A Boy & His Tools

Here is Noah giving his fire truck a tune-up. He loves playing with tools so if he sees the coveted screwdriver come out he will follow you anywhere!

Happy Valentine's Day!

No more letter mat!

I am so excited that we finally got a carpet for the living room! For months I had been wrestling with those interlocking foam letter blocks trying to keep the floor protected from Noah and I could not be happier to get rid of them! We went to Home Depot and got a berber remnant which just about fills our semi-octagonal room. We also got the thick wall-to-wall padding to go underneath which makes it a little extra cushy. Noah, our perpetually naked child, seems to love it as well. ;o)

Go Giants!

We went over to David's house for his annual Superbowl party. We, of course, were decked out in Giants gear. Fortunately Noah was able to squeak by with one more use out of his jersey before the end of the season. He is such a big boy, he even sat at the big table with the Dad and Uncle Mikey, although a pb&j stood in for the 5-alarm chili. Sherry found that hilarious hat/game that made David about 8 feet tall. I left early to put Noah to bed but Mike was positively giddy when he got home after the game!

Happy Birthday Mikey!

Mikey's birthday is tomorrow so my Mom, David and I went over to put up a few decorations in his apartment while he was at work. Noah and Ayla were busy catching any Reeses' Eggs that fell on the floor, although I think Noah snagged a couple off the counter too ;o)

Enjoying the "spring" weather!

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take Noah over tot he bike path. He was loving running all over the grass in his little boots. He kept trying to make a mad dash for the water though which wasn't quite so fun. Once he learns to float he'll be spending all his free time in the water!

Noah's 1st (Real) Haircut!

Ok so save the hate mail because I don't want to hear it! :op I have given Noah several haircuts over the last year or so but it was getting harder and harder to fake my abilities. So I finally decided to take the plunge and get him a real haircut. I didn't really walk in there wanting everything chopped off but that is sort of how it worked out and we're ok with it. Part of me was just sick of that being the only thing people talk about and I just didn't want this big issue about it. Plus it's out of his eyes and much less static prone and he looks like such a big boy!

Winter Wonderland

This morning we awoke to several inches of perfectly fallen snow. This is the tree outside our front window. The past few years I have captured a number of pictures of Mike outside shoveling, and each time I get a new one I have to laugh because I know he's grumbling "I hate snow" under his breath. To be fair our landlords are quite diligent about clearing the way, this particular day Mike had to clean off the car and shoveled himself a path to it. So I snapped my one and only shoveling picture of the year when I had the chance! :oD

Noah's new Booster Seat

Here is the third, and hopefully last, of Noah's car seats. For the last month or so he has been driving us crazy by completely unbuckling the 5 point harness on his Convertible Car Seat. We had also been in the market for a new seat because after passing 40 pounds by his 2nd birthday he had unfortunately outgrown the old one. We decided to try the booster instead of getting a higher capacity toddler seat. We thought (and hoped and prayed) that with the seat belt buckle off to the side he wouldn't bother it. We were right....for the first 20 minutes he was in it. So we are back to square one on that front. The other thing is that technically they say kids should be 3 before being in a booster. I don't really understand the age requirement because they must also make the height and weight as well. Noah is 41 pounds and 38" tall (last measured 8 weeks ago!) so he fills out the seat nicely as you can see. It is such a hard thing trying to find the best way to keep them safe. What seat is best and what style is best, and what kind of tape is strongest to keep my son from getting out of his seat?!

He looks thrilled, huh?

Go Giants!

Mike invited Dad and my brothers over to watch the Giants/Patriots game. Even though the Giants lost it was a great bonding experience fueled by assorted beers, meats and cheeses! ;o)

Pizza Party at Uncle Al's & Aunt Nancy's!

Uncle Al and Aunt Nancy were kind enough to host a Friday night pizza party for the Massaro clan with various significant others and our offspring. Sherry and I were a little worried about the kids being up past their bedtimes but they were in rare form. It was a nice way to end a hectic few weeks, thank you Uncle Al & Aunt Nancy!!

Mikey & Mike

Grandpa & Ayla
Ayla
Ayla & (Mike trying to hold up) Noah

Merry Christmas!

This year Mike and I hosted my parents and brothers. It was nice to have everyone together eaiting and having a good time. Noah and Ayla (my niece) are getting a little bigger now so they are fun to interact with. I ended up taking a bunch of pictures, many of them on the silly side but fun none the less. I thought it would be nice to get a few pictures of me and my brothers together, something we haven't done in several years...they were less than cooperative and the silliness ensued...

Mike & I finishing dinner.
David & Ben gave eachother the SAME card!
Noah & Ayla setting up his new craft station.
Next year we're going to need a kids' table!

Christmas Cont'd...

Me & my brothers...

Again....
Mom & I
My Peppermint Ice Cream Cake , so yummy!

Christmas Suit?

This one is SO coming out every year until he's 30. For no apparent reason Noah decided, in december, that he does not want to wear clothes inside. He does not, however, have an issue with his boots.

I'm not tired

I asked Noah if he was ready to (please oh please!) take a nap and he furiously said "No, I no wanna", aprox. 10 minutes later here he sits....

Uncle Mikey's

This is (my brother) Mikey's first christmas in his own place so we went over to help decorate his apartment. Here is Noah hanging liquor bottles on the tree. ;o)

Noah & Cousin Ayla taking a break!

Sleep Optional

I have been slacking on my blogging this week. Actually I'm behind on my homework too :o/ Noah has been able to climb out of his crib for a few weeks now (he can even put the bar down himself) but for the past week he has been in a "sleep optional" phase. We have to pull a Supernanny and put him back in bed about 5 times before he stays, and then he wakes me up at 4:30am every morning for the last 4 or 5 days. Yes that is a 4. He absolutely refuses to go back to bed. Short of tying him to it I don't think we can do much else. So we get up at 4:30am and plug the christmas lights in and watch Cars....again.

Our first snowfall!

The snow really isn't that interesting but this video cracks me up. Whenever Noah sees a phone he MUST have it. I made the mistake of telling him to "say hi" to which he had a minor meltdown thinking I was holding a phone instead of a camera.

Happy Birthday David

My brother turned 31 yesterday so Noah and I went over while Mike was working late. Here is Noah jumping backwards on the couch attempting to give Grandpa a heart attack!

Dad, Ayla, Sherry, Noah, Mom & David

Happy Thanksgiving

Mike and I hosted my family this year for the first time which was very fun. We'll cook the turkey a tad longer next year ;o) but otherwise it went off without a hitch!

"Howard" the turkey guarding the table:

Noah waiting patiently to eat!:
Mike & Mikey guarding their pie: