Noah's BLOG

We took in Daddy's car to get the hissing brakes fixed. As soon as we got to the auto mechanic, the noise stopped. So, we went back to Tanglewood Farms and IT WAS OPEN! There were sheep, pigs, chickens, rabbits, rams and ponies. Rachel and I rode the ponies. On the way home, Rachel fell asleep and the brakes started hissing again. We went to the auto mechanic. As soon as he sat in the driver's seat, the hissing stopped. He did say "What's that noise? Is that the noise?" We said "Nope, that's not the noise, that's Rachel snoring in the back seat." Poor Rachel still isn't feeling well. The noise went away, so we drove home. We'll wait for the brakes to start hissing another time. Until then, we'll have Rachel to make sleeping tiger noises.

Rashy Rachel kept us from having ANY FUN today!
We had to go to the Doctor.
She has fifth disease. It's like a cold, but with a rash, for little kids like us.
I was very quiet in the Doctor's office. She forgot to give me my immunization shot. Hahahaha! Both Rachel and I got lollipops and went to the park. Mommy pushed us on the swing for a really long time. We were going up so high that we grabbed the tree branch! Then the swinging stopped. Geez, Mom is such a party pooper!
Daddy went to visit his family for a funeral because someone that is very close to him, named Les, is taking a really long nap. He must be very tired to take such a long nap. We were going to visit with Daddy, but we were afraid we'd wake up Les. Mommy taught us never to wake up someone who is taking a nap.

Today we went to The Aquarium. Did you know that they do NOT serve fish sticks at the Aquarium, but they do have a delicious Cold Salmon Salad. We saw lots of fish and 1 human diver. I like divers. Mommy bought me a diver on the way out and bought Rachel a stuffed goldfish in a purse. Rachel is a girl. She likes purses. We went home, took a nap, had dinner and planted some more flowers.
Rachel has a fever. She doesn't feel well :(

This week is Passover.
It started on Saturday Night with a Seder at Grandma and Uncle Tom's house. Then, it proceeded the next night with a seder at our home.
Monday rolled around, school's out and we started our Passover Week 'o FUN!

Today we went to Tanglewood Farm. It's a farm of over 100 miniture animals to feed and pet. Mommy drove us a long way. When we got there, we found out it's closed on Mondays :(
We decided to go to the Cagle Dairy Farm for a hay ride and to see the cows! It was also closed :(
Finally, the Renaissance Festival is in town. You guess it ... CLOSED ON MONDAYS!!!!

So, Mommy took us to a pond store. It's acres and acres of beautiful outside ponds with real live fish and fountains and fire pits. Best of all ... no admission! The pond store was just the right size for us. Twenty minutes and we're done! Then, we went to the wholesale flower shop where Mommy bought lots of flowers to plant in our front yard. She even said we could help! We went home, took a nap, had dinner and I helped Mommy plant flowers. She needed the mulch moved from one area to another. I used my dump truck. Rachel complained that her flip flops were dirty and wet.
I am a boy. I like to get dirty.

Hi friends, this is Rachel.

Today is the day after Halloween. Mommy doesn't like Halloween. She's no fun! So to make up for the belly full of candy and all the debauchery that was had, she decided to focus on something a bit more holy .. CHANUKAH !!!
It's never too early to start celebrating Chanukah. YAY!
This morning, we dropped Noah off at school. Then Mommy and I made Paper Chains. I did all the gluing which is a very important job! We put them on the wall. Here is a picture.



Only 37 days left until Channukah! YAY!

Grandpa Tom wanted to take me Trick or Treating.
Mommy didn't want me or Rachel to celebrate Halloween since she thinks we should focus on celebrating Jewish and American holidays. Halloween is neither.
GRANDPA TOM WON !!!!! YAY !!!!
This afternoon, Daddy bought all our costumes and the candy. Grandma even dressed up as a princess. Grandma then decorated our whole house with Halloween Finery. Everyone played with us (except Mommy who stayed in her room. She's such a party pooper). Rachel and I looked so adorable. Here are pictures of us being soooo cute!

