Ridin' Bikes

Pee Pee in the Potty!

Noa Turns 2!

What a wonderful weekend celebration! Grandma Susie and Papa were in town from Chicago. The Lewis and Benerofe families kicked off the weekend with a naked (and dangerous!) hibachi dinner at Noda, followed by a raging party on the roof and capped off with hot dogs and french fries in Madison Square Park in the city.
Mom and Dad can't believe Noa is already 2 years old!








Check out more pictures from the weekend in the photo gallery.

Devil with a Blue Dress On

Ponytail Days

More Swimming!

A return trip to Sanibel Island this month proved that Noa definitely did not forget how to swim. Check out the cute footage below. Both Noa and Daddy are superstar swimmers!

PS- We added lots of new videos from the trip in the video gallery on the right!

Noa's First Concert!

Everyone remembers their very first concert. Daddy's was the Beach Boys/Chicago. Mommy's was James Taylor. Papa's was probably The Rolling Stones. 30 years from now, Noa will be telling her own kids about her first concert: They Might Be Giants at the Tarrytown Music Hall.

Noa rocked out a la Daddy at the '04 Phish show at Coventry, minus the "brownies" of course. She was unable to resist the urge to boogie down to tunes like "Here Come the ABCs" and "Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order?". In fact, Noa boogied in the aisles during the entire show.

Check out the grainy footage below.

She Wore an Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini...

Check out some fabulous shots from our recent family vacation to St. Martin with Bama Susie, Papa Ken, Aunt Liz, Uncle Mark and Cousin Meredith.

To see more, click on Noa's 23rd Month photo gallery.

Just so we don't forget...

Every day Noa says or does something that cracks us up. I think I'm going to remember it, and by the end of the day, I've completely forgotten what it was! I keep saying I have to write this stuff down, and then never do. So this post is going to be nothing more than a running list of things I never want to forget.

At 22 months old: Noa is very outgoing and verbal. She befriends strangers everywhere we go!

-As I was sitting on the couch this morning, Noa walked up to me, put her hand on my arm and said, "Are you okay, Honey?" and then rested her head on my lap. I have no idea where she heard that sentence before!

-Whenever Jory puts his jacket on to leave for work Noa gives him a big smile and says, "LOOOOOOOVE YOU!" before he walks out the door.

-Noa always wants two of everything. Give her a cracker and she'll ask, "Two crackers? Two crackers, mommy?" She's asked for two Nemo's, two goldfish, two spoons, two keys, etc etc.

-Noa loves all the people that work in our apartment building. She says hi to most everyone she passes on the street anyway, but she really loves Colin who works in the garage. She'll see him and scream while waving frantically, "HIIII COLIN!!!!!" whenever we go down to get the car.

-Noa is beginning to express her independence. We hear alot of: "Noa do it!", followed immediately by a proud, "I did it!".

-Noa can sing her ABC's and can count to 10 on her own, however she does throw a few extra "4's" in there!

-Noa wakes up from her naps saying some strange things. Today she woke up saying, "Bless you, Noa. More cake? Cake and broccoli? Thank you, Mommy."

-Last month Daddy flipped his upper and lower lips inside out to make them really big to make Noa laugh. She looked at him and said, "Gross!". Another word she's picked up without our knowledge.

-Once when Noa and I were driving in the car on an overcast day she asked, "Sunshine, where aaaaaare you?"

Noa and Nathan

There were two little monkeys jumpin' on the bed before Seder this year!

Twinkle Twinkle

Noa Goes Potty!

Somebody loves toilet paper!

Old McDonald had a Farm

Noa and her old buddy Nathan took a trip to the farm this Saturday. They hadn't seen each other in almost 9 months! After catching up over coffee and muffins in the courtyard, they trotted around the grounds saying "hi" to the piggies, cows, dogs, chickens and sheep. There was a lot of hugging and hand holding between the two little ones, but the cutest part of the day was when Nathan, half asleep by the time he got home, whispered to his Mommy: "I had fun with Noa today" just as she tucked him in for a nap.

We can't wait to check back in with the animals next weekend! It's our new favorite Saturday morning activity, and it's even better when we bring along good friends like Nathan and his parents!

The Wolfman's Daughter

Daddy may have missed this weekend's Phish reunion concert tour, but that didn't stop him from rockin' out to their tunes all weekend. As a fellow jam-band lover herself, Noa is not afraid to break out her dance moves to the music.

Check out her highly coordinated hippie grooves below, set to a Phish Phavorite: Wolfman's Brother.

T. Harding Strikes Again!

What started out as a casual winter afternoon filled with backward crossovers and triple lutz's turned ugly as figure skating star Noa Sloan took the ice last Saturday.

