The Gauck's: Noah

Christmas time was great this year. Noah didn't quite grasp the whole thing, but there were some things he really liked:
-seeing Christmas lights and decorations out and about
-colored Christmas lights on the tree-helped him to learn some colors
-getting cards in the mail
-snow (when there is no snow or too cold to go outside, he makes snow angels on the carpet)
-making xmas crafts and cookies
-playing with the nativity set-especially baby Jesus
-unwrapping gifts-last year, all he cared about was the wrapping paper and boxes. This year, there was some interest in what was inside the boxes :)

On Christmas Eve, we made mom's traditionally pizza and watched a xmas show before bed. He woke up early on xmas day and was a little grumpy. He needed a little encouragement to open his gifts at first, and then he was into it. We got him a doctor kit (which he quickly learned to say "heart" while using his stethoscope), some books, and some little trucks and trains. We saved the train table for last. Once he opened that, nothing else mattered. It's been non-stop trains ever since. All day long we hear "choo-choo, all aboard" and lots of "uh-oh's" when the trains come off the track. It's very fun to watch him play with it. Daddy likes it alot too. In the afternoon, we went to Patti's for dinner. He had a blast playing with all her pets, opening more cool gifts, seeing all her decorations and playing with all the kids. It was a great day!

Noah loves the pool-especially when Daddy takes him in. He kicks his feet and tries to blow bubbles in the water (which usually means he drinks some water instead of blowing bubbles). Noah also likes to "jump" in while we catch him. He continues to LOVE music. We've taken him to see some local concerts and he bounces, dances, claps and spins around. He has pretty good rhythm too! We have daily (and multiple) dance parties now that he figured out how to open the cabinet and turn on his favorite dancing song (Maroon 5's Harder to Breathe). If we aren't dancing with him, he usually pushes us off of the couch until we do! Noah is also into Old MacDonald (yi-yo for E-I-E-I-O) and The Wheels on the Bus which he acts out.

Noah started to not like being in his highchair. He wanted to be sitting at the table with us. So, I converted the highchair to the booster seat and put it up to the table. He loves it! We are working on him not putting his feet on the table, but otherwise he does really well in it. He uses his spoon and fork well, but will still use his hands at times since that is still faster!

Noah is a wild guy-spinning around until he is dizzy, complaining until you push him higher and higher in the swing, tackling us, the dogs, pillows or anything that is on the floor. We are working on not tackling the little girl I babysit. After he tackles her (which she could care less about as she is almost as big as Noah!) he will gently stroke her hair or arm or give her a kiss. He loves to be outside and I've realized that means multiple clothes changes each day! He loves playing in the dirt, mud, sand, water-anything messy. I love it :) He is quite the helper too. Noah waters the flowers (good thing because I never remember too), helps to carry things, picks veggies in the garden and fixes things with Daddy's tools. He also is good at throwing things away. I've thought that I've lost quite a few things, then realized that Noah has thrown them in the garbage!

Favorite toys this month are his Mega Blocks. He likes to stack them into a tower, then pull them all apart. He also loves pretend food. He has a picnic set, ice cream set and breakfast set. They keep him entertained! He will pretend to eat the food, feed it to you and give it to the dogs. He now sleeps with 5 stuffed animals-Teddy, Elmo, Curious George, musical turtle and musical bear, plus a blanket or 2. Most of the time the animals stay in the crib, but every now and then 1 or 2 have to come out with him when he first wakes up in the morning or from a nap. Speaking of sleep-he is still napping 2x per day, but I think he is close to transitioning to 1 nap. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 and wakes around 6-6:30. Right after dinner until bedtime is his most active time-he has loads of energy and plays hard! Tires us out for sure!

This month we have gone to some local summer concerts and parades, played with friends, hit up the playgrounds, went to story time and took Noah to the Canal Fest. Noah played mom's favorite game-I Got It. We listened to some music there and watched the parade. I took him to a juggling show at the library. I wasn't sure how he was too young for it, but he really enjoyed it! He clapped at appropriate times and was laughing at their funny tricks. We just got back from Sesame Place in Philly! That was our big summer adventure. Noah did ok on the 5+ hour trip (we did have Rachel with us who helped a great deal to entertain him in the backseat). He definitely isn't a fan of the car these days, but overall he did well. We turned his car seat to the forward facing position before the trip and that did help. In addition to having a better view, he now likes to dictate what radio station we have on-haha! He did not sleep well in the hotel or nap much while we were at the park which made for some very crabby times, but overall he did really well. He rode his first rides (which he loved), played in the water park, saw the parade (twice) and met all the characters. Elmo was his favorite-he slowly walked up to him not too sure, then gave him a hug and stood with him for a photo. It was cute! We had a really nice time!

New words: no (the clearest word-haha!), eyes, wow!, baby, beep beep, juice (duice), ppp for please, meow (ow), snorts for pig, what's that (wasat), hello (allo)-everything is a telephone these days: shoes, his hand, my hand... and some other words I can't think of right now...

He's a happy guy most of the time and although he can be shy, he loves people. He'll go to the end of our driveway to wave at bikers, walkers or cars driving by. He gives high 5's and knuckles and blows kisses. He's also pretty good at eskimo kisses and bear hugs :) Love this kid!