Today, Mommy took me along with her on her errands.
First, we went to get her car washed. It was pretty uneventful. However, Mommy bought me a Charm Watermelon Lollipop (I got to pick the flavor). As a surprise, it had gum in the middle! I chewed the gum for a few minutes, just like Mommy said I should. Then I swallowed it.
As we passed a gas station, I yelled "gas". Mommy looked at her tank and it was 1/2 full. Being that it's my birthday, we stopped and topped off the tank. Gas is down to $2.05 a gallon. Such a bargain!
Next, we went to the pet store. Mommy wanted to get more fish for the aquarium Daddy bought her. Before we got to the fish, we had to look at the kitties, gerbils, hamsters, parrots, birds, and reptiles. Then, I let Mommy see the fish. The fish at the petstore weren't nearly as impressive as the fish at the World's Largest Aquarium! Mommy decided not to buy any fish so we looked at the cats, birds, and reptiles again. I even pulled her over to the area where they give the dogs baths and haircuts before we left.
We went next door to Trader Joes. Mommy let me push a kids sized shopping cart and told me I could buy anything I wanted in the whole store. I started with the produce and picked out a 4 pack of squash for dinner tonight. Then, I picked up a whole chicken (kosher, of course). We strolled around a bit. I found some Cheerios type cereal for Rachel, Blueberry preserves for Mommy and Anchovies for Daddy. I bought everyone their favortie foods. Then, I rounded out dinner with a package of wild rice. Being that I'm 3 today, you may think that Mommy helped me pick out all these delicious items. Well, she didn't. This is actually what I put in my cart. Mommy was shocked that I'm such a good shopper. But, I may have done too good of a job because now Mommy might want me to start planning all the meals and doing all the shopping. This is one time that I'm happy I'm not old enough to drive (or write).
Mommy droppped off the chicken and store items at home. I sat in the car because next we were going to my favorite place in the whole wide world ... McDonalds. I got a happy meal. The best part of the Happy Meal is the toy. I play with the toy a lot and only ate 2 bites of food. I was a little scared to go into the BIG McDonalds play structure. OK, I wasn't really scared. I remembered how Mommy went into the tunnels with me at the Aquarium, so I thought that if I tried to pretend I was scared, she would go into the McDonalds play structure with me. My hunch was right. She went inside and down the slide with me TWICE. The last time, my hand got caught between her and the wall of the slide. I told her that it didn't hurt but she seemed pretty freaked out. I pleaded with her to go with me again and she said "I'm just going to hurt you." with tears in her eyes. I said "you won't hurt me, Mommy". She didn't hear me and sat down at the table. I told her I had to go potty to get her mind off of things. She took me to the bathroom. That was alot of fun. I am just learning how to go to the bathroom and they have toilets that are my size.
Finally, we went home and I took a nice long nap.
Nanny Tiffanie made us chicken, squash and rice for dinner. Daddy came home from work with birthday presents. He bought me 2 cars and 1 truck. That makes THREE because I'm THREE YEARS OLD today.
Sure, I didn't have a party (or a cake). Out of all the birthdays I had, this was my favorite.

RACHEL: Life is so unfair. Noah got to go to the Aquarium and I had to stay home because "I'm too young and wouldn't enjoy it." Sure, I heard the rumor about how Mommy and Daddy were going to buy me something from the gift shop and pretend I went ... knowing that I'd be too young to remember. I also know that Daddy was planning on photoshopping me into one of the aquarium pictures as proof. Well, Luckily I hijacked Noah's Blog to TELL THE WORLD THE TRUTH! I didn't go the the aquarium and it just isn't fair!!!

So, Mommy and Grandpa Miles realized this and tried to right the injustice that was forced upon me. They took me on a stroll to the pond in our neighborhood and I got to see fish, just like Noah did yesterday. It was so much fun. Our lake isn't as big as the World's Largest Aquarium and there was only 1 type of fish, and the water was a bit murky. There weren't as many lines, at our pond, to see the fish. Actually, we were the only people there. The best part ... I got to FEED the fish and that's something Noah did NOT get to do when he went to the aquarium.

Grandpa Miles visited me for my birthday. On Sunday, we went to the new BIG Aquarium. Grandpa Miles, Mommy, Daddy and Daddy's friend Jon went with me. There were lots of fish. I wasn't really interested in the fish. I was more interested in getting lost.

With one of the exhibits, we got to go outside and look at the sea otters. I wasn't interested in the sea otters, but I did try to climb over the metal railing screaming "swimming". Even after saying "please" Daddy still wouldn't let go. So, I decided to play tag with Daddy. I ran off the path, into a hill of flower beds and behind a tree. Daddy ran after me and all the people looked at us, jealous that they had to stay on the path and we could run happily through the dense ivy. Then, I fell down. Daddy looked a bit embarassed as he scooped me up and walked me back to the path.

