The Grape Thief, the Superfan, and Other Tales from Indoors

Noah is pretty pumped about his new motor skills (climbing, in particular). We continue to stay mostly in our house to try to get these kids better, so he's had lots of chances to test things out. Josh engineered this experience - taking all of the couch cushions off creating a little jump land. Noah climbed up here himself. Can you tell he's pleased?

Before you say I'm so good and mellow to let them do this, I'll point out a few things. 1. The couch is not exactly new and awesome. 2. I've had plenty of breaking point moments this week with all of the whining and tormenting and general indoor-naughtiness that has occurred due to our shut-in, so this balances it out. 3. What else is a kid supposed to do after so long?

Noah is finding all of the standard kid-joys to be joyous, like climbing on the dishwasher. I realized yesterday that the cuteness of such activities changes dramatically over time. I thought the dishwasher thing was cute. He got ahold of a bar of soap, and as I cleaned him up I exclaimed, "Oh, look at those tiny little finger holes you made in it." At the grocery store he stole a grape from the back of the cart and ate it. "Oh, you funny boy," I said. I mean, these are real kid things to do. He's just exploring and loving his new-found skills. But if Josh did these things . . . reprimands in every case. I'm not planning to change my ways, it's just an observation.

Josh called my mom and told her all about his plans to wear his helmet and his light shoes and go "down and play a BYU football game." So, for lack of helmets available to purchase, my mom got him this hat. I took a picture of him in his hat with my phone, and sent it to my mom. I then took his picture later that night with the real camera. Seems like I started something with that one. The next morning he woke up and said, "Mom, take a picture of me in my hat."
Later on that day he begged me, "Mom, take a picture of me in my hat."

And again the next morning (you can tell it's a different day because the food is in different spots on his face). "Mom, take a picture of me in my hat."

Do you think he likes it?

As for me, I didn't take a picture of myself doing it, but I had to get out, so I borrowed the neighbor's double jogging stroller and went on a little run. It felt great, but I felt like such a mom. I even got a cat-call from someone in a big truck. You know how when you get those you don't know if you're really lookin' good or if some one's mocking you . . .well, this time I didn't wonder. Oh, well, I might try to buy a used one anyway, and embrace what I am wholeheartedly. Why not?