Candy Treating

This was Noah's first time to actually go "candy treating" (as he called it). Before we got all suited up and headed out, we had chili at our neighbor's house. It was really fun. We had decided we weren't going to take the boys to very many houses. Really, how much candy does a 2 year old need? (None is the answer to that question. Don't worry! He did get some.)

Noah is talking while we're trying to take the picture...a frequent occurrence. He comes by it naturally (Poppy!).

After we went to the first house, Noah wanted to open his piece of candy right away. After he got his candy at the second house, he said, "Let's go to another neighbor's house!" Didn't take long for him to figure it out.

Several of the neighbors called John Noah's sister. Really?

John is sporting the lion costume Noah wore. John barely fit into it. It was almost not long enough for him. (Noah would have been one week older than John when he wore it.)

Noah of course wasn't ready to go home when we said it was time. So we convinced him it would be fun to go home and pass out the candy. And, he got to eat one thing when he got home. He picked Nerds. He sat on the shag rug and ate (or dropped) them. There may still be Nerds in the rug. They were hard to spot.

John thought he would have some too.

Passing out the candy from the candy bowl.

Clarification...

It was suggested that perhaps I should clarify what Noah meant when he asked if the policeman had a spoon. In our house, the spoon is the spanking mechanism.

You Never Know What He'll Say (or Do)

Scene: Mommy, Noah, John in the car at a red light.

Noah: GO!!!

Mommy: We have to wait until the light turns green. We have to obey the rules.

Noah: Or the policeman will pull us over.

Mommy: Right.

Noah: Does he have a spoon?

Brothers

The boys are really starting to interact with each other. It's so fun to watch. John thinks Noah is hilarious!

More Fall Fun

Last week, we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. It was so much fun!

He insisted on riding in the pumpkin cart.

Sweet little pun'kin

Trying to find the biggest pumpkin

Costume change!

My three boys!

Happy Fall!

A Big Boy Bed

Sadly, we had to get Noah a new bed. He got too tall for his round crib. I loved having him in the crib. But, he's doing so well with the new bed. He's not gotten out of the bed. He always calls for us when he wakes up. Such a good little boy. The first few nights he woke up and couldn't find his froggy. We're past that now...thankfully!

Hmmm...

John's new expression... Makes for a moist shirt.

Spinach goatee

Look at those curls!

Really! Who doesn't strap their baby in these things???

MIZ-ZOU!

We took Noah to the Mizzou game a few weeks ago. It was lots of fun. My brother and his wife also came with their son, Aiden. We may have forgotten our tickets. Luckily some sweet friends who were also going to the game picked them up for us.

Waiting for the tickets

Checking out the field

M-I-Z...Z-O-U!

It's Truman!

On second thought, I don't want to get that close! (Not exactly the Kodak moment we were hoping for...)

Buddies

I think I'm seeing yellow...

Borrowing some nice lady's clappers

He's Got Spunk!

It's hard to believe, but John is already 7 months. It really has flown by. He's developed a bit of spunk. I used to think Noah and John had pretty similar temperaments, but John was a little more laid back. Not so. A more accurate statement would be John can play by himself better. He is so loud. He yells and screams. In fact, someone who has watched both boys in the nursery commented on how much noisier John is than Noah was at that age. John is also a constant ball of motion. Unfortunately, he'd rather be moving and checking things out than snuggling...

The boy is also huge. He's moved to a stage 2 carseat already. Noah was 14 months before we moved him and he was too long not too heavy. It makes me a little sad. He's getting so big so fast. At last check, he was 22 pounds.

7 Months

Sweet boys!

And, of course, Noah had to take a picture of Froggy. His aim is much better that it used to be...He captured all of Froggy and not just his legs.

Omissions

I have unfortunately left out a few things recently that I intended to write about... So, let's catch up.

We held up "traffic" getting on the plane from New York. The pilot invited Noah into the cockpit and let him take the plane for a spin. (Okay, not really.)

Noah loves to help mommy and daddy regardless of what we're doing. He was helping me clean up the flower beds and I couldn't resist taking a picture of his getup.

The night before Noah's first day of school, Greg and I took him out to dinner. (John stayed home with Miss Emily.) He got to pick where we went to dinner. He picked Chick-fil-A...

A few weeks ago, while playing outside, Noah started digging in the dirt around the new ties we just had replaced. (The grass hadn't grown back in yet. And, it still hasn't.) I thought it was fine at the time and later realized perhaps that wasn't the best idea I've ever had. There is now a large void. And he's sporting a dirt mustache.