After running all over the aquarium and looking at very few of the thousands of fish, we had lunch. It was a big cafeteria with a bunch of different food stations. Interestingly, they did NOT sell fish sandwiches or fish sticks. The DID sell goldfish crackers and lollipops in the shape of fish. Daddy bought me an orange crab shaped lollipop. It's the first time I've had crab (crab isn't kosher) and I have to say it was sweet and delicious! Who knew that crab tastes like orange candy?

Lunch was over and with 1/2 the aquarium left, I ran ahead of everyone. Then I saw a tunnel. It wasn't a regular tunnel, it was a kids sized tunnel. I was scared to go inside, so I pulled on Mommy's hand until she went inside with me. When we came out the other side, Daddy was standing there. Daddy is smart to know where we were. There were a few more tunnels like that. It was fun.

The best part (according to Grandpa Miles) is that kids 3 years and older pay admission. It was 2 days before my 3rd birthday, so I got in FREE! Grandpa Miles took credit paying my admission. Daddy, paid for himself, Grandpa Miles and Mommy. Oh, and Daddy also bought me a cup with my name on it. I had a fun time at the World's Largest Aquarium and I didn't get lost, not even once.

I'm hijacking Noah's blog because today is my birthday. HA!
Today, I received phone calls from My Aunt Julie and yesterday I got a call from my Cousin Lisa. Grandpa Miles sent me a present.
My best gift was getting to spend the WHOLE DAY with Mommy. This is huge because mommy still isn't feeling well from her PPD. She spends most of the time in her room, crying. However, today she left her room to give me lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles.
We went to story time where I ate a muffin. Then, we went to the Dollar Store. We bought stuff for my birthday party on Sunday. Mommy bought me and Noah each a doll. Mine is pink and Noah's is blue. (shhh ... don't tell Daddy. He doesn't think Noah should play with Dolls). Noah also got a very manly sippy cup with lots of curved straws in a very masculine yellow. Daddy approved of the sippy cup.
Everyone fell asleep in the car, except our driver, of course.
When we woke up, Mommy spent more time with us bouncing in our bouncy castle.
Then, Mommy had enough and went back upstairs to be sad. poor mommy.
I KEPT ON WITH THE FUN! Noah and I went to Monkey Joes where we bounced and slid on great big blow up structures. I even went into a smaller one ALL BY MYSELF !!! When we got home, Daddy came home and played with us. Mommy baked me a practice birthday cake and we had Sloppy Joes for dinner. I really like Sloppy Joes. There was more playing, books read by Mommy and Daddy, some juice time, baths, pajamas put on.
My birthday ended as I drifted off to sleepland.
I had a very nice first birthday.

Exhausted from my First Birthday

WAIT! There's MORE !!!!! Today won't be as awesome as my FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY on SUNDAY with GRANDMA! YAY!

That's right! I'm a tree hugger* and I'm proud! (Much to the chagrin of my mother and father)
When going on my walk, I would see a tree and hug it. I believe it's because of my love for nature. Mommy thinks it's because I am only 2 and walked the whole 1 1/2 miles all by myself; therefore getting tired and delirious.
Now, it'll be a fight for Rachel. Will she be a Republican? Will she be a Democrat? Maybe she'll shock us all and become an Independent!
Whatever she chooses, she'll be my adorable and favorite little sister.

*Tree Hugger is another term for a Democrat

MOMMY: I heard that you went to Nanny Tiffanie's and saw her cat.
NOAH: cat
MOMMY: Were you scared of the cat?
NOAH: scared
MOMMY: Why were you scared of the cat?
NOAH: cat has mean shoes

It seems that Noah is scared of the cat because cats have claws or as Noah like to say "mean shoes".

RACHEL:
I LOVE the color PINK!
I have a PINK Poodle that Daddy brought me back from Las Vegas, I have PINK pajamas, I have a PINK Blanket, I even have PINK pacifiers. I just love the color PINK.
So, I was thinking, what else can I have that is pink? Then I figured out ...
PINK EYE!
Yes, I have Pink Eye, but it's not much fun, because I can't see it. Tomorrow, I'll give my brother, Noah Pink Eye. Then I can gaze into my brother's eye and admire how PINK it is.
I LOVE the color PINK!

NOAH:
I DO NOT like the color PINK!
Rachel, I may take your Pink stuffed Animals and Steal your Pink Blanket. You are a very good sport. Please DO NOT Share your PINK EYE with me! My eyes are BROWN and I'd like to keep them that way!
I DO NOT like the color PINK!

