The dangers of Teeth!

It has been long enough since this happened that I can now see the learning experience in it; I no longer remain purely horrified of it .  Anna was pulling herself up on a dining chair and pulled it back over on top of herself.  Very quickly thereafter, a copious amount of blood appeared, Anna was hysterical and we couldn't determine exactly where the injury was. So, naturally we panicked.  First we called an ambulance, but after about 25 minutes we cancelled it and Michael took her up to the ER instead.  Turns out she pierced a hole and a tear through her tongue with one of her teeth.  The house was like a crime scene the rest of the day.  I kept finding blood drops on the floor, counters, and walls, and bloody finger prints where Michael and I had opened drawers and on the phone, etc.  And for the record, Anna is fine and she's going to be 100% very soon. 

Michael had just returned from a jog when it happened- so he got a little blood to add to the sweat on his shirt.  He didnt have time to change clothes before going up to ER, so I figured looking like that they would get seen straight away (which they did). 

Thanksgiving

We went to a Thanksgiving banquet with 300 of our closest American friends last Sunday.  This fundraising event is put on annually by an American expatriate/charity group I belong to.  Noah was a very good little boy through the entire evening.  The US Consulate General and his wife attend every year, and they also have a son named Noah, so the boys had a ball running around until they collapsed on the floor- literally.  And I must say, the food was really authentic Thanksgiving-style.

Noah twirling in circles until he just couldn't stand up any longer! 

Im standing!

In a matter of 2 days, Anna has learned how to pull herself up and now does it constantly.  The only problem is that she cant figure out how to get back down yet.  And she often does this in her crib too. She plays around in the crib for up to an hour before she actually falls asleep, and periodically we have to go into her hysterical cries because she is "stuck" standing up. 

Gardening in the Living Room

Noah and Anna decided to bring the wheel barrow inside and attend to some gardening in the living room...

Here is Anna's "very, very serious" look which makes her already chubby cheeks look even chubbier. 

On the move

Anna is increasingly on the move!  She is pulling herself up onto her knees all the time, and just pulled herself up onto her feet for the first time a few days ago.  Mom & Dad are excited for her, but Im not sure Noah is quite as thrilled about her progress ;)  

Here is Noah getting annyoed by Anna climbing on his chair.  And I quote --"Anna Gwaaaaacccee (Grace)!!  Naughty!" 

Santa Parade

We went to the annual Santa Parade downtown recently.  We were pleasantly surprised to see Noah enjoy every minute of it. His eyes were glued to the procession for one full hour, which was extraordinary for him.  

Finally, the finale, the Santa float! 

After the parade, we configured the pram so that Anna could have a nap underneath. Now that she's getting bigger, her feet stick out the front when she lays down.  Noah thought this was absolutely the funniest thing. Needless to say, amongst all his giggling and pulling on her tights, she didnt get much of a nap. 

Im not sure what Noah enjoyed more, the parade or the train. 

Sidewalk Chalk...Yum

Anna has taken quite a liking to Noah's sidewalk chalks.  Here she can be seen enjoying a nice green bit.  

Diggers & a Wheel Barrow

Noah currently LOVES diggers. And, by his generous definition, cranes, cement mixers, tractors, dump trucks, fork lifts, and pretty much any large piece of yellow machinery is a "digger".  He has 3 diggers in particular that he is fairly attached to & as the last photo shows, he does not enjoy sharing them with his sister. 

Short video for Grandma.  Noah counting...2, 3, 7, 9, 10!

more halloween...

Here are a few photos from the Halloween picnic this weekend.  After I painted Noah's face he wanted look in the mirror, but he was genuinely terrified by what he saw. He started crying, jumped into my arms, wouldn't let me put him down and kept saying "no, no, no, no, no...".  It really wasn't very funny for him, but we had to stifle our laughs and offer pretend reassurance to him.  Once we were at the park and the candy came out, he quickly forgot about the crisis of his friendly skeleton face.  

Noah's costume courtsey of BabyGap pajama collection

Noah & his friend Ella on the see-saw.  

Anna loved having a turn on the playground

Big scary skeleton sucking his thumb!

Michael & Anna with our friend Tom & his daughter Eva.  The girls were not interested in cooperating for the photo.

He was like a vacuum inhaling the candy!  We never give him candy, so it was quite a yummy novelty for him.