Funtimes being Noah

Noah isn't a very good shopper, so if we do hit the shops we stop at most of the kiddie-ride-on things so he enjoys the trip a bit more. I don't pay the $2, but he's happy enough just sitting in them.

This picture is at his favourite friend's house. Ebony and Amber are lovely little girls who like to dance around with Noah. The girls were dressing up in various dresses (hence Ebby is half undressed in the photo!), and Noah came out wanting to wear the bear costume - a great choice!

Here Noah is enjoying our 'Tuesday night BBQ' with our fellow college friends. His little friend is Lochie, who is a similar age to Noah.

Noah loves the trampolines, although he likes it best when someone else is jumping with him.
(By the way, our home isn't in the flats in the background, but is left of those).

I like this photo - hair's a mess, food all down his t-shirt, cloth nappy out of shape. He's gazing up at an airplane, which he loves to point out and then wave goodbye to.

Noah putting in his bit to keep Lochie's car on the go...

The easiest way for me to get things done is if I include Noah. We do lots of cooking 'together'; mostly he likes mixing and tasting.

This was Noah first go at finger-painting. He wasn't so keen on putting paint on the paper, he preferred putting water and leaves into the paint.

Noah riding his bike in our 'front yard'...

Noah has a word for 'higher' and 'push', which he uses often when at the swings. Oh, how much time we spend at our playground - good thing it's just over the fence!

My Chirpy Chatterbox

Perhaps it's best to start with a little confession: we haven't taken so many pictures lately. But, that doesn't stuff hasn't been happening...

Words

Let's start with Noah being a little chatterbox. He really is quite a good communicator now. True, his words are few, but when you combine his little words with emphatic (whole-of-body) gestures, and a bit of a clue as to the sort of stuff he likes... Mum and Dad very often get the picture crystal-clear. "I want to go down the stairs", "I want to draw with the crayon (instead of the chalk) on the blackboard", "I want your help now, I'm kinda sick of doing this on my own."

Unlearning already! On a potentially alarming note, Noah gets "Nup" and "Yes" a bit muddled sometimes... i.e. somehow he has picked up a word that sound like "Nup" - associated with shaking his head - and he thinks it means "Yes". I'm now, in earnest, trying to replace that with a clear nod and the word "Yes" (which he pronounces almost perfectly).

Doing my Bidding: "Noah, pick the leaves and put them in Daddy's hand". Voila! Coriander is picked for tonight's dinner! He then decided that we also needed some basil...

Roaring Lions: Noah calls all animals by their sounds (not by their names). Elephants, horses, snakes, cows, lions, dogs, pigs (the cutest of all) are all known by their cries (and 'actions' in the case of elephants and crocodiles). 'Baa', curiously enough, must be a bit tricky - sheep get nothing at all!

Wake-time

Hmmm... Well, I'm an early-riser; it's just part of the college routine for me. Alas! I'm not the only early-riser in the house, and often I'm not even the earliest-riser in the house.

Let's just say that at the moment, a sleep-in for Katie is 6am. Sometimes he's great at going back to sleep. Sometimes. We're a little concerned about the first few days of when daylight savings changes back - those could be some early (or at least unpleasantly interrupted) mornings.

(I should qualify these comments by saying that Noah is a very good sleeper - he just likes to start the day before we do.)

Creche and Other Kids

Noah is becoming a much much more social little bear. He's coping with créche (both church and bible-study) much better these days. And he's getting the hang of interacting with other kids more.

By 'interacting', sometimes it's just standing next to them and staring at them while they do interesting stuff; other times it's grabbing toys from them (whether offered or not); often its copying; sometimes it's really lovely stuff, like giving hugs and kisses. He's also very good at being gentle - like with babies, or mummy.

Dining

Ok, food probably warrants a post of its own (with pictures). I'll just say three things: Noah must have cutlery. He's good with a cup. And he likes to share.