Mailman is my favorite game!
Mommy sits inside my very small play house. I ring the doorbell and push random pieces of paper through the mail slot.

My second favorite game is Rolling.
Mommy, Rachel and I roll across the floor. Back and forth, back and forth. Again and again. Sometimes Mommy rolls over me. Sometimes I roll over Rachel. We roll and laugh.

My third favorite game is the name game.
This is when I say Mommy or Daddy's name over and over in rapid succession until they give me attention.

I don't need much to have fun, Just a cardboard box.

At midday each Fourth of July, a group of 20 steely-eyed individuals line up behind a 40-foot table to begin the 12-minute Hotdog and Bun contest. Nathan's Hotdogs in Coney Island has been sponsoring this event for 91 years. Daddy and I watched this contest on TV. I told Daddy I wanted a hotdog by saying "hotdog" a hundred times until he cooked one for me. Not realizing that I'm only 2, I tried to see if I could qualify for one of the 20 coveted spots. I managed to wolf down 1/2 a hot dog and bun in 8 minutes.

The winner, Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, set a new world record of 53 and 3/4 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes.

Hello Family and Friends!
Mommy hasn't updated this blog because she had Postpartum Depression, just like Brooke Shields and Marie Osmond. It was a long, hard journey. However, after seeing many doctors, Mommy is feeling better. She is even playing with us, again! Daddy is going to put up a webpage since Daddy had a tough time figuring out how to fix Mommy. Basically, you have to find Postpartum Depression *specialists* because the regular doctors and ObGyns think they know what to do. However, they are usually wrong. With the RIGHT medicine and the RIGHT therapy, Mommy will hopefully be back to normal, shortly.
We can now resume our regularly scheduled Blog Posts.

HAPPY EARLY 4th of JULY !!!

RACHEL: You may have heard of Orange County Choppers. Well, I'm getting a chopper! NO, I'm not talking about a motorcycle, or even a helicopter ... I'm talking about TEETH! That's right, my 2 bottom pearly whites are coming in. I'm a little fussy, but only because Mommy and Daddy have neglected to write in the blog for a long, long time. Today, I also sat up ALL BY MYSELF for the first time. That's very impressive since I'm only 5 months old.

NOAH: I'm so proud of my little sister. I give her kisses and hugs all the time, all day long. I think she's the cutest, most wonderful and adorable little baby in the whole world. Since Mommy and Daddy give me all the extra attention I demand, I really don't mind having a baby sister.

NOAH: On Sunday, Daddy and I went to the park. We had a nerf football, and a round ball. First Daddy threw the ball AT me. I'm not that into catching balls yet. I do enjoy watching balls sail by me, though. Then Daddy gave me the ball and told ME to throw. I'm only 2 years old, I only throw things when I want to. Finally, Daddy took the ball and threw it way out in the field. Now that's a game I understand. I RAN after the ball and got it and brought it back to Daddy. That was fun.

DADDY: I've always wanted a dog. Well Sharon won't let me have a dog until Noah is 7, but now Noah can fetch, so I figure he and a Golden Retriever are pretty similar for the moment.

My Daddy's brother, Dan, had a baby. OK, he didn't actually have the baby. Aunt Cindy had the baby. Aunt Cindy went into the hospital last night. They gave her some gel and there wasn't a baby in the morning. So, they broke her water and Lauren still didn't come. Finally, the doctors gave Aunt Cindy some petocin and then Lauren fell out. Seriously, when Lauren appeared, Aunt Cindy told Uncle Dan that there was some "pressure". Uncle Dan went to look and there was Lauren's head. Uncle Dan ran out and called for some doctors, but the baby fell out. That's how my cousin Lauren Evelyn was born.

Lauren, I have 3 Wishes for you.
1. I wish that you enjoy sleeping as much as I do
2. I wish that all of your diapers are changed in a timely manner
3. I wish that you find your thumb sooner instead of later.

I love you Lauren, Welcome to our Family!

RACHEL Hi, this is Rachel, I'm Noah's little sister and I'm almost 4 months old. I just wanted to let everyone know that I rolled over from my back to my stomach. Now, I can roll over both ways.

NOAH I pushed her!

RACHEL Noah is correct. He pushed me over the first 50 times, but now I'm rolling all on my own.

NOAH Can I still push you?

RACHEL Sure!

