Leonardo and the sugar induced coma

I'll start with:
Best..age...ever...for...trick-or-treating!

Noah had a blast this year for Halloween. His mutant ninja costume has consumed his thoughts the past 3 weeks. He's gotten to wear it for spots here and there but on Saturday he got don it for real. When he puts it on he runs through the house and does cartwheels and comes up in his 'ninja pose.' His friends Hayden and Julia came over to go trick-or-treating with him. Jenna and Val did our street and then the Dad's took them into the neighborhood. Then the fun began.

Noah and Hayden were the oddest tagteam of superheroes ever. Leonardo and Venom made quite the team. They started out timid and shy but after awhile, Noah got into character. After 30 minutes they weren't even saying 'Trick-or-treat' anymore. Noah would run to the door, do his cartwheel, drop to his ninja pose and shout 'Mutant Ninja Tuttle!!!' followed by Hayden's jump and '...And Spida-Man!!!!' The people couldn't help but laugh at their exuberance and then the 'Awwww's when they shouted "Thank you!!!' and took off back to Ron and I. Down the homestretch Noah wasn't paying attention to the trick-or-treating anymore. He was doing spins and kicks down the street/sidewalk and I could tell he was singing the TMNT theme song. He only knows about every 5th word but he hummed it good until the word he knew.

It was pretty funny but when we got back to the house the real fun began. You would have thought they'd never seen candy before. They jumped on the bed watching ninja turtles for a couple of hours. After Hayden left, Noah finally relented in going upstairs to bed but he wanted to sleep in his costume. It took some convincing but I finally talked him into letting me take the costume off, taking his clothes underneath off, and then putting the costume back on.

After about 5 minutes in the bed he was out. When I went up to tuck him in-after the Yankees game 4 win-I could tell he hadn't moved. He was flat on his back wearing his Leonardo costume with his hands out in his ninja pose.




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Video games as duct tape

The title is crazy but its late and the Yankee game is going into the 12th inning. I watched Mythbuster's on Wednesday where they basically proved duct tape can save the world in any cataclysmic event. It's the ultimate bonding agent and that is its only reference to this post.

You see, Noah and I did some serious bonding last night. He's had a chest cold and I was trying to keep him away from Jenna. So he and I sat down last night and played a little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's on the PS3. Some of my first memories were 1978, playing Missile Command on the Atari 2600 with Cuz. We'd name the 4 cities we were saving Junction, ElDorado, Norphlet, and Smackover. After 3 hours and the game got hard we'd basically save JC and let the others get blown to hell.

Wow I'm seriously digressing here. The point is I loved video games when I was a kid and always have. Noah loves them too. Not only does he have 2 pages of games on my iPhone but he can navigate all their menus and play them independently. He also has a Diego and Reader Rabbit game on the iMac. How a 3 year-old can be so good with a mouse is kind of creepy.

TMNT is his new love ever since he accidently saw an episode 2 months ago. He's going as Leonardo, or 'the blue ninja tuttle' for Halloween. Every day is a combination of him crashing through the house doing ninja poses with his play swords over his head and shouting 'Turtle Power.' So I downloaded a TMNT game off the PS Network. It was to be his first real video game and not some interactive cartoon trying to teach him something. It's a coop game so we can play as a team. We've played some levels this past week but last night I told him we were going to play until we run out of 'men.'
When we got to a new level he was so excited. He'd pause the game and yell 'We at new level Mom!!!!' Finally we got to the boss battle against Shredder and he was beside himself. I mean truly beside himself. He was fired up. When we finally beat him he did a dance. Then...there were no more levels. I thought he was going to cry. I guess he thought the game would go on forever. I had to explain to him that video games end. We can play it again but they just don't go on forever (unless its a MMO but that would only confuse him more).

It was a lot of fun and it reminded me of Cuz and I sitting on the living room floor saving JC from annihilation, Holly watching me play a Zelda game, and the Madden/SF2 throwdowns in the dorm at college. People can say what they want about video games but I love them. I think Noah's gonna be a fan too.

My sweet boy

I told Chad I had planned on writing down a few little stories about Noah to put in his keepsake box and he reminded me that's why this blog was designed. There have just been a few moments that have tugged on my heart and I didn't want to forget them. You always think you'll remember, but you don't.

Since Noah started preschool, he has learned so much. New phrases, words, appreciation for art, and a new prayer. As the three of us sat down for dinner the other night, we asked Noah if he wanted to say the prayer. He said no as he always does, but then after we prayed, he wanted to show us how he prays at school. Noah precedes to clasp his hands together, bow his head, shut his eyes, and recite, "God is great, God is good, Let us thank you for this food. Amen". The innocent look on his face and his long eyelashes gently resting together moved me to tears. The sweetest prayer I ever heard and the same one I recited as a child.

