Mother's Day Out

September 1, 2010

These are some pictures of Noah on his first morning of Mother's Day Out.

We decided to start Noah in a Mother's Day Out program this year at our church. He goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 2:30. I really wanted to do this for a couple of reason. First, he has never been away from me and I figured the earlier we start the separation and the slower we go the easier it will be for him to make the transition. Second, he has always loved other kids and I think it's time for him to start spending some time playing with kids his own age. Last, but not least, I think I need a little break!!

They decided to put him in the toddler room since he's 15 months old. Most of the kids in there are around 18 months. We thought we would give it a try and see how he did. The big difference is that they sleep on mats and eat in regular chairs not highchairs and there is less one on one attention. The classroom had 6 little boys a little older than him. He did great at Parent's Night when we met the teacher and played with all the kids great. He was SO wound up when we left. He would not stop screaming and laughing. So I though, this is great! He's going to love it!

When I took him the first day, he was smiling when I left so I felt pretty confident that he would be fine. WRONG! I got a phone call around 1:00 saying that he was crying his eyes out and had been for some time. He had thrown up from crying. He wouldn't eat him lunch. He wouldn't take a nap. Well, I told them I would come get him but they said not to. They thought they could get him to sleep so I told them to call if it didn't get better. I didn't hear anything so I went to get him at 2:30 and he was crying when I got there. He was so tired from crying that he wasn't even excited to see me. They said we'd try the toddler room once more then move him to the nursery if it didn't work. We tried again the next time, and, you guessed it, he's now in the nursery.

However, I'm very very glad that they moved him. He loves the nursery and does great in there. He cries a little when I drop him off but that's it. He's happy the rest of the day. He eats and takes naps well. He's done a bunch of colorings for me. His teachers are great and he's happy. His teacher told me that he just doesn't do change at all. If they move to a different room, he cries. If one of his teachers leaves, he cries. I never really knew that about him until this experience. But it is going good and it is good for both of us.

Noah, Noah, NOAH!!

August 30, 2010

Sigh... I say this with the tons and tons of love and adoration BUT my child is exhausting!! He's always been a little (well a lot) of a handful. I've known this was coming since he was a few months old and wouldn't lay still for one second. I remember trying to put him in bed with me to relax for a few minutes and he would cry and strain every muscle in his body to sit up...even though he was only about 10 weeks old. And when he started the temper tantrums at 6 months old I knew we were in for it.

Here's what a typical day sounds like around our house:

"Noah, mommy said not to touch the dog food." He looks sweetly at me, pulls his hand back, then does it again.

"No Baby that's yucky." Continues to do it...

"Mommy said No!" Laughs at me...now he thinks it's a game.

"Noah, (me finally grabbing his hand) we don't play in the dog food!" He screams and hits as I pick him up. Then we wash our hands and have a lot of "fun" trying to grab the faucet and spraywater everywhere. Then he screams and hits again as I take away the water. And as soon as I put him down, he goes right back.

And this happens all day long with the trash can, the dog water, pulling Max's tail, hitting Zoe with the bat, his diaper pail, the toilet, the cabinets, biting me, etc.... I could go on for quite some time.

So, the big question is...

How do you discipline a 14 month old who you know understands you but isn't really into obeying yet?

The answer is....

I have no idea!! The best strategy we can come up with is to continue to talk sternly to him without yelling or spanking. Then doing some time outs for really bad behavior (I'll get to that in a second). Hopefully he will start wanting to obey after we do this consistently. I think the trick is to always stick to your guns. Which is hard for me. Sometimes I just want him to be happy so I'll let him do what he wants. Mistake! Then he thinks he can always do what hewants and that starts the tantrums.

The worst thing that he does right now is get violent when he doesn't get what he wants. He's getting big enough now to actually cause some damage. He hits, bites, and throws himself downon the grounds and bangs his head. He's actually now hitting himself in the face when he's mad. He also does this weird finger flicking thing that is actually hilarious so it's really hard not to laugh at him while he's mad. He sticks his finger in his mouth then pulls it out really hard while flicking it on his teeth. When he does it he just looks so mad and serious. He is definitely letting you know he is NOT happy with you. It sounds like he's a little nuts, I know, but I've read this is extremely normal for kids his age so I'm just trying to correct him without freaking out.

