The end of summer...

So technically Summer doesn't end until Fall begins which isn't until September 21st, but for some odd reason, Americans choose to celebrate the end of summer over Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately I can't say we had a fabulous and exciting last week of summer. We didn't soak up the sun or hit the surf. We actually kept our activities for the week pretty low key and stuck around the house most of the week. I wanted the boys to get lots of good nap time in before we head off to San Diego for vacation tomorrow. I already presume that since we'll be bouncing around from one theme park to another, Noah won't get much napping done during our vacation- which ultimately means he's gonna be a moody "Rockstar".
It's actually been nice hanging out around the house. In fact- even though I was home most of the week, I still found quite a bit of stuff to do that kept me super busy. For a couple of days, I helped Spencer get stuff ready for his company's big sale at the BYU football game. He had two booths set up outside of the football stadium selling edited movies his company, Family Focus Films, offers. I also kept busy making invitations and getting decor ready for Noah's birthday party- it's not happening until the 15Th, but since we're going to be out of town until the 12Th or 13Th, I wanted to make sure everything was done ahead of time so I wouldn't have to stress too much pulling things together once I got home. I promised Spencer last year that I wouldn't do another big birthday bash for Noah until he's little older- but I couldn't resist throwing another party this year since so many of our friends and family members live close by. If there's a reason to celebrate- I'll make a party out if it! I love to throw parties!!!
Spencer and I caught a glimpse of the Lunar Eclipse that happened earlier this last week. I'd never seen one before. It was really spectacular- it was a shame though we didn't get the full effect from when the moon disappeared because we live in the city and even while the moon disappeared briefly, the streets were still somewhat lit because of street lamps and neighbors porch lights. Oh well.
Ian's beginning to sleep a little more lately than he usually does. ( I'm not complaining about it). I suppose he's in a growing spurt. In fact, he has to be- because just this last week when it came time to dress both he and Noah for bed, I was too lazy to grab a pair of Ian's p.j.'s, so I found a pair of pajamas that Noah still presently wears, to dress Ian in. I didn't think they'd fit- but I'd been wrong- they did fit!!! So now Ian's wearing Noah's p.j.'s. There's a few other things of Noah's that Ian can already fit into now, that Noah was never able to wear until he was at least a year old. Ian's not a fat baby- he's just very long. I dressed Ian in this outfit that Noah had worn when he was Ian's age. I had a hard time getting Ian into it- but I managed to dress him without hurting him. The onsie was totally tight and the pants looked more like Bermuda shorts on Ian- his legs are sooooo long!

Isn't it amazing how completely different the two of them look even though they're both wearing the same outfit. I guess the rule for women and clothing ("the dress won't necessarily look good on you just cuz it looks good on someone else") also applies to baby brothers. It's evident that Noah was rockin' this outfit, it totally fit his style and personality, and well- evidently- it wasn't the best choice to dress Ian in. Oh well- just thought it was funny and figured it would be a good way to show the difference between the two.
Noah's been doing knew tricks all on his own this week. He's really taken up a big interest in mine and Spencer's longboard skateboards. He likes to push them around the house and stand on them, motioning just as if he were actually riding it down a hill. He also has discovered a passion for break dancing. He's been break dancing for a couple of weeks now- I just didn't figure out until recently that was what he was doing. You see, Noah likes "Choo Choo Soul", it's a musical segment they play on Disney's Playhouse. Kids dance and sing in it, along with two adults. One of the adults (the train conductor) break dances in one of the videos. He inspired Noah, and now Noah will try to break dance- he even attempts to spin on his head- he actually does pretty well considering he's had very little practice.
We just started to introduce Noah to the potty chair. I don't expect he'll be potty trained in a week, since we're leaving, but I figured now was as good a time as any other to introduce him to the toilet. He liked the potty chair, but really he just wanted to sit on the actual toilet. I didn't let him- I didn't want to watch him fall into the toilet! We'll have to get one of those special potty training toilet lids we can screw onto our toilet so he can sit on it without falling in. I have high hopes though about potty training Noah and I actually think he'll do fairly well with it. He's never had any accidents in any of his swim diapers ever- and he's worn a swim diaper quite a bit this last summer. I'm anxious to get him potty trained since I feel guilty environmentally with how many bags of dirty diapers where emptying out into our landfills on a weekly basis. (Obviously I'm not feeling guilty enough though, cuz I'm not looking into using cloth diapers).
Noah had a moment of brilliance the other day (or at least I think it was). You see, we had the t.v. turned to the Animal Planet station and they were showing a blue whale swimming in the ocean. Noah turned to me immediately and said very clearly "Shamu". He was a bit wrong- of course it wasn't "Shamu", but I was impressed that he could make the connection. Also, I was amazed that he even remembered "Shamu" since the last time we'd visited Sea World or had seen a whale was last December!!!
Alright, so I'm beginning to think that Noah knows we're about to leave on vacation because he's already beginning to party like he's on one. The last few nights I've caught him in his bed an hour or two, or even three hours after we initially laid him down for sleep, just playing around and talking to himself. It's made Spencer and I wonder what he's doing for two or three hours in the dark that is amusing him. We hope to one night, catch it on video tape- we think it would be funny to watch cuz he really blabbers quite a bit when he's in there alone. We'll call it "Project Noah". I'll let you know once we get successful footage of him blowing off bedtime curfew to stay up and party.
So now that it's late, I figure I ought to wrap this up. I've gotta get some sleep, so I can run a few errands and then get packing done. I'm totally looking forward to our trip, but I'm definitely not looking forward to packing!