Noah and Jack

Those two boys really love each other! Lately, Noah has been very into his brother. When he doesn't feel like being cuddly with his Dad or I, it is not uncommon to find him snuggling Jack. He also loves to give him kisses, he is so funny about that. We'll tell him to give Jack a kiss and he goes over and gives him a very loud one! It's hard for me to get pictures, but today when Noah was watching Curious George, he had some good cuddle time with Jack.

Sometimes we feel so sorry for Jack. He looks at you with these big eyes and you can tell that he would like to move, but he knows that he can't if Noah is laying on him. I think he likes it more than he lets on though! It is so nice to have a dog who you don't have to worry about. If I can't find Noah in the house for a minute, he is almost always somewhere with Jack.

A couple of weeks ago Noah and I came home after having been out for about five hours and when I pulled in the driveway I realized that our front door was open. Jack is an indoor dog and only goes out in the backyard to play or go potty, so he stays inside when we're gone. So, when I saw the front door open, I threw the car into park and ran toward the house (already crying, of course!) and when I was almost to the front door Jack came running out to greet me! I could not believe that he didn't leave to go exploring. I was so happy that he was safe, especially considering that we know that he likes to run in front of cars! As it turns out, I didn't lock the dead bolt on the front door and the wind blew it open. Someone later asked me if I was nervous that someone was in the house or if anything was stolen and it was funny because I didn't even think about that. I won't make that mistake again!

I think that I am far too neurotic to have a dog and that Jack will be my one and only doggie baby. I am not taking into account how the rest of my family feels about that, but its definitely how I do! I worry about him so much when I'm not with him and I am always concerned about his physical as well as emotional safety, he gets his feelings hurt so easily! I know that Josh feels the same way that I do, thought he tries to act tougher about it. We are those crazy dog people that you hear about, I'm sure if they made clothes big enough for him that he would have some! Jack is hairy, a worthless guard dog, and often very lazy, but we love him so much and can't imagine what it would be like if he weren't a part of our family (obviously as I just dedicated a whole long blog to him!) We have two great boys and we can't wait to see what gender this third baby is!

The Fair

We went to the Fair last Sunday with my Mom and Mike, and Noah had such a good time! I think to say that he was overstimulated is a huge understatement. He fell asleep in his stroller, something that he hasn't done since he was a little baby, I couldn't believe it! We weren't sure how he was going to do on the rides, but we thought we would give it a shot. We should have known that he was going to love them! Noah is very good about trying new things and the Fair rides were no different. He had so much fun doing that, petting the animals, and of course, eating all of the different foods. (I had been dreaming about scones and so we headed there right away and then you have to bring the huge bag home...it's terrible!)

After having worked there for all of high school and most of college, (me and every other kid from Puyallup!) I don't think that I have the same love for the fair as most people. After a few hours I am ready to get out of there, but its always fun to go. Josh is so funny about it, he's very serious about his food, so he plots what he is going to eat before we get there. It is so funny, but to give him some credit, he did share well with me this year. Though I'm sure he was cringing on the inside every time I said, "I'll just have a bite of yours," he went along with it!

Noah Update

Noah in the Paint!

Noah is doing so much better and we are so thankful! He has had very few fits or even melt downs in the last five days. I think part of it was that it was just a phase and part of it is that he is understanding that it's not getting him anywhere. I felt like things were improving and I knew that the true test would be how he did at school.

Josh was able to come with us to check out the class. He was coaching a game in Walla Walla that day and they let him miss the whole day as the bus left so early. Noah got off to a great start and was going from station to station very well. Teacher Noel told Noah that there was paint in the other room and acting as if he understood he took off running. Before we could get in there Noah is covered in paint. He had so much fun with it. The other kids didn't want to get their hands dirty, but Noah sure didn't mind! Paint and glitter make me very nervous, so it was hard for me to sit there and let him get himself, his friends, and the whole room painty, but he was having so much fun that we just let him do what he wanted. His teacher is great and really encourages them to experiment, even at the expense of a huge mess.

It was fun for Noah to have his Daddy there with him and it was good for Josh to see first hand what Noah and I do at school. The first thing he said after we left was that this is really good for Noah. I couldn't agree more! It is such a neat group of kids and parents and it is really good for Noah to hear other people give him directions. He is also learning that he doesn't always get to do what he wants, when. We are so glad that he is making better choices, having fun, and learning a lot at school.

