February 22, 2010
Wow! This past week has been absolutely crazy! Noah has always changed a lot very quickly but nothing like this week. He has gone from being pretty stationary to totally mobile in just a few short days. Time to re-learn everything again! It seems like every time I finally get him figured out and we are in a good groove he does a 180 on me and changes. He's doing so many funny things now and his little personality is really starting to shine. He loves to be goofy and have fun. He loves to talk and yell. He LOVES to eat!!
He is now able to crawl pretty much everywhere, and he goes from a lying down position to sitting to crawling and back again no problem. He still rolls like crazy and reverts to that when crawling becomes too tiresome. My favorite is when he grunts and huffs while he's crawling like he's just making the biggest effort to get those little arms and legs going. It always makes me laugh.
He is now eating several new things and absolutely loves it. His favorite are puffs, yogurt melts, and fresh fruit through his feeder. He feeds himself all of these things which is great for me because I can put him in the highchair with a few puffs and he's happy. Most of it does end up on the floor but Zoe gets LOTS of treats now. I would discourage this but it seems to have really solidified Zoe and Noah's relationship and now they are best buds! Zoe follows him everywhere, and never snaps at him anymore no matter what he does. They play really well together although sometimes Zoe gets a little too much in his face. He puts his hands over his face and yells at her. It's really funny! They play tug of war a lot with Noah's socks and Zoe chews on his hands (don't worry I wash them thoroughly when they're done). I'm glad they like each other now.
Oh, by the way, he also now has a total of 6 teeth. Four on the top and two on the bottom. I'll try to get a shot of them for next week.
Eating puffs with Zoe catching crumbs
Playtime!!
Video showcasing all of Noah's new tricks!
February 17, 2010
Okay so I thought it would be a week or so before I was writing this BUT today Noah crawled for the first time! It was so exciting but now I'm a little nervous about him just going wherever he wants whenever he wants. He has only been doing it for a few hours now and he already won't stay in one spot anymore. He immediately gets on all fours and he's off! I guess the easy days are officially over (although I don't think I would really call them easy). Anyway, here's a video of his first time crawling:
You may be wondering about the coffee cup....
Well, he needed a lot of motivation to get going the first time and he REALLY wanted that cup. I tried to get him to go after toys, a sippy, and finally a cup of water, but he only wanted the coffee. Yes it was hot. Yes I tried to be careful. He just wants what he's not supposed to have and if he knows I don't want him to have it then that's all he wants. Fortunately, he didn't spill it and no one got burned. And, the most important thing, I got a great video in the process! I'm so proud of you Noah!
February 15, 2010
We had a great Valentine's Day with Noah this year. He obviously didn't know much was going on but he did enjoy getting some little presents from Mom and Dad. He also got lots of fun cards from everyone and I read them to him but he just wanted to play with/eat them. Mom and Dad came up on Saturday to babysit so Matt and I could go out for dinner. We went to Saii (sushi) and it was delicious!! We had a great time and it was nice to get some adult time. We were home by 8:30 though. Goes with the territory I guess...
Noah has been sick this week. Yuck!! It's not fun but I am very thankful that he made it 8+ months without being sick once. We went to the Dr today and found out he has a little bit of an ear infection, congestion, cough, and fever. Nothing too bad but he's not feeling to great. We've had a few rough nights and his naps are all out of whack but he's slowly getting better. I did get to see how much he weighs now and he's up to......19.4 lbs!! Big boy!
He's still been as active as ever and he just gets more interested in everything around him everyday. He's now trying to pull up on everything and still getting closer to crawling. Not quite there yet though. He tries REALLY hard to get to his toys but he still can't do it. I'm guessing that next week I'll be writing about him officially crawling for the first time. I can't wait! I know...he's a genius! Only 8 months old and he can already spell and stack up his name...
Walking with Daddy
Feb 1, 2010
This was a LONG week! We have been trapped in the house now for 4 days, without Daddy, because we are completely snowed (and iced) in. Noah and I are pretty much getting tired of each other, but we are having lots of fun! We've played with blocks, rings, drums, the piano, and pretty much every other toy in this house a million times. I've been trying to get him in the walker some but he still can't really figure it out. He likes to sit in it and scoot backwards a little but that's about it so far. This is his favorite activity in the walker:
Don't ask me where he learned this. We NEVER give Zoe food from the table...
I started doing a juice and cracker time after the 3:30 nursing time and he really loves it! He does great with his bottle now and really loves his crackers. Although, I now know he shares them with Zoe. I'm guessing he's done this a lot but this was the first time I caught him in the act.