I LOVE BUBBLES
by Noah Meltzer

Beautiful Bubbles
Fluffy, White
In the Bath
It just Feels Right

Bubbles Bubbles
EVERYWHERE
In the Tub
Or on the Stairs.

On the Stairs ?!?!? Yes, that's right! ON THE STAIRS !!!!! Grandma and Tom came over to visit. Tom taught Mommy how to make a Marinara Sauce and we had a very nice dinner. Then, Daddy went upstairs to change into his pajamas. I missed Daddy, so I went upstairs to help him change. On the stairs landing I became distracted by a LARGE bottle of Mr. Bubble and Fizzy Tub Colors Fizzy Tub Colors are by Sesame Street. These colorful tablets will color the water of 23 baths or the entire landing of one set of stairs. When Tom found me, he said the carpet reminded him of the psychadelic 1960's. Mommy thought she would get a new carpet out of it, but Daddy and Tom did a very good job and now the carpet is only very slightly multi-colored. Daddy tried to put water on the carpet to clean it up. That just made more and MORE bubbles. Gosh, do I LOVE BUBBLES!

NOAH: I've decided to rate my days according to how many bruises I accumulate on that day.
0 bruises = boring day
1 bruise = o.k. day
2 bruises = Good day
3 bruises = GREAT day!
Today, I went to Jerinomo's. It's an indoor play area with lots of inflatable bouncy castles and slides. I ran into a boy and our heads smashed together. When I left, I only had one bruise. There is another indoor play area called Monkey Joe's. I went to Monkey Joe's yesterday, it is much more fun! I don't like it when it closes because then I have to leave and that makes me cry. This morning, when Mom gave me a bath, she counted the bruises from yesterday. I had one on my ribs, one on my arm and one on my shin. That means that Monkey Joe's get Three Bruises! YAY!

RACHEL: I've been watching Noah tumble at all of these indoor play areas. I wish I could tumble. Soon, I'll be able to roll over from my back to my stomach. Secretly at night, I practice. Now that I'm much older, almost 3 months old, I really need my privacy. Mom used to come in all the time at night to feed me. I wouldn't even cry and she'd come in to feed me. I trained her too well. Now she comes in and bothers me several times a night, regardless if I cry, or not. So, now that I'm older, I have to re-train Mom so she'll respect my privacy. Last night, she only bothered me once in the middle of the night. I wonder how old I have to be to put a lock on my bedroom door.

"A panel at Seoul National University concluded that two reports claiming that human embryos had been cloned to provide stem cells had been completely fabricated, but also found that the same team's claims to have cloned a dog were in fact true.
Dr. Elaine Ostrander of the National Human Genome Research Institute said her team helped confirm that "Snuppy," created last year by Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University and colleagues, genetically matched the adult Afghan hound he was cloned from."


I cloned ELMO, as witnessed below in the pictures.


However, further tests by scientists confirmed that this 3 headed Elmo was FAKED and is really just an Elmo doll wearing Elmo slippers.

NOAH: Today I made poopies in the toilet. Now, this may not seem like a big deal. However, when being toilet trained, this is a HUGE DEAL! YAY! POOPIES! YAY!

NOAH: At my 2 year checkup, the Pediatrician said that I'm the most well behaved and polite 2 year old she has ever had in her practice of 35 years of medicine.
But I know you don't really care about that. You want to know that stats, so here they are ...
30 lbs. - 60th percentile weight
35 in. - 75th percentile height

I'm tall and lean. Perfect for a little boy like me!

NOAH: I have 8 confirmed RSVPs to my Birthday Party. On January 16th, I'll be turning 2. Grandma, Daddy and Mommy are throwing me an Elmo themed Birthday Party at our house. We'll have a cake, games, pizza and a Pinata. I'll let you know how it turns out.
P.S. If you want to give me a present, I'm requesting wrapped empty cardboard boxes.

RACHEL: This is my first post all by myself. Why do I deserve this post? Because I now sleep through the night. Sleeping through the night means that I sleep for a stretch of 5 or more hours. Currently my schedule is 8 PM, 1 AM and 6 AM. This makes Mommy very happy. Mommy needs her beauty sleep. Maybe now she'll stop complaining to me about how the gray hairs on her head are exactly the length of when her pregnancy with me started. I told Mommy that going gray is just Mother Nature's way of putting highlights in her hair.

NOAH: My birthday is in almost a week. I'm almost TWO! However, Mom and Dad still see me as a baby. So, I took some extreme measures to prove my manhood. As I was playing with the remote, I ordered some pornography on television. Ok, I only watched it for 1 minute before Mommy gasped, turned the channel, then locked out all adult stations on our television. But, I really think I got my point across.

