Kaiya's Diva Party

Nothing is as great as being a girl, until you are a girl who is being pampered and playing dress up with a bunch of other girls! Hannah had a such a great time at her friend Kaiya's 5th birthday party this past weekend. It was at a kiddie salon called Sweet and Sassy. The girls all got to pick out an outfit to wear for the "fashion show". They also got their hair done in an up-do, got their nails painted, made their own pampering product (Hannah made layered glittery bath gel), and got to walk the runway in a fashion show.
The girls danced and played games and had a great time. I have never seen so much glitter in all my life; it was fabulous!


Hannah hasn't spent much time with Kaiya before, but they got along really well. I couldn't get over the fact that Hannah was the youngest one there by a year and a half, yet she fit right in with the other girls. It's cute now and makes me laugh, but sometimes I worry and hope that she doesn't always fit in so well with an older crowd--this could mean big trouble when she's a teenager!Hannah's favorite part of the party was the extra surprise at the end--a pink limo ride! The store even put out a red carpet for the girls to walk down, and they all piled into a big pink stretch limo. They were gone for about 20 minutes, in which time they all were able to stick their heads out of the window. I saw the proof when they came back, because their adorable little hair-dos were pretty wind blown.

I had a great time watching Hannah play with these girls at the party. I realized that I can't wait to watch my little baby girl turn into a bigger girl, and even eventually--gulp!-- a teenager. She's already looking more little a little girl than my baby faced cutie-pie she was just a year ago. I can't believe how beautiful she is becoming.

At it again...

That darn recycling bin is just getting in his way, apparently, because Noah has found a new "spot". This is the one cupboard that I let him get into, for two reasons. First, there's only a few large items in it, so he can't make too big of a mess. Second, those big items are all plastic, so he can't get hurt by them, and they don't make a whole lot of noise (unlike the pots and pans cupboard, which was a favorite for a long time).
He's now figured out that he can take out a couple of pitchers and fit right inside. Most kids might be afraid of being shut inside, but he will actually pull all his limbs inside and shut the door. He loves for me to open the door just a crack and peek in at him. Oh well, at least it makes for some cute pictures!

Mr. Personality

Lately Noah has been developing his own little personality; it has been so much fun to watch. Of course, he loves to eat, which hasn't changed. We've just discovered that he is happiest sitting in his highchair right at the end of a meal. Today while he was eating lunch I was working on the blog, and I had an idea. I have this cool application called PhotoBooth, which uses the camera on my laptop and displays the image right on the screen. It also takes video. Noah has gotten really excited the past few times I've lifted him up to show him himself in mirrors, so I thought he'd get a kick out of seeing himself on the laptop. I opened up PhotoBooth and he went nuts! I had to hit record to capture the moment. We also got him to do his new trick; showing off the fact that he is "so big!"

Kite Flyin' & Park Playin'

It's hard to believe as I sit here looking out a 9" of snow that fell over the past two days, but last weekend it was so gorgeous! Sunday was actually 79 degrees. We took advantage by going to the "big park" in our neighborhood. Going there is always a thrill for Hannah because "our park" is right across our street, and the bigger one is a 10 minute walk, so we don't go there as often. Hannah has been dying to try flying a kite ever since we bought her Mary Poppins a couple of months ago. Daddy's big fancy kite needed some repairs, so he ran to the store for the supplies, and came home with them plus a Sesame Street one for Hannah. She was so excited!










When we got to the park, we found out that we weren't the only ones with the kite idea; about 4 other families were there flying kites as well. It was fun because it gave Hannah the motivation to keep trying. Her cute little kite only lasted about 5 minutes in the strong breeze before it broke, so luckily Daddy had brought along his kite plus the necessary mending supplies. Hannah had a great time flying her kite with Daddy, and was so helpful in getting it up into the air.

