2 1/2

It has been a long time since I've done a post about Noah, probably since his 2 year old birthday.  I feel like so much has happened and changed since then that I want to record some of it here so that I don't forget all these little things.  He's growing up so fast.

Since he turned 2 in October we have put Noah through a lot of changes.  We transitioned him to a big boy (twin) bed (and out of the crib) in January.  It was as smooth as it could have possibly been.  He continues to blow me away with how flexible and adaptable he has always been on things like this.

Around January we also started potty training, and now have him solely in big boy underpants except for when he's sleeping.  Not sure when I'll work on taking away the diapers for sleeping, but probably not for a while.  He rarely ever has any accidents, and has just started transitioning from his little kid potty to using the big potty as of this week.

We think Noah understands that a lot is going to change as of tomorrow, and that he will have a little brother, but as of now he's in denial/ avoidance mode.

He is such a good communicator, it blows us away.  He forms and spouts of sentences on his own and almost never stops talking, at least when it's just our family, he's a little more shy in public.

He knows all of the basics... the alphabet, can count to somewhere in the teens, shapes, colors, animals, etc.

He is amazingly good at puzzles... a few weeks ago we gave him a 100 piece/ 5 year old and up puzzle, and he has been able to complete it by himself on several occasions.

He is all boy, and all energy.  Constantly running, jumping, and wanting to hit everything with a stick.  He wants to squish bugs, and play in the dirt.  He loves trucks and announces every truck that he sees... he knows all the varieties from tankers, to cement, to flat bed, to mack, to bank and UPS trucks.

He is such a sensitive, discerning little boy.  He cares about people's feelings and emotions and frequently asks us if we're happy or sad, or why we are happy or sad.  He does the same for most people and animals in books.

He LOVES to be the center of attention and have all eyes in the room on him.  He is definitely an extrovert, and would definitely rather have people around than play by himself.

He's still a pretty picky eater... not eating much protein, maybe a few bites of turkey burger, or slices of turkey pepperoni here and there.  He'll eat a few veggies... mainly raw carrots (sometimes dipped in hummus), cucumber slices with salt on them, and steamed broccoli.  He loves most fruits.  Carbohydrate snack foods, pb&j, and grilled cheese are his definite favorites.  And he loves our weekly family trips for frozen yogurt... his specialty being strawberry and chocolate frozen yogurt with m&m's, strawberries, and cherries.

He watches a show before bed every evening, and when he wakes up in the morning, since we don't have tv he's limited to a laptop and netflix for this.  His current faves are Go Diego Go, and Guess with Jess.  He's a very sensitive little boy and doesn't like any show that has any kind of villain in it, which excludes most Disney stuff, and even Veggie Tales.

He is a fairly big kid, in the 80-90% for everything from weight, height, and head size.  Most people who don't know him think he is 4 years old (or older) because he is so big, and so communicative.  Neither Jeremy nor I are tall people, so he must get this from some of his aunts and uncles.  He's already wearing 4T clothes, and doesn't give any indications of slowing down in growth.

I love this little boy and the excitement and energy that he has.  Every day is an adventure around here.  I'm so thankful to get to learn from him, and shape him into the man that he is quickly becoming.