Noah is 3 ½ and all boy!

Noah is 100% boy.  As he is coming into his own and getting older, he has really gotten into pushing his rules/limits with us…. and pushing in general. Sigh.  Daddy can be kind of a pusher too when joking around with his buddies and looks like Noah has inherited that trait.  The worst part is that Noah pushes kids out of nowhere, unprovoked.  One minute he is playing nicely and the next minute he is pushing them down and says “I want to say sorry!” or “I want to go to Timeout” like it is a game.  We are really working on correcting this bad habit with him and hopefully next month we will have good progress to report!

However, he isn’t always so rough.  He can be very gentle, especially with Callie.  He will often ask if he can “take care of his sissy” which means he wants to hold her and give her hugs and kisses.  I also catch him holding her hand gently in the car since he sits right next to her in the back seat. 

This winter we had the highest snowfall that has ever been recorded in Anchorage!!   My good friend Annie and I had decided to co-host an Easter Egg Hunt for all our friends who have young kids at a nearby Elementary school playground the day before Easter Sunday.  That morning, we woke up to huge snowflakes coming down (this was the day the snowfall record was broken)! Nearly everyone we invited showed up and we had 27 CHILDREN ranging in age from just a few months (in strollers/baby carriers) to 6 years old running around digging for plastic easter eggs in the snow and in full snow gear.  It was hilarious to watch and so much fun to get everyone’s kids together.  This hunt is definitely an Easter tradition we will continue for years to come, but hopefully there will be less snow next year!   Noah loved the egg hunt and even when all the visible eggs were collected, he still had fun trying to find more eggs in the snow... he was able to discover two more eggs with daddy’s help that had been buried way down deep.

He is still a whiz at his puzzles and remains obsessed with anything related to the Cars movie or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Disney is making good money off the Oistads and the 4 grandparents who love to feed his obsession. The Easter bunny brought him a “Miles Axelrod” toy in his basket and Noah was so excited that he even mentioned it to his teacher on Monday.  He can recite several short books from memory (Good Night Moon, Brown Bear Brown Bear, the Good Night Book by Sandra Boynton (he will say the author’s name when he says it) and the Artist who Painted a Blue Horse book.  It is really fun to see him read these short books to his sissy.  We also catch him singing several songs from time to time.  The other day he was on the potty singing “I’m taking home a baby bumblebee, won’t my mommy be so proud of me?....”  so cute.  We say “catch” because if we point it out or start singing along with him, he often stops singing.  Our shy guy!

Love our little man so much.  It is so neat to watch him grow into this smart, funny, strong willed little person.  This morning he wasn't feeling well so we kept him home from school but he still had enough muster to softly sing Jingle Bells to Callie and I all the way down to Pao Pao's house.  Love.



Noah and his sissy



kisses from big brother are the best!

The boys love playing in all the snow!

Our little pusher in action.... poor Nathen!  Aiden thought it was funny though.

Noah always gives Lucy her treats.  Shake Lucy!

Our favorite little swimmer!

Easter Egg Hunt in the snow... only in Alaska!!

We tried to get a pic of the kids together... here is a handful of them.  Classic.

Dying Easter eggs with Grandma Jan... one of Noah's favorite Easter traditions!

Our baby boy is no longer a baby.  He is getting so big!

Noah was so careful with the eggs and didn't break any of them!

Daddy's tee = makeshift smock!

Ta Da!!  Noah and Grandma did a great job!

Noah proudly holding his "Noah" egg

 

Noah wanted each of us to have our own eggs.



Easter morning

The Easter Bunny hid chocolate eggs around the house

The Easter bunny brought Noah a basket of goodies with a puzzle, mickey book, Miles Axelrod car, batman tee, candy and a microphone!

My handsome boys



Noah reminded me of a mini business tycoon in his Easter suit.  He looks ready to take on the world!



Noah smiling at me during Children's Sermon



Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Easter book take 2! 
Noah got this book last Easter and we read it so much thoughout the year that it was missing several pages and stickers.  I was so excited to find it at the store again this year.  It is one of his all time favorite books!



Noah and his Pao Pao





Callison is 7 months old

Our sweet “Callie girl” is seven months old and oh so sweet.  She is our Miss Petite!  At her six month well-baby checkup, she weighed in at 12 lbs 12.4 oz (4-5%).  She was 26 inches long (50%) and 42.5cm for head (50%).  Dr. P said that her motor skills are definitely on track and tried to assure me (her neurotic mommy) that her weight is okay even if she is on the small side.  She can sit up on her own, roll both directions, push up on her arms, spin around, jump in her jumperoo, pass objects back in forth between her hands and do mini sit ups.  She is very active! When she is on her back, she lifts her neck and head up so she can see what is going on.  She does more crunches than anyone else in the family.  Her favorite activity is to watch big brother ALL THE TIME.  She loves him so much.  You can actually see the look of adoration in her face when she watches him.

