Dear Noah,
Or should I say "Dear Mobi?" Sometimes dad and I call you "Mobi" because on my old flip phone that I still use, whenever I type your name for text messaging, it comes up as "Mobi" first, and then I have to change it to Noah. Is Mobi even a word? I don't know why it doesn't pull Noah up first, but it sure gives us a fun nick-name for our now-two-year-old!
You haven't been much of a talker until recently. Now you are trying to say a lot more things, but they all come out sounding the same. So we are working on understanding you, and you are working on your diction. One thing you are getting better at is your ABCs. I say the letters one at a time, and you repeat them back to me. I like to see how long you will go before losing interest in what I am saying and start making up your own version.
You love playing with trains, cars, animals, and puzzles. It is fun to hear you making the appropriate sounds as you play with those toys. You have learned to leave the Angry Birds alone-- Jason doesn't want you to touch those. Although you can play by yourself, you prefer to have a friend, and so you grab my finger and pull me down to the basement quite often throughout the day. It is a good reminder for me that I should pay attention to you.
Jason is a great brother to you. He does a good job looking out for your safety. He also teaches you to be loud! I am trying to get both of you to quiet down when you are running around the house or church screeching. Jason has graciously given you his scooter and green bear because he feels he has grown out of them. You love watching Jason play games on the iPod. When playing in the basement you two do best in parallel play, especially if you leave Jason's Angry Birds alone, but you do enjoy dancing together. Your current favorite song to dance to is "Walkin' Ol' Joe" by Matthew Lewis. Another favorite song is "Old McDonald" because you can practice your animal sounds.
For the most part you are a great sleeper. Usually you go down easy (after you have had a LOT of stories) for naps and bedtime. You take one afternoon nap that usually lasts two or three hours. I am such a lucky mom! However, on the nights that you do have a hard time falling asleep, dad and I take pity on you and get you out of your crib to watch a few minutes of a show or movie with us. It is fun for us because you sit so still and cuddly on my lap and enjoy the popcorn with us.
Favorite foods of yours include the following: green beans, mashed potatoes, black beans and rice, peas, grapes, strawberries, eggs, yogurt, gold fish, pirate booty, fruit snacks, plus anything else sweet.
Changing your clothes is a daily battle, both morning and night. On Valentine's Day I discovered it was easy to get you changed if I bribed you with candy. That was a Thursday, and I continued the trick on Friday because it made my life easier. On Saturday, I tried to take your pajamas off and you fought me off while saying, "No! Dandy! Dandy!" At first I thought you were saying "Daddy," but then I realized that you were saying, 'Give me candy first before I let you take off my clothes!' I sure had a laugh over that and gave in, but then we stopped bribing you after that.
We sure love having you in our family, even if the terrible two's are showing themselves (what happened to our easy boy?). I have treasured this time when I can take you and Jason on fun outings to the library, Scheels, Cabella's, Thanksgiving Point, Seven Peaks, Tracy Aviary, the park, or just hanging out with friends. But most of all, we all love when dad comes home from work so we can be an awesome family. Thanks for helping make it awesome, Mobi.
love,
mom
