January 11, 2010
While I was waiting for my pictures to upload, I was trying to think of a new way to start my blog. I thought of, "I can't believe how big"...wait, nope I already did that, or "noah is officially 7 months"...nope already did that too, several times. So, I just went with the all-natural thought process paragraph. Honesty is always the best policy right...when you can't think of anything new to say, just say "I can't think of anything new to say." ANYWAY...we digress...
Noah is doing tons of new stuff, as usual. Most of it revolves around food, eating, and drinking (hence the pictures). As far as food goes, he now gets to eat pretty much what we eat but I have to grind it up in the magic bullet (which I LOVE). And, I've been letting him munch on some rice crackers, bananas, apples, and carrot sticks. He really likes it but I have to watch him pretty close. He did really good with the crackers the first time he had one. He just sucked on it and nibbled a little but got it down without an incident. BUT the second one he had it all figured out. He bit down hard and got several big chunks in his mouth before I even knew what he was doing. Then he gagged, so I panicked and dug it all out in a split second. He was fine but we're taking it easy on the crackers for now. He really likes carrot sticks to chew on, and they work for me cause he can't bite through them, though he does try. You're probably wondering why I even bother giving him these things. It's because he's very, umm, determined. He REALLY wants to eat what I'm eating and everytime I eat he crys for something. So, I thought something to chew on would help. He does the same thing with drinking. He absolutely REFUSES to drink anything out of a bottle, sippy cup, and anything that resembles something that a baby should drink out of, and, instead, he wants to drink out of my cup. Everytime I take a drink in front of him he screams for a drink. He will actually drink quite a bit out of my glass. He grabs all my glasses out of my hands and I can barely control him anymore. I now know the true meaning of "you can't take your eyes off them for a second." Sometimes he does things so quickly that I'm covered in food or a drink before I even realize that he's reached for it.
He is still nursing but not that interested in it anymore. Although, I'm scared to stop anytime soon because he won't drink out of anything else. I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't figure something out. He's still doing great so I guess I won't worry about it too much yet. I just don't want to be nursing a 15 month old because he won't drink.
He's doing great on sleeping at night and his naps. He takes 3 naps a day now at 9:30, 1:00, and 5:30. Then, goes to bed around 8:30. He sleeps until 7:30 the next morning then we start over. It's great being able to just put him in his crib for naps now. No more 3 ring circus trying to get him to sleep! It's SO much easier! He's still not easy but much better. Sometimes he still cries for up to 30 min at naptime but he's getting the hang of it.
His favorite things to do right now are chewing on everything, playing with Max and Zoe, pulling my glasses off my face, reading books, grabbing everything he sees whether he can reach it or not, watching baby einstein DVD's, and playing piano. Yes, I've already started him on the piano and so far he loves it! Yea!
Munching on rice crackers
Feeding himself (he cries when I feed him unless he has a spoon to play with) 
Munching on apples (it's in his fist) 
January 6, 2009
Noah is now nearly 7 months old and time is flying! He is doing so many new things now that I had to start keeping a list on the fridge so I wouldn't forget stuff for the blog updates. So here is my grocery list of Noah's latest tricks...
Finding and playing with tags/zippers/strings on everything he gets his hands on
Turning things upside down as soon as he gets it to inspect the bottom
Drinking out of an adult cup (he's not a fan of sippy's and only wants what I have)
Transitioning to a big boy carseat
He's starting waving and clapping (although it's still hard to tell what he is doing unless you know him)
Immediately pulls off his hats, bibs, and diaper as soon as I get them on him
Spitting up WAY less (thank goodness!)
Growls
Babbles (mostly when he's mad at me)
Pulling his knees up when he's on his stomach and trying to scoot
Smacks at me when he sees me eating and wants my food (we've tried a few things but he mostly gags)
Learning that different toys are played with different ways
I'd like to expand on the last one, because it's the most impressive I think. He has this drum that he got for Christmas and up till now he mostly just grabs everything and puts it in his mouth. BUT, last night he was playing with his drum and he starting banging on it very purposefully. He knew! I got a video but I'll have to post it later. It was AMAZING! Now I've noticed him doing all sorts of different things with all his toys. Wow! Their little brains are so mind-blowing!
Now, the next big thing he's done this week. He has finally started sleeping in his own room. Yea! He had been sleeping terrible at night for about the last month which is very unusual for him. He has always been a great sleeper at night. So, finally it occurred to me that he is probably ready to move to his own room because I was waking him up by moving around and what not. I was prepared for about a week of crying and fighting but I'm glad to report that he has done wonderful since we moved him. The first night I put him in his crib around 8:30 and he cried for about 30 min then fell asleep and didn't get up until 7am. Then the next night about the same but he only cried for about 15 min or so. He is definitely getting the hang of it and puts himself to sleep almost immediately. I have been trying to do the same with his naps and he is doing great with that too. A little more crying during the day but only about 10 to 15 min. Not too bad. It's a huge relief to know that I can just put him in his crib and he will go to sleep on his own. No more fighting with him hopefully! Last night he did wake up at about 3am and I was like, "Oh, great! Here we go again!" But, when I looked at the monitor I discovered that he had rolled over on his stomach and his head was wedged against the side of the crib. I went in and flipped him over, and he went back to sleep almost immediately. Success!
