My Little Explorer

April 26, 2010

Noah has quickly become an expert explorer and nothing escapes his attention. He sees and hears absolutely everything around him and wants to go sees what it is (and how it tastes). His favorite things to get into at the moment are the dog food bowl, bathroom drawers and cabinets, door stops, cords, and trying to open the outside doors. He loves to go pull the door stops because of the sound they make. It's really funny what they figure out how to do.

He big thing this past week has been shaking his head no when he doesn't want something. I didn't even remotely try to teach him this and I'm pretty sure that I've never even done it around him but he sure knows how to do it and when to do it. Mostly it's when he's eating and he doesn't want another bite or if I pick him up while he's playing. Other things I've been trying to teach him for months he still doesn't do, like clapping. I just want the kid to clap!! Is that too much to ask? :)

Other things he has learned this week are pointing (sort of) at things, putting lids on his bowls (this is his new favorite thing and always keeps him happy), stacking his blocks, catching and throwing balls, coloring a little (he tries to eat the crayons but can sort of rub them on the paper - he knows what to do with them but won't really do it), taking the magnets off the fridge and sticking them back on, and, finally, taking his toys in and out of things. He really loves to fill up his dump truck with toys then pull them all back out and start over.

So this week I've really been trying to cut back on the baby food. He only gets baby food fruit for breakfast with his cereal, then for lunch and dinner we eat the same thing. He loves his big boy food and gobbles it up although this it MUCH messier than the baby food. I could control the mess with that but now he's all over the place playing with the food and throwing it everywhere. He actually does end up eating most of it even though it takes awhile. He's doing great with this transition and I'm so proud of him. His favorite is bread and can eat a whole piece by himself but I don't usually let him. Other things he really likes are avocado, cheese, fruit, fish, and chicken. He still loves veggies and eats them up. I'm so glad! I really hope he doesn't turn into a picky eater. I told Matt we need to take him for sushi now and sees how he likes it (nothing raw don't worry). He is still nursing 4 times a day and I think we are good now and can make it a couple more months. He's doing much better with it now that I switched to nursing him in the bedroom with the lights off. He just gets SO distracted that he wasn't nursing at all if he heard/saw anything. I'm glad that we're over the hump but will really miss nursing when it's over. It's been so great and I'm so glad that I stuck it out because not only is he getting the best food and nutrition, we've also got a VERY strong bond between us and I'm sure that nursing played a huge roll in that. I'm so blessed to have spent this time with Noah and that nursing worked out for us.

This is getting long but one more quick thing. We took Noah to his first Arts Festival this past weekend. He really liked getting out and seeing all the people but it was REALLY windy and cold so we didn't get to stay very long. The highlight of the trip was when I was eating my Indian Taco and he reached up and grabbed my plate and the entire thing ended up on top of him. Too bad I didn't get pictures of that but the mess was ridiculous!

Riding the train with Daddy

Chillin in the dump truck

Chowing down on bread

Having fun at the Arts Festival

Lots of New Things

April 21, 2010

We've had a lot of fun this past week. We got to meet Mikal's new baby...Carter Jackson Edwards. I know him and Noah will be great friends! They won't really have a choice. It's tradition! He's very, very cute and looks exactly like Mikal. Here's a picture of him the day after he was born:

Noah also got to visit with Matt's mom this weekend which was really good for him. He hasn't seen her in several months since she lives in Canada so he had a lot of fun with her. He got LOTS of great presents and tons of cool Olympics stuff.

Other than that Noah is still just being Noah. Active (bordering on crazy) and fun! I took a picture of my arm the other day so you could see how much he bites. I don't know if you can see them very well but my entire arm is covered in bruises. Lots of fun! He's kind of getting over it but still bites quite a bit.

He's learned how to walk behind his train now and pushes it everywhere! He really loves to walk with it and isn't scared anymore. Here's a video of him walking with it:

It seems like he's has gone from being a baby to almost a toddler all of the sudden. He is just so not a baby anymore. It makes me a little sad but I guess that's just life and he's SO much FUN! I love every minute of hanging out with him and he amazes me everyday. I can't even remember my life without him! Our whole world revolves around Noah and we love every second of it!

A little bit of the crazy Noah...pretty typical when trying to take a picture of him

New table and chairs! Such a big boy!

New style of crawling...right foot, left knee

Ten Months Old

April 12, 2010

Yes Matt is holding him upside down in that picture. It was the only way I could keep him still enough to get him and the sign in the same picture. And, the bonus is you can see his two front teeth. I remember how easy it was when he turned 3 month old. He just sat there propped up on the pillows, smiling sweetly, and didn't even try to grab the sign. Aww....

He's learned some cool tricks this week. He now apparently knows how to use the remote and points it at the TV and pushes the buttons. He occasionally hits a button that actually does something and he gets really excited. Of all the things I try to teach him, it would figure that he learns how to use the remote first. Typical boy. I guess he's been watching me and learns so I guess I better be more careful about what I accidentally teach him. The other thing he was watching me do was clean up with the dust buster. The loud noise didn't bother him one bit and he yanked that thing out of my hand and started cleaning himself pushing it back and forth. He's getting so much faster at picking up things. He's really no longer a little baby at all. It makes me a little sad but he's a lot of fun now. He's my little buddy.