After a few warm up laps in her signature double bladed strap-on skates, Daddy and NSB began practicing their Ice Dancing Short Program in preparation for their Winter Olympic debut in 2010. But before the duo could wow the crowd at the Hommock's Park Ice Rink with their gold medal toe loop/throw jump/sit spin combo, Harding came out of nowhere and clubbed poor Noa right in the knees, crushing her Olympic dreams to bits.

15 years after her infamous attack on Nancy "Why??? Why???" Kerrigan, this woman is still terrorizing young Olympic skaters in the hopes of putting her disappointing Celebrity Boxing days behind her and regaining her "Blades of Glory" status in the world of Figure Skating.

Aside from some tearful sobbing, thankfully NSB came out of it completely unscathed. But both Mom and Dad don't foresee another skating Saturday anytime in the near future. Eyewitness footage before and after the incident ran on the local news and is posted below.

Summer Games 2012

Check out Noa practicing somersaults before bathtime. She's really giving the women's Chinese olympic team a run for their money. Think she'd be the youngest on the team?

Tushy Tunes

Move over Jerry Lee Lewis!

Saturday Night is Date Night!

Noa and her main squeeze Tanner had a chaperoned date last night at the romantic White Plains restaurant, Chez Benerofe. Unbeknownst to most, this was NOT the lovebirds' first date, but it was the first time in 18 months that Tanner and Noa acknowledged that the other one existed. Parallel play has officially been replaced by Peek-a-Boo, Hide & Seek, and kissing (when coaxed by the Mommies, of course)! And since Noa isn't one to give it all away on the first date, she spent the entire night in her winter coat. Daddy was proud!

'O Ye of Little Faith

From the time Noa was still a baby in Mommy's belly, the entire Benerofe family has warned me that no child of theirs has ever used floaties in the pool, and neither would Noa. All 4 kids were simply thrown in the water, left to sink or swim. I smiled and nodded, dubious of course, and made a mental note never to let anyone put that theory to test while I was around.

On the plane ride down to Sanibel this year, I made sure to remind Jory that under no circumstances was he allowed to let go of Noa in the water. An 18 month old is just too young to swim! Jory rolled his eyes and made it clear that he would be letting go, and that I'd just have to deal with it. Great. I couldn't wait.

So here comes the part where I eat my words, admit I was wrong, give MAJOR props to Jory and my in-laws and start bragging that my 18 month old is.....swimming!!!! Not like, Marco Polo swimming, but definitely letting go, breathing under water and kicking those polkies. This water baby is having so much fun splashing around with Daddy, Ama Robin, Aunt Hayley and Uncles Seth and Tyler! Next up: laps with Grandpa!

Watch out Michael Phelps!!



Mac users can CLICK HERE for a higher quality video.

Everyone Always Hangs Out in the Kitchen

Despite being in the throws of the worst economic crisis of her generation, Noa Sloan just dropped a fortune renovating her kitchen. Ever the trendsetter, NSB balked at the current "white cabinet, granite countertop & stainless steel appliance" look of the modern kitchen and instead opted for a subtle red retro look. She's already gotten her money's worth cooking up a storm and stocking the fridge. She made Mommy a delicious cloth egg sandwich on wooden toast this morning, and avoided a disaster of catastrophic proportions after a metal saucepan ended up in the microwave. Mom and Dad are hoping this update to the apartment really helps the resale value. It's all about the kitchen!

Juke Box Hero

Check out these moves!

...and so the shoe obsession begins...

Anatomy Class

A major scientific breakthrough took place this Monday in the midst of the weekly Barnes & Noble music class, and it turned NSB's world upside-down:

Noa is not the ONLY person with a belly button!

Yep, you heard it hear first, folks. Noa certainly didn't expect a round of "Show & Tell", but when Manny B lifted his shirt completely unprovoked for the "Who's Who" of the Under-2 set to see, jaws dropped and eyes bulged.

After the shock subsided, Noa took that "inny" for a test drive to see what it could do. It passed the poke-test, but the real question still lingered:

Did Manny steal Noa's belly button??
NOPE! Still there!
PHEW!

Fall Fun & Halloween, Too

What a great Autumn weekend! Friday we Trick-or-Treated on Grandma and Grandpa's street. Noa balked at the adorable Elmo hand-me-down costume from cousin Meredith, so Mom and Dad went with a Bumble Bee Fairy get-up instead. Of course, Noa looked just as cute! Saturday, we took Noa to see the farm animals at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills. She loved running around the property and playing with the other little kids. Check out some pictures below, and also in Noa's 17th month album.