Then this morning, Noah and I went to church without Chad as he was suffering from allergies. On the way home, Noah was quiet. I looked at him in the rear view mirror and he smiled. He then said, "Mom, your so nice and pretty." Ahh, where does he get this? I smiled and thanked him.

One more...this afternoon Noah asked to go ride his big wheel. I told him I would walk beside him while he rode. So off we went, after a brief interception by the ice cream man. As we were moving along, Noah stopped and picked a long piece of grass. You know, like a weed that had seeded at the top. He gave it to me. I held it and we moved on. Well we went to visit our previous next door neighbor's house to see how she was making out since moving. I guess I left my "flower" there and when we got to the section where he picked it, he turned and asked where mine went. Oh no. I must have left it at Ms. Jill's. He has a complete meltdown right there on the sidewalk because he wants to go back and get it. I say no and ask him to pick me another one. He cries no; he wants that one (the one at Jill's). So here we are: a big pregnant girl and her crying toddler sitting on the sidewalk on Wagon Wheel Road. How could I get upset with this though? He's so sad because the "flower" he picked for me was left behind. Noah, you are such a sensitive boy and I love, love, love that in you the same way I love it in your dad!

And, just now when I left Noah's bedroom, he picked up my hand, put it on his head and sort of shuffled his hair. Then he took my hand and kissed it. All priceless moments and moments to be thankful for! Noah at 3 years, 4 months.

Big boy goes to PeeSchool

Noah went the past few weeks to his new preschool but it didn't officially start with his new class until yesterday. He had a few days of separation problems but now he's a big boy and is excited. You can tell he misses Ms. Susan because he has asked a few times, "I go to Ms. Susan's house today." His teacher's name is Mr. Robert and Noah's thinks he hung the moon. The cutest thing is if you ask him where he goes and he'll tell you. "I big boy and go to PeeSchool and Mr. Robber is my teacher." I'll try to take a picture of him with Mr. "Rober" in the next few days and put them on here.

Noah's first fish

Last week Noah said he wanted to go fishing. His buddy Hayden got a fishing pole at his birthday party and a recent episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse had Mickey testing his angling skills. I guess it was on his mind because he announced it at bedtime when I asked him what he wanted to do for Father-Son day. In the summer, I take off 1 day a week and Noah and I have a boys' day out. We've golfed and we've bowled, and we've played video games until our fingers bled but I have never brought up fishing. Visions of him hooking me and yanking the pole have left it off my "suggestion list."

But on this day he declared he wanted to go fishing. I gave him the whole lecture of "You have to be a good listener to go fishing" and then put him to bed. Then it was off to the internet to buy a license and off to Wal-Mart to buy him a pole and some tackle. I only own bass and trout gear and there is no way I was doing either of those with him. I got nostalgic as I bought him his first Zebco. I still remember what mine looked like. Hooks, sinkers, bobbers, and a Spider-Man tackle box filled the cart and I went home with visions of lunkers in my head.

The next morning we were off to Southtown for crickets and Lake Fayetteville for fun. He was a really good listener and he held the pole by himself but he wasn't the most adamant 'watcher' of his bobber. After a few got away, I had him sit in my lap and we held the pole together. After about 45 minutes we hooked one. He reeled it in himself so I didn't think we'd land it for the amount of time it took but eventually we got him to shore. It was a decent size bream that would've made Cloise Rotton proud. I snapped the picture and asked if he wanted to take it home to eat. He said "No I take him home and put him in the bathtub." I actually thought about honoring this wish just to see the look on Jenna's face but we finally let it go back to its home.
Noah fishing

Noah with fish

Here is my boo-ty and this is my pee-pee

I know everyone thinks their child is the cutest and funniest child in the world, but this story had me convinced of the latter.

Noah was watching Noggin (a TV channel for toddlers)after his bath tonight and for some reason he didn't want to put his pj's on so he was watching from the chair fully in the buff. The little bird duo that comes on between shows was on and as always speaks directly to the audience. I don't know what lesson he was trying to convey but the little yellow bird asked "Are you wearing your pajamas?"

To this question Noah stood up and responded, "No, I naked. See, here is my boo-ty and this is my pee-pee." Now this alone is a little funny but watching him shake the indicated body part at the TV was the funniest thing I've seen in awhile. When the bird started talking again Noah sat back down like nothing had transpired between them and continued to watch. I love kids.

Lefty Sullivan and the case for well-paid mediocrity

I know just the shear fact that I'm writing this down is going to jinx into not being true. Here goes anyways. I think Noah's left-handed. I don't want to break my credentials out but after 13 years of pediatric practice and being a medical expert on the upper extremity.............I really think he's left-handed.

