Location: Greenville, South Carolina, United States
Can't believe I'm 40--how did that happen? Have a life I'm very proud of--Mommy to Noah and can't believe he'll be 5 in June (2011); wife to Patrick (together 16 years this May 2011), a great husband & father; and have the amazing fortune to be able to look back on all my mistakes and see how I've grown and learned from them. I may not always succeed, but I get back up! I love to write in this blog, but don't get the chance to do it as often as I'd like. I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy typing up the random things that pop into my head!
We went to the library this morning, and one of the CDs we checked out was a Bo Diddley CD. We played it on the way home & I happened to glance in the rear-view mirror and saw Noah rocking out. Big time. Like almost head-banging. And yes, though it's hard to imagine, you can headbang to Bo Diddley.
So, when we got home, we put it on the stereo & watched the dancing commence.
The 2nd video is just of him walking around, being himself.
Okay, as a little background, I had heard a song on WDVX (Knoxville's own, a bluegrass station that plays much more than bluegrass...they're on the World Wide Web, so check them out: WDVX.com.) called "Dan Blocker" by a gentleman named Gurf Morlix. Yeah, I know--I'm not sure if that's his real name or not, but it's certainly memorable. And, Patrick being the thoughtful guy he is, bought me the CD (and the whole thing is good, even if Windows Media Player classifies it as Jazz, which I don't see how that's possible, but okay). So this song, "Dan Blocker" is basically to the tune of the slowed-down "Bonanza" theme. The whole of the song is pretty much this:
Dan Blocker, Dan Blocker, Lorne Greene, Michael Landon Purnell Roberts Dan Blocker, Dan Blocker, Lorne Green, Michael Landon Purnell Roberts...
And then to spice things up, it goes:
Hoss & Pa, Little Joe Adam left the show...
Then back to the Dan Blockers.
ANYWAY.
Patrick put it on the CD he made for Noah, probably more for me than for Noah (since he knew that I'd most likely be the one listening to the CD WITH Noah), and when it came on today (surprisingly, we made it all the way up to song 19--usually we're stuck on the first 5: "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" theme, "C is for Cookie," the Count & "Batty Bat" song, "Go Diego Go" theme, and sometimes if I'm lucky, we'll get to "No" by They Might Be Giants, and the Wonder Pets theme... but today, AH! We got to SONG 19--"DAN BLOCKER!" And Noah was rocking out. I mean, he was swaying in his seat, bobbing his head. And when it was over, and I'm not exaggerating, he said:
"Dan Blocker do it again?"
And again, and again, and again, and again.... We must have heard that song about 20 times in a row, and he was STILL asking for it. I finally said that "Dan Blocker" had to go ni-night and turned the radio on. He was still wanting "Dan Blocker" tonight when Patrick came home, so I took these videos. I think you can hear the song in the background, and you can see Noah's lips moving a little. He's not full-on singing, but trust me... He's pretty much mastered "Dan Blocker" and I can make out when he's trying to say "Purnell Roberts" so I'm impressed.
I know, I know...I've found a new toy! I just really like being able to share these snapshots with everyone, and Noah has such a great laugh that I can't help taking lots & lots & lots of footage. I just know someday I'll look back & wish that I'd taken MORE pictures, but right now I'm trying to get as much as I can and yet still step out from behind the camera lens & participate.
Enjoy!
