Noah thinks Jimmy Fallon is HILARIOUS

We went to Geneva this past weekend (more on that in a separate post), and in a little down time Matt and I were watching a 'History of Rap' clip from the Jimmy Fallon show (kid approved, of course). Turns out Noah found it hilarious. We have no idea why, but he was cracking up (shrieking, hand slapping, laughter). We had to share.

B-I-N-G-O

So just the other day Noah actually made the clapping motion for the first time. He hasn't quite figured out how to make the clapping sound, but that doesn't seem to bother him.

Today he was watching Baby Crack Genius and B-I-N-G-O came on. I look over and he is "clapping" when they clap. HUH!? Some things these babies do just amaze me. I think they have no idea what's going on... oh they so do!

Spring! (well it's starting to feel like it anyway)

The past couple of days have been progressively warmer here in Zürich. Friday it's supposed to be 60 degrees! To celebrate this warmer weather, and more importantly SUNSHINE (I'm not sure where the sun goes in the winter here, but we don't see much of it), I brought Noah for his first trip to the park. In his current, non-walking state, the only activity for him is really the baby swings, but that was enough.

Then today, after seeing an oh-so-cute picture of Olivia Roth in her bike helmet, I decided it was time to test out where we stand with our springtime activity gear. Noah must have been in a good mood because he let me try it all on him without a tear, and even gave me lots of smiles!

First we had to test out the cool bike helmet that Tia Laurie gave him for Christmas. Now we just have to put the baby bike seat on the back of Matt's bike. Then we progressed to our other spring and summer accessories (courtesy of the Siwickis).

He definitely loves this helmet. He must have sat in front of the mirror checking himself out and laughing for at least 5 minutes. That's like an hour in baby time.

I think he likes this one too...

What you see there is the trail of destruction that follows Noah these days.

I wear my sunglasses at night

In the train station... no wait it's our living room!

We have been wanting to get an "official" SBB clock for some time now. Matt finally bit the bullet and bought one. This clock was made famous recently because Apple copied the design (without credit) for the iphone clock. Anyway, what better item to commemorate our time in Switzerland than a clock!?

Skiing

It is with both great happiness and regret that I tell you we went skiing this past weekend. It is with regret because I can't believe it took us until March to go, but great happiness because it was AMAZING. 50's, sunny, great snow, BEAUTIFUL. We went to one of my favorite mountains (that I have seen so far, because goodness knows there are a million), mainly because there are not a lot of mountains nearby that have childcare for babies.
Going skiing this year was quite a bit different than last year, when Matt and I would just hop on a train. It now involves a rental car, packing the night before to make sure Noah has all the potential supplies he might need, and a twice as much gear.
I am terribly bummed that Noah will not even be 2 for our last winter here. I would really like to get him started at ski school, but the earliest they do even here is 2.5 years. Oh well.

Matt has not only accepted the importance of a helmet, he now likes it. Thanks Laurie!! 

The Coffee Table

Noah's very favorite thing to do these days is stand at the coffee table. Sometimes he falls, then gets right back up... again and again and again. This kid is nothing if not persistent. Today he stood there while Matt and I ate dinner. The WHOLE time. (side note: this video is not from dinner)

Isn't this always the way

New toy:


Box it came in:

Relaxing weekend at home- ALL of us :)

Matt's busy season just ended, so we finally have him back on the weekends. We didn't do anything too exciting- just relaxed, went for a walk, played. It was nice to just spend some time as a family.

7 Months Old Today!!

All I can say is: wow. 7 months.

Not sure why I bothered with shoes...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Matt got me these beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day- which more or less made up for the fact that he had a work event tonight. Not his fault, but stinky :(

In other news, Noah has become a better crawler, but I am slightly worried that he may be taking his cues from Boston. Is it normal for kids to pant like dogs when they crawl?!

And now pulling to standing has progressed to pushing boxes around the house... maybe if I put some Swiffer cloths on the bottom he could clean the floors?

Today...

I was going to post this video of Noah exploring his leg strength (apologies in advance for the mid-video coughing fit, he is just getting over a virus).

But right before bedtime, I put him in his crib while I filled up his humidifier, and he did this:

...which more or less trumped the video.
I then proceeded to move the mattress down to the bottom. I'm not even sure how we got to this point already- him pulling himself on to his feet literally happened in a matter of hours!

Happy Birthday Matt!

This post is a few days late, but better late than never. Happy 33rd Birthday Matt! We love you :)

Matt asked his intern to make a cake at work, so I decided instead of a traditional cake, we would have a Salted Caramel Sprüngli truffle "cake." 

And so it begins...

Noah can now move in and out of sitting position with ease, which naturally has shown him that the crawling position is much more convenient than inching around like an injured soldier. Unfortunately this also means he no longer wants to sleep since practicing new skills is so much more interesting. This was not good news for exhausted mommy who has had two late nights in a row and was counting on napping while Noah napped.

In non-baby news, on Friday night friends of ours (Mike & Nicolette) who own a restaurant here that we frequent, came over and showed us how to make sushi. AMAZING. Mike made us the most ridiculous array of sushi and his fish was unbeatably fresh.  They also have a son just a few months older than Noah. Now that they are both older and more mobile, things should get more interesting for them.

Aidan & Noah

Then last night Matt & I went to the thermal baths then out to a restaurant called 'Spice' for a super nice dinner to celebrate his birthday on Monday (busy season prohibits night of celebration). The food was absolutely incredible and they had 'big as your head' wine glasses.

Sorry for the dark photo-  we felt weird unleashing the flash

Swimming is exhausting!

Noah fell asleep on the way home from swimming while gnawing dried apple. Ha.



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Location:Hornhaldenstrasse,Kilchberg (ZH),Switzerland

Big Weekend of Firsts

It has been quite a busy weekend for Noah (so far, since it's only Saturday). Yesterday he was playing around on the floor and suddenly started blowing raspberries like it was his job (he had never done this before). It was so sudden and he did it for so long that I was actually worried he was having some sort of allergic reaction to one of the new foods we had introduced.

Then, today, we got home from the grocery store and I lay him down in the living room to play while we put things away. I came back a few minutes later and he was sitting. My mind was blown. He had never gotten from laying down to sitting on his own, in fact, I was just thinking yesterday how I felt like he was nowhere near being able to do that (clearly I was quite wrong). Of course, I had to make him do it again to make sure I wasn't going crazy (I wasn't) and then a third time for posterity. The video is long because it's still a bit of a slow process, but be patient ;o)

Noah-in-a-Box