Big Brother Practice

Today, Aubrey forced me to walk fast again during our morning walk. Now my calves are sore. I'm not actually complaining, I'm happy. Yay, I'm sore! It's good to have you back, work-out buddy!
   After our morning walk, in which we stopped and let Noah and Lydia run around a grassy field like excited hoodlums, Noah and I ate lunch and then boogied over to Crisi's for play date.

Noah and Lucy took turns in the folded down walker

   It was same ole', same ole' for a while, until I got to hold Kyle. I love snuggling with that baby boy, and for the first time, Noah noticed what mommy was holding. Now, earlier in the play date, Noah had discovered the "baybee" and took it upon himself to sit very close and stare curiously at him when he started to cry at one point. When mommy Sheryl picked up Kyle, Noah went about his business of playing. Then I stole Kyle from Sheryl, and suddenly, Noah was so intrigued.  I sat down to love on little Kyle and Noah immediately scrambled into the chair next to me. He was so excited about the baby in my arms that I offered to let him hold Kyle. Cuteness insued:

     Kyle did very well in allowing Noah to "hold" him. In truth, Noah just sat very still and let me prop Kyle up in his lap. After Sheryl and I finished gushing and cooing and taking pictures of these two adorable boys, Noah leaned way over to give Kyle a kiss, and then he hugged him tightly. It. Was. Adorable! I was very happy to see Noah respond so well to a baby. That is, until I picked Kyle back up and snuggled him in my lap. Noah then went crazy! He tried to climb into my lap and nearly squished poor Kyle in the process. And then, when I refused to get the suddenly offensive baby out of the way for him, he smacked little Kyle right on the forehead! I am very happy and relieved to report that it was more of a play slap than an angry hit and Kyle didn't even cry (though he did look super surprised for a minute), but I still snapped at Noah and scolded him very firmly for hitting a baby. Noah was very somber for a few minutes after that and he didn't pay any heed to the baby for the rest of our time there.
     I still think Noah's going to be an excellent brother. Most of the time, that is. Stephan and I will have to work on his jealousy, but I can't expect perfection from a 16-month-old. I was super glad to see him respond so positively to a baby, even if he did get a little jealous there towards the end.
    After Noah and I held Kyle, we passed him down to Meredith and Wyatt to let them have big brother practice. Wyatt seemed a bit less interested in the baby, though he did wave at him and say "hi". Still pretty cute if you ask me.
     
   Friends, Bebe took me and Noah shopping yesterday. Khols was awesome and we got Noah and Witten some super cute outfits. After Khols, Mom took us to Best Buy to get us a really awesome treat: little t.v.s for our car!

Testin' out the screens. They worked.

     The tiny t.v.s were Stephan's favorite gift from Bebe yesterday. He opened them up to test them out. Humorously, he used Noah's favorite movie to make sure they worked. As you can see in the above picture, Noah sat down right in front of the screen and became unresponsive. It was especially funny when Stephan hooked up the second screen and set it near the first. Noah didn't know which one to look at, so he went back and forth from one to the other until Stephan turned them off. Thank you, Bebe, for the fantastic gift! This will make any and all future long-distance car rides much more enjoyable for everyone!
     Have a blessed day, dear readers!