When I talk to Matt, I'll be telling him that Noah is mad at me for whatever reason and the first thing he always says is, "Did he flick his finger at you?" If so, you know Noah is NOT HAPPY. I'm laughing as a type this because I've NEVER seen a baby do this like Noah does. He's so funny and stubborn and determined. My hopes are that we are good enough parents to help him turn these traits into a great positive force in his life. Keep us in your prayers as we try to get Noah through this stage in the most positive way possible.

Here's a good progression of what happens: Noah happily cleaning his high chair. I get the camera to take pictures. He wants the camera. I don't give it to him and tell him "no". He starts flicking his finger at me and crying.

I should do a blog post just with pictures of Noah pulling off his hat...

Our Little Helper

August 23, 2010

Noah is becoming very "helpful" these days. He wants to do everything we are doing. I would say that he wants to help us but mostly he just wants to do it himself. He grabbed the broom from me the other day while I was sweeping and proceeding to clean up the kitchen himself. I think he ended up with the dust pan in his mouth at one point. Yuck!! He is also obsessed with the mower and the vacuum. He HAS to go outside with daddy to help mow every time. He will bang on either his bedroom window or the front door until I take him out to mow. Same with the vacuum. He loves it when I chase him around with it while I'm cleaning. He will also grab the kitchen towel off the oven and wipe down every surface in the house.

He went to the doctor the other day for a terrible cough that we've all had the past few weeks and while we were waiting he was playing with another little boy in the waiting room. They started going through my diaper bag and sure enough Noah pulled out some wipes and started cleaning the tables in the waiting room. What can I say? He loves to clean. Good Boy!

Even though he is cleaning a lot these days, he still loves to make some huge messes. The other day he took off with a popsicle and shut himself in his room. A few seconds later I heard some bang and weird scratching noises so I went to get him. What I found was him drawing on his bedroom door with the popsicle and mashing it into the carpet. It took him about 30 seconds to completely destroy it.

He's been doing some other new things this week. He has started to put everything in one hand to carry it around with him. That probably doesn't make much sense. I guess you have to see him do it. For example, he likes to play with his spoons so he'll grab them one by one and put them all in his right hand then get up to destroy some other stuff with the left. It's cool that he has figured out how to carry a bunch of stuff and still keep one hand free. He is also really into taking things apart and putting them back together (like his sippy cups), making a fish face, playing with the printer (he knows how to copy and turn it off and on), and playing fetch with Zoe.

He loves to play with Zoe! They will keep each other entertained for quite some time. Although, I think Zoe would prefer to play fetch with me. She will play with Noah but she tries to bring the hamburger back to me. Noah just comes over and gets it from her then throws it for her again. It's great because Zoe is more in the loop now. She did get a little neglected there for awhile.

Another funny thing he did a couple of days ago was come up behind me with a brush and start brushing my hair for me. He has liked to brush his own for awhile now and will grab the brush from me every time. However, this was the first time he has tried to brush mine. I had just given him a bath and he was walking around the bathroom while I was cleaning up. I guess he got the brush out of the drawer. All of the sudden I felt someone hitting me in the head with a brush. It was really cute! I let him brush it for a little bit then we had to stop because he was a little rough. Such a boy!

Super Baby!! He loved the cape! (even though it was pink)

Wearing mommy's glasses

Mixing up some questionable lunch

14 Months Old

August 8, 2010

I debated whether or not to put the picture above on here with Noah holding the plug in BUT I did because (a) there are plug in covers on the outlet so he wasn't in any danger and (b) I wanted to show how he picks up on absolutely everything I do these days. He went over to the corner, grabbed the plug in, then took it back over to the outlet and tried to plug it in. He knows how to do everything! He did the same thing with my keys only we were outside and playing in the driveway with the neighborhood clan and he grabbed my keys, took his time finding the specific key he wanted, walked over to the keyhole on the garage door (which I've NEVER used BTW), then proceeded to stick the key in and try to unlock it. It's so funny to me because it always seems like Noah pays attention to NOTHING. He is constantly on the go and won't sit still long enough for me to teach him anything. But apparently he is paying some attention.

