Cheerful Smile

What a wonderful smile!  Could it be because Noah is wearing a car-themed bib?  Andrea snapped these photos one bright, sunny morning:

Round and Round and Round We Go

This was always one of my favorite toys for the kids.  They loved it!  And Noah does too:

Family Photo

When we took Noah's 5 month photos in April, I also tried to take a family photo w/ MLD and the kids.  This wasn't easy to do.  Here are some of the outtakes:

Tate:  I'm not going to look at the camera.

Adam:  My turn... I'm not going to look at the camera.

Noah:  I give up.  Can't we just look at the camera???

And the winner is:

Mohawk Madness

It's unfair when you think about it.  Babies have no say in the matter.

We shape their wet hair into mohawks, take photos and then giggle to ourselves.  We've done it to Adam more than once because he has a lot of hair.  Tate has had the special treatment on occasion. Even Ashley has had the 'do too.

It was finally Noah's turn.  If you ask me, he looks more stunned than anything else:

Academic Rivalry?

When the A-team was little, they participated in a study at Harvard.  Noah decided to skip the study part and headed straight for enrollment:

I miss his smile so much that it's hard to choose only one photo to share.

Bedtime Snuggles

The hour before bedtime can be magically calm or nightmarishly loud.  If you're a parent, you know what I mean.

On this night, it was magical.  Look at these sleepy smiles...

Cousins Photo

Many years ago, there was a "famous" family photo of me, my siblings, and my cousins.  We piled on to the stairs in my grandmother's home, all looked at the camera at the same time, and smiled.  Success!

MLG doesn't have the same type of stairs, but for one exciting moment, we got everyone together and smiled.  Even little Noah!

This photo includes not only our cousins, but our "extended" family as well.  MLG/MLP's friends from college, Mark and Marilyn, were visiting with their grandchildren.  Talk about a photo spanning generations!

Big Smile!

Sometimes Noah has such a big smile that you can't help but smile along with him:

Big Boy!

Look who is big enough to use the exersaucer! 

Timing

It's all about the timing.  Trying to get both brothers to look at the camera at the same time is like trying to catch a cloud and pin it down. 

As close as we could get!

Eyes shut. Eyes open.

Straight ahead.  Looking left.

What's happening stage right???

Baby Soft

Softer than a baby's.... [fill in the blank]

We all know how much Tate loves to touch soft things.  What could be softer than his baby brother?  Tate snuggles with Noah whenever he can:

"I can't help it.  I'm cute AND soft." - Noah

Big and Lil Bro

Watching these two together is a joy.  It's happiness and contentment combined. 

Another Bottle?

I know what he's thinking... another bottle?  When am I going to get the real stuff?  The mushy peas and carrots?

Lazy Sunday

Every now and then we have a lazy Sunday...

Because MLM and MLD are exhausted.

Bedtime Stories

It's never too early to start reading to your children. Even the not fully dressed ones.

Spring Kayaking

The weather was beautiful, so Ilya decided to take the boys for a kayak ride, or ki-YAK-ing, as Tate likes to call it.

(Almost) Walker

In what has become a rite of passage at Grandma and Papa's home, Noah was plopped into the walker during our last visit to NY.  He doesn't get very far, but as Tate points out, he does make good use of his feet.

If they won't give me matzah, then I'll gnaw on my fingers.

Very Good Sport

Laura is an incredibly good sport.  Look at what she let the kids do to her!

Crossing the Desert

Springtime at BDPS means learning about Passover.  Here's Tate's lesson this year:

Gotcher Nose!

This is an unbelievably cute clip of Noah and Laura together:

New Nap Style

Over the past month or so, Noah developed a new way to soothe himself while he drifted off to sleep:  the hand-in-mouth technique.  It seems that one or two fingers wasn't enough for him.  He needed the whole hand.

Beary Nice

Noah had a "beary" nice day playing with Laura.

Smiley Guy

Noah has it figured out -- he's tricked us into believing "tummy time" should be "play on your back" time instead.  Look at that smile!  How can you say no to a smile like that?

Springtime Soccer

Tate is learning how to play soccer this spring.  If you ask MLD, this seems to involve having 10 kids run after 1 ball while flapping their arms around like alligators.  Tate comes home with a smile which is the important part, right?

One weekend, one of the parents took some beautiful photos of all the kids on the field.  Here are some great shots of Tate: