Thanksgiving 2009

Recent Pics

Best Buds

Read to Take the Plunge
Some Light Reading Before Bath Time
Ho, Ho, Ho

My First Turkey

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

Reindeer Paws

PaPaw

We were sitting at a stop light today next to a red pick-up truck with one of those big covers over the bed. Noelle kept saying, "Hi...hi...hi...hi..." louder and louder each time. I couldn't figure out why. I was telling her that they couldn't hear her and saying hi back to her so she didn't feel completely ignored. Then it dawned on me when she said, plain as day, "PaPaw". I believe she was saying hi to what she deduced must be PaPaw in his big red truck.

Noelle's favorite thing to do for the past couple of weeks has been to place anything into a container or any sort and take it back out again. She places it in the container, steps back and looks for a couple of seconds, and goes back to retrieve it---over and over again. It has sort of envolved into doing the in and out trick a couple of times and then delivering the object to someone and receiving a 'thank you'. This has already proven very helpful when emptying the dishwasher and she hands you one little fork or spoon at a time.

Our camera is currently not uploading at all thus no new pictures.

Dairy Queen

Noelle takes the headband off my head and has learned how to put it on herself.

-Noelle continues to amaze me. A couple of days ago I ask her if she wanted to go color. I could have sworn she answered, "uh-huh," but I wasn't looking at her so I thought, nah, surely not. Then I asked her again and she walked right to the coloring crayon box and touched it with her hand. She has gone from stabbing at the paper with the crayon to actually making continuos lines back and forth.

-We were reading and I showed her a XYLO-phone. She put her fisted hand to her ear as though talking on the TELE-phone.

-She thinks Poppy land Gram live in the computer with a second home inside my phone and says one of their names everytime I open them.

-She likes to name the men in her life. Dada (over and over again), Poppy and Papaw.

-She walks very well on her own now and I think I forgot to mention her dance moves. The child is going to have some seriously developed leg muscles. She bounces to music but her bounces are full on squats. She also twists and shakes her head back and forth.

-She is the friendliest little thing I have ever seen. We make friends everywhere we go. Anyone who frequents Target knows about the dollar bins in the front of the store they use to squeeze one more buck from your pockets. They currently have toy versions of Dairy Queen's frozen treats. Noelle saw a package of one soft serve cone and another dipped in chocolate. She wanted them and I gave them to play with thru the store. She was licking the package top to bottom so I decided we could spare a buck and opened them for her. I didn't think she knew what they were; I just thought she was licking the package because she mouths everything still. On the evening of her birthday we had goone to McDonalds and each got a plain cone of soft serve and sat on the floor to eat it. She loved it. Anyway, she held one in each hand and proceeded to act like she was eating the ice cream. Everyone who passed our cart was offered a lick of the tasty treat. It was pretty funny and I couldn't believe she knew what to do with the ice cream.

Mad Skilz

Noelle has learned a few tricks by now and I managed to catch a few on video today. She is turning into quite the comedian. She now can say, "mama, daddy, baby, pumpkin, hi, bye, paper, poppy, ya-ya, papaw" and I think she's working on "diaper" but I'm not sure yet. She recently started humming too when she hears someone singing. The bottom video isn't the best example but you get the idea. Enjoy!

Pasta Anyone?

Noelle emptied out a box of mini-pasta shells today. I knew she had the box but I didn't think it was open. You can hear Coach crunching shells in the background.--Above she is playing in a birthday present.

Party Night

We went to dinner after the party (and a nap). While waiting for a table I had been chatting with the restaurant owner who later surprised us all with a mini-sombrero and a birthday sunday.

Party Time

We celebrated Noelle's first birthday this past Saturday November 7th with a few friends and family. It was a small affair big on style. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially the kids. Coach about had a nervous breakdown but, most importantly, Noelle had the time of her life!! (me too)

The tunnel turned out the be the hit of the party. Giggles and squeals could be heard for miles I'm sure. Noelle never did crawl through, she listened to her own drum beat and crawled along beside.

Clearly, balloons were the theme of the day.

We had balloon cupcakes, chocolate dipped balloon rice krispie treats, a chocolate hot air balloon cake and Noelle's very own red balloon cake.

Noelle's personal red balloon cake

October 30, 2009
Okay, so I have totally neglected the blog for about a month. In order to get caught up I've posted some pictures. In summary, we've been to Kentucky twice since I last posted, once for an unexpected funeral and once for a baby shower and ballgame. Noelle has changed even since these pictures were taken. We always love being home and have a great time. We also went to a Halloween/birthday party on October 17th. Noelle was a wee witch for the party and will wear the costume once more tomorrow for Halloween. There will be more pictures later, of our trip to Lexington, but my camera is currently in Lexington. Enjoy!

Giggler

I realize these first two videos are redundant but they were so great that I added both. This was last night while cooking supper.

Below is a clip of Noelle operating from inside her toy basket. I think she is going to be a mountain climber.

Playtime

In the box

Why make pie?

Fall Festival

Go Cats!

Over the gate...

Sink Graduate

Okay......so we've been doing bath time in the kitchen sink for a while now and it's been fine. In the past week or two though, Noelle has been trying more and more to stand in the sink instead of sit. When I get her out and sit her on the towel I usually cover her head and lie her down on her back. As she obviously knows what to expect, she has started to just through herself back onto the counter ready to lie down. We have known it was time to move to the big girl bath tub but just hadn't yet made the transition. Tonight everything was washed and then rinsed and she took it upon herself, with no help at all, to turn around and climb out of the sink onto the towel in the counter and sit there ready to be dried. Tomorrow night I think I'll just hand her the wash cloth.

