The month of June

I haven't updated all month - things have been crazy around here!  Not much is new, except that Noah is starting to talk in several-word sentences (the other day he asked me, "Are we gonna go to school?").  He still talks in gibberish some of the time, but he's getting really good at communication, for the most part.  Here's what we were up to last month:

Noah turned 2!!  He's such a big boy, and we're so proud of how kind and sweet he is.  He listens well most of the time (which is about all you can expect from a 2 year old) and he's so gentle and loving with Maya.  He has to give her a kiss before bed every night, and often asks to hold her.  A lot of the time if it's just me with the two of them I'll load him in the car first and then bring her downstairs to the car (she weighs 19 pounds and her plus the weight of the carseat, and along with trying to wrangle him it's a little much!) and he always makes sure to remind me to bring her along ("Maya come, too?  Get Maya carseat?").  He loves to make us laugh, and he's such a sweetheart; he loves to snuggle and has started saying, "I love you Mommy!  I love you Daddy!"  It melts our hearts.

On his birthday we went to a local park and had a photographer take some pictures:

I took this one when we were just hanging out around the house being silly, but I love his face!  This is totally his personality.

 Anytime we ask him what he wants for dinner his answer is "Pancakes!"  Obviously, we can't have pancakes for dinner all the time, but for his birthday we decided to grant his wish.  We went to Cracker Barrel and they brought him pancakes with a candle in them and sang "Happy Birthday."  He was a little overwhelmed by all the people, I think, but he had fun!

This is when everyone was singing...he was a little weirded out.

He is extremely musical!  He loves to sing and dance, and he was always pretending to play the guitar - he would use anything as a guitar, from a straw to a clothes hanger.  So...we decided to get him a real one (toddler-sized) for his birthday!  He loves it, and plays it all the time.

We had his birthday party at a pavilion at a park - it was HOT but the kids had a great time!  I'm so lucky to have some great friends who have kids, and most of the kids from his class were able to make it, also.

When we got home from the party he got to open his presents and then we went out on the deck to blow some huge bubbles (someone had gotten him a bubble wand).  He had a blast!

And here are some new pictures of Maya!  She's starting to be able to sit up pretty well on her own for a little while:

She ADORES her brother.  She watches everything he does, and they make each other giggle all the time!

He was in the middle of sneezing, that's why his face looks weird!

 I know she'll be 6 months old in a week, but here's a picture of her at 5 months:

We're headed to Disney this weekend, so I'm sure I'll have a ton of pictures to upload after our trip!