Speaking of neglecting things...

I may have missed my opportunity to post this, since Noah's recent illness has led to major feeding regression, but check out Noah's newest skill:

He's not nearly the expert that he seems in this video. The most he's done at home at any one meal is 6 bites independently, and those require coaching. But we now know he can do it, so it's definitely something we'll be working on once I get him to eat again.

Busy

Noah has kept us occupied with numerous doctor's appointments, ER visits, and a slew of holiday engagements (I think he got invited to more parties than I did!). I didn't want to neglect to mention that we now have a NEW Teacher of the Deaf who actually has a clue about oral kids and cochlear implants. Unlike our old TOD I actually feel like she's interested in helping Noah to learn. I find that I don't really fit into any of the main philosophies regarding deaf kids so I never really totally agree with anybody, but I think she's a keeper.

How to drive a speech therapist crazy:

1. show that you comprehend a question but never actually get around to answering it

2. sprinkle in a few nonsense words

3. change the subject

Food

Yesterday Noah put a goldfish cracker in his mouth. Of course he took it out again without even attempting to chew or swallow it, but for a few seconds he had real food in his mouth. I never thought I'd see that happen!Of course only a few short hours later he was hysterical because someone tried to give him a wrapped candy cane. We'll get there someday. I hope.

Our feeding team is inspired to try new things so we've made some changes. Noah's Prevacid has been doubled from 15mg to 30mg and he now takes it in the morning instead of at night. The big difference that we've noticed so far is that now he throws up all over his bed each evening instead of his high chair or carseat in the morning. Anyone know why he might feel the need to vomit an entire meal approximately 12 hours after a dose of Prevacid?

We're also sampling EO 28 Splash in an effort to try Noah off of dairy. Thus far I've noticed a distinct lack of couching, retching, gagging, and congestion in my house. Lots of grimacing over the flavor, though, and a major increase in avoidance behaviors at meals. About the same amount of refluxing - that never changes. We still have 2 more flavors to try before the official test, so hopefully he'll fall in love with one of them.

If the increased Prevacid and/or the lack of dairy don't solve all of Noah's feeding issues, or next step will be to try Periactin. After that we may or may not try Neurontin. If that doesn't work I imagine they'll try to come up with this or that in an effort to look like they're doing something, but the fact that they've recently started to refering to "if" Noah eats real food as opposed to "when" makes me think there probably isn't a lot left to try. Not that it matters to me, really. I mean, pureeing food isn't all that much trouble. Id'd be nice if he'd feed himself, but we're actually making progress with that, so I don't imagine it'll be too many years. That'll be a day to celebrate!

Happy Halloween, a little late...

I was a little busy recovering from surgery 'round about Halloween time, so I didn't get to post any pictures of my handsome pirate. Better late than never...

We started our halloween celebration with Trunk or Treat at church. Noah really liked walking around with grandma and seeing all his friends in costume. He was also happy to say trick or treat to all the people, but when they tried to give him candy he politely said "No thank you" and placed it back in the bowl. At the end of the two hour party all of the other kids had full bags and Noah had two lollipops and a bag of fruit snacks.

At Noah's school Halloween party they practiced trick or treating and his teacher explained to him that you were supposed to take the candy, but that if he didn't want to eat it he could give it to mommy and daddy.

He thought this plan was the best of both worlds. He got to dress up and say "trick or treat" to lots of people, but the threat of candy was removed. He was very eager to go trick or treating with daddy that night and not at all happy to be done. Crazy kid!

Services

Today we had another eligibility meeting (in regards to PT/OT/Speech), and I'm happy to say that Noah qualifies for everything. Not everyone can say that their child gets OT, PT, Speech, Teacher of Vision, O& M Teacher, Teacher of the Deaf, and a one on one aid. I feel like I should be sending our neighbors thank you cards for paying their taxes or something.
At our meeting we also talked about assistive technology. They've ordered the Mangold Braille series and a Mountbatten Brailler for Noah, and we discussed many of the other options/ideas available. They wanted to give Noah one of those pager things that you get at a restaurant to hold in his lap at circle time or whenever so that they could page him when it was his turn to speak. I vetoed that idea. A little boy holding a lighted vibrating "toy" isn't going to eagerly listen while awaiting his turn, he's going to play with the toy. Silly people!
In Teacher of the Deaf news the school will be videotaping Noah and sending the tape to her so hopefully that'll help. I just don't see how it's possible to adequately serve a child who you've never met at all, let alone seen in a classroom setting. I'm definitely going to be pushing for some new or different services at our next IEP. It's just not working for me. (Although I'd be willing to stand corrected if this video tape thing works...)

