Nice Little Yes Man

Noah has become a "yes" man.  This is terrific.  When he first learned to shake his head "no," he did it all the time.  It made us smile, but we weren't always thrilled with constantly being told no (even though his head shake meant yes just as often as no).  But now he is nodding "yes" in answer to many of our questions, usually with the proper intent, and it couldn't be more delightful.

"Noah, do you want some broccoli?"

Nods yes.

"Noah, do you want to take a bath?"

Nods yes.

"Noah, do you want to go to bed?"

Nods yes.

I think, to a certain extent, he's figured out that nodding his head "yes" will make Mommy and Daddy happy and this has made it an appealing answer to any question he is asked.  But I do think there is proper intention a good percentage of the time.  When he doesn't agree with us, he certainly lets us know. 

Overall, Noah is definitely impressing us with how much he seems to be understanding things these days. When we tell him it's time to take a bath or change a diaper, he knows which room is the right one to go to.

Some other recent developments...

Noah knows how to use the sign for "All Done."

Noah knows how to growl like a lion and is working on his monkey impression.

Noah is getting better at using his fork.  Often he will stab the food with his fork, then take it off the fork to put in his mouth.  Other times he will pick up the food with his hands to put it on the fork.  BUT...he sometimes does it absolutely right (stab with fork, fork in mouth).  No matter how the fork ends up being used, Noah is enjoying his experimentation.  The fork is of great interest to him.

And finally...

Noah knows how to make nice!  This was a wonderful development.  I showed Noah that when you touch someone's face, you have to be gentle and "make niiiiiice."  He seems to have caught on, and this evening, for the second time, he brushed his fingers gently down my face and, later, my chest, making nice.  He then did it for Mommy too.  The whole thing was so cute we absolutely melted.

Someone got a haircut!

Yesterday was Noah's first haircut.  We loved his long curly hair so much and resisted as long as we could, but yesterday we finally pulled the trigger.  Here are some before, after, and during shots.

First, the night before...

Now, the haircut itself.  Carin chose a good place and a good stylist.  Noah was very well behaved, playing with a toy phone for the duration of the haircut.

With Mommy.

In the chair of honor, post-haircut.

The salon was called "The Yellow Balloon, and they gave Noah a yellow balloon tied to his wrist as a prize.  We thought it made him look even cuter, and we took a lot of pictures afterward on the street and then later at home.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

We recently took Noah for a swim in our friends' pool, and he had a blast.

Some early May footage

Noah, around the house, being Noah...toddling about, playing in the bath, saying "Baaa," and getting silly with a big yellow ball.

Walks with Noah

Consider this a companion piece to my previous post.  This is video footage of two walks, taken on the same day (May 17th).  Here you can get a sense of what it is like to go on a walk with Noah in our neighborhood.  The sights!  The sounds!  The cars and trucks!  Enjoy.

The Boy Who Points At Cars

A curious thing happened in the couple weeks after Noah turned one.  He became a toddler.  It happened rather quickly.  A switch flipped.  Suddenly he seemed less like a baby to us and more like a little boy.  Suddenly he was walking everywhere.  Suddenly he had more opinions.  Suddenly life got more complicated.

Noah started walking at around 11 months, but in the six weeks since his first birthday, he has really become a pro.  Now he walks everywhere, and he is having a blast exploring his world.

Noah has always loved being outside, but now he knows how to tell us that he wants to go there.  He walks to the front door and starts reaching for the handle.  Or he points to the backyard and expresses displeasure because he is not currently there.  This is my cue.

Every day, Noah and I go on a walk.  Often, multiple walks.  Whether they start in the backyard or in the front, we inevitably find ourselves walking toward the street and then down the block.  Noah leads.  I follow.  Our pace is slow.  Noah makes frequent stops to examine leaves, pebbles, fence posts, sticks, flowers, more leaves, pavement cracks, grass, weeds, more leaves, dirt, etc.  It's thrilling.

Noah is a collector.  He finds a leaf or a stick that he likes, and he will hold onto it for the duration of the walk (or at least until he finds something better and accidentally drops his first object).  One of his favorite things to collect are the tiny unripened oranges that have fallen too early from our tree.  We will sometimes find these little green buggers inside the house in unusual places.  Thankfully, Noah is no longer at the stage where every new object goes straight in his mouth, but the mouth is still a popular destination so I must remain vigilant.  Yesterday, he somehow managed to keep a portion of a stick he'd acquired on a walk with his parents.  I didn't notice right away, but see if you can locate the stick in the picture below.

Here are a couple pictures from today, taken after he crawled in the slime under the patio table to reach a tiny unripe orange (and, no, that's not a goatee). 

Noah loves cars.  He loves trucks even more.  He is drawn to intersections.  To traffic.  He points at most cars that pass us.

This tends to elicit funny expressions and waves from passing motorists.  If a vehicle is particularly large or noisy or fast, Noah will often squeal as he points, to emphasize his enthusiasm.  This past Sunday, we went out for a Mother's Day brunch at a restaurant on a busy street.  A few times, a bus passed, and Noah SHRIEKED with delight.

Here he is, looking out the window of the restaurant.  And, yes, the French toast buried under the fried dough in the foreground WAS very good.