He also knows how to put DVD' s in the DVD player (a little scary). He will go get a DVD out of the binder that we keep them in, then push the buttons on the player, then stick it in. It usually just gets shoved under the player though. I don't really let him do this often. I don't want a bunch of scratched up DVD's but I just let him try a few times to see what he would do since he wouldn't leave it alone and he did it perfectly.

Noah has also been working on getting a few new teeth. All four of his molars are now in and he has all four front bottom teeth now. So he now has a total of 12 teeth and he uses them. To bite me. All the time. I'm glad that he has the molars though so now I don't have to worry so much about him not being able to chew up stuff and he's eating better now that they are in. Hopefully, the extreme pickyness we've been dealing with lately will get better too.

He has started to do some new stuff lately that's really cute. However, I think everything he does is cute so bear with me...

He has started making sounds to go along with his actions. For example, he makes a vroom sound when playing with cars or anything that rolls, yummy sounds when he is eating something he likes, rolling sound when we roll our hands during patty cake, and humming along when we are singing.

He has also started to grab my hand to get me to do stuff for him. I read that this was an extremely normal thing for babies his age to do. Everything time he thinks he can't do something or doesn't want to do something he grabs my hand and tries to make me do it for him. He gets really mad if I don't obey too. His favorite things to make me do are open doors for him, pet Max and Zoe, get him a drink, and take him out of the carseat. He is still really into throwing temper tantrums (which now include biting and hitting) so we are trying to come up with a better plan for dealing with those, especially now that he is so demanding about getting things he wants. Nothing really works so we are going with time outs. Hopefully they will start getting better soon!

We had a big event this weekend. Kelsey and Cody's wedding!! It was really really fun but really exhausting. By the time the wedding actually got here on Saturday night, Noah and I were both totally exhausted. He was supposed to walk down the aisle with his little tux on but he had a break down about half way to the people. Luckily he was walking with me so I was able to pick him up and carry him (not so lucky for me though since I was wearing a short dress and had to bend down and pick up a baby - while holding a bouquet - while walking in front of 100 people). So we finally made it to the front, then he wanted down of course. I was seriously singing the ABC's to him while Kelsey was walking down the aisle so he wouldn't scream. Not very fun! Finally, Matt was able to come get him and carry him out. Aghh! I was so stressed after that and then had to deal with him through the reception. He had a huge first though --- he was actually so exhausted and cranky that he fell asleep while Abby was holding him. He has NEVER done anything like that. He can stay up with the best of them. He even stayed asleep through being passed around and having my drunk uncle blowing on his stomach.

Having fun at the rehearsal dinner!

Finally some walking!

July 25, 2010

Yea! Noah finally took some steps on his own! He is almost 14 months old but he's doing it so that's all that matters :) It started one day about a week ago when we were over at Kelsey's house decorating her bedroom. Abby was watching him and all of the sudden she starting yelling at us that Noah was walking from her to the bed over and over. He was taking about 5 or 6 steps on his own. That was the very first time that he did that consistently. So I called Matt and told him but I was afraid that Noah would stop doing it by the time that Matt got home. However, he just kept right on walking. After a few days of doing that, he was good to go. He is now walking around the whole house. He still crawls about 50% of the time but he is getting very good at walking.

He is also getting really funny lately. He just has such a big personality for such a little guy. He always has but now he is just so aware of everything and so interactive with us that we have a blast just watching him do new things. One of the funniest things that he did this week was holding his nose and talking. He just thought that was hilarious. I was driving with him and all of the sudden I heard some weird noises coming from the back seat. I looked in the mirror and could see him holding his nose and jabbering away, then cracking up because he sounded funny. He did that over and over. We were both laughing like crazy! He really loves to make people laugh at him and if you stop he will fake laugh just to keep you going. Total ham!

He's also learned some new stuff recently. He is now able to touch his nose when you tell him to touch his nose. He learned that from his Baby Einstein video, of course. He also grabs his ear when asked. He really likes to grab my nose and ears but he gets a little rough so I try to direct him to his own face. He's known how to clap for awhile now, but recently he's started to grab my hands and clap them for me. He grabs for everyone's hands now to help them clap. It's really cute.