School

School is still a challenge. If it's not one thing, it's another. We're still not receiving the services that are on the IEP, and Noah is really struggling because of it. Noah is growing more and more frustrated at the work that they expect him to do: work that involves multistep directions that he doesn't understand, fine motor tasks that he can't yet do, and touching of items that are aversive to him. Noah does need to be pushed to experience things that he's not yet comfortable with, but if he's pushed too far things'll get worse instead of better. I just don't know what to do, and I'm weary of the battle. I know I just had a vacation, but I'm ready for another one.

P.S. I know that picture and this post are completely unrelated, but isn't it cute?

Preschool Logic

Noah was walking around with a bubble wand around his nose. When I asked him what he was doing he said, "I'm blowing my nose."

What Noah's NOT learning at school...

Noah understands that letters make sounds. He can usually tell you what letter sound a word starts with fairly accurately. Sure, he thinks that gym starts with a "j" and cracker ("cwacker") starts with a "q", but he's only 3! Noah also understands that you put letters together to make up words. I'm constantly finding things like this on my refrigerator.

Unfortunately he hasn't learned what letters go together to make up words yet. He sure likes to practice, though! There's a future spelling bee champ in there somewhere.

Crazy

I'm going to see the surgeon tomorrow and I'm quite anxious. Not about the surgery appointment - it really is a relatively minor procedure if I do end up needing it. Nope, I'm anxious about about the place.
When I was 24 weeks pregnant I got the "flu" or so the on call OB assured me (who gets the flu in May?). After 2 days of dealing with the "flu" with almost constant pain, headaches and vomiting I went to camp out at the OBs office to get some answers. While when I first arrived they assured me that I indeed had the flu, a urine sample and a BP check later I was in L&D triage getting labs drawn and meeting with the perinatalogist.
The first time I went back for my yearly GYN appontment they put me in the same room where I went that day and by the time the doctor arrived I was a sobbing fool. The nurse thought I was crazy, but the doctor understood and just patted my knee soothingly until I calmed down. I was sooo happy when the practice finally moved to a much needed larger space - in another building.
Since that time I've done my best to avoid that building. I have my lab work done at the office on the far side of town rather that set foot in that building and deal with the memories. Too bad the only surgeon that my doctor recommends is in that same place...
One of these days I'll deal with my emotional issues surrounding Noah's birth. Years from now I'll look back and laugh and that awful feeling that I get in the pit of my stomach every time the phone rings, and maybe someday I'll stop running in alarm to his room whenever he sleeps later than I expect. For now I guess I'll just be grateful that I have a wonderful husband who answers the phone, checks that Noah is breathing before he leaves for work, and goes with me to appointments in that dreaded place. I might be crazy, but at least I'm loved.

Updates

1. Noah no longer cries all day at school. He still cries if we leave him at church, but since he's moved up to the 3s and there's a new batch of nursery workers we've been staying with him each week to train them on the CI, what he can/can't see, etc.

2. Either Noah is super smart or his teacher is amazing. Probably both. He's currently a calendar expert and quite the meteorologist. The other day he was at the playground and the sun was glaring down at him. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, I need a cloud."

3. Pulmocort does make Noah vomit more than normal. Flovent doesn't. We really like Flovent.

4. Everyone at school has been absolutely wonderful, and for that we are so grateful. Unfortunately the HI teacher has yet to show up at school. I'm sure she'll be great too, if we ever see her. I'm going through appropriate channels and trying to be assertive but not nasty. We'll see how long that lasts.

5. Noah thinks our house in a jungle gym and is currently scaling the entertainment center in search of an elusive movie case that he thinks I've hidden on top. I actually have it with me, but that probably won't keep him from breaking his neck.

Happy Due Day, Noah!

Three years ago today I baked a cake, stuck a "zero" candle on top, and shared it with all the other families at the Ronald McDonald House.
Noah celebrated the day by getting pulmonary hypertension and being revented.
I hate it when people tell me that God doesn't give you more than you can handle. He sure gave me more than my share! I've had my bitter days, but over time I've come to realize that He gave me more than I can handle for good reason. I'm one of those people who likes to handle everything myself. Since I'm in over my head I have to rely on Him.
Life would sure be different if Noah had been born today, but I'm not so sure it would be better.
Happy Unbirthday, sweet boy!

