Questions

Our lovely daughter is quite observant, curious and conversational these days. Today's example from dinnertime, completely out of the blue:

"Daddy, why do you have gray hair?"

Umm...

Thanks for noticing sweetie...didn't have a good answer for that one. :)

Noah's Favorite Song

Our little guy is most definitely expressing his preferences these days.

When we play with Little People, he very much prefers the leopard. He seeks the two leopards out and carries them all around the house with him. And every morning, when we get downstairs, he heads straight for the "Busy Little People" book. He summarily refuses all sippy cups but a very specific type of Playtex cup which earned his approval early on. Duplo is fabulous yet Mega Bloks not so much in his world. But Tyler and I feel that his most interesting and obvious preference is in the realm of music.

Very shortly after Noah was born, I decided that the song "Lucky One" by Vertical Horizon was to be "his" song. We listened to the song frequently while I was adjusting to being a stay at home mom and gearing up for our move, driving all over the Bay Area and beyond to see our wonderful friends. It doesn't even need to be mentioned what a difficult, trying time that was in our lives, so the song was especially meaningful for me as I was trying to cope with a newborn, a toddler, and the need to be near my father in his last days. On a lesser note, I had also been dealing with guilty pangs for months since I hadn't chosen a song for him when he was in the belly, as we had with Natalie, but it turns out that I was glad I waited.

After a year of total indifference to our now-sporadic playing of his song, all of a sudden during the last few weeks, he has absolutely shown that he loves it. LOVES it! When he is screaming and crying and having a tantrum, all we have to do is turn on the song and he perks up, stops crying, then smiles and starts clapping his hands. It works like a charm and is so cute to see. I am so glad I chose a song that really thrills him, and can't help but wonder why he likes it so much. Does some part of his brain remember that I played the song a million times in a row when he was a tiny baby? Or is it the fact that, when we turn it on, everyone (*particularly* Daddy, Noah's preferred person) stops whatever they are doing to smile and talk to him? Or is it just a good song? I'd like to think it is the first reason, but my common sense assures me that it is the second... :)

We carried all the colors
from the portrait of our summer
We never felt the answers
weighing down our shoulders

Time goes fast when you wander
and nothing lasts forever
but I still feel the power
of you and me together
and light surrounds you.

I know I'm the lucky one
though I'm always the last to believe
I know I'm the lucky one
'cause I'm here, and you're with me

So tell me are you willing
to try this thing called living
'cause there's so many edges hidden
and it's so hard to be forgiving

But I'll try once if you'll ask me
and once again everlasting
for all my days I love you
and all the stars you run through

See the light surround you

I know I'm the lucky one
though I'm always the last to believe
I know I'm the lucky one
'cause I'm here, and you're with me

When the wrongs and the rights all have been pushed aside
you're my favorite color
You're the black to the white and the warmth inside
You're the sun I'm under

I volunteer to watch you
through the dreams that haunt you
I promise to wake you
before the fear takes you

May the light surround you

Vacation!

We just returned home from a wonderful week in Cape Cod - our first vacation as a family of four! The drives to and from were long but manageable since the kids are such pros at car rides. There were lots of different places to explore, fun times catching up with old friends and their little ones, and a whole lot of time on the beach!

Let's go Mommy and Daddy! We've got places to go!

This is SO FUN! (Many thanks to J. for the beautiful picture)

I like the beach!

Let's see if they notice if I sneak off...

Zzzzzz....