If you don't know why this is a big deal to me, you haven't been listening the past few years. Although the world is made for right-handed people, being left-handed gets you one clear advantage. A mediocre left-handed reliever can make a good living in baseball. And by mediocre I mean-all things being equal between a right and left handed pitcher-the lefty will make more money. I have made a hundred jokes about tying Noah's right arm behind his back until he was 8. I didn't resort to that but it may have come true anyways.

The only reason I haven't declared him as a lefty yet, is because he still swaps hands a lot on fine motor tasks. Gross motor though the boy is going to shock me if he changes hands. Watching him hit a wiffle ball off the tee right vs. left is no contest. He's 10X's better from the left side. What has me convinced happened late yesterday afternoon. Jenna and I were planting in the front flower bed and the boy had had enough of us not playing with him. So he got out his golf clubs which is an instant Daddy-Pay-Attention-To-Me-Toy. He got a ball and put it on the practice mat (yes I have a practice mat). Typically I hold the club head behind the ball with the shaft where he's supposed to be and he'll walk up to it and get his grip right and then swing away. He'll hit 1/4 with the others hitting the ground about a foot behind the ball. He has a hitch on the downswing that looks like Charles Barkley (if you've never seen Charles Barkley hit a golf ball-I demand you go to YouTube right now). When he hits it I'll take the club and he'll run and get the ball and put it back on the mat. Rinse/repeat.

Yesterday was different. After about the fifth one. He said "No Dad, I'll hit over here." He walked around to the other side of the mat. I wasn't going to argue with him, so I jumped to the other side of the mat. He then preceded to hit 4 straight golf balls left-handed with the back of his right-handed clubs. Obviously they didn't go in the air but they went all the way across the yard. I had my back to Jenna so I just said "Are you watching this?" and she answered "Yes" in a bewildered-I can't believe I'm seeing this-voice. He hit every ball this way. He never whiffed and he didn't hit the ground. Every swing had some part of the clubhead hitting the ball.

So here I sit at 12:15 AM about 30 hours after all of this has set in. Figured I'd post this news on the blog since I couldn't sleep. I fixed some water, came to the living room, and sat down to tell you about all of this and to order left-handed clubs for my son from Golfsmith :)

I'm Diaper on my Head Man…give me some candy!!!!!

Don't know how many will get the SNL reference but we had a comical moment last night.

Potty training is going rather well. Noah tells us when he needs to go and we have very few accidents. We still put a pullup on him overnight and about 1 in 5 nights it will be wet in the morning, but by and large he's doing well.

Noah went to bed at 8:15 last night. About 9:30 he started screaming for "Daaaa!!" Not crying exactly, just that type of yell that we know he won't stop so we have to go up. Jenna went upstairs and the laughter from his room (from her) was loud enough I could hear it in our bedroom. She yelled for me to come out and I did. The sight at the top of the stairs is one that only a parent of a toddler could appreciate.

From the top of the stairs he said, "Look Da, diaper on head!" At some point in time he had gotten bored with trying to go to sleep so he had taken his pajama pants off, took his diaper off, put his pajamas back on, and finally put the pullup on his head like a chef's hat.

We enjoyed the laugh, but this morning I went upstairs to get him and realized he didn't have a diaper on. He had taken it off again and this time thrown it across the room. I would have laughed if he hadn't wet the bed during the night.

As an OT, I'm proud my boy can take his clothes off and put them back on, but as a parent I'm trying to figure out how I can duct tape his pullup on tonight.

Noah the night owl

I don't think I actually needed proof that you are my child but it was nice to get it anyways. You have been sleeping all day long and then having a party every night. Last night your mother said she hadn't felt you all day long and now you were doing flips. It was 9:15. She woke up and had to use the restroom at 4AM and couldn't go back to sleep cause you were "having a party in there." You see son, I'm a night owl too. I come home from work exhausted and need a nap. I have mastered the art of the 30 minute power nap. Your mom can't do it. She naps and wakes up grumpy and more tired. I wake up refreshed. I come home and usually don't even nap, I just veg out for about 30 min and then I'm good to go. I'll sit on the couch and do nothing for hours each week. But come 10:00 and I want to start projects. I don't know how it began, but I've always blamed it on your Papaw. When I grew up we went to his house on the weekends and we would just stay up. I don't ever remember my Dad ever enforcing a bedtime. I'm sure he did, I just don't remember it. I remember going to his house on Wednesdays and going to the skating rink where he was a manager and just staying up late and skating. On a school night. It was great. So it is nice to know you have some of my personality quirks before you're even born. As long as you don't get your Aunts' Melissa and Holly's ability to sleep until 2PM the next day, we'll get along fabulously.

