Monday, October 12, 2009

Next time I'm overwhelmed by Noah, remind me to come back here and read this.

It crossed my mind last night that I haven't written a post about Noah recently that wasn't mostly full of worry and complaining.  I know this is my place to vent, but it is also important to take time to focus on the positive too, and there really are plenty of positives when it comes to Noah.  Besides the fact that he's so darn cute!


I never intended this blog to be a "my kids are awesome" type of blog, and I'm pretty sure its safe to say I haven't done that. I think I'm pretty good at balancing the good stories with the funny and the down right "ughh" type. But bear with me here, because I really do need to do some bragging about Noah!

Like how well Noah is doing in soccer! Noah is a powerhouse when it comes to most sports, and I know I've said before that we think sports is going to be one of the things that will help focus him and give him some purpose as he gets older.

Yesterday Noah scored two of the four goals his team had during the game, and that was with him playing defense. He's a very good defense player! I have to say it surprises me because I assumed he would want to be in the middle of the "action" and be the one fighting for the ball. And that is the part of soccer that makes us nervous, because when he is that close to the other kids is when we worry about his aggression. But he actually seems to prefer to hang back a bit and play defense.  And his kicks are massively powerful for a six year old.

It is so awesome to see him able to focus during the games! And finally, be at a point where most of the time the other parents aren't looking at him, or us, with those "looks."



Probably the best thing about Noah is what a great big brother he is. He is very protective of Kiel. And he clearly adores him.


He's very tolerant of Kiel and loves nothing more than to play with him, which often ends up with Kiel on top of Noah, or wrestling Noah to the ground. He loves playing chase with Kiel and they have so much fun running around after each other.  They are very physical with each other, yet despite Noah's tendency towards aggression, he's usually very careful with Kiel.


Noah loves nothing more than making Kiel laugh and he has an awesome ability to do just that.

He's willing to sit with Kiel and watch Barney or Sesame Street and often suggests that over watching one of his older kid shows.

I really couldn't have imagined a better bond between the two of them if I had tried. It's amazing to me that they are almost five years apart in age but are still very close.


If Noah doesn't make it in sports I think he has a good chance at making it on the stage. He has quite the dramatic streak to him and a great memory. 

Noah is a smart kid too. Despite his behavior struggles he loves school and he loves learning. He's doing great in both math and reading. He has inclusion time every day in a regular first grade class for their science and social studies unit and he's doing great according to the teacher.


He's also a pretty darn good artist when he has someone helping him focus and giving him some direction. I framed a few of his pieces from his school art class and my boss actually asked if she could hang them up in our conference room. You can see them below. The piece just above I had made into note cards using Uprinting.com.

Noah is also very generous, and loves to give us things, like pencil erasers, lip balm, pencils, etc. All the things he obsessively collects. Sometimes I have to remind myself to not get frustrated by his "generosity."

And he's very empathetic, especially with Kiel. In fact, Noah will do almost anything so Kiel doesn't cry. And if Kiel hurts himself and Noah thinks he has something to do with it he gets extremely upset.

Noah can be so much fun to be with when he has control of his energy. His imagination is very entertaining. I love when he's playing with his animals or his cars and pretending to be the different characters. It's not only entertaining but gives me some insight into what he is thinking.

He's a pretty awesome apple picker and tree climber too!

Photobucket

10 comments:

  1. i just wrote something similar. my blog has been very whiny about my kids lately - its important to remember WHY we're doing this!!
    he's adorable! that fish picture is amazing - how old is he?

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  2. Noah is 6 1/2. He did this last year in kindergarten. He has an awesome art teacher that gets some amazing work out of the kids. Noah's regular teacher swears that this is all Noah's work, but I'm sure he has a lot of direction.

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  3. Katt- sounds great!! When you get done with your test period for the method you are trying with him I have something we are trying with miss O that is working great and from the sound of this post might work realy well with Noah, too.

    jen

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  4. It is hard to concentrate on the good stuff when the everydayness of behavior wears you down. He has so much going for him - including a great mommy! This was a very encouraging post for me!!

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  5. I have to admit I often focus on what AJ does that drives me bonkers, he's been crazy and a handful since the day he was born, okay well it started at 3 weeks of age!! Such a nice post and so true that we need to note what it is we love about our children because it helps us gain the energy to handle the negative that can happen with any child.

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  6. Love the positive updates. It's hard to do when we're always trying to "fix" everything else. :-) Sounds like some great talents!

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  7. He is a cutie patootie!!! You are blessed! =)

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  8. Um Noah sounds like the perfect little guy! All those awesome qualities, what a sweetheart! And who could be cuter?

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  9. He is a really talented Artist! That fish is awesome :)

    Sometimes it's just nice to stop and realize just how great your kids are. It's easy to lose sight of that when dealing with day to day issues.

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  10. Love your post, I have two boys too and you made me remember how important is to think of all great things our kids bring to us every day. Your kids are adorable!! I found your blog through UPrinting. Congratulations for being the blogger of the week!!

    Silvia - mamalatinatips

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