francesca's little men

Noah

1. Tonight at swim lessons the teacher asked all the kids if they wanted to try and jump off the diving board. Everyone said no. I asked Noah if he would go if I walked with him and he said he would, so I walked next to the diving board and held his hand as far as I could, but as soon as I let go, he turned around and wouldn't jump. I didn't push it and told him, "maybe next time, huh?" He got off the diving board, rushed over to me and just grabbed my hand, held on and kissed it several times. It was a strange response, but so cute and so tender. My little Noah.

2. I enjoyed watching a conversation unfold before me between Noah and his neighbor friend, Adam (our next door neighbor's grandson).It went something like this:

Noah: Adam! The huge meatball is in the sky and we need to get it before it explodes!
Adam: Yeah - we need to fly into the blue sky and get it!
Noah: OK! (then he makes airplane noises, sticks his hand straight into the air and pretends to fly. Then he makes a clicking noise as he uses his hands to do what looks like turning a switch and then flys back down to earth) I did it! Now the meatball is in California and can't hurt us!
Adam: Yeah, and in Michigan
Noah: Yeah but the cherry tree is going to destroy us in Michigan, so we need to protect mommy.
Adam: OK, let's put duck tape on Gram and Pops (his grandma and grandpa - our neighbors).
Noah: yeah, but do mommy first.
Adam: OK (then he walks straight over to me and walks around me in a circle) she's safe. Let's get Gram and Pops now.

None of it made sense. It was awesome. The part I cannot describe were the pauses in between while they thought through their responses.

3. After swim lessons Noah said, "Did you see me put my head in the water when I was on the wall and no one was looking?" I just thought it was funny. He seemed overjoyed at his sneakiness.

Liam

1. The way he ran over to me after I went in the locker room with Noah to change his clothes ... it was like Liam hadn't seen me in days. I came out and he saw me and ran his crazy little run over to me with a huge smile on his face and yelling, "mommy!!". So delightful.

2. Afetr his nap, I went in to get Liam up. He was lying in his bed with his blanket gripped tightly in his chubby fist and rubbing it close to his mouth. I asked him if he wanted to get out of bed and he said, "uh uh" (no). I asked him if he needed a little time in bed still and he said, "uh HUH". I left the room and went into the front room. About 4 minutes later I heard him cry out, "mommy", not in an anxious voice, just calling out like, "I'm ready now". So cute that he needs extra time to wake up. He loves his bed.

3. Sometimes he just gets so excited he doesn't know what to do, so he screams, flaps his arms and stomps in place with a big grin on his face. It's like a mini attack of some sort and it's funny and cute. He did it today when I got to the Ordaz's house to pick him up.