Noah Turns Six!

Yes, it's hard to believe but Noah turned 6 in April! As we have reflected back on the six years that Noah has been part of our family, David and I can't help but ask ourselves, "Where did Noah come from?" He is so extremely different than the rest of us that if he didn't look so much like he belongs in our family I might question whether or not a little switcheroo took place at the hospital. It is Noah's differences, however, that have blessed our lives these past six years and definitely kept us on our toes, shaking our heads one moment and laughing the next.

I like to call Noah the sparkle of our family. While the rest of us are a little shy and quiet, Noah is the exact opposite. He is loud, full of life, and a bundle of energy. He runs all over the house and outside, sword fighting, light saber fighting, boxing, kicking and throwing balls, jumping off furniture, and any other fun and rambunctious thing he can think of doing.

Since Noah was quite young he has loved to dress up and that love continues to this day. He loves to throw on his knights tunic, put on his belt (to hold his weapons, of course) and grabs whatever weapon might be available. He has a whole stash of light sabers, swords, daggers, and guns stashed under his bed.  All plastic, of course. Other favorite costumes include his astronaut jumper, the swamp monster, and this cool beard.

Noah is a social butterfly. He loves people and people are naturally drawn to him. I think I've written about this incidence before but when Noah was about 18 months old we were at the grocery story and this old man was in line in front of us. He was completely taken in by Noah and spent a few minutes talking to him. This man eventually traded his hat with Noah's and I still wish to this day that I had gotten a picture of this adorable old man with Noah. And that's just one story; I have a bunch more just like it. People just like Noah! He has lots of friends at school and anytime we go to a park or playground within minutes he has kids trailing after him, wanting to play with him. We have to keep a close eye on him too - the past few times at the playground we can see little girls chasing him around and then giving him lots of hugs!

Noah loves to make people laugh and will do anything to ham it up. He has great facial expressions and can be very dramatic, in both good and bad ways.

Noah is very, very strong.  He's a stocky little guy and loves to show off his muscles!

Noah LOVES to draw! One of the gifts we got him for his birthday was a pack of computer paper and markers and he was thrilled! He goes through so much paper and, although I love all his drawings, the mounds and mounds of paper can get quite overwhelming. He draws everything from houses to knights to dragons to monsters to pictures of friends and family.

Noah was very excited to receive his birthday balloons, especially the Orioles baseball one.

Since David was heading out of town on Noah's birthday and wouldn't be at home for the family party that evening we decided to take Noah to a birthday breakfast at Bob Evan's.

All the waitresses and the majority of the old people eating breakfast (we were the youngest in the restaurant by a good 30 years) sang Happy Birthday to him and brought him this huge cookie with a birthday candle. It was so cute!

Dinner was a hurried affair on Noah's part because I had promised him he could open presents right after dinner...and that boy sure loves presents!

His new monkey, Ooka. He's from Scentsy and smells DIVINE!

Stocking up early on our 49ers gear with a new Vernon Davis jersey.

And what kind of birthday would it be without Legos?

He got right to work putting them together.

Since Noah would be getting a cake for his birthday party we all settled for some yummy cupcakes.

Such cute kids!

Noah's Favorites at Age 6:
     Color:  Green
     Food:  Panera's Mac and Cheese
     Movie:  any Scooby Doo movie
     Book:  any book about knights
     Toy:  Lego knights
     Animal:  monkey
     Sport to Play:  Baseball
     Sport to Watch:  Football
     Favorite Team:  49ers, Carolina Panthers, and  the Utah Utes
     Thing to Do:  play knights
     Fruit:  Banana
     Vegetable:  Broccoli
     Song:  Seize the Day (Newsies)
     Holiday:  Christmas
     Candy:  Cookies and Cream Hersheys bar
     Dessert:  Cake
     Season:  Summer
     Restaurant:  Bob Evans (pretty sure this is just because of his birthday breakfast)
     Temple:  Salt Lake City
     Place to Go:  Dutch Wonderland
     Scripture Hero:  Samuel the Lamanite
     What he wants to be when he grows up:  Policeman
     Best Friends:  Aubrey, Brody, and Finn