Noah in ISP

Noah and Teacher Jonathan,  such a great year so far for Noah in ISP.

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree

This Thanksgiving we ate the usual amount of Turkey and Mashed Potatoes with BOTH families. But instead of spending the weekend following in a Turkey coma, we headed to JOSHUA TREE.

The Cub Scouts of Monrovia met up in the rainy early evening and set about to "Boulder hop" and eat smores.

Noah loved the climbing.

The Cub Scouts.  A great group.

Our family.

The Peak

Noah and Jack become Junior Rangers at Joshua Tree.

Christmas at Tom and Laura's 2010

Just had to share these pictures. Thanks everybody for making the memories

pic

April 2010 I love you more than all the madagascar guys

Noah and Jack are finally asleep. It was a long day. But in all the right ways. We were in the backyard. In the garden (soon to be) In the sandbox. On the ride toys. In the playhouse.
They danced and flipped and crawled and screamed and ran and jumped and laughed and threw sand and cried and ate snacks and called out.... "Dad, look at this."

I wanted to take note, that today, this is one of those days. I watered a lawn. I shoveled some soil. I ate dinner on the patio. I changed a diaper. I visited with family.

I knew, I was acutely aware all day long that I was blessed.

2009 Reflections - A New Home

2009 – A New Job, New Responsibilities, and A House.

In our six years of marriage we probably searched for a house brutally and dilligently four times, in 3-6 month long binges. I'm not sure we ever believed it was possible. What we desired did not match what we could afford. We began each search with excitement and vigor, only to end the search months later disillusioned, filling the file cabinet with another folder of notes, offers, and flyers advertising homes for sale, again making the decision time and again that it was not possible in our current situation. It was getting a bit repetitive.

With the economic crisis, I'm not sure we even dreamed this would be the year we'd own a home. My consulting job was not looking stable anymore. Obama's $8000 offer gave us the boost we needed to hop on board the roller coaster once again. Halfheartedly, we began our search. Then one afternoon, a job opportunity literally fell into my lap when Tom came home venting about a teaching position at Aveson that they were having some difficulty filling. What about me? I said. A few months later and I was teaching high school history part time. This helped us qualify for a better house. Due to the crazy real estate market, we made offer after offer, only to lose the battle each time.

A beautiful story for another blog, but somehow, it happened. And here we are. Homeowners in Monrovia. It's been a few months but we are still in a dreamlike state. Waiting for the ball to drop or literally waiting for the roof to cave in, we are in shock that this little home is ours. It is far better than we ever imagined. We feel very lucky.

I think my favorite part is the yard. A place to run and jump and play. Trees and greenery. Tom's must be the garage...storage shelves and tools and manly stuff. A lawn to mow, leaves to rake. He is in man heaven. Noah loves his blue bedroom with the fish on the walls. They swim around when he closes his eyes at night. And Jack. Jack adores the outdoors. And the long hallway he can ride or push something down.

It has been a very happy year for us. We are looking forward to opening up our home to family and friends and celebrating life often.

2009 Reflections - Jack Thomas

Jackie Boy - Bumps, Bruises, Scratches – Doctor Visits and a 911 Call – And 1 Million Smiles

If Noah was busy exploring the limits of his mind, Jack was quite occupied exploring the limits of his body. He started off 2009 as a 4-month old little squirt, flashing his many-toothed grin at anybody who would give him the time of day. Desiring to move before his little (or not so little) body was ready, he was crawling at ??? months and attempting a sprint at a year. His head disproportionately bigger than the rest of his body, he often (sometimes every few minutes) met the ground head first. Never cautious, never fearful, he hops back up with a fresh bump or scratch sometimes without a single groan, ready to run and fall again. He ends 2009 as a15-month old daredevil clown. He hops aboard at least five different ride toys several times a day. He not only attempts to ride a trike meant for a 3-year old (and he figures out how to get it going), he wants to invent new and more exciting ways to ride. What about if I rode it backward or stood on the seat? As I'm writing this he is standing atop a scooter sideways with no hands, seemingly attempting to jump off. Keep in mind that he is not capable of jumping.

Jack is a social being. He says hi when there is a knock at the door and smiles at every passerby. When he does not get attention from a stranger, he looks at them, walks up to them, and nearly forces his smile upon them. At red lights I catch the lady in the car next to us, waving back at her newfound friend. He's a ham. Take out a camera and he squints his eyes, shows his full set of teeth, and says “teeeeese”.