Mr. Cane

Noah has a new best friend. His name is Mr. Cane.



Noah and Mr. Cane have been together for 3 days and already Noah can hold Mr. Cane on his own. Sometimes Mr. Cane gets stuck on something and ends up behind Noah and then he gets confused but we're working on it. Noah also doesn't tap much, but Miss Karen says Noah probably won't be a tapper since he has some vision. Mr. Cane will mainly help him with depth perception and identify him as visually impaired so he doesn't get beat up if he runs into someone.

Noah really likes Mr. Cane. Today when we were leaving school Mr. Cane made a loud noise when he hit the metal doorframe by the step to outside. Noah looked at Mr. Cane, said "It's a step." and walked down with no prompting. Thanks for your help, Mr. Cane. Mommy feels much better knowing that you'll be with Noah when she's not there.

Why I'm Stressed

1. Noah cries all day at school and anytime at home that he thinks about school.
2. Noah's stress is making his eating a challenge again.
3. The word church makes Noah start sobbing.
4. I will probably be needing surgery sometime in the next few months.
5. As far as I can tell they don't make large print preschool Sunday School materials.
6. Whenever we're in the car Noah cries and begs us not to take him to school/church.
7. Pulmocort apparently makes Noah's reflux worse.
8. Noah has a new AV therapist and his AVT center just moved to a new building. The only reason this hasn't led to sobbing is that he doesn't know yet.

Deaf-blind is not the same as stupid

For a very long time I wouldn't tell people that Noah was deaf-blind. It was like I could handle each of his issues separately but together they were too much. As I got more used to the idea, I was shocked that most people didn't believe me. I got comments like, "He can't be deaf, he speaks." or "If he's blind why is he reading a book?". Most recently it's Noah's academic abilities that cause people to question our wonderful doctors' diagnoses. Apparently deaf-blind preschoolers aren't allowed to know their ABCs, the days of the week, or the difference between a pentagon and an octagon. If they do know those things, obviously they can see/hear just fine.
Newsflash: Noah has some vision and a cochlear implant. Those things really help. And as for the days of the week, I have to blame Rachel Coleman and her catchy songs. I never even tried to teach him that, he just knew it one day.

Normal

If it's so normal, why is Noah the only one screaming and vomiting all day long at school?

First Day Activities

1. cry
2. walk the halls with your one on one aid
3. cry
4. ask for Mommy a lot
5. cry
6. have a productive 30 minutes of O&M Training walking around the parking lot looking at the different colored cars
7. cry
8. vomit
9. cry
10. refuse to eat lunch
11. cry
12. fall asleep 15 minutes before Mommy comes

First Day Pictures

Transitions

"Will there be shapes to play with at school?"
"I want to read a book at school today."
That was what Noah said to me as he was eating breakfast.

"I'm ready!"
That was what Noah said to his teacher when he got to the classroom this morning.

...And then he realized that Mommy wasn't staying.

We'd been trying to explain for weeks that Mommy would go home and Noah would stay at school, but he just couldn't fathom why I wouldn't want to be at a place as great as school.

When I was walking out of the building I saw him walking down the hall with his one on one, wailing and screaming to anyone who would listen, "I want Mommy to go to school too!"

It's Official!

After jumping through many more hoops than is really necessary, Noah is finally completely registered for school. I've met his one-on-one aid, seen his classroom, and have an invitation to the open house. I've made nice with the principal, the secretary, and the classroom teacher. Everything's ready to go, except Noah. He's in a tizzy about all our recent routine changes and cries hysterically if I'm more than 3 feet away from him outside of our house. I'm trying to tell myself that he'll adjust, but I'm not so sure I believe it. I may end up going to preschool too.

Proud

Today Noah said thank you without prompting when given a gift.
Just a moment ago he came up to me and said "Excuse me, Mommy. Could I watch the Wiggles please?"
If I don't get anything else right, at least I've managed to teach him to be polite.

A Week In Pictures...

...and a movie.

Thank goodness for spare parts!

Thirteen days after breaking his first pair of glasses Noah broke his second. He fell face first off of a bench at the zoo. It was fortunate that the glasses took the brunt of the damage (as opposed to his face). Not only that but the part he broke was not the part he broke the last time so we were able to scavange from the broken pair. Unfortunately he threw a tantrum bigger than any I'd seen from him when we took his broken glasses away from him. He kept screaming "I want to go to the glasses doctor!" over and over again. We ended up buying a back up pair so that we won't have to deal with that anymore. Now Noah has two pairs of glasses to break!

