Noah

            “Under the bridge….the bridge…the bridge! Sings out Noah from the back of the car as we sail along on another outing.  “ Tunnel?  “Go car?”  His chirpy voice announces every time we come to a bridge whether large or small.  It’s almost as if he has some built in radar the way he can find bridges along the way.  Noah is obsessed with trains that go over bridges and in tunnels, as they do on his elaborate train table that sits in the middle of the living room in his Berkeley home.  It is the centerpiece of his life at two and a half and translates into many other things he can get excited about.

            My great nephew Noah taught me a new language last week when he came to visit from California..  Arriving home in Asheville after a long trip, Noah began to explore the house.  It wasn’t long until the heirloom clock that hangs on the wall struck six times for 6 p.m.  Suddenly a little voice went “oh…oh…ohhhhh!” as he pointed excitedly to where the chiming was coming from.  “That’s the clock striking six,” I told him.  “Clock?” he parroted back as he began to jump up and down.  “Ding, ding, ding…?” I knew he was asking when it would chime again.  “Thirty more minutes,” I told him.  And that began a week of  “the five minutes” question.  “Five more minutes,” he’d ask no matter what the time, and we’d say…”no, 30 minutes or 15 minutes…”.  Then he’d come back with “five minutes?”  He never lost his fascination with our chiming clock.  Now when the clock chimes I look for that little boy jumping up and down with excitement.

            Being around a toddler after so many years brought back the ebb and flow of their energy level.  Noah’s cheerful chattering would wake us up by 6 a.m. Making his way downstairs to look for us he’d race over for a morning hug – full of laughter, excitement, and possibility of what the day might bring.  As we went through the day his energy would ebb…and he would suddenly get quiet, stick his thumb in his mouth and ask for “blankie” to hold  - a moment of rest.  Then if we proposed an outing to the playground, he’d sit up, take his thumb out of his mouth, thrust “blankie”  aside and be raring to go.  As we’d get ready I’d hear his high voice “have, paish?” parroting the many times his parents and nanny have reminded him to be patient when something isn’t happening instantly. 

            Megan is a smart Mom (after all, she is a child psychologist by profession). I watched her establish the routine and boundaries for Noah for the week the minute she arrived at our house.  It worked beautifully.  Forget about Eastern vs. Pacific time zones, the stage was set for bedtime at 7 p.m. every night and daily naptime immediately after lunch.  I learned to have Noah’s favorite foods ready and waiting in the fridge. Mealtimes we got him to the table with a plateful of his favorite rotini pasta with red sauce, cut up chunks of tofu, and a pile of grapes or strawberries.  “More pasta?” he’d ask sometimes for a second or even a third helping.  “More milk?”  Everything is a question but his enthusiasm for tackling a plate of pasta with a fork by himself is a marvel to watch…followed by the more difficult feat of stabbing grapes to eat them one by one despite our pleas to “use fingers?”  When he finally would wind down from eating his Mom would ask if he wanted more pasta or more Tofu.  His answer was loud and clear…”Nope!”

            Megan and Noah’s visit opened up our world to the kid friendly activities available in Asheville…and there are many.  We’d set off each morning with directions to explore something new – from the Western North Carolina Nature Center which is like a small zoo, to the “Hands On” kids museum on Main St. in Hendersonville, to the Play Lodge in Arden, and even the famous Easter egg hunt on the lawn of the Biltmore Estate.  But perhaps we needn’t have ventured as far as any of those places since THE PLAYGROUND was Noah’s favorite and it’s right in the heart of Biltmore Lake where we live.  If we even uttered the word, Noah would perk up “go playground?” or “go down slide?”.  He learned to go down the big slide by himself  and then ,of course, did it over and over again turning his back on the swing set and everything else.

            The stack of library books I had fun selecting at my branch library worked and Noah was particularly attached to “Train Man” and “Train Song” – no surprise.  “Do gain?” he’d say when you read it to him once…”do gain?  And we’d read it a second or a third time.  It is now on his birthday list when the time comes.  Bedtime, he’d make his way down our steep stairs with “blankie” in hand in his jammies ready for the good night hug.  Then back up to bed and not another peep out of him.

            I can still hear the patter of his feet running back and forth down the hallway  and his sing song voice first thing in the morning.  I don’t drive over a bridge without hearing “bridge!!!” from the back car seat.  I treasure his lovely “tank you’s” even though prompted by Mom…but most of all it’s the hugs I miss.  Lovely to be Aunt Kris…and ready and waiting to “do gain” when  Noah comes to visit again!