Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A Painted Pumpkin

This year I wanted Noah to be able to do something with a pumpkin. He's too small to handle a knife, so it seemed paint was the next best option. We sat him down, showed him the paint brushes, and let him go.


He had no interest in trying to handle the paint brush and just shoved his hands right into the paint. He didn't seem to have any particular design in mind for the pumpkin. He went for more of a Jackson Pollock kind of look. He played in the paint for a while until his pumpkin took on a nice gray color. Then he got frustrated with the paint being on his hands. It was time to call it a night. The pumpkin was not exactly what you'd call beautiful, but Noah did it himself. Mission accomplished.


Spirit Week

Last week, Noah's daycare had spirit week. He only had to go for two days, but we dressed accordingly. Tuesday was crazy day, for wearing mismatched clothes. Wednesday was black and orange day. Nana bought his spooky shirt and had it mailed overnight so he could wear it. He was definitely showing his spirit. Well, maybe it was more my spirit than his, but spirit nonetheless.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

At the Pumpkin Patch


This weekend we took Noah to a local pumpkin patch. The place was actually more fun than we expected. They had an area with baby goats, a couple of smelly pigs, a turkey, and some chickens. You were not allowed to feed or pet the animals because they would bite, but it was still cute. They had face painting for the kiddos, ice cream, boiled peanuts, and hot dogs. Then you got to jump on a hay ride to head out to pick out your pumpkin. They had an area where you could pick out tiny pumpkins, which I've never seen before, then an area with the larger ones.


It was hard to get a good picture of Noah looking at the camera. There was just too much going on and too many distractions. He seemed to enjoy picking his way through the pumpkins, occasionally trying to push one over. I thought he might try to pick them up, but he was content to leave them on the ground and just touch them all. When we had seen all the pumpkins there were to see, we hopped back on the hay ride to head back to the car. It was a fun first trip to the pumpkin patch for our little family.


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Reading to Daddy

One of my favorite things that we have seen Noah do so far is read. He will grab a book off his shelf, usually a Little Quack book, sit down and turn the pages, pointing things out and making sounds as he goes. We've seen him do this several times, but I finally got it on video one night when he decided to read to Taylor. I apologize for the video being dark.


Saturday, October 20, 2012

Professor Larkin

Nana has a couple of pairs of reading glasses laying around her house and thought it would be cute to see what they would look like on Noah. Normally, he can't stand to have anything on his face or head and pull things off as soon as you put them on him. But for some reason, he thought this was really funny. He looked so adorable in them. Our little professor all ready to teach his first class.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Baby in a Box

While at my parents' house, we found the box from Noah's new car seat. Since kids always seem to love boxes, we pulled it out to see what Noah would do with it. At first, he didn't seem to have much interest in it. So I got in the box to show him how much fun it could be.


He still wasn't convinced of the fun that could be had inside the box. So we threw his ball into the box. That was the push he needed. He went right in after it.


If only children came in boxes like this with directions included.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Critters at the Creek

On one of the nicer afternoons we've had recently, we took another stroll with Noah down to the creek. This time, Taylor caught a crawfish for Noah to investigate and a frog he could touch.



Noah's favorite part of the outing was splashing in the water and throwing rocks. He doesn't mind getting dirty and just sat himself right down in the dirt to play. He was also quite alright squating right down in the water to splash around. Turns out dirty hands and a wet back side make our little boy quite happy.



Saturday, October 6, 2012

What a Scream

Noah got a little hyper one night before bed and decided to throw his animals around and scream a bit. It was quite entertaining to watch.


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Playdate

While Noah was visiting my parents one weekend recently, he had his first play date with a new friend.


This is Grant, and he lives next door to my parents. He is about six months older than Noah but since he's a little short and Noah's a little tall, they look to be about the same age. They had fun playing with the wagon, lifting up the seats and putting them back down. Grant ran around the yard wanting Noah to follow. Noah stood there staring, wanting to follow but not quite able to run just yet. Soon, Grant, very soon. They had a great time and played really well together. Hopefully they can continue to be friends and play together as they get older.


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Think Outside the Box

At only a year old, Noah is already thinking outside the box. He got a shape sorter for his birthday. He will sit and try for a few minutes to get the shapes inside through the holes in the top. You know, the way you're supposed to. When he finds one he can't quite get in the correct hole, he just takes the top off. Then he tosses the piece inside, giggles, and puts the top back on. That's my good little problem solver.

Monday, October 1, 2012

A Fuzzy Friend

Taylor has a big black stuffed gorilla that he's had since he was a baby. It's been a lot of places with him, including college and a road trip out to the west coast and back. It's been a good friend for many years. So for Noah's first birthday, his Uncle Zach, who also went on that road trip, gave him this guy. Maybe this will become a tradition. All new Larkin men have to have a giant pet gorilla. Thanks Uncle Zach, for this new fuzzy friend.