Noah

It has been pretty entertaining to watch Noah's personality blossom over the last several months.  In the fall in the US, during our Home Assignment, we noticed that he was beginning to do anything he could just to get a laugh out of his brothers . . . or anyone else.  He seems to be quite the performer.  He loves to dance and sing or just make silly faces, with or without an audience, and has recently started singing about Jesus. 

We have enjoyed watching him grow and develop; at Christmas his brothers gave him his own coloring book. We were amazed when we watched him turn the crayon around in his hand until he was holding it just right and began to color very softly.  He has done the same with his silverware at the table.  While other kids have to be taught how to hold their utensils, Noah has watched us closely enough that he will turn a fork or spoon around until he's holding it correctly and can start using it. 

He hasn't fully embraced the terrible two's yet, but he has figured out some effective ways to stall at bedtime.  As Mommy tucks him in, he will say "Pray."  Once she has said Amen, he says it again, "Pray."  It doesn't feel quite right to tell your child it's not time to pray, when we are to pray without ceasing, but Mommy has tried a couple of things that seem to work.  Sometimes she'll tell him she's praying quietly, but often she'll tell him, "Noah, it's your turn.  You pray."  Noah will quietly mumble about Mommy and Daddy, and Aden and Wiley, sometimes cars, and always ends with a loud "Amen!"  Noah also has a fascination with buttons - the kind you push on a gadget, not the kind on your clothing.  Mommy has to watch carefully when everyone is playing downstairs - often Noah tries to sneak upstairs to her bedroom where the computer and camera are hiding, or he'll look for them lying around the house.  When he's found, he is usually poised over all the buttons with a guilty look on his face, just waiting to be scolded. 

Noah's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds at this age, and we love to hear him say new things every day.  When he brought me this picture today I asked what he drew, not knowing what kind of response I would get.  He very clearly answered, "I draw a car."
Some other favorites we hear daily . . .
"Woah" (for Noah), "Bing!" (when we take off his socks), and "car" (with a clear "r" sound).  One of his first phrases was "Here you go."  As we traveled in the US, Mommy would pack little ziploc bags with snacks that she could easily pass to the boys in the van.  Noah faced backward in his car seat, but when he was done, he always held the bag in the air for her to retrieve as he called out "Here you go!"  Recently, he started saying "I wike it."  One afternoon he repeated the phrase over and over while carrying around an airplane Daddy had made for him out of Legos.  He proved he knew the meaning of what he was saying later on at the dinner table.  He pointed to a salad he thought he wanted and Mommy said, "I don't think you'll like it."  But Noah quickly assured her, "I wike it!"
 Noah is sure to be the source of more stories on the blog as he becomes more and more vocal. 

The "Buy Store"

Our search for a vehicle in South Africa has been quite intriguing for the boys.  Aden especially has enjoyed playing "Buy Store" with his cars.  He painstakingly lines them up, just as he sees them at the dealerships we've visited (which the boys call "buy stores;" a "dealer" to them is a car transporter).  Sometimes he even cuts out little pieces of paper and writes random numbers on them, posting them on the cars' windshields as the prices.  Once he has everything in place, he announces that the Buy Store is open for business, and anxiously awaits his customers, usually with personal invitations to Mommy and Daddy. 

Once the customer arrives, Aden takes great care in explaining all the details about any car that might be of interest.  He knows if it is a "7-seater" (which Daddy has often inquired about, as these are about the only vehicles here that would fit our family with 3 car seats/booster seats), or a 5-seater, or even a 10-seater.  He describes if it is automatic, or if it has any automatic features.  He repeats just about every phrase he has heard us use as we have searched for a vehicle. 

This morning Mommy was assigned a car that was hers to drive to the Buy Store so that she could look for a new car.  When she arrived at the Buy Store, Aden was ready.  He began showing her the four 7-seaters (and one 9-seater) he had available today, and Mommy listened as he described each one in detail.  One was older and had some rust problems; one had a steering wheel that was torn; one could double as a fire truck or police car; one did not shift easily and made wide turns.  Finally, she settled on the car that had rust, but it was the cheapest, costing only 3 dollars.  When the deal was made with a handshake, she was able to trade in the car she had driven to the Buy Store and left it there.

As she was leaving, Aden tried to make some more offers and sell her another car.  But she declined, "I don't need another one.  I already got this one.  I got a bargain."  Aden quickly corrected her, "That's not a Bargain.  It's a Land Rover . . . Well, that's what the Buy Store calls it . . . but you can call it whatever you want."