N is for NOAH

Welcome to N week at ABC Wednesday, the brainchild of the "naughty but nice" Mrs. Nesbitt who hails from North Yorkshire in the UK. Our administrator these days is the "naughty but natty" Roger, assisted by the "nefarious" group of participants who navigate over to everyone's blog to notify you that we notice your contribution with great appreciation.

This week I'd like to tell you a bit about my grandson NOAH who is the light of my life!  He is 12 years old already but I can tell you that we have a very special and close relationship.  He is the first great grandson of anyone living in the family...my Dad was still alive when he was born and he loved him more than life itself!  There are 3 daughters on my side and I had 2 daughters and it was my elder daughter who gave us all this precious gift.  And my son-in-law's "Nan" is still alive to this day!

Noah had the curliest hair I've ever seen - no, I seem to remember that my younger daughter had curly hair like that!  His mother let him grow it long, not too long, as we still wanted him to look like a boy.  Here he is at age 7 (Christmas 2011) giving an apple to the teacher!  And so proud of his new Welsh rugby shirt that I brought him back for Christmas 2012.

But the girls sure like him!  Nowadays, though, he seems to have had his fill of girls.  At his old school, he had a different girlfriend each grade, and when he moved to my village with his parents and sister, the girls at his new school went crazy!  He loved the attention at first, but now he's tired of "those silly girls."

Here he is on January 1, 2016, his 12th birthday.

I love to spend time with him and I showed him how to make muffins, which to this day, if you say, "Let's bake muffins!" he's right there!  I took him out on a photo shoot once and he took an amazing photo of a cow grazing in front of a red barn.  He shows talent and, since his Dad is an amateur photographer, he may decide to take it up himself some day.  Here is the photo.

Right now, he's busy trying to improve his Math skills (his old school was so full of ESL students that he didn't get the support he needed for school.)  And he's trying to find an appropriate group of boys with whom to hang.  He loves his skateboard and going to Starbucks with his pals. He also plays roller hockey and is the goalie on a team.

I would do anything for this boy.  I never had any brothers and I never had any sons, so he is an enigma to me - a challenge and a bright star in my life.  He always hugs me when he sees me - even in front of his friends - and I can tell he loves me very much.  We text back and forth and we're "friends" on Facebook and Instagram!  Here are a few shots of my sometimes naughty, sometimes noisy, sometimes nosy, sometimes a nitwit, but always a necessity in my life grandson NOAH.

 He thought this "pumpkin" was gross and nasty! 

 Here he's being a daredevil....I guess typical boy.

And one of his favourite activities is snuggling with Tegan as they watch TV together.

But this photo is my all-time favourite of the two of us.  It was the night his parents dropped him off to spend a few days while  his mother went into the hospital for a Caesarean section delivering Noah's baby sister Eden, March 2, 2008.  I remember telling him the story of "The Three Little Pigs" and making all the appropriate voices.  He was bouncing on the bed with delight that night.  This photo has a special place on my fireplace mantelpiece and I love to look at it every day.