11/2/14

Noah's 8th Birthday and Baptism

Sorry this ones blurry.
My big boy turned 8 a couple months ago.  I can't believe it's been that long since he made us parents. Man, time flies, and because I think time is just whizzing by, I must be getting old.  When I was little, I used to think it must be an old person thing to think that time goes by so fast. It's true, the older I get the faster time seems to go.  
ANYWAY, back to my Noah getting older.....
Noah gets sooooo excited about holidays and birthdays.  He was asking to open presents weeks before the actual day, so on his birthday morning, he was up bright and early eager to devour his presents.  
We did the usual birthday breakfast song and candle.  This boy loves poached eggs, and is pretty good at making them by himself.  He eats 3 poached eggs about 4 days a week.
 His presents: Perplexus epic, Suspend (a balancing game - see photo below), some magnets (those black rock-like magnets that stack), another Calvin and Hobbes book, a new tie, and his own scriptures (case, quad, marking pen, hymn book and some scripture stickers).
Suspend game
 
The primary presidency came over and wished him a happy birthday and made his birthday crown for him. 
 
Noah's birthday cake.  This was a really fun cake to make and design.  He's been on a Calvin and Hobbes kick the last year, and was reading them morning and night.  He decided he wanted a Calvin and Hobbes cake, so he picked out his favorite comic strip (it was 2 pages, so we just chose 3 frames from the strip) and we turned it into a cake. 
I had to start making all the components of the cake a week or so before his birthday, because a lot of the pieces need to dry hard, so they could stay suspended (i.e. Calvin holding the notes, Hobbes' tale sticking up, doors to hold shape, etc.).

 
Since I really only make 3 'fancy' cakes a year, I try to learn or try something new with each one. This time I made the inside of the cake tiger striped. I also tried a different frosting. I've never really liked buttercream, so I tried making italian meringue instead.  Way better! Tastes better and goes on the cakes nicer. 
 Noah LOVED the cake!!  Everyday after school (before his birthday), he would come home and see if I made any more pieces for his cake. 


 We had some friends over to swim, eat dinner and have cake with us.  Noah invited his friend, Evan, over too.
We ended the day with the traditional birthday spanking tunnel.  He had an awfully red bum after going through 8 times!!!
 I think he had a great day, and was anxious for his grandparents and cousins to come for his baptism in a couple weeks.
 September 27th, 2014
Noah's Baptism and Confirmation
 The lighting inside the chapel is terrible, so we came outside to take a couple pictures only to be reminded that our chapel has cream brick.  Not much better. :/

 Noah was so happy to be getting baptized with is best friend Evan.  We did their baptisms and confirmations together (of course, they did them separately, but we did the program stuff together).  It was a stake baptism, but there were only a few other kids besides Noah and Evan this month.
 The Stake portion
 
Baptism and Confirmation
We had so many friends and family come to celebrate with Noah. Our ward is such a support for us, and we were overwhelmed with how many of our ward family came. Noah's California grandparents came too, our neighbors Doug and Linda.
Noah's confirmation circle (for my records):
Adam, grandpa Bruce, grandpa Rob, Eli, Shawn Edwards, Jason Galmeister, Scott Graves, and Bishop Van Weorkom.


 Noah (and the rest of us) were so happy to have cousins there to celebrate with us too.
Grant was mad because Noah got some treats after his baptism and he didn't want to share yet. :)

Thank you so much grandma Connie, grandpa Rob, grandma Linie, grandpa Bruce, aunt April, Madi, Meg and Eli for coming out to play with us for Noah's big weekend!! We had so much fun with everyone. 

Things about my Noah:
Noah is such a sweet kid. Don't get me wrong, he has his moments of jealousy, fighting with siblings, disobedience, etc, but for the most part, he is such a fun loving little boy. 
He still loves to snuggle with me.  
He is usually the first one up every morning.  He quietly goes downstairs and makes breakfast for himself, or comes in and snuggles with me until I get up.  
He loves swimming and can stay underwater for a long time. 
Still very smart - an excellent reader (Noah and I are reading Dr. Doolittle right now, and we are both enjoying our reading time together), great with math, loves science (especially the solar system lately).  He's always wanting to learn something new.  We frequent wikipedia and google.
Likes to watch movies.
Loves bugs, animals, being outside, exploring, collecting junk/treasures.
Very good friend.  He sticks up for his friends at school and wants everyone to feel welcome. The other day he came home and told me that some girls were being mean to Evan, and he knew it made him sad, so he went up to the girls and said, "you'd better go over and apologize to Evan".  He said they refused, so he told them he was going to tell on them (ha, not ideal, but I was pleased non-the-less :)), so the girls went and apologized.  This week a new girl was coming to join their school class, and he told me that she only speaks Spanish.  For a few days prior to her arrival, he kept bringing her up, and how he wanted to learn some Spanish so she wouldn't feel bad. 
He is still doing karate and is almost a purple belt.  He whines every time we have to go (I tell him it's not my idea of fun, sitting at karate for 45 minutes twice a week, so we can quit anytime), but once he's there he loves it. 
Likes going to the lake, and even enjoys water skiing (after a little whining - see above). This boy requires a little extra push to get him to do things. :)
He has been really inquisitive about adoption lately, and we are completely open about it.  He's known his entire life that he was adopted, but recently I think he's really comprehending what it means.
He loves his grandparents and cousins and wishes they lived closer.
He loves having people over for dinner or to swim.  
He is very interested in whatever Adam and I are talking about, and thinks he should be privy to all adult conversations.  Amazing how sometimes I don't think he can hear anything, but then he can tell me from the back seat of the car what Adam and I are talking about up front. Hmmmm.  I remember doing that. 
He prefers vegetables over pretty much anything else. 
Noah still won't go to sleep without a goodnight kiss.  When we go to school he waits with me by Ava's classroom,  and as soon as the bell rings he finds me and gives me a kiss goodbye.  I know this won't last for too much longer, so I'm loving it while it lasts. 
He is a good saver.  He wants everything, of course, but if I tell him he can buy it with his own money, he almost always goes without.  
Get's excited about holidays, vacations, birthdays, really anything new.  He's the one who pesters me each holiday to get out the decorations.  
I love this boy so much.  He's such a joy to have around.



4 comments:

Erika Ellis said...

Yay Noah!

Mary said...

This post makes me miss Noah loads and loads. He really is a precious child--and you two are great parents to him. I didn't know the bit about him being so considerate of others' feelings. That is awesome! Empathy is the hardest thing to teach my kids. And the cake was more than impressive, Summer. I'm not showing it to my kids b/c Lionel's already counting down the days until his birthday and I don't want him getting any ideas like Charlotte had last birthday...

Summer Wilson said...

His empathy seems to be mainly reserved for friends. We're still working on it for his siblings. ;)

Ty * April said...

We are so glad we could come out. Noah and Madi are so much alike its almost funny. Love that boy!