He also HATES getting his diaper changed now for some reason and starts crying if he even catches a glimpse of the changing table. It has to be done though so he better get used to that. He also really really hates to have his teeth brushed. I mean he HATES it! He clamps down and spits and just gets hysterical about the tooth brush. I still brush them although it's almost impossible. Hopefully his teeth won't rot out. I can't even imagine what he would be like at the dentist.

His biggest accomplishment for the week is learning how to wave properly. He's been waving for awhile now but he just started actually opening and closing his hand when he does it. He mostly waves at the TV and at Zoe. I haven't been able to get in on video yet because it's so sporadic still but hopefully I'll get it soon. It's too cute!

Other funny things he does...

He hands me (and everyone else) bites of whatever he happens to be putting into his mouth at the moment. Sometimes it's a little gross and I end up with spit smeared all over my face. He is also still really into biting and bit Abby on the shoulder the other day and drew blood. He has really figured out that he has a tongue and grabs it and sticks it out all the time. He also notices when he has a chunk of something in his mouth and immediately pulls it out even if it's food he's supposed to be eating. And, finally, he really LOVES cups and water still and gets really excited when I let him slosh in my cup. He ends up soaked but he has fun!

Riding his train - he actually doesn't like to ride just push. He tried to jump off and ended up falling about 3 seconds after this picture

Helping Mommy clean up the mess he made with the 3 hole punch

First time he actually WALKED in the walker

Happy Easter!

April 10, 2010

I'm a little late but I have tons of cute Easter pictures so better late than never! We had a great Easter this year. Every holiday has been extra fun and special this year because of Noah and Easter was no exception. We spent the weekend in Sayre at my parents house and Noah played and played. He got tons of Easter presents but his favorite by far were the Easter eggs. Matt had to work Sunday so we had a little Easter egg hunt in the front yard with Noah on Saturday. Matt hid the eggs then he walked Noah around the yard so he could "find" them. They both had a ball. Noah LOVED the eggs and couldn't keep them out of his mouth. He didn't want to look for any once he found one but he got them all with Matt's help. He also got his first sticker walking around in the country yard. Oops! I forgot about shoes.

Church on Sunday was interesting but Noah did really well considering it's almost impossible to keep him still for more than 5 seconds. He was very into everything around him and pulled the hymnals, bibles, papers, envelopes, and anything else he could find out of the pew then proceeded to throw it. He grabbed the lady in front of us repeatedly. He unpacked the diaper bag. He ate everything we brought to distract him. And that was the first 15 mins. I don't even remember most of the service because I was so exhausted. Oh yeah, he also bit Cody on inner thigh really hard. But he wasn't too loud which was the main thing I was worried about so I guess it was a success. He also participated in his first communion which was great. He stood at the alter with me and ate part of my bread and drank some juice. He really liked the little plastic cup more than anything.

Noah's Easter outfit

Opening presents

First breakfast with Grandpa (dad always cooks us breakfast an now Noah can eat with us!)

Curious Little Man

April 5, 2010

Noah is into absolutely everything these days. He can't go 5 minutes without bumping his head or smashing a finger in something. He is everywhere! I simply can't keep up with him. He's always been an extremely active child and now that he's very mobile he never stays in one spot for long. His favorite things to do right now are opening and shutting all the cabinet doors, the drawers, and pretty much anything else that could possibly be opened. He really loves books, he always has, but now he just really likes to turn the pages. It's like opening and shutting I guess. While we read he constantly is grabbing and trying to turn the page. I say, "Noah, turn the page" and he does it. He can't really sit through a whole book right now though because once all the pages are turned he's done. He gets distracted SO easily so it's impossible to keep him focused on anything. If he sees something, or if he hears a noise, he wants to go explore it immediately. It's really bad when Matt is home because he just wants to follow daddy around.

It's really hard to nurse him these days because he doesn't want to sit still even to eat. Every noise causes him to start crying because he wants to sit up and see what it is. It's frustrating because I don't want to stop since he can't have milk yet. I'm going to do my best to keep things going as long as possible. I really don't want to buy formula for 2 months. Also, he won't drink formula at all so if he stops nursing I'm not sure what we will do. He's not called little stinker for nothing! He definitely earns it!

He's also now officially saying dada and mama. He says dada more because Matt isn't home as much as I am. So I guess he never has much of a reason to say mama, except when he's mad at me. Then he yells it through the tears. His temper tantrums have also gotten worse so I'm trying to teach him what no means and that crying won't get him his way. It's hard because he doesn't understand but hopefully he will soon. He's just a very determined child and wants what he wants. It sounds like he's really bad but he's not. He's VERY happy all the time and everywhere we go people comment on that and that he's so good. He just WANTS stuff, and when he doesn't get it he's not happy. VERY curious and inquisitive. I'm hoping that means he's really smart!

He's really great at crawling now and goes very fast. He follows me, Max, and Zoe around all the time and would rather be on the ground than have me holding him. He pulls up on everything in sight. He loves to pull up on the TV stand and bang the TV. Our TV is a mess! Little fingerprints all over it. That's one thing I'm trying to tell him no on.

One really cute thing that he's started doing this week is once he pulls up on something he can now reach down and pick up something off the floor or slowly lower himself into a sitting position. It's funny because he first spreads his feet really far apart then slowly lowers his butt down while he's holding on. He's always been scared of getting out of the standing position but not anymore. He's getting much braver! I have a feeling he'll be walking very shortly. He already cruises very easily and is starting to let go of things while standing.

Playing in the sink making a HUGE mess!

Noah's first cell phone (and hopefully the last until he's 16)