RACHEL: I don't understand why Noah has to order Porn. I get Mommy to flash her breast every 3 hours. Which reminds me, I'm hungry!

NOAH: Now that I'm almost 2 years old, it's time for me to be potty trained. Mom and Dad have been lazy about training me, so I've decided to train them. I say "bah - roo" which means BATHROOM. They didn't take me to the bathroom, so now I pull off my pants and pull off my diaper and say "bah-roo" and they finally understand to take me to the bathroom. I would go myself, but they have child proofed the bathroom door handles. When will they take me seriously as a big boy?

RACHEL: I'm less than 2 months old, but I've already grown out of Size Newborn, 1 and 2 diapers. I'm on to size 3 diapers. I now only fit into 6 month clothing. Some may call me fat, I like to consider myself Rubenesque. Actually, this painting "Venus and Adonis" by Peter Paul Rubens looks very similar to Daddy and Mommy and Me.

NOAH: Fortunately, we have a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and Daddy replayed New Years at 9 AM the next morning. Daddy played New Years Rockin' Eve. Mommy danced around which made me laugh and when "Midnight" struck, we had a family hug and all kissed each other. Then we watched MTV's New Years Celebration. Mommy danced around again which made me laugh and when "Midnight" struck, we had a family hug and all kissed each other. By the time we watched the 3rd show (it was 9:30 AM by now) we were all to exhausted from all the excitement so we just waved at each other when the stroke of Midnight was replayed.

NOAH: Everyone except Daddy fell asleep before Midnight.

RACHEL: I am usually up at midnight. Tonight, I decided to let Mommy and Daddy have some quality time together during New Years.

MOMMY: *snore*

DADDY: HAPPY NEW YEAR !! YIPPIE !!! Hey, where is everyone?

Noah: Hopefully our home is no longer a home of sickness. I, personally, feel fine. My sister and my mother have had it the worst. I think they can now stop blaming me for getting them sick. Girls are such complainers!

Rachel: I've been sick. First, I was in the hospital for 2 days with RSV (that is a respitory infection). Mommy and Daddy stayed with me in the hospital. My brother came to visit, too. The next week, I was back to the Emergency Room and put in the hospital for 2 days with a 102 fever. It ended up being Viral Meningatis caused by the entereovirus. I'm better now. My sicknesses haven't affected me very much. Last night, I SMILED for the first time (after my Mommy cleared my stuffy nose) and this morning, I ROLLED OVER from my stomach to my back. YAY! (typical milestone for rolling over is 6 months. I am only 6 weeks!)

Mommy: I have an ear infection and am on my 3rd antibiotic. It's getting better and doesn't hurt as much, but I still can't hear out of my left ear.

Daddy: So far, I haven't gotten sick throughout this whole thing. OH, wait .. *COUGH* .. darn!

NOAH: Today, I was supposed to go to my friend Benji's birthday party, but Mom didn't take me because she has an ear infection. I told her, Ear Infections are NOT contagious! It's not my fault! Yesterday I finished my antibiotics from my ear infection and I feel just fine.
I stayed home with Dad. We watched TV, ran around the house, read books and played games. It was pretty fun. Tomorrow, Rhea, my nanny, will come over and she'll let me go to my favorite place ... OUTSIDE!

RACHEL: *COUGH* *RASPY COUGH* *COUGH* When I'm sick I like to be held ... a whole lot. Mommy held me for hours and hours and hours instead of taking Noah to his friend's birthday party. I'm really not as sick as I sound, but I think it's neat that Mommy spent time with ME instead of Noah.

NOAH: I had breakfast with my Mom and my little sister Rachel. Instead of drinking my hot chocolate and eating my vegetarian sausage, I wanted to HUG my sister. So, I kept on saying "HUG" and Mommy would hold my sister to me while I hugged her. I was rewarded with a great big wet sloppy kiss from Rachel. She didn't actually make the kissy noise, but I'm positive it was a kiss, right on my cheek. I love my new sister!

RACHEL: I already had a very large breakfast of milk, but was sitting with Mom and my big brother Noah at the breakfast table to keep them company. I had almost fallen asleep in Mommy's arms when suddenly, she started moving me around. She suspended me in the air, and pushed me against my brother while he squeezed my midsection as tightly as he could. I complied the first 4 times, the fifth time was too much and I threw up all over my brother's cheek.