A New Milestone

The other day at speech therapy Noah said, "I want the bears." In and of itself it's not a particularly amazing sentence for Noah, but considering that the jar of bears were about 6 feet away on a shelf it was pretty impressive, vision-wise. Not only that, but when the therapist said "What bears?" he showed off his newest developmental milestone, pointing.

I'm sure pointing is supposed to occur at a year old or so, but it's one of those milestones that Noah never really hit. Eventually our OT got Noah to point at big defined pictures in a book and declared it met, but he was never able to point at things that he couldn't touch (because if he couldn't touch it he couldn't see it). Hooray for glasses!

Signing Time

When Noah was younger I got an e-mail from the local children's museum saying that Rachel Coleman from Signing Time would be coming to do a show. Noah wasn't yet signing (or speaking) but he loved to watch the Signing Time DVDs. I really wanted to take him but it was still cold and flu season, the flu was really bad in our area, and we were on lockdown. Fortunately, we have a second chance.

The best part is that the proceeds go to benefit an organization for families of deaf-blind kids like Noah. So if anyone is going to be in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area on August 12 come check out a fun event and support a great cause.

29 days

That's how long Noah's glasses frames lasted before he broke them for good. The first two times they were able to repair them, but this time there was no hope. I'm really glad we went with the optometrist with the best replacement warranty. I have a feeling it's going to get expensive after a while. Here's hoping frame #2 lasts a bit longer than #1!

Milk... It does a body good!

At 3 years and 1 months:
your child is 29.5 pounds, and that is at the 22nd percentile for weight.
your child is 35.5 inches, and that is at the 6th percentile for height.

For a few minutes I'm going to ignore the research that says not growing between 0-2 and then growing like a weed is bad and be happy for my big, healthy boy.

Happy Independence Day!

In honor of our country's independence, Noah decided July 4th was a good day not to vomit. There have been quite a few days lately where he hasn't vomited throughout the day, but bedtime Prevacid tends to bring up anything not digested yet. Yesterday he got his Prevacid as we were setting up for fireworks. A new strategy? I'm not sure evening fireworks is a practical bedtime routine, but whatever works!

Days in 2008 so far: 187
Vomit free days: 1

If he doesn't vomit from now until next year, almost half of 2008 will be vomit free! A girl can hope, right?

News Flash

1. Twenty-four weekers don't "catch up".

2. Even if 24 weekers did "catch up", looking cute in a picture would not indicate one way or another whether that had occured.

3, Even if 24 weekers did "catch up", they would only catch up to the level of a child at their age with their same disabilities.

To set the record straight in case anyone is confused:

1. Noah is not a "normal" 3 year old.

2. He will never be "normal".

3. He's doing pretty darn good for a deaf-blind 24 week preemie who spent 7 months in the hospital, eats a pureed diet, spins in circles when overstimulated, and vomits regularly. We're ok with that.

5. Telling us that he's all caught up is not going to make us feel better about our life and it might make us really annoyed.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

Just a little bit of bragging...

Noah's CI has been activated for just over a year now, so his AVT therapist has been doing all sorts of assessments to see how much progress he's made. One of the assessment had a list of auditory benchmarks that kids with CIs should have after 1, 2, 3, or 4 years of AV Therapy.
Noah doesn't do some of the 1st year things - he's never been interested in imitating sounds in isolation, and as our audiologist will tell you, he's become quite good at not making any visible response when he hears sound. Fortunately his language skills make it clear that he can actually hear the Ling 6, even if he won't repeat them or drop a block in a bucket. What surprised me was the things he was doing that aren't in the first year's expectations. He has met all of the year 2 and 3 goals and about half of the ones for year 4. Apparently retelling an entire story from memory is a 4th year goal - who knew!
I really am amazed and proud at how Noah has taken off with his CI. Noah's speech is not just age appropriate for his actual age, it's advanced. And he's only been hearing since March of last year! He is picking up language incidentally as well, if not better, than his hearing peers. Wow! In light of this new information, we're starting to phase out AV Therapy. We'll be switching from weekly to every other week starting in July. There's a lot of important language development that happens in the next few years and we don't want Noah to get behind but at this point he doesn't need teaching so much as monitoring. Way to go, Noah!

If only he would learn how to eat...

Oh where is my baby?

This has been a busy weekend. Noah has a new baby cousin as of this morning, and yesterday he got his new glasses. As is only right, Noah celebrates with a song...

