Braggin' on my Boy

Noah has been running me ragged lately. The house is trashed. I'm tired a lot. I clean up one room just for him to destroy another. These days we're referring to him as "Nuclear Noah".
His sleep has gotten a little better, except that naps are still rare. And really, starting your day at 8am and going until 9-10pm (sometimes 11) with a very busy two-year-old? Makes for a very long day.

However, there are so many good things going on with him. Honestly, they're helping balance out the lack of sleep.
I know it's normal for most moms to brag about the funny/cute things their toddlers are saying. And I can't really do that, at least not yet. I wish I knew what Noah was thinking. His personality is so silly, and he laughs at some of the most random things. He seems to have my goofy sense of humor where weird, dorky things are hilarious.

BUT.

Just because he doesn't verbally communicate with me doesn't mean I don't have anything to brag about. :)

I could go on about how his little laugh is contagious. We may have no idea what's so funny, but he's just so cute, everyone around can't help but laugh too.

Or how he thinks it's the best thing ever to be surprised. He loves it when we hide, then jump out and startle him.

Or how he scrunches up his face sometimes that makes me want to eat his little nose and cheeks.

But yall already know that stuff.
So here's what he's been up to lately...

~ Noah can count to ten... at least in his head. He can say 1, 2, 3; but it comes out, "uh, two, tee" with the rest of the numbers sounding a lot like "teh teh teh". :) But he counts them individually and will immediately start counting if he sees numbers anywhere (like on a clock, in an elevator, on the tv, in a book, etc). He'll do the same with letters, but those aren't as clear.

~ Last week, he was watching a Curious George rerun. And out of nowhere, he sang along... perfectly in tune... "Do Re Me Fa So La Te Do!" I haven't gotten him to do it again. But I'm hoping Brad will get to hear it soon too.

~ Noah's never been much of a daredevil. He's always been very cautious, reaching for our hand to go down stairs or backing away from the slides at the playground. But lately, he's gotten more sure of himself. He loves slides now. We typically have to go down with him once or hold his hand, just to convince him it's safe. After that, he's good to go. Remember that ginormous slide at Monkey Joe's? Yeah, he went down that one BY HIMSELF. Climbed that balloon ladder and slid down completely on his own. He was so.darn.proud of himself, grinning from ear to ear. Then he'd hop down and do it again.

~ He's also started following directions well. Finally. I think he's beginning to understand a little more, which is nice. The other day I had him try a strawberry. He kept trying to eat it like a popsicle, so I told him to bite it with his teeth and proceeded to show him. He watched me and repeated what I did. Totally made my day.
The other day we took him to the park and told him to go "the other way" while pointing. He stopped and went the direction I pointed in. If I tell him we need to change his diaper, he'll stop and lay down for me. He understands more than we think, which is exciting to see.

~ He has officially learned the sign for "jump". I've been working on it with him for the last couple of weeks, and he's got it down to where he'll do it without me prompting him. Honestly, he should know the sign for jump, because that's ALL HE WANTS TO DO. Or should I say, that's all he wants ME to do. But man, you should hear the giggles coming from our back yard. He loves it when I pop him up in the air (not too high of course). The squeals are adorable. Even if my legs do feel like they might fall off by the time we're done.

~ His fine motor skills are great. It actually surprised me when the psychologist said he was behind in this area, because he really enjoys this kind of stuff. Like at the playground, he loves to find leaves, put them through the slots in the storm drains, and watch them fall. He does well with all of his manipulative type toys and is a whiz at shape sorting, matching, etc.

~ Tuesday night, I heard him say "Momma" for the first time since September. Granted, we were going through some verbal exercises I do with him, where we copy each other's sounds. At first, he was just saying, "Ma-ma-ma-ma". After I stopped, he intentionally looked at me and said, "Momma", then flashed a big smile. I proceeded to melt into a big pile of mommy love goo.

I know for most toddlers, this is small stuff. Actually, a lot of it may be things a lot parents don't even think about. But for Noah, it's huge.
I'm just so proud of him and how well he's doing. I know we still have a long way to go, but I've learned to really celebrate the little accomplishments. They give me hope that he's going to rock his therapies in a couple of months.