Noah got his second haircut recently. This time we went to Krissi and it was a much better experience for both of us. For one thing it was free instead of 20 bucks, and she was much better at keeping him calm. He got a pretty short buz around the back and sides but we left the top a little longer. He looks so grown up all of the sudden. He definitely doesn't look like a baby anymore. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures this time.

Right now he is really into talking. He talks constantly and with purpose. He's really serious and gets frustrated when I don't get what he wants right away. It's funny because when he gets really frustrated he starts clapping. I guess he's trying to use clapping as a way of telling me what he wants. He still only says a few actual words though. He now says mama, dada, Z (for zoe), ba (for pretty much everything else), wawa (water I think), and dis (for what's this). He also loves to laugh and scream and walks around the house doing both. Such a fun baby!

Playing in the pool with Kiki at the farm

Sweet sleeping baby cuddled up with his glow worm

Still hates hats...

Still loves his bat...

13 months old

July, 12 2010

I love this picture! He looks so sweet and innocent. Very different from the usual. THIS picture is much more representative of the real Noah:

Holding a bat, trying to hit us, and screaming. That's the baby I know!

It's already been a month since he turned one and still no walking. He's getting a little better at standing on his own but refuses to take a step unless he is firmly holding onto someone's hand. When he wants to go somewhere, he's stands there and yells for us while holding his hand out. It's really cute, but it would be a lot easier if he would just do it on his own. I guess he's just not feeling it yet. A little too scared still.

One new thing that he's discovered is making us lay down on the floor and rolling us while he's crawling along. It's really fun...for him. That's all he wants to do. If you sit on the floor and try to play with him, he just tries to push you over then roll you across the floor. Abby was over the other day and he started pushing her over. She was like, "What is he doing?" So, after I explained it, they spent the next half hour rolling on the floor.

He is also becoming very rough when he plays. I'm sure it's just a boy thing, but the rougher you get with him the more he laughs and has fun. He is hitting, biting, pushing, kicking, just about all the bad behaviors that you can think of. I'm trying to get him to be rough with his toys and not people but it's not working yet. I don't just want to yell at him all the time and constantly tell him "NO" so I'm trying to redirect the behavior. Hopefully he'll get it soon. I'm tired of being hit and bit.

He learned something really cool this week. How to do patty cake! I had no idea that he could do all the hand motions, but I was playing with him and he just started doing it. He claps during the first part, then rolls his hands really fast (that's his favorite part), then throws his arms up at the end. We are so proud! I tried to get it on video but he just gets distracted and wants the camera.

Eating his first popsicle and making a wet, sticky mess!

Wearing his new Harley jacket! It's a little big but he'll be in it by winter time. Thanks Melinda and Markea!! He loved it!

July 4th Weekend

July 5, 2010

We had a great, but very chilly, July 4th weekend. Kelsey's 22nd birthday was on the 3rd so we had big plans to go to the lake on the 3rd. Unfortunately, it was rainy and cold the entire weekend. We did go to the lake anyway, but we froze. Not exactly what we had in mind...

Noah spent the day hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa doing who knows what. I think he pretty much has free reign when he's there without me, but I guess that's what grandparents are for. I think he got to ride the four wheeler, hang out with the cows, and splash in the cow tank. Very germ free...but Grandpa's a country boy so we don't worry too much about cow germs. Noah has a great time there and loves going to the country! I try not to be too strict :)

Anyway, we still went ahead full force with the fireworks on the 4th despite the rain. Cody's dad brought down some awesome fireworks so we had quite a show. I wasn't sure how Noah would handle the loud noises, plus staying up late, so we preceded cautiously. We started off with some tame roman candles and he really loved watching everyone set them off and just cracked up. So I thought okay he can handle this. We then brought out the bigger ones. He made it through the first one then freaked out. He spent the rest of the evening in the truck with Grandma watching through the window away from the noise.

He did like watching them, just not listening. Maybe he'll be a little better next year. The fireworks were awesome and we had a blast! It was a little scary because some of the big ones didn't go very high then exploded right over our heads. It was like being inside a huge firework! Very exciting but I was glad Noah was in the car at that point.