Happy Birth Year

Well we made to the year of your birth. According to the Chinese Zodiac you are being born under the sign of the Dog. Your old man was born under the sign of the Buffalo and your mother was born uner the sign of the Dragon. In China births go way up in the year of the Dragon since its considered the best. This is just one of the many facinating things I have to teach you that will have your mother rolling her eyes. She just doesn't appreciate my desire for useless knowledge.
Last night we went to a party and your mother and I were supposed to bring an appetizer. We usually flake out on this stuff and do the salsa over cream cheese thing or just buy a box of something from Sam's. Anyways, we decided to go all out and make salsa from scratch. Then we decided to make 4 different salsas. I have a point to this story just bear with me. We made your mother's regular salsa that people are always a big fan of. Then we made a tomatilla and avocada salsa, blackened tomato salsa, and cranberry salsa. So we are at this party having a good time and people are coming around the table of food and they stay at the salsas for a while to determine the one they like the best. Then they would heap some on their plate with their other goodies. I stood there wondering which salsa you would pick. I know it will be a while before you are able to partake in the family pasttime (just wait we go through 10 bottles of salsa before we finish half a bottle of ketchup) but those are the types of thoughts I'm having the closer we get to meeting you. What kind of salsa will you like? What will be your favorite color? What's gonna be your favorite sport? Will you like books as much as me? Will you like a good movie as much as your mom? I hope I'm the type of father that always pays attention to you and knows what you like and dislike. I hope I always have a good grasp of who you are.
Well enough rambling. You're mom's not feeling good so she's in bed where your both sleeping. Grow well.
Love,
Dad

1st Christmas Present

Ok it may not be the first present bought, but your mother and I opened your first Christmas present yesterday. Since you won't be able to see it for a while I'll spill the beans and tell you what it is. It was a ... Christmas ornament. Imagine that. You are definitely a Sullivan. You'll get used to, the whole fam is big on the whole 'ornament' thing. Your Gramma has 4 Christmas trees up at her house. Four!!!!!!! Your mother spent the morning making helping your Aunt Melissa throw a gingerbread making party for 20 kids. Christmas is just in your blood.
You also got your first baseball outfit. Your mother has you playing shortstop for the Yankees in 2025 (I have you on the mound). I know you'll get more loot while we travel for the holidays. In fact, you're going to end up with more loot than your mother or me.
Well go back to sleep and keep growing. We'll meet soon. I love ya.

P.S. When your mother says your low, that means get off her bladder. Dude, she can't even watch a 5 minute weather report without going to the bathroom.

Love,
Daddy

Making your mother crazy

I swear, if you are near as much fun driving your mother crazy when you get here like you do now, we are going to have a ball. On Friday, she forgot how to read a calendar and how to count. I'm getting e-mails from her co-workers to have me remind her of things since she can't remember anything at work. I swear she gets half of every conversations. The other day she looked for her keys for 10 minutes and they were in her hand the whole time (I've actually done that before). Then this morning she was trying on different pants to determine which she could fit in. She's had 2 girls at work give her a lot (I mean a ton) of maternity clothes, but the vast majority she can't fit in yet. So she tries on some pants turns around and asks me, "Does it look like I'm wearing a diaper." I swear she's lost her mind. She thinks she looks puffy and awful but the reality is she's never been more beautiful. She just can't see it. After the heartbeat incident this past weekend, I'm starting to think of you as a little Calvin. If you come out with a stuffed Tiger, I'll know for sure we're in trouble.

Growing pains

Well tomorrow will be 12 weeks. It seems , hopefully, that we are out of the woods and you will be joining our family in May. I have to say you have been making your Mom rather moody. this past Sunday night I cried and cried and I am no sure why. Monday felt pretty bad too. Tues, Wed, Thurs were better. By Friday, I was just ready for the weekend. I haven't been quite as sleepy, but I still don't have tons of energy. I have been having some dull aches in my abdomen. People tell me that is from my ligaments stretching to make sure you have room to grow. I'm ready for you to grow. My clothes don't fit so well, but maternity clothes look silly on me :)

Heartbeat

We went to the doctor's office today and heard your heartbeat for the first time. The doctor kind of looked at us expectantly and all I could say was, "That's the heartbeat?" You sounded like a helicopter. Everyone asked me afterwards if I cried. Well I didn't. I think it was so fast and not what I was expecting. It wasn't until later that it dawned on me that I just heard my baby's heart beating. Then I felt ripped off and wanted to go hear it again. Oh well.