Noah and his Trees

Noah and his trees

The History:

Noah Versus The Pecan Tree	Noah Versus The Red Oak Tree
4/16/04 In the below picture, the pecan tree has been in the ground about a year. Yeah, it's had a bit of a head start on Baby Noah, but Noah's not about to let that disadvantage stop him. Notice below how Noah is intimidating the little plant - no mercy from this baby.	4/16/04 Red Oaks are considered fast growers... but so are Baby Noahs. While the red oak has only been in the ground a few months, it's refusing to be outgrown by a baby. Don't fear though Baby Noah fans, I think Noah still has a chance to win this race. Just last night he took down 8 ounces of formula after looking out his window and seeing the red oak growing like a weed.

5/18/04 It's been over a month now and the race continues to get more interesting by the minute. Baby Noah continues to do his part in the race by raising mom and dad's grocery bill. The pecan tree appears to have taken on the steady but sure approach.	5/18/04 It looks like the red oak has gone into a sprint. The question is whether it will be able to maintain this pace throughout the hot summer months. Meanwhile, the baby heckels the little oak by standing on one foot and yelling "bllllmmmppaa".

6/26/04 Another month has passed and the little pecan tree continues to grow rather slowly. Unfortunately for the baby, he's growing even slower. Noah says it was the camera angle that gave the illusion that the pecan tree was taller. I'm not sure I buy it.	6/26/04 Had this picture been taken a week earlier, baby Noah would have had the advantage. However, the red oak decided to grow 6 inches in one week! Baby Noah just spit his toungue out and mocked the red oak hoping to break the oak's resolve.

10/29/04 The pecan tree has only grown a little bit, but according to the doctor, our little Noah bear has just gone through a growth spirt and in the upper end of the growth charts. Bad news for the pecan tree. By the way, Noah is one today!	10/29/04 The Baby is not impressed. Since its last growth spirt in June, the red oak hasn't grown at all. Guess it's not too worried about Noah catching up. We probably won't see much action here till next spring. Noah will be waiting...

3/24/05 Five months have passed, and the baby's got the pecan tree's number. Baby Noah says "a baaa mooo pllbbhhh" which means "This silly little tree only comes up to my chest." On a side note, it took some coaxing to get Noah to stand by the tree because he's ashamed that his Daddy let the grass in the front yard turn into hay.	3/24/05 WOW! The Red Oak came out of its sleep just 3 weeks ago and check it out. That baby better wipe that little smirk off his face and run into the house and start drinking his milk. The Red Oak has grown about a foot in 3 weeks. I don't think weeds even grow that fast (I know babies don't.)

4/16/05 It's only been a few weeks since our last picture, but this marks exactly one year that Noah's first picture with the pecan tree was taken. Noah is so not impressed with the pecan tree. In fact, he's downright dissapointed. Poor pecan tree. Noah's dad almost killed the pecan by allowing it to OD on zinc. Hopefully, the pecan can pick itself up by its bootstraps and give the little Baby a run for his money.	4/16/05 The red oak has finally slowed its growth down a bit. It hasn't grown much in the last week. It's about 45" tall right now. Much taller than that little baby. Notice how Noah is trying to use good posture and fancy camera angles to try and look tall. He's not fooling anybody.

6/5/05 Looks like the pecan tree has finally gotten serious about this race. Despite the fact that Noah's dad has almost killed the poor tree by allowing it to OD on its zinc supplement, the little tree has finally reached the 3 foot mark. Not so for the baby. He's around 35". Notice that the smile is gone from Noah's face.	6/5/05 OK, this is insane, I couldn't even get the whole tree in the picture. The red oak has nearly doubled it's size this year. The baby can't compete with this - most weeds can't either. Soon, this tree might pass Noah's dad. It only has 16" to go!

7/25/05 The pecan tree has finally decided to take a stand. Thanks to lots of watering and an occassional shot of zinc juice, the tree has made Noah look like a mere baby.	7/25/05 The red oak has only grown a few inches since the last picture. Noah has been unable to catch up. If you're wondering why there's a bunch of rocks by the base of the tree it's because Noah's Dad is putting in a sprinkler system and he's too lazy move the rocks someplace else.