Oh, just a quick postscript while I'm waiting for the videos to load (see, even though my format is Blog-friendly, and I can post them relatively easily, it still takes 10-20 minutes for one 1-minute video to upload to the site...so I usually have some time to kill while waiting.). Noah's teacher had to put him in a couple time-outs today...apparently he was pushing some of the other kids & throwing toys. I asked if anyone was hurt, and his teacher said, "Well, Jordan (this really cute little girl in Noah's class) cried," and then she added quickly, "but it didn't leave a mark." *Sigh* His teacher did reassure me that this is perfectly normal, that it's because Noah is bored. See, originally all the kids in Noah's class from the Spring were going to be in the 2-year-old class for the Summer, but because they had SO MANY, they had to split the class, and they did it by birthday: the kids whose 2nd birthday was on/before May went into one room (the 2's room) and the other kids (including our precious boy) stayed in the toddler room. So, apparently Noah is bored, and wants to play with other big kids, with the big kid toys. Who can blame him? His teacher did laugh and say that they know to expect this, and they can hold out for another 2 weeks. Then we have a week break, then back to school for Fall, where Noah WILL BE in the 2's class, and hopefully this will be behind us. Or, Noah learns that when he pushes a fellow 2-and-some-month-old kid, that other kid pushes back.
On the toddler bed issue, Noah seems to be adjusting fairly well, but he truly can get out of his room by himself. He did it once, but then it seemed like he "forgot" until this morning. Pray for us. As far as sleeping, though, he's roaming around less & less, and we're trying to be strong & not let him fall asleep before we put him in the bed. It broke my heart last night, though... I was at an appointment last night, and came home fairly late. Patrick had already checked on Noah, and everything was fine. I check on him before we go to bed (which wasn't long after Patrick had checked on him) and in that time, Noah had gone from sleeping IN the bed, to sleeping on the floor--not even on one of the cushions or pillows we have next to the bed! So I scooped him up as gently as I could (which isn't as easy as one might think...when he's asleep, he's HEAVY!) and put him back into bed. I have no idea if he went back to the floor, because as I said earlier, he got up & opened his door this morning before we could check in on him. It was so sweet, though. He opened the door, came out of his room with his blue blankie, looked down the hall to our room, and said in a sweet little voice, "Hey, Mommy!" and then gave me the best smile!!! What a way to wake up...
Patrick having fun, swinging Noah around & letting him touch the ceiling...which, as you can tell, delights Noah to no end!
This is Noah singing the Mickey Mouse theme, pretty much all by himself. The last time we were in the car & heard the Mickey Mouse theme that plays at the end of the show (the original "Mickey Mouse Club"), I was amazed to hear Noah pretty much singing the entire song, including the "Why? Because we LIKE YOU!" part! You can sort of hear it here, but it's a little jumbled.
This one is sort of out of order; he was saying one set of grandparents' names, but I was trying to get him to say "Hi" to Grandma & Grandpa, but what happened was, he thought a beat or two, then said, "SCOOBY BALL!" and then followed up with "Mickey Mouse Ball!" Now, those two balls were nowhere NEAR where we were, not even in eyesight (sorry, Mom, but right now I'm not even sure where they are....I'm sure they're around here SOMEWHERE!) so the only thing I can think of is that Noah connected "Grandma and Grandpa" to the two balls that he received when he visited, lo those many months ago.... But sorry that we couldn't get him to say "Mee Ma Pee Pa" or "Grandma and Grandpa." Of course, after we stopped taping, he said "Mee Ma Pee Pa" a few times, and he does say "Grandma and Grandpa" but we must remember that he's not a trained monkey, and does not perform on command...
And the final one, our little goofball giving a shout-out to Patrick's parents and sister (and sister's dog)!
Here are a few movies that we've taken--we have found that Noah really, really likes his Play Doh! And, since I can post movies (short ones, but still...movies!) I took a few last week.
And a quick update--Noah is doing okay with the transition to the toddler bed; we're having to resort to lots of rocking, and sometimes letting him fall asleep in our arms. We know that you're not supposed to do that--toddlers are supposed to learn to sleep on their own & fall back to sleep on their own, but right now it's sort of self-preservation. Plus, last week Noah had a stomach virus (he had it for right about 24 hours) and then passed it to me. Luckily, Patrick was spared, but it hit me Thursday night, and each day I think, "Hey, I'm over it!" and another wave will hit as I high tail it to the bathroom. And fun is had by all...