I did it!

We finally made our reservation for the deaf-blind conference this summer and I'm so excited. Check it out!

http://www.vcu.edu/partnership/pathways/

Oceanfront hotel in Virginia Beach... Rachel Coleman and Josh Swiller as keynotes... No vomit or feeding protocol for 3 days (thanks to Grandma's babysitting)... Sometimes theres an up-side to having a disabled child! Brian and I are very excited for some much needed time away. I'm also looking forward to meeting other parents of dual sensory impaired children. Not to mention cable TV, room service, and someone else to make the bed.

My Deaf Weekend

Other than occasional times when Noah will notice an ASL conversation nearby or someone sees Noah's CI and approaches me, I don't pay particular attention to the hearing status of the people around me. This weekend was different.
On Friday Noah and I were at the mall when a man came up to us and shoved a paper in my hand. It said something like "I'm Deaf and I support myself by selling these ASL fingerspelling cards. Please give as much money as you can." I make it a rule not to hand out money to strangers unless I know what it'll be used for so I didn't buy his paper but it led to an interesting conversation. He eventually noticed that Noah responded to my signs close to Noah's face and not his 4-6 feet away. When he realized that Noah was deaf-blind he went away feeling sorry for him. I was struck that the seemingly intelligent and mentally stable adult supporting himself by begging for sales at the mall deserved more pity than my son. I don't know what Noah will accomplish, but it certainly won't be that.
Today we spent part of the afternoon at Noah's favorite place: King's Dominion (or as he calls it "Queen Dominion"). The difference today was that it was Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Day. I was certainly aware of a lot of people that were using ASL, although I was disappointed that there weren't any other CI users (that I saw) or any information about oral language or CIs at the information tables set up. Maybe they should call it Deaf Cultural Awareness Day instead? I was afraid that Noah might be harassed by someone who is anti-CI (surely there was one person there somewhere!) but he was nice enough to cover himself from head to toe in vomit shortly after we arrived and overconfident mommy didn't bring an extra harness so he was CI free for most of our time. He switched easily to ASL, though (I assume because there were so many other people using it), so it didn't have a negative impact on his day. I had wanted to go to one of the interpreted show performances, but a rather nasty thunderstorm found us huddling in the build-a-bear store and we were about done for the day after that.
I'm intruiged by deaf adults. I try not to stare, but I'm sure sometimes I do - I want to take in as much as I can. We get a lot of stares too, and I don't mind. I know everyone's just jealous that I have the cutest sweetest 3 year old ever.

Noah's 3!

No nebs!

Today we went to a pulmo appointment and the verdict is:

No more nebulizer treatments until September!

In spite of the fact that Noah was hit hard by the flu, he didn't need steroids or need to be hospitalized so I guess that's considered a good outcome. Mollie said that based on his history he's doing much better at (almost) 3 then she could've predicted. We'll go back on .25 of Pulmocort once a day in September to strengthen his lungs for preschool germs. In the meantime hopefully Noah can learn to fall asleep without his nightly nebulizer - that would be a huge step for us.

Bedtime Prayers

Sorry this is so dark. It's too sweet not to post!

Noah: I want to say the prayer.
Daddy: Yeah, say the prayer. Ok.
Noah: Now I lay me down to sleep.
…
Now I lay me down to sleep.
This one.
…
Now I lay me down to sleep.
I do this one?
…
Now I lay me down to sleep-away.
Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord. Lord my soul to keep. Thank you God for Mommy and Daddy. Amen.

Burning the Midnight Oil

It's almost midnight. Is your 2 year old still awake?

Mine is.

He went to bed at a really nice time but had a huge vomit in his sleep at 9:30. This involved changing his bed, cleaning the floor, giving another bath, and refeeding dinner, all while he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Noah always falls asleep to his Xoponex but since he didn't need another dose we tried a saline neb. It didn't work. We're still up and he's not acting remotely tired.

Too bad crying-it-out would lead to a repeat of the 9:30 vomit or else I would seriously consider changing my parenting views.

Potty Training

The good news:

• Noah knows when he is going and has a very predictable peeing/pooping schedule
• he doesn't mind sitting on the potty chair a million times a day to "try"

The bad news:

• the predictable schedule involves him going 10 minutes after every meal
• peeing outside of a diaper makes Noah vomit (especially if it lands on his feet)

The conclusion:

• Mommy's not ready for potty training. Ask me again in a year or two.

