Rocket Man

Christmas Morning

Surprised that Santa knew he wanted a fire truck! With the recycling truck that his big sister gave him (he gave Lily the game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos).
Noah gave Mommy a book that she is excited to read...
Discovering his stocking...
Opening more presents with Daddy...

National Christmas Tree

On Christmas Eve, we went to see the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse near the White House. Noah loved watching all the trains set up at the base of the tree.Lily was excited to see Santa!
Daddy and Noah inside Santa's workshop...


And standing next to Kentucky's state tree.
We had a great time walking around and enjoying the holiday decorations on a beautiful winter day!

Noah's (latest) favorite book

His airplane book tops Noah's reading list these days... and he loves to "read" along with us.

Cookie Thief

Noah is now tall enough to reach the countertop. This morning, he pulled a ziploc bag of cookies of the countertop... and apparently figured out how to open it. I found him (and his accomplice) looking sheepish while eating cookies at breakfasttime. Too funny!

Hey Paparazzi... no photos, please

Animal Sounds...

... with a little help from his big sister.

Broccoli

Noah loves broccoli. I am not kidding... LOVES it. And when I say love, I mean screaming, hand-clapping, you-would-think-it's-a-cupcake love. Now before anyone starts asking me how I get him to eat veggies, here's the honest truth: I have no idea! I think I've done the same things we did with Lily, but notice Noah's plate (chicken untouched but veggies devoured)...
...when compared with our little carnivore's. Go figure!

Cousins!

Noah and Lily had fun hanging out in Louisville to celebrate Pop's 70th birthday.

Noah, Lily, Josiah, Katey and Aurora Hugs for Aunt Mandy (and the "cheese" face he has just started making... smile)
With Daddy and Grandma Lois...
...and Daddy and Great Grandma

Little Artist in the 'ville

Noah takes after his sister... he loves to draw! We had fun visiting our friend Davy's studio while we were in Louisville. Lily had fun too!

Intense convo among the artists...
Bring me a canvas!

Noah hearts the ocean

At our visit to the Natural History museum this morning, Noah was very chatty as we walked through the Ocean exhibit area. And once he saw the aquarium with a coral reef habitat, he did NOT want to move. Every time I inched the stroller away, he made it clear he wanted to stay put. Lily was a little frustrated, because she would prefer to spend all her time at the dinosaur exhibit.

Anything that moves...

When we are out and about, Noah gets REALLY excited about two things - airplanes and fire trucks. Turns out that this might be expanding to anything that moves! Lily is a huge fan of the model trains at Union Station, and Noah surprised us by getting really into it as well. He kept turning his head to find a moving train, and would exclaim, "Choo CHOO!" as they went by.

First trip to Clemyjontri

Noah enjoyed his first visit to Clemyjontri Park this weekend. He has been interested in airplans and fire trucks lately so we thought he'd get a kick out of the playground's riding toys.
Ready for takeoff!

Bookworm

Forget blocks or other toys... Noah has moved on to books, pretty much exclusively. He has always loved being read to, but now he likes "reading" on his own too. He is pretty methodical about the whole process -- take all books down from shelf, sit in the middle of the pile, and he can pick out his favorites on command. Now we just need to work on the cleanup part, since I think Lily is getting a little annoyed at having to pick up the slack.

Beep Beep

Between the swings and the ride-on toys at Turtle Park, Noah barely notices the actual playground. After swinging with his sister, Noah discovered this car and did NOT want to get out.

Swings!

I heart bedhead

Creighton and Jessi in DC

Creighton and Jessi were in town this week, and even though they were super-busy doing some fantastic work with TED, they stopped by to hang out with Lily and Noah... Lily really dressed up for the occasion

Building Museum

Noah having a blast at one of our favorite spots

Hello, fork

Anything Lily has, Noah wants. This goes for dinner time, too.

Little Man

Looking less like a baby and more like a little boy these days... sniff sniff

Pumpkin carving

Noah had a few ideas on how to help Daddy with the design for our jack-o-lantern... Daddy had other thoughts though

Proud Lily with her transformed pumpkin!

Cupcake Envy

We didn't realize how much Noah loves cupcakes until Mommy's recent birthday. He could barely wait until Lily was done singing "Happy Birthday" to start eating... and he practically inhaled one before demanding more!