Home Again, Home Again

Home a week now and Noa has transitioned by to Big Apple life with her usual gusto - already back in school, back to therapies, back to throwing blocks around the apartment dramatically and then laughing hysterically.

Believe it or not, we've already had one meeting with the Board of Ed here, still getting things in place for Noa's transition to a new school in the fall. We're feeling good about the direction things are going, but it is astounding how much paper and how many meetings are generated by one tiny whirlwind of a girl!

In other school news, I just learned that the Early Intervention Program at the Jewish Guild for the Blind (where Noa has been in school since she was 18mos old) is closing after the summer session. Of course we're relieved for ourselves that Noa was just at the point of transitioning, but frankly this is devastating news for the blind community in New York/New Jersey as it was one of only two programs for blind/VI toddlers (the other is the Lighthouse for the Blind which has a program that includes non-VI kids: a boon for toddlers with milder VI, but extra challenging for severely VI or blind kids like Noa). And of course, all these lovely people who have been central to Noa's development will be out of jobs as of August.

Noa's newest sign is "nice" and she is working on blowing a kiss. Her feet are growing so fast that she literally seems to have skipped a half size! In general, her legs have been changing alot - they are just sturdier as a result of all her walking. They used to look kind of spindle-y, but now they just look like legs (she actually has calves now!)

The photo above was taken by Talya Arbisser, Noa's personal paparazzi who happened to visiting NYC and stopped by to visit us and take some (as usual) great new photos. Thanks Talya!

Thank Yuuuuuu...

Well, back in the big, super hot apple already but wanted to share this last video from the vacation: finally got Noa doing her "Thank Yuuu" game with some foam blocks I picked up at the thrift store in McCall for two bucks.

Noa did great on the ride home - and even slept for part of the second flight! Actually, what happened was that Ben and I got bumped up to First Class, which was great for us (it really is just a more humane way to travel) - but it was weird because Jes and Noa were stuck back with the unwashed masses. We switched around a bit, but then the fates smiled on us in a big way and about half way through I was able to talk Noa and Jes into First Class and wouldn't you know it, she settled in and dozed off in a matter of minutes. Guess she was just waiting until they recognized her true place.

Noa had a great time in McCall, and though her sleep is still a bit off, she has made an amazingly smooth transition back to NYC and already had her first day of summer school today despite the record-breaking heat.

Burgdorf

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of visiting McCall, Idaho, I thought I'd include this video which gives you a bit of the grand scenery that surrounds Noa up here. This is Burgdorf Hot Springs - one of two hot springs that we frequent up here. The water this day was particularly hot. It's probably around 99 or 100 degrees in the water and in the mid-50's outside at this point - which is about 7:30 in the evening.

Noa and Jes are in the kiddie part of the pool which is shallow enough that Noa can stand. She had a great time, eventually ended up just sitting in a floaty by the end of the visit because the water was too warm to stay in for too long (see video below).

Yummy

After all the excitement of Trampolines and such, a girl needs a good meal, so here is a video of Noa feeding herself. She is doing a great job of finding the spoon and returning the spoon to the bowl (which is really the tough part). While this may seem like a simple bit of stuff after all the excitement of her other new skills... this one is particularly special for Mommy who has wondered if the time would ever come when she could sit down and have a meal with Noa that didn't involve feeding her as if she were still an infant!

With both the feeding and the potty training, Noa seems to be taking the lead. She knows she is doing something good, so she likes doing it. She also loves saying Thank You - I'll get that on video - I know I should really enjoy this moment of enjoying being polite!

By the way, as you're watching this video - you may notice the lag time between when I ask Noa to take the bite and when she actually does. You may also be able to see her sort of looking for the bowl. She really seems to be taking the time to figure out where things are.

Lady Loves A Tramp

So just in case you're asking yourself: what kind of fun is Noa having in Idaho? Well here is just one example... Noa's first time on a trampoline adventure thanks to our fabulously generous neighbor Kathy Borkoski. Kathy's place is across the street from us (which, being McCall is still about a 5-8 minute walk) - they also have a great swing-set that Noa loves too. But this was the really big fun yesterday.

In other fun - Noa has been a walking machine since arriving in McCall. About the only thing she will sit for is a bag of foam blocks that I got for her at the local Thrift store. They don't make big noise like the blocks by home, but she can throw them at herself which is nearly as much fun. She has also enjoyed standing and feeling the wind, rocking out the Hot Springs, and the rocking chair on the porch with Daddy, and just being the in the car with windows down so the wind blows in her face. Noa is a study in the simple pleasures.

Jet-Lag Lady

Okay, so if you haven't watched the previous video (Mother and Noa Reunion), you might want to look at that one first. The enormous enthusiasm Noa showed when we first arrived on our porch was followed pretty quickly by this: serious done-in jet lag. She'd been up since 4am New York time, taken two exciting plane rides, had one screamy meltdown, dozed off for a moment, then the excitement of meeting up with Jes at the airport in Boise, the drive up to McCall and Mommy... so yeah, a full day.

One big piece of news about the trip: on the plane Noa told Daddy twice that she had to use the potty and Ben (saint that he is) actually carried Ms. Gy-normous down the aisle to the airplane potty where she dutifully made the trip worth his while!

Anyway, as you can see here she is practically asleep already. She made it to 6:30 mountain time, which would have been past her bedtime in NYC by half and hour, so can't complain.

Mother and Child Reunion

Took me a few days to figure out how to post it (and I'm still not sure if it works, but if not I'll continue to work on it), but here's a video of Noa and Mommy reuniting after three big weeks apart! Daddy did the flight out to Idaho with Noa all on his own (I don't know who to be more proud of!)

Noa only slept for a few minutes on this trip, just as they were landing in Salt Lake. Nearly dozed off here and there, but she is the kid who doesn't want to miss a minute of the journey so she fought it off. By the time this video was taken (4:30pm Mountain Time), she'd been up since about 4am Eastern Time. I don't know where she finds the energy!

We actually have a number of videos of this happy dance - it went on for quite a while. And then she crashed pretty quickly. We have a video of that which I'll post later. It was a BIG day. Not only all the travel - but also meeting up with Jes at the airport in Boise.