I have to admit...I spent a lot of time over these past four days trying to teach him words/actions and he just isn't getting it yet. I'm a little disappointed. :) I also do colors with him and he's a little better at that. He grabs the right color of block if I point to it first. I cheat a little but I figured it helps him learn. Maybe 7 1/2 months is a little young for that...
He really great at a tons of other things though. He's discovered his hands or something because he will be waving his arms around trying to grab stuff and all of the sudden he sees one of his hands and stops everything, holds it out in front of him, and stares intently at it. He does the same thing with his tongue. He likes to grab his or mine all the time. He's VERY good at babbling and does it pretty much nonstop. I knew from the beginning that we would have a talker on our hands. He's always been a loud baby. If I say ba, ba, ba to him he repeats me and goes on and on. He says, "ba, ba, ah, (spit), ba, ba, (spit)" all the time. It's really funny! It's like his tongue gets in the way when he's trying to talk and he spits everywhere. He's very serious when he talks though, no goofing around! He means business!
No official crawling yet but we're getting close. He has also started pulling up on me and pretty much anything else close by. It's really hard to change his diaper now because he tries to pull up on my arm the entire time. Also, no top teeth yet but I can now feel the little edge of one of the top front ones. This week he officially started having stranger anxiety...one of the little girls next door to us was holding him for a couple of minutes on Wednesday and he looked at her calmly for about 30 seconds, then he figured out he didn't know her. His face slowly crumpled up and then came the wail and looking around for mommy. I know that will probably get worse before it gets better.
I haven't reported on the state of Noah's hair for awhile because it's been pretty much the same. It's getting to be time for his first haircut though. It's pretty long on the sides and front, and starting to look a little ragged. He still has one really long piece on top that never fell out. I don't want to cut it off but it's about time. The bald spot in the back from his laying around days is almost completely gone FINALLY! Hopefully we will have cute pics of his first haircut soon and he won't look so shaggy.
January 25, 2010
Hello all! Time for my weekly Noah update. He had a couple of big firsts this week that I'm excited to report. He is now able to get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth very easily. He does it constantly! Here's the proof (you can tell by his expression that he's still not sure what to do next):
I know crawling is now a matter of weeks away if not sooner. The first time I saw him do it was in his crib Monday night. Since then he's gradually been doing it more and more. Now every time I put him on his stomach he immediately gets into this position. It's so exciting but I'm nervous about having a mobile baby. He is very active so this is going to be hard. I also saw him (on the monitor) get into a sitting position on his own during his naptime on Friday during his morning nap. This is also a big first for him. Time to move the mattress down a few notches! I'm convinced that the first time I will see him crawl is on the monitor while he is supposed to be sleeping. He's VERY active in the crib when he's going down to sleep.
Speaking of sleeping....
He's doing great with the crib transition still. He goes down for bed at night (around 8:30) very easily and doesn't cry at all. He rolls over a couple of times and is out. He sleeps until about 7:30 the next morning. He's pretty consistant and does the same thing every night. Naps are a little more difficult though. He still cries at every nap for about 30 mins. It's not screaming crying just whining and talking to himself. We don't rock him to sleep at all anymore and he is completely off the pacifier and swaddle. No more sleep props! Yea! I know so many people that struggle with getting their kids off these things and I'm so thankful that we didn't have to deal with that. I didn't really do anything special. I just watched him closely and I could tell when he was ready to drop something. Actually, I probably stuck with things longer than he really needed or wanted it but it's hard sometimes to let those things go. Like rocking...or having them sleep in your room. I'm glad to say that we toughed it out and Noah is doing great! He does get into some strange sleeping positions though. Here's his favorite:
I don't like it but he does. I check on him a million times to make sure he can still breathe and I try to scoot him out of the corner but he just scoots right back. Oh well...he's fine I guess.
He's also starting to understand a lot more of what I say to him. He knows hi, bye, bite, drink, Max, Zoe, mama, and daddy. I know this only because he does the same thing everytime I say these words to him. Like I say "bite" and he opens his mouth. "Drink" the same. "Max, Zoe, and Daddy" and he looks around for them. "Mama" and he smiles at me. It's really fun to commuicate with him. He still babbles constantly but no real words yet. He does yell, "Ma!" when he's mad or I try to wipe his face off (which he hates) but I'm not sure if he really knows what he is saying or if it's just an accident. I like to think that he knows exactly what he's saying. I have a feeling that he's going to be one of those kids whose constantly yelling, "Mom!" He also really knows his name now and whips his head around to look whenever he hears it. He also responds to Stinker so he may think that's his name...oops!