Noah is a passionate kid.  For a long time now, he has expressed his joy (and sometimes his anger) through his clenched fists.  We call them "fists of triumph" or "fists of rage."  Well, we've been seeing a whole lot of the triumph fists lately, and it has been cracking us up.  It's as if he can't contain how happy he is.  These clenched fists are accompanied by full body tension and a happy grunt.  I love that he gets happy with his whole body.  See photo below:

Noah lets us know what he wants.  And he's getting better at communicating.  During meals, he regularly uses sign language to say "more," and--even more regularly--points to whatever object on the table he happens to desire.  Sometimes he points to the living room table or the kitchen counter or some random object, and we have to guess.  "Do you want the wine bottle?  The place mat?  The tissue box?  No, honey, tissues are not for dinner."  Noah knows the sign for "cheese" (which is accompanied by a "ch, ch" sound), water, and milk, and he is working on the sign for "all done" (although he usually just pushes his tray away when he is finished with his meal).

While "Mama" and "Dada" are words used frequently enough as to make us doubt the specificity of his intention, there is no doubt what Noah means when he says the word "cat."  He usually pronounces it "Cah" or "at", but I have heard him use both the "c" and the "t" at the same time, which makes it a good contender in the official record for the title of "First Word".  Noah remains fascinated by our cat, Scottie, and whenever he says the word, it is always at the appropriate time.  Well...almost.  I was walking with him recently when he started saying "cah, cat, cat"  I looked around confused.  Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a small chihuahua without a leash ran past us.

Later that same day, on another walk, Noah repeated his cute mistake, getting very excited when a five pound dog walked past with its owner.  At first, I was inclined to correct his mistake but then thought better of it.  "Yes, Noah.  That's a cat.  You're right."

While Noah is perhaps less easy going these days, now that he is toddlerish, he remains a pretty happy fellow.  And he is still VERY silly.

Things that crack Noah up include: putting Fisher Price characters on the roof of the Fisher Price barn, having said characters fall off said roof, peek-a-boo (still), objects that are placed on other people's heads, objects placed on his own head, being chased, chasing others, and his own sneezes, to name a few.

Things that crack us up include: Noah.

I'll end this dispatch with a few more pictures.  First, a couple from a trip to the animal sanctuary:

Noah, in motion...

How big is Noah?  Soooooooooo big!

Digging for treasure.

Hell yeah!

Copycat

Funny breakthrough tonight. I've tried several times recently to engage Noah in a game of copycat, without much success. Tonight, as I rubbed hand lotion on my hands, I noticed Noah was mimicking me. I seized the opportunity and put my hands on my head. Sure enough, Noah put his hands on HIS head. I patted my head. He patted HIS head. I slapped my cheeks and said, "Ha, ha, ha!" He walked over to me, gleefully slapped my face, and said "Ha, ha, ha!" This led to an extended giggle party. My kid is hilarious and awesome.

Meditation on Two Chopsticks

(this series was previously posted on Facebook, but I'm reposting here for those who haven't seen it)


A journey in 10 chapters wherein a young boy plays with sticks and is awakened to deeper truths along the way.

Chapter 1: Discovery

Chapter 2: Exploration

Chapter 3: Exultation

Chapter 4: Love

Chapter 5: Triumph

Chapter 6: Reconsideration

Chapter 7: Skepticism

Chapter 8: Surrender

Chapter 9: Commitment

Chapter 10: Contentment

Noah Revisited - Part 6: Month 13

Almost all caught up.  Here are a couple videos from this past month.

First, it's Noah, the kitchenware percussionist:





Next, Noah gets a major case of the sillies.  I swear, he was not drunk here.  Just high on life.




Both these videos were taken during my parent's visit to LA.  Here is a picture of Noah with Grandma Toby and Grandpa Bob at Descanso Gardens.

And here's a few more pictures...

Noah Revisited - Part 5: Month 10 through 1st Birthday

Here's Noah at 9 months old, getting a major case of the sillies after dinner.



From February.

Here's a montage of Noah at around the 11 month mark.  It includes Noah's spot-on impression of a dog barking, a terrific game of peek-a-boo, and even a glimpse of a couple early steps:







Next up are some highlights from the afternoon where things really started to click for Noah with his walking.  The longest walks were not caught on camera, of course, but this video gives a taste of the moment.



Noah meets Noah...

Noah and Carin.

Noah's second passover.

We'll end with Noah's first birthday party.  Here he is with his Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Howie.

And here is a video of the birthday boy with all his baby friends.  Get ready for the cute!

The best pesadich birthday brownies EVER!

(...are a cause for contemplation)

Noah Revisited - Part 4: Month 6 through 9

Here is 5-month-old Noah playing peek-a-boo with Daddy in his crib.  This is one of the first times he figured out that he could play too, ducking out of sight. As you can see, the game really cracks him up.







Noah loves his vegetables.  But this wasn't the case back in October, when 6-month-old Noah was fed pureed peas for the first time:





Noah was a monkey for his first Halloween.  Here's the footage that proves it.



And here's a series of monkey photos that tell a very familiar story:

And that's all for Months 6 through 9.  Not a lot of footage posted.  If we can fill in later, we will.  In the meantime, onwards!