Changes

-Noelle continues to change almost daily. She up to 5 'words' now including: mama, dada, hi, bye-bye, and baby. Granted it takes an expert ear to distinguish between her versions of baby, bye-bye, and ba-ba-ba-ba-ba but there is a difference. We are also pretty sure that she tries to immitate Coach's barking. She's actually been doing this for a while but we didn't realize what it was. Thanks to Coach for teaching her first word.
-She likes to point at things and makes a little noise until you tell her what they are called like squirrels and birds and trees especially.
-She has also started standing for extended periods on her own without support. Today we went into the backyard and I learned how well she can walk while holding only one hand or finger of mine. It won't be long now for sure.

First Steps

I almost forgot to post it but yesterday Noelle took what I think qualifies as her first step. She was standing with her hands on the foot stool reaching towards Daddy. She couldn't reach his hands so she left go of the stool, moved her left foot forward, and was then able to reach Chris's hands for support. It won't be long.

What a Grown-up...

This picture is dark but if you look closely you will see Noelle has one of Coach's toys. She is taunting him with it trying to get him to take a bite.

9-17-09 Today Noelle was playing beside me while I was ironing. I was glancing down at her every few moments. Suddenly, I found she had undressed herself. Wish I had caught her in the act.

I made sure the doors were locked, stairs gated, toilet seat down, outlets plugged and left Noelle contentedly playing in the den while I ran to the basement, picked something up, and ran back upstairs. I couldn't find her. She was no where. I thought, "Don't panic. She can't have gone far. No one came in and took her. Figure this out." I was calling her name with no sound or response. Then I found her hiding between the radiator and the end table. She was peeking out at me through the table watching me search. Of course this whole scenario took about 10 seconds but it felt much longer.

Zoo

While the Durbins were here we were able to spend the day at the zoo. Here are some pics.What species is this one?

Look Daddy, there's a Florida Gator!

Hi everybody!

Nana & Pa Paw

Nana and Pa Paw came for a visit this past weekend. It went fast but we all had a great time. Noelle especially loved all the attention. She is still peeking around the corner after she wakes up to see where all the members of her fan club are hiding. Or she yells down/up the stairs looking for 'the others'. I tell her, "It's just you and me kid."

Nana, where'd you go? Come back!

Storytime

Sharks

Noelle has begun pointing at things with her index finger only. I don't always know what she is aiming at when the finger is in midair but it is a new skill none the less. She has also learned that Coach is a sucker for a treat. He circles around her seat like a shark at meal time waiting for some tossed or dropped scraps. These days, if Noelle takes notice of him while leaning over the edge of the seat, then she graps as much food the she can fit into her hand without even looking at the tray and throws it over board to watch him feast. We've had to start quarantining Coach to the backyard during mealtime. Better news is that she is eating table food better and better. Interestingly, she prefers fruit pureed but vegetables solid. Whatever works!

10 Months Old

Noelle is 10 months old today. It goes without saying, that I find this remarkable. She has grown so much and developed into a little person. It's incredible. We watched a little Sesame Street today and had a celebratory popsicle on the porch. 11-04-09

Ham It Up

Anybody want a little 'HAM' with supper?

Wild Blue Yonder

We've had some cooler days lately that have just been fabulous. In spite of not having a screen door and windows that won't stay open I have managed to make it work. It's okay for me and Noelle; the only draw back is a fly here and there and of course when, Coach our ferocious lion of a dog, decides to go airborne from the den to the street in 2 seconds flat. As I over heard the neighbor boy say one time, "That dog is CRAZY!" Anyway, Noelle loves to gaze outside. I don't know exactly what she is looking at, everything I guess, but it successfully occupies her for a good while. She looks so cute standing on her own peering out into the wide blue yonder. She's working on scaling the gate just like Coach...just like an older sibling to teach naughty tricks.

Silly Facer

I caught her in the act this morning. Here's her silly face. 8-27-9

This just in...

I was wrong about Noelle's upper front teeth. She's getting all four of them at the same time. The left 2 are a bit ahead of the others but they are all coming. In spite of being a bit grumpy she is still a mover and a shaker. She currently has bumps and bruises on her noggin from squirming around everywhere. She managed to climb up the entire staircase today and was so pleased to turn around and look down once she had reached the summit.

In other news...she now knows how to give a perfecct 'High Five' (just in time for football season). She also has a new face that simply cannot be named. It is weird and funny at the same time. It has yet to be photographed so if you want to try it out, I'll tell you how it's done. (This should only be attempted in the privacy of your own home).

--Tilt head back, nose to the sky

--Squint eyes tightly

--Scrunch up nose

--Open mouth so as to display upper gums

--Now open and close mouth rapidly

Hot Sunday

August 23, 2009

Uh-oh...

August 19, 2009 - Now we're in for it. Noelle and I were downstairs in the morning and she heard Chris get out of bed and go to the shower. No different than any other weekay but for some reason she decided to go check it out. Then, knowing no obstacles, she decided to go see Daddy. Time to break out the gates.

Stepping Stones

It used to be that Noelle just wanted to get in Coach's toy box. Now it serves as a mere stepping stone to more fascinating delights. She climbed in on her own and I had to snap a shot.

Jaws

I combed Noelle's hair straight back this night so it dried funny. I tried to get a picture of her hair but it turned out more like a 'oral exam'.

Five Generations

My great grandmother, Grandmother Sugar, will be 102 years old this October 24th. Grandaddy will be 80 years old on September 4th. The rest of us will leave you guessing.