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Noah Update


Our little Noah who barely spoke a word had us really worried for awhile. I had called Early Intervention to analyze him and see what was going on. If you asked him to say mama we got "baba". If we asked him to say dada we got "baba". Basically everything was "eh" or "baba" and he wasn't saying words that he had said back in July, with the exception of "tick tock", and a bunch of animal noises. He would only use sign for things like "more", "done", "poop" and "hungry". His evaluation told us that he was at level or higher in all categories (24,28 mos for fine and gross motor skills), with the exception of verbal communication where he was at a 10 mo. level. His pediatrician and the Early Intervention recommended he see an ears, nose and throat specialist due to his frequent ear infections. We found out that he had an excess of fluid in his ears that wasn't draining and had been there for a very long time. One morning I got up at 4:45 am and loaded my sleepy Noah in the car so we could go to the hospital and get his ears drained and tubes inserted.



So he has recovered quickly and now says "mama" and "dada" on a daily basis. And finally he says consonants other than "b". He says "let's see" and "kitty" and "uh-oh" and "ho ho ho". I know it sounds trivial, but it's a huge step for our Noah. Our little baby couldn't hear very well for a very long time and now he's finally starting to communicate!
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At the Gaylord

The first weekend in December we went to the Gaylord hotel for a Christmas weekend. It's really more than a hotel. There's a bunch of restaurants and they had a big kids theme. It's a short ferry ride from Old Town Alexandria, but we never made it over there.

Mima, PoPo, Kelly, Mike, Jack, Kate, Susan, Granny & Gramps Gifford all met us down there where we went through ICE. Rooms and rooms of ice sculptures with the Madagascar cartoon theme. Very cool, but FRIGIDLY cold. They issued us parkas to wear and our teeth were still chattering. Here we all are in our parkas. See how much fun Noah is having??



Poor Noah got stuck on the ice slide. Twice. Aren't I a great mother? He got stuck once (they won't let 2 people go at the same time... even parents with little kids), then I thought I had it figured out and sent him down again. And he got stuck again.



After our ICE adventure, we all had lunch and I shared the BIG NEWS about Baby Cronin coming this summer!

The boys were freaking out over the characters too.



Puss in Boots was their absolute favorite. They both kept running up and hugging him.



"Gingy" was their second favorite.


We had a Shrek Feast one morning!


And we made gingerbread men. And sat on Santa's lap.



We had an amazing kick-start to Christmas! Thank you everyone for coming over and hanging out with us - we love you!!
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Evan and Chaeli Take Over Storybook Land

These two have major red-eye.


Chaeli took Evan to Storybook Land for her birthday. Noah stayed home with Aunt Genie and Jonny had a babysitter as well. Then Shannon and I took the big kids out for their special night!

For those of you who feel badly for Noah, he was able to go with his big brother, Grandmom, Aunt Brittany, and Olivia the week before Christmas. Party pooper me stayed home that time, rested and did some online Christmas shopping because I was feeling tired and pregnant. Oh yes, for anyone who doesn't know - I'm pregnant! Mike's and my master plan is to populate the world with scores of little Cronin children. Actually, just 3. My due date is July 18, but we all know how that goes. When I was pregnant with Noah, I walked bow-legged, 3 cm dilated, back and forth, to Evan's preschool, constantly contracting and feeling like I had a watermelon pressed against my bladder for over a week after my doctor assured me that she wouldn't see me for my next prenatal visit because I was going to give birth any minute. She tried to talk me into being induced, but I held my ground knowing that it's best for your baby to let him come out when he's ready. Plus, being induced is HORRIBLE. Those contractions are the worst. Anyway...

You can see Chaeli's pink jacket in the one cart. After this we watched Santa rise from a chimney and turn on all the lights of Storybook Land. Evan was fascinated by his chimney elevator.


The kids study the map to figure out where to go next. Of course they were hungry so we got dinner.


And the lights are on!




We waited to see Santa too and got a chance to hang out with Mrs. Claus. Evan and Chaeli argued the whole time while in line, then magically turned into angels when they saw Santa and the Misses.








We stayed after closing - until 9:30! Thank you, Chaeli for a wonderful time!
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Bring Your Tike to Work Day...

Didn't happen. Mike was turning off our street with Evan in the car, heading toward Philly when Evan started crying. Mike said, "Evan, are you crying?" to which Evan responded, "No, I'm trying to hold in my tears." Evan said he missed his "little family" and wanted to go home. So actually, there was no "Bring Your Tot to Work Day" for Evan.

Here he was all excited before that fateful car ride.


And just a cute day when Evan wanted to hold Noah for his morning bottle.

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Movie Night Outside

With the Cronin boys and their neighborhood friends! Mike projected Cars 2 on the garage doors. But first there was pizza.


Noah and Jonny discuss girls, world politics and sippy cups.




We made some smores too!

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More Fall Fun




Guess who can drive the Jeep now. That's right - Noah! He drives it all over the town. He pushes the gas and just goes and goes and goes. He even drove it over to his grandparents' new neighbors who just so happen to have a little 2 year old boy. Noah drove over and started playing with the kid's toys.


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The Boys Busy Being Spoiled

Here's the kids while Mike and I were at our anniversary weekend in Philly.


I love this picture of my mom.





Noah cheats skeeball just like his brother used to!

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Stuff from Grandma's Camera

From the Harvest Festival. I love Evan's little face!



Sarah's Birthday Party!






Our annual spooky dinner at Menz's