Monday, July 27, 2009

Ahh...The Boating Life


Ahh...we had the most wonderful weekend boating on Lake Norman. No, we don't have a boat, but we are lucky enough to have a great friend who lets us use his boat once in a while. Well, we used it twice in the last weekend! Noah loved everything about the boat - sitting in the front and getting wind and spray in his face, sitting in the back and watching the wake, "helping" Daddy drive, and waving to the other boats. After we anchored in a cove, we had fun feeding a friendly duck and watching Matt jump in and swim around the boat. The first day we went out, Matt helped Noah get in the lake, but he didn't want to stay for too long.

The second day was different because Noah couldn't get enough of the lake! Matt would tread water behind the boat and Noah would stand on the swim platform. Noah would count "1, 2, 3" then Matt would make Noah feel like he was jumping in the water by grabbing his life jacket, pulling him up and then splashing him into the lake. Noah loved it and screamed with delight each time! Then they would make their way over to the ladder and Noah could climb up the ladder and onto the swim platform all by himself. It was so fun to watch! Here's a few pictures.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Fun and Games


Noah's newest favorite game is Connect Four. He gets a kick out of dropping the pieces in the game board and watching where they land. In the above picture, he's saying that he just put in one red piece. Noah currently plays with it in an unstructured way, just like how we play Hi Ho Cherry-o. Sometimes we do practice taking turns and dropping in pieces. I think he'll have fun making patterns with the colors soon, and there's lots of other ways we can play without actually following the rules.

We also had a fun evening playing at the Sandbox Park in Davidson. Much to Noah's delight, we were the only people there. There's a huge sandbox with all sorts of toys, and there are lots of riding toys to try out. The thing that was even better than the sandbox and all the toys was the fact that Matt was there too! We've been to that park lots of times, but never with Daddy! That was the best part to Noah!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

A Boy and His Puppy and His Dog


We asked Noah if Emma is a dog, and he said "puppy." He really does think Emma is a puppy with boundless energy, which is great because in reality, she's ten years old and starting to show her age. Noah absolutely loves playing with Emma, and he thinks that everything she does is funny. He laughs hysterically when she scratches the carpet before she lays down, and he loves chasing her around the house. He is devoted to feeding her, and he gets her bowl and scoops the right amount of food in it (with supervision, of course!) twice a day. He gets very upset if he's not the one feeding Emma. The sweetest thing is when he hugs her tight and says "Emma Emma Emma." He loves this dog so much!

The other dog in Noah's life is his puppy, who he sleeps on like a pillow. Sometimes puppy stays in the crib during the day, and sometimes Noah wants puppy to come downstairs and play. Noah loves using his imagination with puppy, and it's so cute to watch. Today, puppy was driving a firetruck, then he was playing Connect Four and holding the little game pieces in his paw.

Let's Swim!


We've been spending a lot of time at the pool this summer and having a lot of fun. Noah has learned to put his face in the water and blow bubbles, and he can jump off the side of the pool into Daddy's arms. He loves playing with his three pool balls, and he created his own game to play in the baby pool. He collects the balls and puts them in the "hole" (the filter inlet), then we get them and throw them back to him in the pool. It's a pretty good game! Here's a couple more pool pictures.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Let's Play!


Noah had a fun week this week! He really loves drawing with his new magic markers. He chooses a color and says it's name (his favorite is green, which he calls "een"), then he colors with it and puts the cap back on and says "all done green," which sounds like "ah yah een."

A milestone of the week was that Noah got his first pair of scissors. They're toddler scissors that spring open, so he just needs to squeeze them closed in order to cut paper. He worked really hard on learning how to use them, and he has created lots of little pieces of paper as a result!

He also loves playing in his water table and experimenting with filling and emptying different containers. Also, thanks to Target, we have a new stock of stickers so Noah can cover paper with stickers, another of his favorite things. Here's our play pictures from the week.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Washing Daddy's Car



How do you turn a chore into a fun activity? Do it with a two-year-old! Matt's car really needed to be washed, and we would have normally washed it during Noah's nap, but Noah was excited to help his Daddy! He operated the hose and made sure the car was soaking wet. Then after Matt washed the car, Noah helped dry and made sure that there wasn't a speck of water left. He was working so hard! Here's a few more pictures.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Say Cheese!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy Fourth of July!


Wow! What a day! Matt started off the day by running in the Firecracker 5K while pushing Noah in the jogging stroller. He made great time, and Noah was quite relaxed in the stroller while Matt worked hard at pushing him.

We went out to breakfast with the Lords, then we went to the Fourth of July parade at Birkdale. Noah had a great time looking at the firetrucks and hanging out with his friends. Laura pushed him around the parade route in his red car, which was decorated for the fourth.

After a long nap, the Suteks came over for BBQ, then we went to the Davidson Concert on the Green and enjoyed some great music as the kids played. It was a full, fun day!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Learning to Pedal


Noah got this tricycle for his second birthday, and he's just becoming interested in learning how to ride it. He always wants to do everything that Daddy does, and he has been watching how Daddy pedals his bike. If I give Noah a big push on the trike, he can keep the momentum going for a few feet. He's slowly getting the hang of it!

Look At My Zucchini!



Look at how much Noah's garden has grown! We are about to have a huge harvest of tomatoes, and we've already enjoyed some delicious meals with zucchini and squash. Noah likes to help water the garden every day, and he likes looking at the plants to see what is ready to harvest. So far, he hasn't wanted to eat anything from his garden, but we think he'll take a bite soon!