"Go, Baby!"

So, Noah is completely obsessed with this 5-minute show that comes on the Disney channel every morning. He will crawl/walk from wherever he is when he hears the music coming on. It's this digitally-animated baby named "Baby" (fitting) that has various baby adventures. (i.e. playdates with his friend "Sophie" in the bathtub, at the park and even on the moon!) He loves it so much that I looked it up online to see if there was some kind of DVD (desperately hoping that we might be able to get one in time for our plane ride to Oregon!). Unfortunately, there was no DVD but they do have sample shows online as well as a "Go, Baby!" video game called "Baby's Helper". It's hilarious! (I will admit that sometimes that's the only way I can get dinner done... what did they do before technology, anyway!?!)

you too can be mesmerized...
(and learn the "Go, Baby!" dance like Noah has, complete with clapping in time with the music)

click here to check it out!

refreshed!

We made it back to the city after a nice week in the country at grandma's! Noah was so excited to be somewhere new (I knew it!). He loved wandering around his new surroundings: climbing up the stairs, playing with grandma's pots and pans, strumming uncle Caulin's guitar, and especially kickin' it in the front yard (ah! a yard!)

I was able to do my usual Target/Wal-mart/mall runs that are much more accessible with a car and make some progress on the book I'm reading. All-in-all it was a successful trip.

Noah definitely snapped out of his boredom now that we're home which makes life happy again for everyone!

exploring grandma's yard

bored?

So, for the past 3 days Noah has been acting very strange. I can't quite put my finger on it. I wouldn't describe it as fussy or cranky, but he's just not himself. Honestly, I think he's just downright bored.

He hardly cracked a smile all day yesterday even after my countless attempts at trying. (mental image: me literally jumping up and down, dancing and singing crazy to Raffi, and playing countless peek-a-boo games just to see those cute little teeth grin!) Nothing, nada, zilch! He wasn't having any of it. It was as though he was sitting there thinking, "that's it! that's all you've got?"

I think he's completely sick of all of his toys, books, CDs and DVDs. We went to the same playground twice yesterday and the day before! (which gets old VERY quickly for me.)

Jon was on-call yesterday so I knew there was no relief coming. So, it was time to get creative! Here's some pics of our indoor adventures.

let's try playing in the toybox!

obstacle course?

endless peek-a-boo games

obsessed with the stroller straps...

Luckily Jon was able to sneak home for a minute and get a smile out of him! Of course it took going through daddy's work bag and finding all kinds of "toys" to play with!

We're going up to gma S's house for a weekend in the "country" tomorrow, so hopefully the change of scenery will be enough to refresh our spirits!

Happy 6 Years!

2001

Jon and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary today. This seems like a funny year to me. I don't really think "Oh, it doesn't seem like it's been 6 years!" or even "I can't believe it's only been 6 years!" The number seems just right for the length of time we've been together. We've definitely done a lot of growing up in the last 6 years. I think we look super young in our engagement photo. (maybe it was just that wide-eyed optimism!)

But, it's been an amazing journey so far and I'm excited for the future...

2007

"He's such a good mix of you two!"

This is what I hear all the time when people see Jon and me with Noah. They can't quite pin point what it is, but check out these pics of us as kids.

Now put your finger over my eyes and Jon's nose and mouth... what do you get?

NOAH!

(complete with mommy's crossbite!)

A Change of Scenery

Last week, I decided to trek down to the Hudson River bank under the George Washington Bridge for a little change in scenery. We were in need of a little break from our recent playground hunting :)

It's a little tricky to get down by the water, (especially with a stroller as I quickly figured out)but it was definitely worth it. I think Noah enjoyed himself too. We had fun sitting under a nice shade tree watching the boats go by and feeling the breeze. I don't know how soon we'll be going back, however, because the trip home is all uphill(!), but it made for a nice afternoon!

playgrounds, cont.

Our search continues to find the best toddler playgrounds in the city. I have a new favorite that has definitely moved up to #1. It's the "Hippo Playground" on 91st Street and Riverside Dr. There's tons of shade, baby swings, a few different sets of playground equipment, nice padded surfaces, a sandbox, and small hippo statues that shoot water out of their mouths! It's seems to be the only playground that Noah feels comfortable getting wet at, so it's great for hot days.

here are a few pics of a recent trip there:

Another good "hot day" playground that we discovered on the west side of Central Park on 69th street. It's called the "Adventure Playground." Some of it's features include an awesome water feature with a built-in slide and wading area that the little ones can splash around in. It also has a stone sand fortress, a treehouse, and a climbing pyramid for wall crawlers -- more fun for the older ones.

*********

This month's Time Out New York Kids had an article entitled, "7 NYC Playgrounds to Avoid" and one of them was one that I listed as a favorite in my last playground post! So, I am officially taking the "Ancient Playground" off the list... it was cited as being "rife with causes of scrapes and splinters." And "while the playground does boast a sand surface, the concrete climbing structures are quite steep and have sharp edges." I liked it only because there weren't as many gaps where Noah could potentially fall off the equipment. But it definitely had too many sharp edges and many potential scraped knees!

A Few New Tricks!

Noah has become very chatty these days and he especially loves to mimic anything we say or do. He seems to be very sensitive to different sounds and has loved learning animal sounds. He's even finally caught on to some of the signs I've been trying to teach him for the past 8 months!

I've had a hard time trying to catch all of his tricks in one shot... so here's the best I could do. (He definitely has to be in the right mood for these things!)

"Walk, walk, walk..."

Noah is definitely getting more stable on his feet these days. He has recently become a big fan of the walking toy that g-ma H. got him for his b-day. All I have to say to him is "Noah, let's go walk, walk, walk." Then he points to his toy and tries to imitate what I'm saying. It comes out like, "gock, gock, gock."

here's a clip of the crazy little guy:



Last week he took his first official "steps", but I have yet to catch it on camera. He definitely has to be in the right mood to practice doing his steps, otherwise there is a major protest.

His most recent trick has been to stand up on his own in the middle of the floor when we say, "Noah, no hands!" He's very proud of himself everytime and knows we will clap. He even starts to clap before we do... very cute.

"No hands!"