First birthday, Christmas, New Year's, oh my!

So much has happened since our last postings! First, school picked up the pace, and time was short with final exams, papers etc. In the midst of it all, Noah turned one!! I can't believe it has been a over a year since Noah came into our lives. Our lives have been totally transformed, turned inside out, and we love it. Just one little smile from this little guy makes us melt in a split second. He is busy trying to climb stairs and confront obstacles. He protests loudly if he doesn't get something he wants (no, I really want to walk through the leaf pile, I really want to drink your soda, I really want to carry around your phone and then drop it in the toilet). He still doesn't say any real words, but he is trying really hard -- lots of babbling and bababa's, lots of shrieking. He came close to "airplane" with "ahbah" (he was repeating after me), and he got "Tata" (grandpa) down when we were in Chile, since it was one of his favorite sounds, but doesn't say it much anymore since his Tata isn't in Philadelphia. He can now stand up from sitting down with no help, and loves steps.

We celebrated his first year birthday with a few friends and a huge cake. He had a good time, after warming up to it. He didn't care much for the birthday hat, to say the least, but he enjoyed the music and being on daddy's shoulders.



On December 20, we headed to Chile! The flight was packed, long, and well, uncomfortable. He slept in my arms, but kept waking because he wanted to stretch out and turn over, and then arched his back and cried when he realized he couldn't. On the way back, we had a little more space (one extra seat), but it wasn't too much better.

Noah loved meeting his cousins in Chile, and thrived in the bustling environment of a big family. Catalina and Josefina (9 and 7) made faces and sung to him while he ate and Magdalena (almost 3) played on the baby slide with him. Julian (4) was so excited to show him something, he took him by the hand, "Noah, ven!" and when Noah couldn't keep up and fell, dragged him across the floor. (I did not witness this, but apparently it provoked only laughter from Noah's dad, while Noah's uncle came to the rescue.) Visiting some friends, he figured out from Sebastian Martin (4 and 2) how fun it is to run across the room onto the patio, so he spent a good deal of time practicing that feat. We took him to the beach in Vinia del Mar. At first, he didn't want to step on the sand, but he was soon filtering it through his fingers. On his last beach day, he delighted in running out to meet the incoming surf (with our help, of course!). He loved the water! We had a wonderful time.

Here he is in the sand:


With his cousins:

And here is some cute babbling...