He's a clown. He makes us belly laugh daily. He tries to crack jokes only the way a baby can and he loves his own sense of humor (Hmmm - remind you of anyone?). He attempts to bit off noses, tackle cousins to the ground, and runs around the house growling and chasing us during monster play. He's rough and tough and enjoys a little pain with his play. Head bumps may leave you tearing up in pain while he is belly laughing.

A Music Lover, especially hard rock. When he was an infant, he was not soothed by Mom's singing or lullabies. We had to put on the grateful dead to rock him to sleep. Party environments relaxed him. I remember one family party in particular, it was long past bedtime and he was cranky and whiny. I tried nursing him, rocking him, taking him into a quiet room. It wasn't until we entered the karoake bar with a few loud ramblers obnoxiously singing some 80s rock song that he was soothed to sleep.

And a talker. Quite the parrot. We adore the way he says NooAh. When his uncle Steven sings the ever favorite “Hop on board the animal train...” Jack singsongs “Animaw”. And if you start singing old MacDonald he joins in at “E-I-E-E-O”. He barks and pants at dogs at dog-eees and belly laughs when family dogs knock him to the ground. He calls Debandababa Baba and sometimes spits out all the syllables of her nickname. He loves saying Dimmy (my brother Jimmy) and Eyi (cousin Eli). He'll repeat anything when he feels up to it but never for show.

He's growing too fast as the second child often does. I hardly remember the crawling days. We're not sure when he had his first word. We only have about a 1000 digital pics of his life so far (Noah had 3 video movies of the birthing experience alone). He had a full set of teeth at his first birthday and sometimes he eats more than I do.

He terrifies us. With his rambunctious, fearless nature, his oral fixations, his body rashes, and his febral seizures, we are kept on our toes. If Noah has us using our imaginations more, Jack keeps us active, literally jumping and sprinting over to him to try to prevent another disaster.

We love it.

2009 Reflections - Noah

Noah 2009 – The Imagination Blossoms

This was a magical year for Noah. Every week seemed a new adventure as he attempted to make sense of his world while creating his own imaginary creatures, scenes, and fantasies.

The year began with Curious George. His obsession was quite obvious. His eyes lit up every time we would turn to a page where Curious George was involved in some sort of accident with a medical cart, a library cart, or any sort of moving vehicle. His interest in accidents of this sort had him recreating these scenes. Sometimes he gathered a cart full of toys, mixed them all together, and created one random mess, only to crash the cart all over the living room floor. In preschool, he sought out the tricycle with the small trunk, filled it with random toys, and took off. Riding the tricycle was not the thrill however. Instead it was the slow motion fall to the ground, toys spilling out over the path, limbs spread out frozen still that gave him great joy.

We enjoyed having two extra guests in our household for a few months. Noah's imaginary friends, Pip and Pop, made every day a new adventure. Pip was apparently Noah's alter ego, carrying out his secret sinful desires. Pip threw Jack out windows, attacked grandmas, hopped aboard moving vehicles, and caused mayhem wherever he went.

The year ends with Noah's animal obsession. In the last few months of 2010 our house has been jam- packed with animals of all sorts. Zoos are created with blocks on a daily basis. Animal encyclopedias, and books on narwhals and whales are strewn about the rooms. Diego's animal adventures and Planet Earth are the videos of choice. He would go to the zoo every day if he had a choice. Our living room rug is an ocean, Jack's crib is a gorilla cage, the couch a snow-capped mountain. Noah himself is not Noah anymore. Every day he is a different animal, sometimes animals we've never heard of...a chinchilla monkey, a mountain camel, a killer whale. “I'm NOT Noah” he tells friends. His hands become flippers or claws causing some difficulty with carrying out the everyday tasks of life. At school, he refuses to wear his Noah nametag or have Noah written on his artwork. Instead, it must be the name of the creature of the day. At the store, he greets strangers with a bark or a growl. “I'm a killer whale” he shouts. The stranger's blank stare is perceived as fear as he quickly reassures them, “I don't eat people.” His curiosity is endless. His desires are adorable. And his imagination enhances the facts.