So Sad

Noah's CI battery died today while we were out of the house. Normally we have a back-up with us, but I forgot this time. He's such a different child without his CI - it makes me sad.
He didn't talk.
Didn't sign.
Didn't smile.
Didn't interact.
We tried to interact with him. He knows a lot of signs now if you do them close to his face so he can see.
He just moped.
When we got home we got him a fresh battery and he went back to singing and smiling and non-stop talking/signing. It's days like today that make me realize the CI was the right choice.

What do people do with themselves?

Free time? What's that?

I haven't had any free time since May 2005 when they stuck my in a hospital bed, hooked me up to the mag, and told me to lay on my left side and not move. Ok, I guess technically that was free time. But I wasn't allowed TV, the phone, visitors, or sitting up, and the triple vision from the mag didn't help if I tried to read a book so it wasn't exactly relaxing.

Recently, (think: yesterday) we received notice that Noah's Medicaid has been reinstated. Wahoo!! We got in through a waiver program for disabled people. In addition to Medicaid we've also qualified for at least 10 hours a week of attendant care for Noah and 720 hours of respite a year to be used however we like. I really can't remember what one does with free time. Grocery shopping? Cutting the lawn? I used to have free time, I know I did. It's just been too long...

Any ideas?

What's the point?

Our OT that we've had since NICU discharge is out on maternity leave (she was due Monday, but no baby yet!). Today we had our first of 3 appointments with our new OT. Only 3? Yup - Noah transitions out of EI next month. I question whether Noah will actually get any benefit of his 3 OT appointments. I mean, he likes the new OT but she doesn't know him.
Today she wanted to work on "proprioceptive" activities. All well and good, until she wants me to squish him with pillows. Ummmm... yeah. Do you want to see what he had for lunch today? And then when he gagged because the piece of playdough he was rolling picked up a cat hair (thus changing the texture) she wondered aloud how it was possible that a kid could be both sensory seeking and sensory aversive. I don't know. He just is. Beverly understood.
Why am I doing this again?!Maybe I should be like Kathie Snow and just cancel all the therapy. Or maybe my therapists shouldn't get pregnant so as to take maternity leave right before my son transitions (Are you listening, Beverly?). That's the ideal solution, really. Oh, and they shouldn't move to Austria, either (I'm talking to you, Jamie Sue!). Seriously - you'd think Noah would be more of a priority in their lives.

I know it must be almost May because...

I've started making nasty comments about women and their cute little take home babies.*

I keep pulling out all the NICU pictures and:

1. falling in love all over again
2. marveling that the OG tube was so close to the size of his fingers and the leads covered almost his whole chest
3. crying

I alternate between telling myself that it wasn't that bad/was worth it and wondering what I did to deserve the hell that we've been through.

Has it really been almost three years?

* To all of my friends who have recently had full term babies or are planning on it in the next month I promise to be happy for you starting sometime in June.

Pretty in Pink

If you take you son with GERD with you to babysit your friend's two daughters and it's his first night with a new form of one of his reflux medications, neglecting to bring a second pair of PJs is a bad idea.

But if you do forget to bring a second pair of PJs make sure you get pictures of him wearing the pink rocking horse PJs that you had to borrow from your friend. It'll be even funnier later than it is now.

P.S. Here's a more manly image to even things out.

Spring is here and we've been busy. Visits from 2 grandmas, a grandpa and an uncle and spending time with his favorite great-grandma has kept Noah quite occupied. Here are some other recent Noah activities...

1. Stealing Daddy's socks: No laundry is safe if Noah is around.

2. Checking out his shadow: I think the groundhog was right!

3. Composing: It's easier to push more than one key if you use your feet.

4. Visiting our favorite emu.

5. Licking statues: He won't put food in his mouth, but has no problem with a statue that has been touched by hundreds of people. Maybe I should put food on the statues - that would keep him from licking them!

No wonder I've been too busy to blog!

We're not dead...

Just really busy! Noah's grandparents and uncle came to visit from NY, and now Noah's other grandma is here visiting from MA. After Tuesday life should start to go back to normal...

Easter Pictures

Last year there were no Easter pictures. The year before last there was a picture of Noah in his baby carrier covered in burp cloths. The Easter outfit made it to church but no pictures exist. This year I was determined to get pictures - and I did. Noah didn't exactly cooperate, though.

The black eye didn't help, nor did the fact that we got him up at 6 am to go to the sunrise service at church (daddy had to sing). At least there are pictures this year, though. Maybe next year my goal can be good pictures.