Trying to take off his diaper
New ambulance from Daddy
First time at the Library 
December 28, 2009
Well, I wanted to devote a special blog to Kelsey and Cody. They just got engaged on the 18th! We couldn't be happier for them (and for ourselves)! We finally get to have another wedding and, even better, we get to officially add Cody to our family. Congratulations you two! I love you both so much, and know you are going to have a wonderful life together!
December 27, 2009
I'm NOT dreaming - it's a White Christmas!
Well, if you live in Oklahoma you definitely had a white Christmas. A little too white...we almost didn't have Christmas at all. It started off pretty good. Abby, Noah, and I drove to Sayre on Wednesday night to miss the weather. We figured it would be a little bit of snow, nothing too bad, but didn't want to chance it with the baby. We woke up the next morning in the middle of a blizzard. Sleet all night, then blowing snow all morning. 60 mile an hour blowing snow at that. Well, I woke up about 7 (or should I say got out of bed at 7 - woke up at 4) and thought I'd pass Noah off to my dad for awhile but he was nowhere to be found. Apparently, he thought it would be a good idea to drive to town and shut down his office. My mom's phone rings at about 7:15. Dad drove his car into a ditch and into a huge snow drift. So, Mom leaves to go get him and you can't see 10 feet in front of you. Total white out! Thank goodness he didn't get far. They both showed back up about 30 minutes later without the car. They had to get a tractor to pull it out of the drift later that day. Very exiting morning!
Thankfully, that was the only accident we had to deal with that day. I know a lot of other people weren't so lucky. By Thursday night, we were pretty sure Matt, Kelsey, and Cody weren't going to make it. We were pretty upset - Crappy Christmas 2009 was the theme. I really didn't want to celebrate Noah's 1st Christmas without his daddy! But, they all decided to chance it on Friday and everyone made it out to Sayre safely by Friday evening. We ended up having a great Christmas! Matt only got to stay a few hours but we squeezed it all in. We played a couple of rounds of Dirty Santa and everyone gathered around Noah while he "opened" his 1 million presents. The coolest thing he got was a collector grade train set from Grandpa. I think Dad and Cody played with it the most, but Noah did seem to really like. We are going to add to it every year so it will be something great for years to come.Anyway, we are all safe, happy, and home. Thanks for the great Christmas everyone!!
December 21, 2009
Christmas time is almost here! Yea! We started off celebrating this year by getting Noah's 6 month pictures taken and by sending out his first Christmas card (see proof above). I was a little leary about a naked baby picture on a card, but I couldn't resist. It was just too dang cute! Needless to say, they turned out great! Noah was perfect and smiled a ton this time around. No screaming like last time, thank goodness. Sara did her usual great job! I can't wait to get all the others ordered now.
Also, we have been shopping a few times trying to get everything done before we head out to Sayre. Always a nightmare, but even worse with a baby. Shopping malls and strollers just don't mix! I don't know why so many people do it. I finally just resorted to carrying him around which was way easier. We had to get him a new car seat. He's finally outgrown the infant seat. It makes me a little sad that his baby days are almost over. But, on the other hand, it's a lot of work and I'm exhausted. Speaking of exhaused, have I mentioned that Noah no longer sleeps at night? No idea whats going on. He wakes up anywhere from 3 to 5 every morning and he's UP. This is worse than when he was a newborn. I'm really hoping this phase will pass quickly. I've done absolutely everything I can think of and nothing works.
We also made the trip to Stillwater this year to spend time with Mum-Mum for Christmas. It was hectic but a lot of fun. Pretty much everyone was there this year which hasn't happened in a really long time. Too long. Noah had a lot of fun playing with his cousins. He is really starting too be interested in other kids. He really enjoys interacting with them and loves watching everything they do. Matthew and Noah got into a little fight over a toy Noah got as a present. It was really funny. Matthew is 2 and a half and Noah is 6 months. Matthew wanted the toy and tried to grab it out of Noah's hands. Noah definitely held his own for awhite and they had a little tug of war including some elbowing from both sides. Finally Matthew won...BUT Noah got the better of him in the end. As soon as Matthew turned around once he got the toy, Noah reached up and grabbed a big handful of hair and yanked pretty hard. This is not the kind of behavior I will ever condone, but it was hilarious that he already has that much will power. I was a little proud I have to admit.
Sorry, no Santa Claus pictures this year. The line at the mall was scary long and I think he would just cry anyway so we'll wait on that till he's older. Anyway, hope everyone has a great Christmas! I know we will!
