Some Interesting Observations From Noah

There are a ton of things that I want to write on this blog when I have the time, but here are a few quick ones about Noah from the past week:

1) When we got home from vacation earlier this month, Noah looked at our two cats and said, "Hi Daphne, Hi Big Striker."  Suddenly, he was calling Striker "Big Striker."  We don't know when Noah learned the concept of "big."  In fairness, Striker is about twice as big as Daphne.  Noah also calls me "Big Dada" from time to time.

2) We were at Wal-Mart last week when we bought some Christmas candy canes from the clearance rack.  Noah really wanted to open the package.  I said, "we have to buy it first."  Noah must have thought I said "we have to bite it," because he began biting the package, and he wouldn't stop.  He was determined to eat those candy canes in the store.

3) Finally, Noah likes anise seed cookies.  I think everyone on my mom's side of the family needs to be made aware of that.

Every day is a fun adventure with Noah, that's for sure.

Operation Christmas Child

I thought I would finally end my eight-month blog hiatus to promote a good cause. This month, Operation Christmas Child will be collecting shoeboxes of gifts to send to needy children in every corner of the world. This is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, a great organization that seeks to help those in need throughout the world, bringing people out of hopeless situations and into a relationship with Christ. You can see the work they do by clicking here. One of the biggest undertakings lately has been the relief efforts in Haiti, where they will stay for as long as it takes to get everyone back on their feet again.


Operation Christmas Child is of the biggest events held each year. It requires little effort on our part. All you have to do is take a shoebox and fill it with small gifts. It does not have to be wrapped. Angie and I have done this for the past few years, and it has not been a financial burden at all. I recommend finding a dollar store or toy store and you should find more than enough.

The national collection week is November 15-22, 2010. You can look here for a place in your area that is picking up shoeboxes.  You also can give online if you're having a busy week.

Let’s face it – even during times of high unemployment, this is still the most prosperous nation in the world. We can help share this wealth with others by doing such a simple act. It is also a great way to get in the holiday spirit, and to start the holiday season with goodwill.

Today's Parenting Tip

Here's today's parenting tip:

If you are holding your one-year old son in your arms, and he's not wearing any clothes because he's about to take his bath, then the worst possible thing you can do is make him laugh hysterically.

Today's parenting tip was brought to you by Pampers.  Contain those leaks with Pampers!

Julie & Julia

A little while back, Angie and I watched Julie & Julia on DVD.  I really enjoyed it, mainly because the main character is blogging about how she is trying all of Julia Child's recipes, and she is using it as an escape from her job.  I love writing, and I like the idea of somebody looking at a bad situation, and then doing something about it.  I wish more of us could do that.  It also had a lot of funny parts, and the historical backdrop of Julia Child's story is fascinating to watch.  Overall, it is a movie that I would recommend, both for the ladies and the fellas.

This movie also reminds me of an interesting conversation that I had back in December.  We bought this movie for each of my grandparents for Christmas.  Before buying it online, I wanted to check if Wal-Mart had the same price, so I made a phone call.  Here is a transcript of the conversation:

Wal-Mart associate: Welcome to Wal-Mart.  How can I direct your call?
Me: I'm calling about the price of a DVD.
Wal-Mart associate: WHAT?!?
Me: Electronics, please.
Wal-Mart: Okay, please hold.
Electronics associate: Electronics.
Me: I would like to know the price of Julie & Julia on DVD.
Electronics associate: Julian & Juliet?
Me: No, it's Julie & Julia.
Electronics associate: Julian & Julia?
Me: Yes, that's the one.
Electronics associate: Yeah, we have that.  It's $10.99.

Anyway, I do recommend the movie, and now when you watch it, you get to be inspired and you get to remember my funny and random conversation.

Noah's First Haircut

Here are some pictures of Noah's first haircut.  Noah had his hair cut at Angie's House of Haircuts, located in the upstairs bathroom of our house.  In fact, I just had my hair cut there, and it's a place that I highly recommend.  Noah mostly sat still, and was a good boy during the haircut.  He certainly looks less like a baby and more like a young boy.

Noah's First Year

Noah is now one year old. We celebrated his birthday last week with a big party with friends and family. The party had a jungle theme, since his room is decorated that way, and he always holds his stuffed lion when he goes to bed. You should see the excitement on his face when he is in his crib and you give him his lion. Angie made a cupcake cake of a lion. The cake looked amazing and was delicious. We had more food than we knew what to do with, and it was a great time.

It is amazing to think that my son is now a year old. Every day is a new discovery. He certainly has a lot of personality. He really is becoming less of a baby and more of a boy.

Noah had his one-year checkup this week, and he remains off the charts in height and pretty close to the top in weight. As we expected, he’s going to be a big guy.

In child development news, Noah has been crawling for about three months now. It began as an “army crawl,” but has progressed to a full crawl. He enjoys crawling, and he can’t stay in one place for a long period of time. He is always on the move. At first, he liked to go into his bedroom and pull every book off of the bookshelf. He later got over that, and now he is all about taking every toy out of the closet. He will stand on his own from time to time, and likes to climb up people when they are seated.

Noah loves cabinets, as well as anything with a knob or button. We have had to latch the cabinets shut, except for a couple of cabinets with pots and pans. When he gets tired, he really wants to get in the cabinets, and gets upset if you take him away from there. We have to keep the bathroom closed, because Noah will immediately crawl there and take everything out of the drawers.

Noah learned a couple of signs recently. A while back, he learned the sign for “more,” and he took off with it. Around the same time, we taught him to clap, so now he claps for “more” when he’s eating. Well, he didn’t stop there. Now, he claps when he wants a drink, and he claps when he wants you to read a book to him. The sign for “more” turned into a general request for anything.

Another new sign recently learned is “eat.” Normally, you put your fingers to a point and point to your mouth. His version is to tilt his head and then put the palm of his hand on his mouth. When it’s time to eat, we say “Do you want to eat?” and he does that sign. Then, I can pick him up without him getting upset, because we all know that he is always excited to eat.

We read to Noah as often as we can, and it must catch on. Now, he has a few favorite books. When he finds a favorite book, he will show it to one of us and yell some one-syllable sound. This means we need to read to him. Often, when we are in the middle of a book, he will find another book and immediately want the next one to be read. (Once again, he can’t sit still.)

Babbling is still constant. He often yells out “da-da-da-da” or “dee-dee-dee-dee,” as well as “nah-nah-nah.” He learned something this week that is pretty funny; whenever either of us is on the phone, he will wait until we hang up and then yell three or four syllables very loudly. One of my favorite things that he does now is yell “Ayyyyyy” whenever I come home from work. It reminds me of the Fonz.

It gets harder to list every single thing that Noah does, because he is always changing. The first year was a blast, and I look forward to more great times ahead.

A Few Months of Noah Pictures

So, I forgot to post Noah's monthly picture with Noah back in January.  And in December.  And in November.  Whoops!  Here are Noah's last three monthly pictures.

Here is Noah's nine-month picture.  He's wearing his Disney outfit that his grandparents got him when they visited Disney World.

Next, we have Noah's ten-month picture.  Notice the Christmas pillows in the background.

Finally, we have his 11-month picture.  I didn't expect him to be as big as Pooh by this point, but that's where we are.

Noah's big 1st birthday is coming up this coming Monday, February 22, and we can't wait.  Stay tuned for the one-year picture, along with a whole lot of updates.  He seems to be doing something new every day.