Believe it or not Noah turned 2 last week.  We had a wonderful birthday party and were delighted that so many family were able to join us to celebrate!  Noah is big into Curious George right now, so needless to say he was very excited for all of the Curious George balloons and decorations:)  He even got a Curious George shirt, which he insisted on wearing. 

Match Day & Noah's 2nd Birthday!

As I am sure you have all heard by now, we are moving back to Maine!  Gabe was "matched" at his first choice for residency which was at the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital in Portland, Maine.  The match day itself was a very exciting event in Gabe's medical school career.  It was wonderful to be surrounded by others experiencing the same stress and anticipation that we were and then to hear and see everyone's excited reactions:)  We are very excited to begin this next chapter in our lives closer to family (at least for the next 3 years:)). These pictures are from Noah's actual birthday (also match day).  We let him open his presents from us throughout the day... this is him in his pajamas with his new rain boots.  I couldn't get him to stand and pose, so this is what we got:)  He is patiently waiting for me to get done taking his picture and make him breakfast (thus the plate).  We had a great day together as a family between the match, opening presents, having special meals, and we took Noah to the new aquatic center to celebrate.  In the new aquatic center they have a special kids section- 1 pool has about a foot of water, then a playground with slide plopped right in the middle, the other pool is a current pool so you can "swim" with the kiddos... we had a blast!

Babies & Bubbles

Since Noah will be a big brother soon we thought we should buy him a baby to try to introduce the concept... This is what he did within a few seconds of me giving him the baby... hmmmm... it was amazing to watch him feed and burp the baby.  He will now occasionally pick up the baby and feed it, but other than that he is fairly uninterested.  His favorite book currently (when it is not "missing") is Arthur's New Baby... we shall see!  The bottom 2 pics are from a few days ago when it was actually bright and sunny enough to play outside... Noah has been asking for the bubbles on top of the fridge for weeks now... he was so excited:) 

Life Update:)

I don't have any new pics to post, but thought I would post an update for everyone.  We are one week away from Match Day and anxiously awaiting where we will be living for the next 3 years.  It has been a stressful process choosing our list of potential places we would like to be and now we leave it up to the computer to match us with a program... stay tuned... Also one week away is Noah's 2nd birthday!  It is unbelievable to us that he is already 2.  He still isn't saying much, but every week he makes more progress and appears to be making a bit more of an effort these days.  He has been very funny today b/c he has been talking non-stop... I have no idea what he is saying to me, but he has very elaborate hand gestures and facial expressions to go along with his stories.  His favorite thing by far right now is reading.  Not only will he sit and listen to book after book, but we often find him sitting by himself looking at his books and "reading" them following the words with his finger.  The newest member of the family is growing well too... We had our 25 week check up today and everything looks great. They have even assured me that at least at this point the baby is head down which is a nice change... keep your fingers crossed:)

Florida- February 2009

Busch Gardens

After visiting with the Day family in Sarasota we got a call from the Pelkey's suggesting a trip to Busch Gardens as they were on their way south and already in Tampa.  Being 2 hours north already we decided to do it... and for the second time on the trip we spent the night in the hotel with no luggage... it is a good thing that Noah is a flexible traveler:)  We had a blast at Busch Gardens and the Pelkey's were very patient to go on all of the parts of the park for Noah too:)  They did convince my mom to ride one of the roller coasters though:)  As a surprise we got to see Herman's Hermits in concert and Noah liked it so much he fell asleep... at least it was exciting for everyone else:)

Mote Aquarium

We got a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Grammie & Grampy Day and Sherri, Kris & Kara while in Florida.  Grammie and Grampy took us to the Mote Aquarium and out to lunch.  These are just a few aquarium pictures... of course the best pictures would have been while we were eating in the restaurant, but I didn't grab my camera... grrr... Noah loved spending time with Great-Grampy watching the sharks at feeding time, and touching all of the animals... including the rays with Aunt Sherri.  I was impressed that he wasn't afraid of any of them!  One of Noah's favorite exhibits was the loggerhead turtles... they has a little floor level viewing section for the little ones and they kept coming up and looking right at Noah... he loved it!  The last picture was probably Noah's favorite part of the whole trip... his new guitar... he somehow knew how to play it right away!

Sunsets- Naples & Marco Island Beaches

The first night at the Naples Beach it was cool and very windy, but Noah didn't seem to mind at all.  We got to watch a beautiful sunset... of which Noah cared nothing about, however this year instead of crying each time we tried to put him into the sand he saw the beach as one giant sandbox!  He was content for a long time to rake and dig along the beach... so long as the sand didn't touch his hands that is:) As a note about the sunglasses... he wore them all of the time!  They are just a cheap pair that came with a summer outfit last year... He even wanted to wear them on the plane and every time the sun was a little bright he would look at us and make a sign to let us know that he needed them:)

Naples Zoo

Although the Naples Zoo was a bit of a disappointment b/c all of the animals were sleeping, it was still warm and sunny:)

snowshoeing

We finally got out on the snowshoes this year!  We were hoping for a warmer and sunnier day, but it was fun none the less.  Noah enjoys riding in the backpack... Gabe doesn't enjoy carrying him as much these days though!

Noah's favorite part of shopping:)

Noah and his bags... why he insists on wearing them all around his neck is a mystery to me:)

Ice Skating

As it turns out Noah loves ice skating.  We didn't break down and buy him skates yet, but next year we will definitely have to.  Gabe pulls him in the sled and, despite the look on his face, he very much enjoys himself.  Each time Gabe would stop pulling he would demand to start again or try to pull the sled himself.  He actually cried really hard when Gabe dropped him off with me and went to skate around the pond by himself... he tried to run out on to the ice and then fell... by the time I got to him the tears were streaming onto the ice... only his feeling were hurt though... thank goodness for his helmet:)

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:)