John isn't crawling yet, but he is all over the place!! A few weeks ago, I put him on his gym in my room. I was in my bathroom getting ready. I could hear him playing having a good time. When I came out, he was under the chair. I'm not really sure how he got under there... By the time I got back with the camera, he'd wormed his way out from under the chair.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a birthday party. There were pony rides, animals to pet, a bounce house...lots of fun things. Noah refused the ride the pony, but John thought it was a good time.

Boys and Dirt

What is it about boys and dirt? We went to the Kirkwood Park with our sweet friend Julie. There were all kinds of fun swings and slides and things to climb on. What did Noah do?

At least he was having fun...

He did take Ms. Julie for a ride.

And, John had so much fun, he just couldn't stay awake.

Fall is Here

I love fall. It's not hot and humid, the leaves change colors... It's just a really fun time. (Greg might disagree... He's in charge of raking the 6 tons of leaves that fall from our trees.)

The boys are starting to interact with each other more. It's so cute. John thinks Noah is hilarious. It's so fun to watch them.



I've been telling Noah John is going to be bigger than he is... This picture makes it look like that day is drawing very near. (In reality, he still has a way to go. Thankfully!!)

Johnny Appleseed

A few weeks ago we loaded the boys into the car and drove 45 minutes to Eckert's for apple picking. I bundled everyone up because it was a bit brisk that morning. We were hot... True to form, John pooped all over his clothes on the way and I discovered it when we got out of the car. Luckily it wasn't on the carseat, but we did need a costume change.

When we got there, we loaded onto the wagon and rode to the orchard. (Notice he has a tight grip on his bag.) He was all worried about us not letting him take his bucket to put the apples in. We had a very hard time convincing him they would have something there for him to put his apples in. Then he was worried about what color it would be.

When we got to the orchard, there were Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apples to pick. Someone said to us we could get the really good apples no one could reach if we put Noah on our shoulders. (Not mine, of course! People can reach that high.) Greg put Noah up on his shoulders. Noah was holding onto to Greg's eye. He couldn't get him to move his hand elsewhere. (For some reason, I think it's so funny... And, Greg was not injured in the picking of these apples.)

John even got to pick one.

No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't convince Noah to pick the big apples. He picked lots of little ones. They were fair. The big ones were much better. They tell you to samples the apples while you're picking. That was a relief! I was worried about how we were going to keep Noah from eating the apples as he picked them.

They have a carnival type area for the kids too. Noah, of course, wanted to play. He loved this ride. They also had camel rides, pony rides, goat feeding, etc. He wouldn't get too close to any of the livestock.

After we got our apples home, Noah and I made Crispy (better known as Apple Crisp) and I made applesauce for John. We have a mere two apples left. I'm sure Noah is going to want to go pick more when they're gone.

Off to School

Sadly, my sweet little baby started preschool. He is enjoying it. He goes Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It's very strange pulling up somewhere and my baby jumping out of the car with his backpack. I was a little worried he might cry when I dropped him off. (He had been crying when we take him to the nursery during church.) No tears yet. Doesn't he look so big? It makes me so sad. Can't they stay little forever?

You Never Know What He'll Say (or Do)

Occasionally, Noah will take something away from John. I'll ask him to give it back. Noah will say, "I'm sharing." (He's been saying that for quite some time. It just occurred to me how funny that actually was.)

I asked Noah to put his shoes away. He told me I should just do it. Then he said, "Just listen to what I say."

Noah has become quite the staler at nap and bedtime. When I put him down, he always has something up his sleeve. His favorite is, "I want to get up because the sun's in my eyes and it's so dark." (All in the same breath.)

John has just started eating food. For a while, when I'd get the spoon to his mouth, he'd stick his little tongue out to sample and see if he really wanted to open his mouth.

Noah will ask questions (constantly). And sometimes I can't answer him. For example, when we're driving down the street and someone is walking or running he'll ask who it is. I say I don't know. He'll say, "Tell me!" Tonight I said, "Noah, I can't tell you if I don't know." Soon after that, we were talking about what mommy's and daddy's names were. I asked him what mommy's name was. He said I don't know. I asked him again and he said, "I can't tell you if I don't know."

A Photographer He is Not

A few weeks ago, we met my friend Julie for coffee. Noah wanted to take our picture on my phone.

Food Critic

John had his first bit of food this week. He had some cereal and did not love it.