3/29/06 As you can see, the pecan tree has once again been reduced to a mere twig, yet it still has Noah beat in the height department. Spring is obviously here since the pecan is finally budding. Pecan trees are about the last thing on the planet to emerge from winter dormancy - the chance of another freeze is pretty slim.	3/29/06 Now the red oak tree has made it its business to get an early start on spring and it continues to spank Noah in the height race. I now view the red oak tree as a weed that grows really tall. Noah views the red oak as his prime nemisis since he'd have to grow about 4 feet in 4 days to catch it.

4/16/06 It's now been exactly 2 years since the first time Noah appeared as a little baby next to a pecan tree. As you can see, both the tree and the kid are growing well. If you look carefully, you'll see some bluebonnets growing in front of Noah. From time to time, he tramples them but thankfully, the state flow of Texas can handle a little abuse.	4/16/06 I guess Noah's odds of outgrowin' the red oak are about slim to zero. At least he looks good in his brand new Easter outfit!

6/27/06 Noah has now been joined by his new baby sister, Emalee, in the quest to outgrow the trees. Emalee's off to a healthy 9 pound, 11 ounce start. It's doubtful whether tag teaming the trees will be of any use as the pecan is now just under 7 feet tall. Best off all, the pecan now produces a small bit of shade from the Texas sun.	6/27/06 Although the red oak is kicking butt (it's now over 8 feet tall), it looses in the photogenic category as Noah has learned to say "cheese!" Baby Emalee is not impressed...

11/19/06 Fall is apon us and Noah's hoping he can do some serious growing in the offseason. He's teaching Emalee how to water. Notice that Noah shows no love to the pecan tree in watering the Mexican Heather instead of his adversary.	11/19/06 You may have noticed that Noah's dad is no longer in the pictures. He's gained too much weight to fit nicely in a photograph so now Jeri's got show her photogeneticism. Meanwhile, like father like daughter - Emalee says she may not grow taller than the red oak, but she can outweigh it. Our little angel baby likes to eat every 2 hours (even at night!!!)

4/15/07 Quick trivia. What makes this pecan tree pic different from all the rest? It's the first one where Noah's not standing! Guess I can't blame him. The pecan has just started some serious vigourous growth. Noah's been growing at a good clip too. He can now do things like wash his hands and hit light switches without using a stool. Of course, Emalee likes to see the tree whoopin' on her big brother since since he's always picking on her. And yes, that's Arimus sneaking into the photo - he's been living with Noah and Emalee till Grammy gets her house. Oh, and one more thing, the state flower of Texas made it into the photo too!	4/15/07 OK, the red oak is just out of control. It's probably about 10 feet tall now, won't be long before Noah can climb it. Emalee, on the other hand, will just have to stick to climbing on Noah bear.

9/9/07 Well, Noah's back to standing and now, Emalee can stand too! The hard part now is getting them to pose for a picture. Fortunately, the pecan tree still poses nicely. The pecan tree is finally starting to look like a real tree. It's around 9 feet tall - taller than Noah and Emalee stacked one on top of the other (a very hard photo to capture.)	9/9/07 Yes, that's Jeri's fist. She had to threaten the kiddos to stand still. OK, that's not true. I have no earthly idea why her fist is there, but the kids both made it in the picture so that's good. Tree info: the red oak is probably around 11 or 12 feet tall. It's getting very close to giving our house shade from the setting sun.

4/6/08 This picture will double as this year's bluebonnet picture. Yeah! No more jumping out of the car on the side of a highway to try and get our kids to hold still in a bluebonnet patch on a fire ant infested hillside. The pecan tree is just coming out of winter slumber. Now, if only we could get Emalee to slumber, sleep, or just take a nap...	4/6/08 Here we see Noah claiming that he will catch the tree this year on the heigth contest. Emalee's isn't buying it. As you can see, I've pretty much given up on trying to get the whole tree in the picture. Maybe next time I'll try a new angle or something.

5/25/09 Yarr Harr Fiddle-ee Dee, being a pirate is alright with me! Noah has given up trains and has moved on to pirates. Fortunately, Emalee is not scared of pirate Noah, or a big ol' 12 foot pecan tree.	5/25/09 The 15' Red Oak is starting to move into the neighbor's yard - it wants to leave its mark in his gutters. Noah continues to play tough while Emalee does whatever an Emalee does - Arggh!.