Our strong willed child

Noah has been wearing Josh and I out for the last couple of weeks, literally! He has never been the easiest baby, but this is new. He fights us, screams, and has been known to hit on occasion. I at first thought that he was defiant, but after giving it more thought I decided that he's strong willed. He doesn't have tantrums to upset us, but he doesn't hesitate to have a fit if we won't let him do something that he wants to do. For example I have been showing Noah how to sit in his chair the right way, but every time he tips it over and sits in it how he wants to...its driving me crazy! Noah's behavior has become my obsession in the past couple of weeks. I know that Josh, my Mom, my friend Amy (and everyone else I know!) has heard all about my "problem" and my new ideas for handling it (which change daily.)
I recently bought the book, "Love and Logic for Early Childhood." I love it! My Aunt Jane discovered it and told me that I needed to get it. She is reading the one for teenagers as my cousin Ally is 17. I asked Ally how it was working and she thought it was going pretty well! I have read so many parenting books and I feel like I finally found one that makes sense. It is so easy to implement and it trains kids to be independent decision makers. Schools more or less use this approach now, not always with the same name, but the same idea. The problem with this book and all of the others is that it does very little to address how to deal with behavior from someone as young as Noah. Love and Logic had the most info, but there still isn't a lot. When he starts to have a fit or throws things, etc. we pick him up and say, "that's so sad." We then hold him until the tantrum stops or we take away what he was throwing. He is such a fighter, but I think that he is starting to understand.
I am going to substitute teach, mostly for Josh, until the baby is born. He received a state grant to help him with his administrative internship that pays for him to have a sub. This will be just a couple of times a week. Noah went to a lady named Tanya last year who lives two minutes from the school and watches two of the other teachers kids. She loved him and he loved her and it was a great situation for everyone as she only had two other kids. He had his first day there last week and when I picked him up she informed me that he had been hitting a little girl that is exactly his age. The first thing I asked about was his nap schedule. He is really a two nap kind of kid. When he doesn't get them his behavior is not good (not that its ever good right now, but worse!) Getting two naps at Tanya's is not possible with her school pick up schedule. He just can't handle that environment right now. We called our baby-sitter Kaitlyn to see if she could watch him at our house and we were so happy to hear that she could. She is the best and Noah just loves her, so hopefully he will be on his best behavior so she doesn't quit!
I started worrying that we were sheltering Noah too much and that maybe he just needed to deal with it. The more I thought about it, the more I started to feel that we needed to set him up to be successful, especially because he is having such a hard time. Not getting enough naps and being out of his home environment all day is not setting him up to succeed right now.
We found a great pre-school and Noah had his first day last week. I am hoping that he will learn the necessary skills to play nicely there and to also learn that he doesn't always get to do what he wants, when he wants to do it. It's a co-op so I go with him and so I was able to see first hand what we were dealing with. He played very nicely with the other kids, but didn't like transitioning. When is was circle time and he still wanted to play with toys he started screaming and fighting me, I held on tight until he stopped. He then loved circle time and didn't want to go to a shaving cream station. This went on and on for each transition, but by the end the tantrums were much shorter. I hope he was realizing that they weren't getting him any where and that he wasn't going to win the battle.
You hear about these families where the kids are all so passive, we have some friends with kids like these. From the very beginning they sleep, eat, and behave well...and then there's Noah! He is the greatest baby ever, always giving kisses, and ready to play, but he is so strong willed. I know that this will be beneficial later in life as we hope he is as stubborn about making good life choices. But, for now, we are very tired and praying that this phase will go as quickly as it came on! I can't wait until he is older and can understand what the consequences are for his actions, I am also excited for things like time outs!

Fun in the Boat!

This last weekend my Mom came to visit and Noah and Jack were SO excited to have their Nana here. I told her that she can come any time because first of all, we love her, of course! And also because she cooks, cleans, and takes care of Noah and Jack, it's a great break for me! The first thing she does when she gets here is puts comet in the sink. I only use natural cleaning products and they don't bleach things clean the way comet does. Josh even will ask sometimes when she's coming because the sink could use some comet! I explain to him that the sink is very clean, but just not bleached...I've given up...I just let her comet away!

We did get out in the boat on Sunday. Josh has really been wanting to go for a while and we thought it might be our last chance for the year. We found a sandy spot on the River and stopped to let Jack play frisbee and for Noah to walk around. Right when we got out of the boat Noah was walking just in the water and got going way too fast. We were all making sure that Jack didn't go to far and then we heard Noah crying. We look down and he is face down floating in the water, with his life jacket on, thank goodness! He just cried for a few seconds and felt a lot better when he got warmed up, I guess the swim lessons are paying off! His clothes were so wet that he had to wear Nana's jacket the whole way back and it looked a lot more like a dress on him than a jacket.