Pip is long gone. No more tricycle accidents. We're not sure how long a gorilla will roam our hallways. But these short-lived obsessions bring us back to the innocence and silliness of our own childhood play forcing us to reboot our own imaginations.

From September 2008

Halloween 2008

Halloween.

Humpty Dumpty

This happens at least once a day...

Noah heads out to his small play structure in the front yard. He climbs to the top...only about 3 feet off the ground and straddles the top. You can see him mumbling to himself as he swings his legs back and forth. This goes on for about 10 minutes. Then he slowly climbs down. Appearing to be in deep thought (I think he is "in character") a slow half smile creeps to his face. He holds out both of his hands as if he is carrying something quite precious and walks right up to me. In a quiet, near whisper he says, "Momma...my pieces...Can you put me back together?"



The first time he did this it took me a few seconds to figure it out. Then his favorite nursery rhyme popped in my head. "Oh!! Are you Humpty Dumpty?" "Yes, Momma. Can you put my pieces back?" "Of course" I say as I pretend to replace the pieces.

Too cute. Good thing that the sweet illustrated version we have includes one last page where Humpty stands with a bandaged head, now back together, holding two small pieces in his hands. Happy ending for Humpty in this version. And happy ending for my little Humpty too. :)

Miss you. Love you.

Debandabuba

Just a quick note: Noah loves his Great Grandma.
She is affectionately known as De-band- u -bub - a. A name Laura bestowed on her when she was just a girl. Debands is up north visiting her daughter, and we all miss her. Noah the most.

Sunday morning

Sunday morning.


There is a relatively small foot steadily poking me in my ribs. Thump. Thump. Not mean, not an aggressive kick in the ribs. Just a steady dig.

I glance over in bed to see Noah, deep asleep, jabbing me with his feet. He is now sleeping sideways and I have been relegated to the furthest corner of my side of the bed.

Laura doesn't have much more room on our ever slimming queen size bed. She is 9 months pregnant, due date is in a matter of days. She sleeps, as well.

Noah was in his bed when I drifted off to sleep around 11. But now, without my knowing it, he has crawled into my bed, scooted me to the furthest corner, and has now begun kicking me gently in the ribs.

I move Noah away from me, he scoots immediately closer. I pick him up, ever so gentle for 6:00am, and drop him a foot or two away. He has landed on my pillow and his tiny head is taking up the whole of it.

I allow it. Losing the pillow is worth another 15 minutes or so of sleep. I settle my face into the ever slimming queen size bed and fall back asleep.

Around 6:30am, Noah is not in the bed.
I sit up. He is not in the room. I hop up and round the corner to the living room. He is sitting in the center of the room 'reading' a Curious George book singing softly, "Hi_ho the Dairy-O.... yeah yeah, the farmer and the (inaudible). Wa wa, the hi-ho." It continues.

"Hi, baby." I groggily mumble.

"Dad Da." He doesn't look at me. "I want cereal." He says this gently.

"O.K." I grab the Cherios.

"Dad Da". He climbs his chair. "I want Oheees, and Gorillas and berry crunch."

I pour all three cereals in a small bowl. Cherios. Gorilla Munch (c/o of Trader Joe) and Triple Berry Crunch. He gobbles it down.

We sit and outside the window it is chilly and wet and the sun is starting to dominate. It is really quite beautiful. I do dishes while Noah eats. He asks me many questions during this time, but what's really on his mind it, "Dad? Are you going to work?" "No", I say. "It's Sunday."


After breakfast Noah and I retire to the couch. He brings me book after book. Hippos Go Berzerk and Miss Mary Mack this round.

Later, he slips into his room. He comes back, completely naked.
I ask him if he's ready for a shower and he says yes. But first he asks me to come into his room. He walks me over to the fish tank and asks, "Where's the black one?"

The black fish had a good run, to be sure, but he's no longer swimming among us. I stumble. I change the subject. "Did you see the baby fish?" I say.

He is fixated on the tank where the black fish no longer swims.

"The black fish died." He tells me. "He went to heaven." Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Hyatt. I talk him into the shower and save the heaven talk for another year. Or several.

In the shower we brush teeth, wash hair, stack cups. We've got it down to an art, really.