So, I think as soon as I'm back to 100%, we'll try to be strong & wait him out. We've done it a few times, and then go in & scoop him off the cushion where he just conked out, or slide him completely on the bed (where it looked like he just fell asleep as he was crawling back into bed & just didn't quite make it...). We'll just have to be strong...
Enjoy!!!
The first 3 are Noah demonstrating what a heart sounds like & talking about hearts; the 2nd set of three are him wanting Daddy to make "wormans"--in The Backyardigans, there's a worm-like character called Sherman the Worman, and he just associated the long tube of Play Doh with this character... He's just brilliant.
We've converted the crib into a toddler bed...and the boy can now wander freely.
It was hard; we talked about it this past weekend as we were readying the room--removing all that we could to make it Noah-proof (or as much as we could, anyway), and I just started to cry. I was also watching a silly show on TV ("Take Home Nanny") where they put their children in their "big boy beds" and I cried at that, too. So, I was prepared for waterworks when I put the rails on this afternoon... but nope. I was okay. And surprisingly, for his first nap, Noah did amazingly well--he got out of bed (as expected) but I only had to go into his room three times to put him back in his bed. The next time I checked on him (just barely cracking the door open, he was quietly running his blue blankie over his feet (keep in mind, this means he's on his back, with his legs straight out and up over his belly, rubbing the blankie over his feet) and then the next time I checked, he was zonked.
The next nap, we weren't so lucky. It got to be a game--he'd hear me open the door, I'd hear him laugh and run from his closet back to the bed. Not exactly what I want to reinforce, so I figured that it wasn't any use, he wasn't going to sleep, so we watched a "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." Or a "Dora." Or a "Diego." I dunno...they all start to run together.
So, for his bedtime tonight, I was a little anxious. We did our poems (currently Shel Silverstein), recited "Guess How Much I Love You?" and "Goodnight, Moon" while rocking him, as is our custom, but then we moved him to his bed, sat next to it and told him about his day and did our evening blessing. We kissed him, told him we loved him, wished him goodnight, and left the room.
That's Noah, getting out of bed, running to the closet, opening it, tearing into the stacks of diapers we have in there, then running around his room. Earlier today, during the Nap That Wasn't, I noticed that the 5' tall Backyardigans sticky that was on his closet door just wasn't there. Had NO idea where it had gone to, but it just disappeared. And it wasn't like I hadn't been in the room a mere 5 minutes sooner! Later, I found it wadded up at the bottom of the closet, and there was carnage--poor Tasha has lost both of her arms, and a portion of her head; Uniqua only has one arm; and Pablo was pretty much decapitated. I pieced them back as best as I could, repositioned them a bit higher (yeah, like that'll do any good) and just hoping for the best. Now, I do have a second set of all his wall clings, since Lowe's had them on super-duper-get-rid-of-them-yesterday clearance, but I'm hesitant to put up the second set if he's not done ripping up the first set.
So, we go back in the room, put him back into bed...then we realize that this just isn't going to work, not for the first night, anyway. Patrick stays in the room until Noah settles down some, then we leave and let him cry a bit. We hear the crying taper off, and the next time Patrick checks on him, he's out like a sleeping baby.
The bad thing is, during one of his stints in his room, he opened his door. *Sigh* Now, the older doorknobs (like on the closet doors & the hall bath door) he's been able to open for a bit, but the larger knobs have been harder for him to get his fingers around & turn. Not anymore. So, I really don't know what we're going to do... Luckily I don't sleep very heavy anymore, so we'll hear him when he gets up (notice I don't say "if"...)--he's not known for his stealth.
Just wish us luck.
Also, we went to Paris Mountain State Park, even joined up to get the Park Pass, which lets up to 6 people per vehicle into any SC State Park for free. We like the park--they've got trails, picnic grounds, a playground; it's cooler when it's 400 degrees outside; they've got some mild trails that we can walk on; and it's super-close--so now we can go without having to pay the $4 access fee! I got some pictures of Patrick & Noah returning from their hike with the spoils that Noah found...all the while supporting the Braves (this is for you, Granny & Grandpa!).
