the no begins

noah has primarily been a yes man. yes seemed to be the answer to every question, very enthusiastic, head nodding...the cutest thing ever. well, we have turned the corner now and now he has figured out no. he doesn't say it, but he's shaking his head. at first we would get very confused since he would shake his head and say yes when answering a question. but now, it is cute in a way since he is very clear what he wants and doesn't want. his "ESSS!!" has even turned into "YAAA" which is kinda funny.

his language explosion has been taken to a new level lately as well. its fun when you ask him, "noah, can you say tractor?" and he actually makes a good first attempt at a word that sorta sounds like tractor. we have had good luck with this game and its amazing what he's able to put together. i sorta doubt he knows what he's saying, but he's trying!! his signs are amazing too. all you have to do is sign something ONCE, and he's figured it out and will remember it. Cracker, help, tree, airplane, and balloon are his new favorite signs.

noah also really enjoys playing with the kitties. he found a few of their toys and has been pulling them around the house for them to chase. i think all 3 of them get a huge kick out of it. and today when we were at the pet store, we bought a new toy and everyone was having fun playing with the feathers. good times.

one of his other favorite games to play these days is making towers out of the big lego-ish blocks. but the best part is that he will only put blocks together that are of the same shape. like, all the squares go to together. all of the long rectangles go together and all of the short rectangles go together. he's definately into sorting since neighbor becky says that he sorts the blocks at their house by color.

i also really like how he has started referring to himself. i know this is a big developmental milestone, but now when he wants to do something he'll point to himself and then say or sign what he wants to do. and he'll even point to us if he wants us to come with him. sometimes he can be quite demanding. this evening it was a series of pointing. first to himself, then to daddy, then to mama, then to the floor next to him and then he said "bock" (block) i really feel that he is able to understand pretty much everything we say, so be warned.

but, noah is such a little lovebug. he has gotten SO good at giving hugs and kisses. it is the sweetest thing ever. he also has fallen for the let mama kiss it to make it feel better trick many times. he'll even kiss things to make it feel better. like when daddy scratched his knee on the bricks or even kissed his own knee after he fell down.

so noah's really gotten into his bedtime routine. he seems to really enjoy it, in particular story time and massage time. he gets so animated with his books and loves it when pete gets "whirled and twirled in the air." so much fun. noah LOVES to have his face massaged. he keeps asking for more and more and more. he gets SO relaxed that he sometimes practically falls asleep when i'm doing that. its amazing. the only trouble we've had at bedtime lately is the toothbrushing experience. it has become a bit of a struggle. although, we've had recent success with noah brushing mama's teeth and mama brushing noah's teeth. scott got a decent picture of this ordeal and you can even see how short my hair is now. (don't mind the hat hair though, we were outside all day...it really curls a lot now)
well, that's all. i suppose i should be practicing my defense talk instead of writing blogs or downloading pictures. ack!!