This was a fun week since we actually had some nice weather. We dusted off the stroller and took Noah for a few outside walks. He loves being outside so he really enjoyed getting some fresh air. It's also time for me to pack up all the 3-6 month clothes. He can't wear any of them anymore. Even some of his 6-9 month stuff is already too small. This is also hard for me. I don't like packing up his old stuff, especially the really cute stuff that he wore all the time. I'm not good with the growing up so fast! I miss the little baby! He is such a goof ball now though so we do have a lot of fun together. He has such a big personality already. He loves to laugh and laughs at absolutely anything and everything. I love Friends and I was thinking about this episode where Joey is talking about Emma laughing for an hour at this Elmo cup and that is totally Noah! He just laughs at everything! He likes to doing something he thinks is funny, like sticking out his tongue and spitting everywhere, then crack up. He does it over and over. He also laughs when he toots really loud! He really LOVES to play tug of war with me and totally cracks up. He likes it when I try to take stuff away from him and say, "give me that!". He latches onto it and starts laughing. He's actually pretty strong and can usually pull it right back from me. The rougher we play the more he likes it. Typical boy!
Other things he's really into this week are screaming at the top of his lungs when he doesn't get his way, chewing on his fingers like crazy (still no top teeth but I can see them), and getting more attached to me. He cries pretty much everytime I'm out of his sight. It's not a long cry, just a little temper tantrum then he's over it. So it's better if I stay out of his sight if he's doing something like playing with daddy. He has a ball until he sees me, then the crying starts. He just wants my attention constantly. I like it but then again I don't like it. I want to be able to leave him and know that he's having fun, but I like that he wants me.
Standing up all by himself -- such a big boy!
Rosy Cheeks!
January 18, 2010
Well, I thought I'd devote this blog to just how much Noah has grown and changed over the past 7 + months. One of the pictures above was taken a few hours after he was born and the second was taken on his 7 month birthday with the same hat. I forget how tiny he was until I see pictures like this. It's just unreal that he is already that different. Baby time is so fast!! It's hard to keep up! I loved him so much the first time I ever saw him and, if possible, I love him more each day. He is an absolute joy to be around and has brought so much happiness to our lives. I don't know what we ever did without him!
I've been experimenting with taking Noah to the nursery at church since he's SO loud during the service. He's done really great so far. I think he really likes having other babies to play with for a little bit. It's the first time he's really stayed with anyone besides family. He still LOVES everyone so it's a good time to start him in the nursery. He is starting to have a little separation anxiety with his mommy though. He's really attached to me and cries (fake cries) when he can't see me, so I have to show him that I'm still there (he laughs) then I walk away again (cries). I'm trying not to let him think he can cry and I'll come running, but I want him to feel reassured that I'm still there. Hopefully it won't get too bad before he gets over that. He still flirts and smiles at everyone everywhere we go and people just eat it up, so no stranger anxiety yet. He's pretty much the center of attention everywhere we go. He already really likes to smile at girls! Oh no!
He's really into games now so we play I'm gonna get you, patty cake, peek-a-boo, and growling at each other like monsters. He totally cracks up and likes to play over and over. I've noticed that he likes me to do EXACTLY the same thing over and over and if I try to change it up a bit he loses interest. I'm not sure what that is, but I've learned babies don't like change. They get really excited when the know what's going to happen next and then it happens. He also likes to watch the same video over and over and doesn't get as excited if I change it up too much. I thought he would get bored but he likes the repetition much better. It's like seeing a friend I guess. Something recognizable.
He is also now on the verge of crawling. Since he's been sleeping in the crib, he has a lot more time to roll around and push up on his knees. He's getting pretty good at it so I'm pretty sure he'll be all over the place here in a few weeks. He can get up on his hands and feet and also on his forearms and knees, but he hasn't figured out how to go anywhere yet. He gets really mad when a toy is out of reach because he wants to go get it so bad. He can do it very slowly, but he gets really frustrated. He can also now take steps while you hold his hands and support him. He walked all the way around the living room holding my hands today, then stood at the coffee table on his own for a few minutes and played. He's getting very strong but I don't want him too mobile yet.
Other things... He is just about to get his top two front teeth in. I can see them but they haven't poked through yet. He is drooling like crazy but he isn't fussing anymore so I'm guessing they'll be here in a couple of days. He also drank an entire bottle full of water with a little apple juice today. That was a BIG first for him. I've been forcing the bottle on him because he needed a little more water than he was getting and finally he took it. Yea! 
