Playground

John and I like to take Noah to the indoor playground at the Avenues Mall. We like this playground OK, except for a couple of things. First, it's completely filthy (imagine hundreds of kids a day sneezing and drooling over everything). John always feels disgusting after we go. Plus, all the parents there are texting on their phones, completely oblivious to their screaming, rambunctious children who are about to run over my little boy (Noah is often the youngest one there, by a couple years). But it gives Noah a chance to run around (or in his case, crawl around) and play and release some energy, instead of being cooped up indoors. Also, he likes to observe the other children - I think it gives him a chance to pick up some tips on how to stand and walk. 

This boy can stand on his own now!

We took him down the slide.

He was unimpressed.

But he's still trying to figure it out.

I'm always concerned every time I go to this playground because I often sit and observe all the other children myself. The other kids are, quite frankly, annoying. They all fight and yell and shove each other and all I can think is, "Is this what I have to look forward to when Noah gets older?" Honestly, I don't ever remember me or my brother acting as crazy as these kids! I always felt that we were so relatively calm and quiet when we played (but I dunno, I remember one thing and I'm sure my Mom remembers something entirely different). I hope and pray that John and I can raise Noah to be a calm and kind little boy. Sure, he can get a little wild and crazy every now and then (he is a boy, after all), but teaching Noah his manners and how to be respectful is high on our priority list as parents.

11 Months

In one month, I'll be turning ONE!

Dude Looks Like A Lady

The following scenario seems to be a recurring incident:

John and I are walking around the mall/grocery store/restaurant with Noah.

Stranger: Oh, what a cute baby!

John and I: Thanks!

Noah: [looks quizzically at stranger]

Stranger: Is it a boy or a girl?

SERIOUSLY?!

This same scenario played out again just the other night when we were at PF Changs. The waiter was setting our food on the table when he said:

"Should I put a plate down for him, I mean, her" (pointing at Noah).

To me (and I'm not just saying this because I'm his mother) Noah looks 100% BOY. He's always dressed in shorts or khakis and a button down or polo (with Ralph Lauren shoes to boot - can't get any more boyish than that!) John and I think it's ridiculous. Sure, there are some babies that could easily pass for girl or boy, especially if they're neutrally dressed, but c'mon, Noah's clearly a boy! 

And the confusion doesn't stop there - not only does he throw people off with his boy/girl looks, but people also wonder what race he is. Is he white? Asian? Mexican? South American? It's funny because all my Asian friends think he looks more white, while all my American friends think he looks more Asian. And then my friends joke that when he's around Asian people, he looks more Asian, but when he's around white people, he looks more like John. Quite the chameleon, this little one. 

Honestly, you can't get any more GQ than this.

Beach Bum

John and I live fairly close to the beach, but ironically we never seem to go. I think it's the atrocious parking or feeling gross afterwards because of all the sand (not to mention the fact that the water is brown - seriously, where are these blue water beaches that I always see on TV?), but we've managed to make the trip out to the beach a couple times this summer with friends.

This is us on our way to the beach. Look how excited he was to be going. He could probably sense my dislike for the beach. But all that soon changed.

Noah ended up loving the beach. He enjoys playing with the sand and crawling around in the water. In fact, he's always crawling towards the water and we have to stop him before he gets in too deep. I've been contemplating buying a little sandbox for him to put on our balcony.