I never thought I'd see the day...

that Noah would willingly wear a hat again,

(even thought it has to be "mama's hat" for any sort of compliance)

or a bib,

(although, now it's called a "big boy bib")

or put anything over his head, for that matter...

OR wear any sort of "mitten".


HOORAY for heightened social awareness and an increasingly more civilized toddler!

(Noah hard at work.)

"help please, mama!"

These are 3 words that I find myself saying ad nauseum every day as I try to teach Noah the proper way to get what he needs without whining. But yesterday I found myself saying them to my mom as Jon and I became super sick over the weekend. On Saturday, Jon was away on a work retreat with his co-residents in the Catskills and got sick that night. Then I woke up at 3am that night with the same thing! So, around 7am on Sunday morning after I realized there was no way I would be able to keep up with Noah all day by myself, I called my mom.

And mom to the rescue, it was! She was here by 9:00am and I was in bed again at 9:30am. She entertained my energetic toddler, cleaned my apartment, found me after I fainted (!) and even made us homemade chicken noodle soup.

Thanks again, mom... we wouldn't have survived without you.

Noah's first haircut!

It finally happened! Noah's hair has taken forever to grow (I'm actually really scared for any sisters he might end up having!) and it finally got to the point where I could justify giving him a little trim. It was really kind of sad cutting his little curl off the back because that was his baby hair... but like any sentimental mom out there, I quickly put it in an envelope and sealed it up for his baby book.

In any case, he actually behaved for the most part (i.e. with lots of help from our buddy Diego and a snack). And if I may say so myself, it looks pretty good. I think it actually looks like he has more hair now that it's a bit more even.

check out the new do!

Happy Valentine's Day!

love,

your favorite 21-month-old valentine!

(doesn't he look like he's 3 in this picture?!?)

nana and grandpa-pa visit

Jon's family was in town last week for a visit. We had a great time with them! Noah loved all the attention and showing off all his latest tricks. Jon's bro and SIL came along too and I had a blast roaming around the city with Amber for some much-needed girl time (i.e. going to see 27 Dresses and buying new jeans). It was really nice to get out sans-Noah... even though it meant getting very little sleep that week... but it was totally worth it!

We tried to think of some nick-names for the grandparents so Noah can know the difference between both sets... so the ones that finally stuck were Nana and Grandpa-pa. I also like to teach him a sign to associate with each person too. So, he ended up making glasses around his eyes for Nana, doing the 'bike' sign for uncle Mike (because it sounded like bike), and doing the 'bird' sign for Amber (because it sounded like Am-bird). It was really cute, and now when we talk about them he can do the sign for each person. He also randomly started saying Nana's real name, "Cathy". He must have heard me say her name when I was introducing her to someone because later that day I said, "Noah, who's that? -- expecting him to say Nana -- and he exclaimed "CATHY!". It was hilarious.

Noah had a great time going to the Museum of Natural History and hitting up Toys R' Us with the fam. He also enjoyed some quality one-on-one time with Nana and Grandpa-pa while Jon and I enjoyed some quality one-on-one time with out him! Hooray for babysitters! All in all it was a successful visit.

(ps -- I've been trying out a new photo-storing program and after I thought they were saved on the program, I erased them from my camera. Unfortunately, it turns out they were never saved. Grrrr! I'm so sorry I have no pics, guys! You'll have to come back soon for another visit...)