Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

I wouldn't want to run into this guy in a dark alley!

This is the face Noah often sports when crawling around these days. To sweeten the deal, there is a pleasant snorting sound that accompanies the "evil eye." Although contrary to appearances, he is actually quite happy when making the face. After accepting the fact that he is not suffering from great pain, it is a pretty amusing sight to see this innocent baby crawling towards you, snorting and grimacing all the while!

This face is reminiscent of Big Brother's squishy face phase.

Owen 13 months old

Oh, here's the face I know and love. He's not so scary!

Learning Fun

We at The House of Halpin are busy learning letter sounds and number recognition. We have some tried and true methods that have served us well (ABC puzzles, LeapFrog letter bus, ABC blocks, counting books galore, etc), but at times we need to mix it up a bit, throw out something new to make the learning fun again. Thus, armed with sidewalk chalk, smiles, and our thinking caps, the O and I headed outside this morning.

Step 1:

Create the learning environment.

Owie and I drew and colored many letters and numbers randomly all over the sidewalk.

Step 2:

Let the games begin!

"Stand on the letter that makes a 't-t-t' sound!" I would shout out. O would jump on the T. "Find the number 4!" O would run to the 4, and then we would draw 4 things beside it. "Which letter does nest begin with? N-n-nest." That type was tricky and a bit over his head still, but he is learning more every day.

We had so much fun! It was great to have an active learning method, both to run off some steam and to mix up our way of learning a bit.

Ocho

My tiniest son is 8 months old!

Weight:HEAVY

Length: LONG

We don't go back to the doctor until 9 months, but I think Noah is excelling in the growth department. He is big and beautiful! He has outgrown all his summer clothes and is now wearing what O wore last summer, mostly 12-18 months!

On his eight month birthday, Noah officially became a "crawler." He had been taking 3-4 crawling "steps" for quite awhile, but he still remained in the general vicinity of where I placed him. No more! Although still a bit poky (I can almost see him thinking through the process: right arm, left leg, left arm, right leg...chugging right along), he now crawls throughout the house wherever he pleases. And being the social guy that he is, he likes to be in the middle of any action that might be going on. Now that Scooter can get around a bit better, he is so much more content to play on the floor with a basket of toys. His becoming mobile has made a world of difference in our playtime!


Found: Noah's voice
Noah vocalizes, very loudly! His coos have passed into the realm of babbles. I love it!
Yayayaya.
Dadadada.
O tries to make words out of the babbles and gets so thrilled with Noah's progress.
"No-nos say Dada, Mommy! Yay, No-nos!"
"Noah say Yaya (my Mom's grandma name), Mommy! Noah say it!"
My absolute favorite thing about this past month is the spontaneous laughter. Noah cracks up at Owen while he is playing or singing or jumping around. He no longer needs to be tickled or jostled to provoke laughter. He laughs of his own free will when he finds something funny. And born is Noah's tiny sense of humor.
Usually more of a flirt, Noah does have a serious side...when his smiley muscles tire out...or when Mommy leaves the room...or if someone other than Mommy is holding him. (He is a definite Mama's Boy, not that I mind at all!)

Noah is extremely passionate about his food and drink. As you can see by this photo, even toys are relished with zeal! One of Mommy's plain old water bottles is enough to throw Noah into a fit of delight. Scooter's favorite food these days is banana mixed with avocado, just like his big bro at this age. It never ceases to amaze me how much food this kiddo can pack away. I guess it takes a lot to sustain all that cuteness!

The Tough Love finally took effect this month. Although Noah rises with the roosters, he now sleeps uninterrupted from about 7:30 pm until 5:30 am. I usually have about an hour with my youngest before O wakes up. Even though I am still super-sleepy at this hour, I treasure having some time with just my Noah. What a wonderful Boy he is!

Such Love

There is nothing that pleases me more than watching my two Boys enjoy each other.

Hug turned tackle. I am sure this will happen more and more as the years pass by!

Noah doesn't seem to mind!

O tries to remedy the situation

No one mentioned to him that Noah weighs almost as much as he does!

Giggle, giggle

Later the same night...Tickle Fest!

Noah was after Owen's sweet toes. O dished it right back to him. They were both so delighted with each other!

May they always be Best Friends.

Guilty!

Crime:

The defendant stands accused of "looking out of my car window" (the "my" being O's, of course).

The judge, AKA Mommy, tried to explain to the woeful Owen that it did not take anything away from his sight-seeing pleasure if Noah snuck a peak too, but I am sure I could not be heard over all the whiny din.

How could this innocent little face cause such havoc in the House of Halpin?

Barbershop

Sadly, our wonderful hairstylist, who sacrificially came to my house to cut and color my hair and give O's a trim for a ridiculously low price, has moved away. Did you know it costs no less than $15 for a little boy's hair cut in our neck of the woods? Crazy!! That would break the bank! And so we dug out Jeremy's old clippers and gave them a whirl. Thankfully, O is an unusually cooperative kid (and really likes to watch Maisy Mouse on TV). He barely moved a muscle while Daddy worked his magic.

I forgot to take an "after" picture right then, but took this one today. Daddy did an impressive job and is hereby elected House of Halpin Hairdresser, a title I am sure he will wear proudly!

What Does It Take

to get a cute, smiley photograph of two precious, squirmy boys?

Here's an idea:After my suggestion that they hold hands, something that usually leads to some picture-worthy poses.

O said, "I hold No-nos' toes, Mommy! Funny?!"

Owen finally agreed to hold Noah's hand. Can you feel his enthusiasm?

Noah's outta here! I grabbed him by the foot just in the nick of time!

Owie has the great idea of practicing his gumping on the chair.