No trip to the park would be complete without a visit to the playground, and we found the best little slide for Noah. The other ones we've tried with him have been way too steep and he falls back. This park has a short little slide with not too much of an incline, so we sent him down. He loved going by himself and would laugh hysterically when he reached the bottom. He also had a great time walking around in the playground bark, and this time, he didn't even try to eat any! Yay!

What a great day we had together!

Noah's Birthday Part

Noah had a great time at his first birthday party! Almost all of the family was there (just those out-of-towners missed out). He didn't do as much damage to the cake as we thought he would, but he did love it! Unfortunatly, it didn't love him back...apparently the more fat and more sugar in foods, the worse his reflux gets. He was not a happy camper for several days after his cake-dinner that night. He still had fun, though, playing with all his new toys and seeing everyone all at once. He really got a kick out of the balloons. In fact, here we are several weeks later, and the one mylar balloon we got him is still floating above my head, and he still loves playing with it. Overall, it was a great day.

Has it Really Been a YEAR?!

Noah's birthday was such a fun day for everyone! Justin and I both took the day off from work, and luckily did not pay for it with food poisoning like we did when Hannah turned one! We started the morning off with Noah's favorite breakfast, pancakes with fresh blueberries mixed into the batter. After that, he opened presents from us and Hannah. He LOVED his Cars couch that his sister gave him. It is cute and has a little sleeping bag that zips into it. I think Hannah loves having it almost as much as he does.

After breakfast, Aunt Leslie, Uncle Jesse, Milla and Aiden called Noah on the phone to sing Happy Birthday to him. He loved it! I snapped picture to show his cousins how much he loved
hearing them sing to him.
After Noah's morning nap, we took him to Build-A-Bear, where he made a Birthday Bear who we named Charlie. Hannah made a monkey.
We met up with the Wills family to go swimming at a great indoor pool we found that has two slides, a lazy river, and a zero-depth wade-in for the little ones. Noah had a blast! The whole group went back to Leslie and Jesse's house to eat dinner (we grabbed Subway). His first cake was going to be made by Aunt Leslie for his party, but we couldn't let his birthday go by without a sweet treat with a candle in it, so we made brownies and sang to him. He LOVED the attention and just smiled away. The picture was taken while everyone was singing. By the time we got home that night, he was POOPED! I barely got him in his jammies and he was out in my lap. Happy Birthday, my Little Man. We love you!

Noah's First Haircut

Little Man's hair was getting a little long over his ears and in the back, plus the top always did crazy things after he woke up (see photo!), so we decided it was time for his first haircut. We took him to Snip-Its, the kiddie place we've always taken Hannah. They have chairs with seatbelts, lots of distractions to look at, and stylists who are used to squirmy, crying children. He actually didn't cry at all, though! I was so proud of my brave little guy. He just sat in the chair with his bobo in his mouth, looking around like he was really confused.
The hair cut itself turned out pretty well. We kept it decently long on top for now; don't want him to look like a bald baby when he's really not. Now he just looks so much more like a little boy. Probably around summertime we'll get it cut nice and short so it's easy to manage. Heavens knows we have enough hair maintenance to worry about at our house with his big sister!






Here's the "After" picture. So handsome!

Our Little Gymnast

Ok, let's face it. A girl who places in the 50th percentile for height of 4 year olds when she is only 3 is probably not going to have a career as a gymnast. But who cares?! Hannah has a great time at her Saturday gymnastics class, and she's getting pretty good at it. We like it because she has to practice preschool skills like raising her hand, listening to directions, and taking turns.

It's lots of fun to watch her do her somersaults and donkey kicks. She thinks that she may enjoy taking a dance class, so we will probably try that next. During the summer I would like to sign her up for swimming lessons again. Maybe this time she won't freak out at the idea of getting water in her face. She tells me that her cousin Lex has goggles, so she needs some too. Then she says she'll be okay getting water in her face. Regardless, I love go to watch her on Saturdays at gymnastics for the time being.