4, once more

Noah had his 4 year old doctor visit this week. He was 40 inches tall (3 1/2 feet) and 39 lbs. 
He is still in the upper percentiles for weight which surprised me because he is so skinny these days (as you can see in the pool picture).

At age 4 Noah is very self sufficient. He has very few tantrums any more, he is a happy, thriving little boy. We are working on reading and currently have 4 early reading books that he can do almost on his own.  We are also re-purposing those annoying fridge magnets that Noah always shoved under the refrigerator.  We line them up and spell words and then make sentences with them.  Here is an example from the other day.  Noah can move his name and the right words to make a sentence about himself.  He loves to do this and would do it all the time. 



He is so (overly) loving and has to hug and squeeze every person and child he sees, sometimes to the point of knocking them over!  He is still completely animal focused and continues to collect the Schleich animals which he plays with constantly.  He really doesn't focus on almost anything else in his entire playroom.  Here is an every day picture of how we find random surfaces in our home...animals lined up in order, marching somewhere or in little caves with their animal families.

 

I'm so happy with who Noah is right now.  I always wanted a little boy who would be sensitive and sweet, caring and compassionate. Honestly, I was afraid to have a little boy... afraid that he would be a bully or super rough.  I know Noah is only 4 but his personality right now is exactly how I had hoped it would be!

Maeve, 11 months

NOOO!!!  Don't say that we only have one more month until our baby is a year old!  I am having a hard time believing that!

At 11 months, Maeve has become quite the pudgy little girl!  Despite her tiny beginnings, she is an eating machine.  Whenever Noah has any food at all, Maeve moans until she gets something as well.  We were on a walk and Noah had a lollipop and Maeve was able to continually pull it out of his mouth.  When I took it away from Noah she screamed bloody murder and we had to head home!  She is very demanding and knows exactly what she wants!  She has, however, turned a corner and her demeanor is much happier.  When she went through teeth and a cold over the last few months she was very grumpy and it seemed that it would last a long time.  We are so glad she is happy again.

Maeve is pulling up on everything and cruising (which Paul calls "shimmy-ing") along furniture.  She can stand briefly without help but collapses quickly. 

She is saying MaMa, Dada, Baba, and other variations of this sound.  She is an avid kisser and is constantly puckering her lips, it's sooo cute.  She squeals with delight and babbles a lot.

Her favorite thing right now is shoes.  Wherever you leave your shoes she will quickly come get them and clap them together.  She also enjoys keys and things she can bang together.  

She is in to absolutely everything and especially enjoys taking anything off of any table top or end table top.  She loves Noah's toys and destroys anything she can while looking in his direction with a grin.  It is really rather amusing for us to watch.

We are having so much fun with our little girl.  Her dimpled smile can melt your heart in an instant.  Her joy and love are so evident.  Life is slowly resuming to normal and we are so excited for what the future holds!!!!