Usually very fond of his little "Brudder," O was in no mood to be messed with by the end of the photo shoot. "Wait, No-nos. Wait! O's shirt!"

Such sweetness.

This was actually the first picture I took. I guess I should learn from experience. The Boys were both still in fresh moods and enjoying each other's company. What wonderful Boys I have been blessed with!

Noah Want a Cracker?

Why yes he does!

We respectively lay to rest Noah's first Biter Biscuit that was devoured without mercy or compassion. The consumption was quick and painless, although quite messy.

Training Camp

If you would have told me last week that in one week Owen would be completely potty trained, I would have laughed out loud! I have been dreading the process, having been discouraged by friends and family as to the difficulty, especially of training little boys. Lately though, O has been announcing every time he potties and he requests to be changed very promptly, even if he's just wet. After going through dipes at an alarming rate, I began to wonder what would happen if I let him wear underpants just while at home. We did this last Saturday and Sunday with nary an accident. I was shocked! Maybe he is ready for more intensive training camp, I thought. Monday, I decided to take the plunge. With O clad in his favorite car underpants (terminology lesson to follow!), no less than six changes of clothes (I was very pessimistic!) and a tiny potty in the back of the car, we ran errands all morning. Still completely dry! I was amazed! A week later, O has only had one true accident, and that happened in his bed right after he woke up from nap. (He still wears a dipe at night and wakes up soaked.) Training camp was not only successful but also completely painless!

Owen is so proud of himself, as are we! We sing a completely obnoxious celebratory song every time he potties, clapping and marching around the house. Final stop: the "gum" (that's candy to us) bowl.

Here O is carefully selecting the perfect piece of "gum." I took him to Target, where they have endless bins of brightly colored candy as far as the eye can see, and told him he could pick any kind he wanted for his "gum" bowl. He inspected the whole long row of bins and finally decided on chocolate covered raisins. Owen insists they are actually called "brownies." I am just thankful they have a smidgen of nutritional value, if you can call a raisin nutritious. Although we have several other options in the gum bowl (Smarties, fruit snacks, gummy worms), he selects a "brownie" every time!

Hanging out in his underpants. Growing up with only a sister, I always refer to undergarments by a distinctly feminine term. I was quickly reprimanded by my hubby that we were never to refer to Owen's underpants by that frilly name, unless I wanted him to be ridiculed for the rest of his life. And so, I must lay to rest the familiar and take up more masculine terms that have been approved of by Jeremy. I am allowed freedom of choice between underpants, underwear or underroos (only if they have a superhero on them). I am not sure if I can fit into this world of men!

Eruption (Not for the Weak Stomached!)

It's amazing how many times I have spontaneously caught Noah in the act of spitting up! These are just a few examples. I guess it's testimony to how much of his day he spends tossing his cookies! Poor guy!

The Finger

What has happened to my sweet, submissive O?

Where Owie used to obey immediately without question or complaint, I now am faced with "The Finger" and a defiant "No, ma'am!" The child is developing a mind and opinions of his own.

In several ways, this is exciting news. Owie is growing up and thinking for himself. I am getting more of a picture of what goes on inside that precious little head. I have been given the great pleasure and even greater responsibility to shape this incredible mind into one that pursues hard after Christ. His will is peeking out and this is the prime time to mold it into submission to our Father.

Prayerfully I can focus on these positives as I am frustratingly faced with "The Finger" multiple times a day!

Life as I Know It...

...is over.

My stationary infant is no longer stationary. I now have a very mobile boy. He has been rolling all over the house for a little while now, but never did I expect crawling to be upon us so soon!

Here is the evolution of Noah's crawl:

August 1

Up on all fours rocking, usually when expressing displeasure, as is seen in the photo

Crawled two "steps" August 4

August 6

4 "steps" and pushed from a crawl to a sit (Love those chubbo legs of his!)

Now, I would not say he is crawling all over the house yet, but he can definitely get where he wants to go! This progression is going way too fast for a Mommy that wants to keep her baby tiny!

I think he is laughing at me! This one is going to give me a run for my money, I can already tell!

I couldn't love him more!

Bubbley Fun with Yaya

Yaya visited the Science Place with us today. There were a bunch of fun new exhibits that we got to try out. Yaya and Owen had a great time figuring out how to make enormous bubbles.

Quiet

All was quiet in the living room while I was cooking supper. Too quiet.

Then I hear some grunts of exertion from O.

What could be going on?

The next thing I hear? "I pull No-nos, Mommy!"

The funny thing is, Noah was having the time of his life! And Owen got a really good work-out. They'll do great in wheelbarrow races!

Anticipation

It was a big day in the life of O. He had a date...with another woman. His Gigi called him up last week and requested the honor of O's presence at the movies. Charlotte's Web was playing for free at Stonebriar Mall! There was much movie viewing, snack munching and carousel riding to be had! Owen could not wait for the big day to arrive! He was well prepared. He watched the Charlotte's Web trailer countless numbers of times to familiarize himself with the movie characters. He refused breakfast in order to have more room for "Gigi's special snacks (popcorn)." He packed his bag, ensuring he had enough apple "goose" to last the day. When he could hardly contain his excitement any longer, we sat on the front porch to wait for Gigi to arrive. At last, Gigi pulled up and they were off! Let the date begin!

Watching for Gigi's car

Owen and Mia having a great time!

(picture courtesy of Gigi)

Owen can hardly stop talking about the amazing time he had on his date!

Terrace Pool Revisited

The Boys and I headed back to Terrace Pool this week, but this time we were joined by Gigi and our cousins! Everyone had a great time in the sun!

Oliver loved playing with this beach ball!

Mia floated around and relaxed in her raft

Clayton and O did some male bonding

Gigi's Swim Class