Noah's latest

Well, I've posted lots of pictures but I haven't said a whole lot about our little guy's latest milestones. He's doing really well. He hasn't even had a cold in the last several weeks (*sigh of relief*). He's not quite toddling yet but he's really close. The other day he took four tiny steps. He hasn't done so many since, but he'll take a step between furniture or to get to Daddy or Mama's hands. He can crawl at top speed and go up and down stairs and has all of sudden decided he likes to climb.

He babbles incessantly and uses every vowel and consonant there is, but only he knows what he's saying. He certainly makes the sounds ma ma and da da, but we're not sure if he knows that's us. He said something that sounded a lot like blue for a while there, when we prompted him, so I suppose I could say that was his first word. But he hasn't done it in a while. He does say "achoo" and "woof", both of which are absolutely adorable. Typical boy. Sound effects before actual speech. And he can show you what a giraffe does. You'd just have to see it, but it involves sticking his tongue out and wiggling it around. Very cute.

He knows he's funny and does things just to make us laugh. And of course we do. He gives hugs and sometimes he gives kisses. They are delicious!! He can wave and point and clap and sometimes tries to copy me when I rub lotion into my hands or do "itsy bitsy spider."

He's still not eating much table food, but he's getting better. He even ate a tiny piece of cheese today, something he'd been refusing. We're hoping he's outgrown that awful gag reflex of his so that maybe he can start trying more foods. He loves cookies and crackers and yogurt. He gets all excited if you pull yogurt out of the fridge.

He loves the water. Bathtime is serious fun. He doesn't mind getting water dumped over his head and I plan to keep doing it. I don't want him to be like I was (and still am to a degree) and hate getting water in his face. Bryan got him a kiddie pool and we're anxious to get that set up. We went to a wading pool recently and boy howdy, Noah loved it! It's pretty deep for a wading pool so I just had to hang on to him from the edge of the pool. He really wanted to be free. He seemed to think he already knew how to swim. I'll know next time and bring swim clothes of my own so I can get in with him. I also got him some swim arms and floaties so he can have a little more independence in the water.

All in all, we're doing really well. He is the most amazing thing that could happen to us. It just keeps getting better and better.

We all know how Noah loves a ball - here he is with the biggest one he's ever seen. Grandma's exercise ball. I borrowed from her when I was pregnant - Noah has no idea how much he's already bounced on that ball! And here he is with Grampy on Father's Day. And speaking of Father's Day, my wonderful husband was featured in our local "Moms Like Me" magazine as a great dad and then also in the Springfield News Leader's Father's Day story. Unfortunately, the link is no longer up on the newspaper's website and the photo I submitted is no longer in my computer. I'll see if I can't track it all down and post it in the next few days.

Big birthday fun

Grandma got Noah a ball pit for his birthday. Fun times! We had kazoos and slinkies and sunglasses as party favors. The kids liked them and Noah drove his dump truck around in his shades. Delana and Kyle were among our guests and everyone had such a great time with them.

Very first birthday cake

Noah was not terribly enthusiastic about the cake. But we sure had fun watching him get all messy.

"Have a Ball" birthday bash

Noah had his big first birthday party Saturday. He loved it and we all had a fabulous time. Thanks to everyone who came and made it so special. The theme was "Have a Ball" and we had assorted balls everywhere - the tablecloth, the cake, the plates, the floor. Noah LOVED it (he can't resist a ball). He got some nice gifts, but the best part was just being with everyone and watching him have so much fun.

Crazy wonderful kid

This is one of my favorite pictures. It's a little fuzzy, but it captures Noah so perfectly. He makes this silly face all the time. He's at an age now that he knows he's funny and he likes to make us laugh and mimic us when we do silly things. He's just a ball of fun.

He looks so big in his new cap from Aunt Deva.

I had to get a picture of the curls coming out from under the cap. I mean, does it get any cuter? He's reading a Maisy lift-the-flap book. He loves this book, so he got three more Maisy books for his birthday.

More camp shots

Noah with some of his camp buddies.

Noah and Jasmine.

Brother Bill got his face painted along with the kids.

Mike helped plant a memorial shrub - in memory of Grover Cauthron, Sarah Crouch, Melvin Garrison and Pauline Patton.

And Noah sacked out after a hard day of play.

Cuties at church camp

Noah tried on one of the girl's craft projects. Hilariously adorable.

Noah got his face painted as a little cat.

And he tackled the pinata.

The kids (including Crae here) were so excited at pinata time.

Here's Shelby playing in the gravel in the playground. They all had such fun and were delightful to watch.

Assorted shots in the life of us

It was definitely baby gate time. Noah learned to crawl up AND down stairs in the same day and he was uncomfortably (for me) fearless. So Danny Joe got the gate up after much fanagling (it didn't actually fit our stairs properly). I feel much better now.

There is also a picture of Noah's curly head. I know we'll have to trim the curls soon, but boy I'll be sad to see them go.

And we finally got a grill! Danny and Noah and Grampy put it to the test recently with yummy results!

Giraffe wanna cracker?

A few more pix in the mountains and some from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The highlight of the zoo trip was feeding the giraffes. It was really neat. They are so pretty and gentle. And there was a baby giraffe too. Very cute.

The HowardEveretts in Colorado

Here we all are, enjoying the Garden of the Gods. So beautiful! We had a great time and Summer and Noah loved being carted about in their backpacks.

Our great mountain getaway

The scenery on our Colorado trip was just spectacular. I mean, we got up every morning and looked out the back door of our rental house to this amazing view of snow-capped Pike's Peak with farms and horses down in the valley below. What more can I say?

Fun at Focus on the Family

While we were in Colorado Springs with Zach and Ang and their kiddos, we all went to the Focus on the Family headquarters. Such fun! If you've ever been a fan of Adventures in Odyssey, you'll like it. All the kids, the biggest to the littlest, loved it. We tried the wofamchocsod (world famous chocolate soda) at Whit's End and it was pretty yummy.

From the top, we have Summer in the Camp What a Nut playplace, Noah chewing on the photo op stand (what are those things called?), a picture from inside Whit's End Soda Shoppe, our family inside the wardrobe to Narnia (Focus on the Family does a radio reading of the books, so they have a Narnia room set up), and all of us in the photo op stand as various Odyssey characters. I know it's hard to see, but from left, it's Zach, Summer, Angela, me, Noah, Danny, Gretchen, Meagan, Nina, Allison and Justus. They ALMOST had enough faces for everyone in the family!