Biggest news this month is that Callie sprouted her 1^st tooth! It is the bottom left front tooth!  She loves to put things in her mouth. Favorite thing this month for her to suck on are her shoes. She grabs them off her feet and in her mouth they go!  Thank goodness she isn’t walking yet, so the shoes are not dirty, but still.

She still doesn’t like to eat if there is a lot (or anything) going on.  She doesn’t want to miss out on anything. This is nearly impossible with a 3 ½ year old brother running around the house especially if just one of us watching both kids, but we try to accommodate Callie when we can and when we can’t we just hope she will learn to eat in noisier environments.  Last month we started her on rice cereal (she was not a big fan of this), but she loves her 1^st foods of peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peaches and apples.  The only food she didn't love was bananas.

Last weekend we had fun celebrating Callie’s 1^st Easter!!  My mom got her a pretty pink dress and white patent mary janes (that she kept in her mouth nearly the entire church service).  The dress was a little big on her since we got it a while ago thinking she would need a 6-9 month size, but she still looked so darling in it!  Love playing dress up with my pretty girl!

One of the things I love most about Callison is her easy-going and happy personality.  We recently took family pictures and I have to give her the best baby award for that day. We had scheduled pictures at 11am in South Anchorage. On the 40 minute drive into town, she was kinda tired but big brother was playing with her in the back seat and she didn’t fall asleep…. until 5 minutes before we met with the photographer!!  I tried to let her sleep as much as I could by having the photographer take pics of Wes and Noah first but after 10 minutes I had to wake her up.  I felt so bad about waking her, but she was fine with it and rewarded us with lots of cute smiles for the pictures.  Then when we got back in the car to head to the photographer’s studio for more photos, I thought for sure she would fall asleep or be cranky from missing her morning nap. But she hammed it up for more adorable pictures for another hour!   I could not believe it.  She is such a trooper!

Can't believe she is already seven months old!! Time flies when you are having fun!  

Baby girl LOVES her brother so much!

MMMMM... squash!

Daddy and daughter have the EXACT same expression.  hilarious.

Cheerleader face!

Loves to grab her toes

Sit ups!

Lazy Sunday.... love.

Grandma Jan and Callie girl



Callie, Kendra and Bodi reading and snuggling together!

Auntie Renee and Callie on Easter - they matched!

Our family

The Easter Bunny gave Callie a basket of goodies for her 1st Easter!

Pao Pao and Gong Gong

Pretty in Pink

Daddy loves his baby girl so much!

Grandma and Callie -- love her tongue!

7 months and loving each moment with our sweet girl

Bedtime Funny

Last night Noah was doing some serious stalling at bedtime. He was pulling out all the stops:

"I'm still hungry"

"I'm not tired"

"I wanna play"

"I don't want to go to bed"

After giving him snack and letting him play a few more minutes, he still didn't want to go to bed.  By 9pm we had heard enough excuses and decided to lay down the law.  Wes picked Noah up,  started taking him upstairs and said, “Son, it is time to read some books and go to bed.” 

At this point Noah whined, “But I’m not tired yet!”  Wes and I both responded at the same time, “We don’t care.”  Then Noah said in his most meek and sincere voice, “But I wanna care.” 

Wes and I started cracking up.  Too funny! It was a great last resort play by Noah, but he still had to go to bed. 

He was fast asleep shortly after.

Fun in February/March!

Kekoa and Callie -- they are the cutest; they are exactly one week apart in age (Callie is the older woman)

She's already got him eating out of her hand

The whole crew.  Big brothers Kailer and Noah are too cool for school.

Best buds Bodi and Noah have fun with flashlights, PJs, popcorn and a movie! By the end of this night, Noah's room was completely destroyed (and covered wall to wall with popcorn).  Boys! You gotta love 'em!

   

Hiking Baldy with my Callie girl.  Our little family went up the mountain one sunny Saturday morning.  It took longer with the kids but we made it to the top!

Noah had fun on the hike and sliding down the mountain!

Ice Fishing Derby at Finger Lake! The boys digging out the hole and trying to see the fish

Noah fishing (or trying to stab a fish).

After a while, we gave up on fishing and just played in the snow!

Daddy took Noah for a short ride on the fourwheeler.  Gorgeous winter day!

Bram goin in for a smooch!

Annie and Callie

Noah loves to play with his sissy and make her smile

My pretty girl and her furry purple parka.  Getting her dressed is so much fun!

Noah has been doing so great at his swimming lessons!

He puts on the googles and likes to look underwater and blow bubbles.  He is getting good at his kicks too!

Noah's cheering section



Daddy and Noah

Daddy horse back rides? yes please!

Noah likes to mix and match his jammies so he can wear two kinds at once.  This night he was very specific that he wanted the Elmo top and Christmas Mickey pants.

Winter fun at Ravenwood Elementary

Sledding!

Noah wanted to pull daddy on the sled!

Icicles!

"Pile on dad" sled rides are the best!



Family movie night with the Andersons!  The boys lasted about 10 minutes before they started running around the living room.