Our Boy - 19 Months

In my all encompassing preparation for Dan's deployment, I have failed to provide satisfactory updates on the love of our life: Noah! He's still here, thriving and excelling in everything (yes, I am biased) he does. Even to how he throws the football, he's extraordinary.

There's not an hour that goes by in the day that I don't nuzzle his sweet neck and tell him that he's the absolute reason I was placed on this earth. That boy has my heart 100%.

He's always been a verbal kid. Since 8 or so months, he's been just babbling and having his own conversations. But these days, it is so fun to hear him putting sentences together. He LOVES to listen for and watch the massive B-52s that fly over our house right before they land on base and he points to his ears and says "I hear paaanes."
And he's beginning his potty training and wants to go in the "poddy" just like "Melmo" (Elmo). He will run into the bathroom and just thrust his hips toward the potty and say "tee-tee, potty Mommy." Hilarious! I expect that it will take a bit longer to potty train him because he's a boy... and boys are just slower! But, we are slowly working on it. He will even stand up in his crib after a nap or in the morning and just yell at the top of his lungs "I wet Mommy" or "Poo-poo Mommy" so I know what I am walking into when I go get him out of his bed. And if there's a stinky when you change him, he makes sure to fan his nose and go "sheeewww!" He's learning quickly. He's also the most immodest little tyke I know. This past weekend when 22 month old Allie was here, they were getting ready for their bath together. Once naked, Noah walked up to her and grabbed (with BOTH hands!) her chest and yelled "Boobies!" WHERE DID HE LEARN THAT?! Not me! Man, we got a womanizer on our hands I think.
He's going to Mother's Day Out twice a week and it is a blessing for me. I need the time to myself to clean our house, work on my poli/sci course I am teaching and just have some quiet time with the Lord. It has been so incredible to me to be able to leave him in a safe, fun, and happy place for 5 hours twice a week and come home to absolute quiet. It is worth every penny to us for me to have that freedom. And our next door neighbor is his "teacher!"

Noah is SUCH a daddy's boy. I am not kidding: he sits by the door at the end of the day and waits on "Dallee." He and his "Papur" (Piper) wait with baited breath for Daddy to come home. It is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time knowing what is ahead of us and how hard this separation will be for Noah to understand.

He is all boy: he loves his tricycle, busses, trucks, cars, sharp objects, running around in only a diaper, playing in the mud, tearing heads off of dolls... All boy! He LOVES, LOVES to watch football with his Daddy too. Yesterday, he woke up from his nap an hour early to come back out and park it in the recliner with Dan for the rest of the afternoon watching Sunday afternoon football. I was in heaven having him so endlessly preoccupied. He called "chee-down" the whole game (for "touchdown"). It was hilarious.
Noah requires a haircut every 2 weeks. Otherwise, it becomes a curly, mullett mess! His hair grows like a weed - it is soooo thick and soooo long if left to grow for too long. People always think he's older than he is because of the amount of hair that he has.

He's a talker. Favorite words and sentences these days:

- Bus! - he screams it out randomly because he's so obsessed with school busses
- Come on, Papur - Piper gets bossed around constantly
- Cheeee toast - he's in love with cheese toast and that is one of the things he yells out when he's hungry
- Coooookie! - he sounds just like the Cookie Monster when he says it, too
- I.... Yuv..... Eww! - he tells me that constantly
- Jan-Jan/Graddy/Keddy/Dallee/MaMa/Babee - better believe he will point to a photo and can recognize any of these people. He's in love with his Jan-Jan and Graddy (my parents) and Aunt Keddy is his favorite playmate - he literally becomes her parrott and will repeat and do whatever it is she asks him to do or say! Dangerous :)
We are learning our colors (red and blue are the primary ones he recognizes right now), ABCs and he's also counting to 5. However, when I count because he's in trouble and I am doing the "1... 2.... 3...." he just doubles over in laughter and starts counting to 3 on his own! He hasn't yet gotten that it means he's in trouble.

He drinks out of regular cups mostly (there are only 2 sippies he has ever taken to) but sometimes will ask for a "baaahhh" (bottle) and since we have put him through so much in the past months and now his daddy is leaving, I indulge him. So, if you ever see him with a bottle in a photo, it isn't that we haven't weaned him, it is just that we allow him to have the bottle as a comfort item from time to time.

Noah's favorite foods are brocolli and cheese, chicken, cheese toast, popsicles (any kinds... mostly ice cream sandwiches though), cheese, "manas" (bananas) and frozen blueberries. He also starts each day with a sippy cup of milk and a Danimal smoothie... yumm! He loathes anything tomato based so spaghetti and pizza are out of the question. Go figure - pizza's my favorite food! Noah's a very healthy eater and I am grateful.

The best is that he now tells me when he's ready for a nap or bed. He will come up to me, tap my arm or lay his head on my leg and say "night night, Mommy" so I know it is time to go lay my boy down. What a blessing! Naps and bedtime are not confrontational in this home! He's still taking 2 (and sometimes 3) naps a day. They are usually an hour each - maybe a bit more - but he's sleeping 13 hours straight each night. He's a sleeping fool and you know when he's overtired because he becomes as defiant as the day is long! Not fun.

Noah Beall is such a blessing. He is the most delightful little man and we are falling more and more in love with him as the days pass. Knowing that God deemed us worthy of being called his parents overwhelms us constantly. Every night, I ask Dan what Noah's doing (once we have put him to bed). And every night his answer's the same: "He's being beautiful." Dan's given me that answer since the day he was born because we really just rejoice in every little thing about him - our favorite thing to do is go in once he's asleep for the night and just watch him breathe. We love seeing what new sleeping position he's maneuvered himself into or how his arms are thrown over his head or the expressions he has on his face as he dreams.

We are so happy to be a little family and to watch our perfectly healthy boy grow day by day. And these final weeks together are the most precious. We are doing fun things as a family like taking Noah to Disney movies or to the petting zoo and we are going to New Orleans this next weekend to spend 3-4 days down there hanging out... just the three of us. It is impossible to remember our lives without that red-headed wonder!