After the shower I gather us both up and wrap the boy in a towel. He tosses it aside, as he prefers to air dry. He comes storming into the living room a few minutes later carrying underwear, mismatched socks, a pajama shirt, and a thick pair of jeans. (It is august)

Not much happens for the rest of the morning. We do some dishes. We put books back on their shelf. We do a puzzle. We feed the fish (minus the black one) and Noah spills half the can of fish food. We vacuum it up. That was three hours ago now and he is still concerned that the fish won't have enough later on. "The (fish) food is all gone." He says filled with concern.


It's 10am. I put on some Elliott Smith. I type this blog. Noah reads while I type, but not before coming over and kicking me softly in the ribs.

All in all, an exceptional morning.

Cereal

Noah,

Let's call today the cereal day.

You were so hungry for cereal tonight. You wanted the one with the bird on it. This is my fault, of course, I never should have picked up that box of Coco Puffs. They were on sale. Two bucks. I couldn't resist. And several mornings back, I shouldn't have given you a bite of the "bird" cereal. Your face lit up like Christmas morning.

Last night you stayed up till 10 p.m.
Watching T.V. with Ella Gale. You were so happy then. I think you watched The Lorax. Are you too young for the Lorax? I don't think so. Well, it couldn't hurt, right?



I've never seen you so upset, son. You were so lost in anger. So enraged. You wanted the bird cereal. Your nose was running. Your face was beet red. Your brow dipped in sweat, your arms flailing.... What a site.

This was a day. And now as I reflect on it, I love you for your individuality, for your spirit, for your drive.

Goodnight. Dream of Coco Puffs, because you'll never see them in our house again.

Dad and Grandpa turn year older; Noah turns year cuter

This past April, Noah sat idly by as his Dad and Grandpa shared a birthday.  Although Noah's Dad is no spring chicken, Noah's Grandpa is the one readying himself for the old folks home.  

All jokes aside, it was a great night for the Hyatt fam!  Lots of old familiar faces stopped by - and Melissa went into labor the very next day.

Happy Birthday Tom (good looking one, left) and Chris (all dressed up in his tank top) Noah (yellow shirt, icy stare) loves you both.!

Christmas '08

Christmas '08

Merry Christmas from the Hyatt family.

Catching up

Why so long?

Noah,

You are napping on a lazy Saturday. I am spending another Saturday afternoon working. It's not the best thing a Dad can do on a Saturday. There's just so much to do. But there's so much to do with you, as well.

So I'm stopping. Right now.

There. I stopped. And I won't start again until you wake up from your nap.

Then I'm taking you to the park. You can swing as high as you want to, and as long as you want, too. You can slip and slide and crawl and jump and hang and run and fall and rock all you want.

After that I'm making you lunch. Whatever you want, and we'll eat it together. Maybe some fruit, need a veggie in there, some protein. You love cheese. You are crazy for Cheerios or some variation. If Da Da has milk, you want milk. And we pick out the carrots from the Veggie soup because it's your favorite.

Later we might watch some Sesame Street. Or read a dozen or so books. If you get your hands on "Bear Wants More" or "Little People Town" or "Go Away Scary Monster" we'll find ourselves reading it seven or eight times. I can't wait to do that for you.

Then you'll need a nap. I'll offer you a bottle (a Ba Ba, as you know it) but you'll just chew on it. You aren't a big fan. We can lay together for up to an hour, singing songs (Itsy Bitsy Spider or Take Me Out To The Ballgame) but you just won't fall asleep like that. You'll probably need a drive along the block with Jack Johnson or maybe even a stroller or wagon ride.

I hope you can get a lot of sleep because we have much more to do. It's Saturday, after all.

While you sleep I'll plan the rest. I'll put up your tent in the living room, I'll set up your trains and blocks. I'll get out your crayons and paper and I'll set out some snacks. Your sandbox is ready, your tiny swimming pool awaits. Your push toys are aching for you, and your tricycle misses you, too. We'll all wait for you to wake up.

Well, while I wait I might just check my email. And if it's something to do with work I might just have to take care of it. And it might take me some time. And if I really mess up you'll just have to play trains or build blocks without me. - But I'll hurry. I promise. It is, after all, Saturday.

It's Sunday. Monday. October. November. December.
I'm working late, there's traffic, you got to get to bed, we have plans to visit.....

December 8th, 2008. Saturday.

You are napping. I am waiting. I will wait and wait and I'll be right here when you wake up.

Happy Halloween

It seems Obi Wan and R2D2 have befriended a strange brown legged duck.