The movie was taken during dinner one night, and the lighting is a bit low--sorry; not sure how to adjust it on the camera, but it's just Patrick & Noah being goofy, but Noah is really laughing, and I just LOVE to hear him laugh.
Enjoy!!!
This was right after I put the toddler rails on. Look, Ma! No hands! Yeah, tell me that doesn't strike fear into your heart....
At least he's using the cushion to step down onto, and not vaulting over the rails...
Patrick & Noah, Paris Mountain.
Check out Noah's Pine Cone! He's telling us all about his adventure...
Examining the spoils... When he & I were walking on the trail, he'd stop to pick up every rock, look at me, and say, "Hold it?" and expect me to tote the 6 pounds of rocks. Which I did.
Hmmmm...maybe this is why we're having trouble with him standing on the table at home. Which he did do. Tonight. Scared the poop out of me.
I'm not sure what he's thinking, but it's probably along the lines of, "Hey, where did my 6 pounds of rocks go? I know I gave them to Mommy..."
This post will be relatively short, comprised mainly of pictures (which is what everyone really tunes in for, anyway!).
I will say that I've switched Real Estate companies to Red Door Realty; I like to think of it as a boutique-type company, and I'm really excited. It's in a great location, and hopefully I can begin to prosper!
The newest "thing I thought I'd never say" is:
"Noah, we don't color on the microwave."
This was followed by a very pointed stare, and indeed, more coloring on the microwave. This, in turn, was followed by me taking my very willful son into my arms, saying, "Noah, look at me..." and then he not only turns his head, but squinches his eyes shut so that he most definitely will not even look at me, even as an accident. *Sigh*
And to the fort thing. I took a blankie and put it on the floor, underneath our table and then covered the table with a large white sheet:
It's not fancy, but Noah loves it. The first time he saw it, I think there was a spark of recognition in his boy DNA, and he got under it as fast as he could and just laughed & laughed. He calls it a "tickle tunnel," which is what we call it when he drives whatever wheeled device through our legs (we're standing up...otherwise it would be really impossible) and then we tickle him as he drives through the "tunnel" (and granted, it's a really poor tunnel, since it's pretty much just an upside down "V" made by our legs...but the alliteration was nice). But, when I mention "fort" he runs to the table, so he knows it as a fort, too.
His taste in music is also expanding, asking for "Papa Oom Maw Maw" (or however you spell it) and tonight we were playing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and he kept asking for it (didn't hurt that the video accompanying it was an animated hippo) while we were trying to get through our bedtime stories tonight. I think Patrick will have to make another compilation CD for Noah...and quite frankly, I wish he would, because I'm getting a little tired of the first one. I guess it's a testimony to Patrick's ability to pick out songs that Noah will like, but I'm about ready to go nuts. The songs aren't horrible, it's just that I hear them all. the. time. So yes, please--Patrick--we need a new CD!!!!
Enjoy the pictures!
I hope that everyone is able to play this; Noah is somewhat singing "Hot Dog" but in the middle asks if that is his nipple. I thought it was too great to NOT post & let everyone see it.
Modeling his Tyrone Soccer wear... Rachel found this great site for kids clothes that has ridiculous prices; his Mimi bought him this...
Noah's newest best friend. I still hate the little red demon with a passion, but it puts a look like this on Noah's face, so I gave in this one time. That does not mean that I like Elmo, or that I condone Elmo or Elmo-like gifts! Besides, this one doesn't speak, doesn't giggle, doesn't move--he just is there & lets our boy hug on him!
Yeah, I'm not sure why he's got the slipper on his hand, either, and yes, it's not the most intelligent expression. I figure that in about 10 years, though, this is what we'll see Noah looking like.
Noah, playing in his fort...
This is one of the many ways to enter and exit the fort. Under the chair. Now, keep in mind, that it's not like we just have this maze of chairs & that's the only way to get in or out. He just likes doing it that way...
