Chicago we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo.  There were very few animals outside b/c it was so cold, but we did manage to find a few inside.  Noah got to see the giraffe up close, but what he liked more in this exhibit were the meerkats.  The top two pictures are from the Lincoln Park Conservatory where they have many different types of tropical plants.  For the first time ever Noah actually posed for these pictures!  It happened by accident of course, as I was trying to take pictures of the flowers and he thought I was taking his picture:)  The middle one was a result of me asking him to stand there, and then smile... and he did it!!  This hasn't happened since, but we will take it:)

Chicago Wedding

The whole point of our trip was to attend Jim and Jen's wedding.  The top picture is a classic "roommate shot" of Brooks, Jim & Gabe (L to R) and of course Jen.  The middle pic is another requirement of any Bowdoin wedding... all of the Bowdoin graduates attending the wedding.  And the last picture is of Noah the day after trying on Gabe's shoes.

Chicago Trip Cont.

In search of indoor things to do we found this great winter wonderland/christmas land.  It was a very impressive indoor fair complete with lots of rides, including a full sized ferris wheel, an ice skating rink, and most importantly, Noah got to make a cookie:)  We went the first night to scout it out, and brought Gabe back the next day to take Noah on the rides, which he very much enjoyed (it was hard to tell who enjoyed the rides more...).

Chicago Aquarium

We recently took a trip to Chicago over the New Years' Holiday for our friend's wedding. Luckily for us we also got to do lots of sightseeing... unluckily it was freezing and they don't call Chicago "the windy city" for nothing:) One of our first stops was the aquarium where Noah enjoyed the fish, but given that he was a bit overtired from the flight... he ended up enjoying this little tent that was set up in one of the exhibits most:) We also took in a 4-D show... Noah was awfully cute in his glasses, but the 4th "D" with the wind blowing, the rain shooting at you and all of the loud noises was just too much... we watched standing in the back:)

Misc. Christmas Vacation '08

We had a wonderful trip home to Maine! We were very fortunate and grateful to be able to spend a whole week visiting with friends and family. Here are a few more random pictures from our time there. The top is the view from the rest area closest to our home in NH... it was a beautiful way to end the trip. The other photos are from the snow we had and Noah's insistence on wearing a shower cap like his Nana:) We are off to Chicago Thursday... stay tuned!!

Christmas Morning '08

Noah was quite spoiled this Christmas! He enjoyed all of his presents:) The top picture is a CUTE little backpack/suitcase with wheels that will come in handy when we fly to Chicago next week... he learned how to pull it quickly. Gabe's favorite gift was the basketball hoop, thankfully Noah loved it too and has been a very quick learn so far. He had to take breaks every so often, I think he was a bit overwhelmed with the task of opening presents, but he seemed to very much enjoy it! At Grammie and Grampie's Santa brought a new wagon which Noah LOVED to both ride in and pull himself:) Most of all though his favorite present seemed to be this set of growth sticks he is opening with Grampy... he wouldn't put them down! It will be a fun spring summer with the wagon!!

Christmas Eve '08

On Christmas eve besides seeing lots of family Noah got to frost and eat cookies and see Santa.  He wasn't at all afraid of Santa and was surprisingly eager to help hand out (and help open) everyone's gifts.

Christmas '08 in NH

We celebrated Christmas a few days early in NH before leaving for Maine.  Noah did so well opening presents and was so excited to do so.  It was lots of fun for us to watch him enjoy his gifts.  As you can see, he was reluctant to pose for any pictures after he got the tool belt:)

Christmas Cookies

Noah loves to cook and especially bake... he very much enjoyed making and cutting out the cookies... he did not like the flour on his hands:)

Polar Express 2008!

We had the wonderful opportunity to bring Noah on the Polar Express last weekend! The train left from White River Junction, VT took about a 30 minute ride and arrived at the North Pole. On the train (which Noah was very excited to be able to ride on) there were waiters that served hot chocolate and treats, and a conductor who punched tickets and gave out little rubber ducks dressed as conductors. We all also sang Christmas Carols as we traveled to the North Pole. Once at the North Pole (there were way too many people to take pictures there) we were greeted by elves of all ages and Santa. An elf read us the Polar Express and Santa handed out gold reindeer bells just like in the book.

Lunch after the Polar Express:)

There was a great little cafe across from the Polar Express adventure, where we were able to have lunch with friends. Noah and his friend get along well and I thought these were very cute pictures of the two of them playing and eating their cookies:) FYI- these are Noah's Christmas Pajamas that he wore with several layers of long johns underneath.

Lebanon Christmas Party 2008

Gabe and I took Noah to the Lebanon Municipal building to see Santa.  We got a wonderful picture of  Noah and his friend Suvi sitting on Santa's lap... Suvi screaming and Noah staring at her:) It was on a little instamatic polaroid so I couldn't post it, but it will be great when they are older.  There was also a horse drawn carriage that brought us for a ride around the green, face painting, crafts, and Noah's favorite part: a group of Girls Scouts singing Christmas Carols.  He held fast to his balloon all night, except for when he stopped to clap:)

Big Baby News!

Yes, the rumors are true... We are expecting our next baby at the end of June!!  We are all very excited... Noah has no idea what is happening, but he behaved well at the long visit with the midwife today:)  We actually got to hear the heartbeat at the visit today, which was a wonderfully unexpected surprise given that we didn't get to hear Noah's heart beat until nearly 13 weeks!... maybe this one will cooperate... Thus far this has been a totally different pregnancy for me with far more nausea etc., but I am hoping that I will begin to feel better again in the next few weeks!!!  Stay tuned...

Juggling

I realized that I hadn't posted anything for a while, but nothing that out of the ordinary has happened in the past month, so the next two blogs are about Noah's two new obsessions.  The first is juggling.  Gabe is a great juggler and I can not juggle at all... So Noah will, many times a day, bring the balls to me and gesture for me to juggle for him.  I have to tell him that only daddy can juggle... if Gabe is home Noah will bring the balls to him, watch him for a minute, laugh when he drops the balls, then go and lay down on the floor... this is his way of letting Gabe know that he too should juggle while laying down... it is quite a funny and predictable scene.  Gabe is a good sport and getting quite good at juggling while lying down!

Dishes

Noah has become a big help with daily household chores.  He can load and empty both the washer and dryer (with a little help, of course), and most recently he loves to bring his stool to the sink to help with the dishes.  As you can see from this picture his actual favorite part is eating the bubbles... he hasn't gotten sick from it yet, so I figure he can't be ingesting that much soap...:)