15 Months

Noah had his 15 month check up yesterday. He's officially a tall, skinny boy - 73% for height and 40% for weight. We've actually fattened him up just a little bit, he was at 30% for weight.

The doc was a little concerned that he isn't saying any words yet. I've generally felt that while he's obviously a smart kid, he's sometimes behind on things, and that's ok with us. We know boys are slower in some areas, and he's usually not too far behind. We're going to give him a few more weeks to start speaking English.

He's definitely getting better at understanding what we tell him. When he's hungry he's been in the habit of coming to me and pulling on my shirt and yelling at me. So I ask him if he's hungry and he says "uh-huh" and I ask if he wants a snack and he says "uh-huh". Then I tell him, "ok, let's go to the kitchen" and he heads to the kitchen and to his high chair. It's so cute. Eventually he'll just go stand by his high chair when he's hungry.

The one thing he tends to get into upstairs is the books on our bookshelves, he likes to pull one or two off the shelf, but he doesn't tear them up or anything. I'm working on taking his hand and having him walk away while saying "walk away". With any luck I can train him to literally walk away from things he's getting into. We'll see, I know that's pretty optimistic.

The most fun thing he's doing lately is when we're all in his room he'll take about 3 steps towards the door and turn around and babble at us until we say "ok" then he'll take 3 more steps and repeat until he's out in the hall. Then he'll take off down the hall and wait for us to say "Where's Noah? Where did he go?" Then he'll come running back down the hall into his room and we'll say "Yah -there he is!!" Easiest way ever for us to play hide and seek!!

I always knew I wasn't a baby person, and said just hand me the kid when it can walk and talk. Every day I find him more and more fun. He makes me laugh every day. And oh boy, once he can actually talk... we literally can't wait to see what he tells us!

1 Year, 1 Month, 1 Week and 1 Day Old

Kinda fun.

I don't think there are any real, big changes going on currently, just the little every day ones.

We finally bought him a couple of pair of shoes. I think he has big feet - size 5W to start! So we got that size and the next size up. He won't wear them too often, but we'll have them for when he finally starts walking and we take him to the park. We have a Stride Rite outlet nearby - wow they're still expensive. We spent the same amount on two pair of shoes and some socks that I spent on his entire winter wardrobe at a consignment store. The consignment store isn't all that close, but it's a really good one. I got seven pairs of pants (corduroy, sweats and jeans), seven or so long sleeve onsies, 3 winter onsies to sleep in, and six or seven long sleeve shirts and fleece pullovers for about $74.

We joke that for Noah it's not the clothes that make the man, it's the man that makes the clothes! He just looks so handsome in his shirts and pants.

He also got his first real bruise on his forehead. He clocked it on the corner of a wall in the bathroom. He seems to take getting hurt pretty well. It takes a decent hurt to make him cry, and then he doesn't cry too long.

He's getting closer to walking, but doesn't seem to be in any hurry to do it. He'll stand on his own when he doesn't know that he is.

Mostly he's still just so fun to hang out with. I guess it was Friday night he decided to stay up until 11 to play and hang out with us. Poor Nerdstar and I were ready to fall asleep about 9! He loves when she's home. If she leaves for work when he's up, he'll cry as she's leaving, but is fine once she's gone. And he's always so happy when she comes home from work. I love it. And on the weekends he insists she does everything for him - which I also love!

He and I have our weekday routines. Wake up, bottle of milk, play, oatmeal, play, watch youtube videos, play in room, a nap in there somewhere, milk, play, lunch, tell him it's my turn to eat lunch - he ate his, apple juice, play, argue over leaving things like his night-light alone, maybe read his books, maybe watch his videos again, hopefully nap #2, more milk, wait for Ma to get home!

Time Keeps on Slippin'

It surely does. The days mostly repeat themselves. That's not a bad thing.

Last weekend we headed down to Charlottesville to have a friend take some photos of Noah. We couldn't believe how well he did. Normally if you set him down anywhere, he takes off crawling as fast as he can. This time, he sat there with his books and had his picture taken. It was a hot and humid afternoon and we took pictures at three different locations and he was such a trooper. He's not great at smiling or laughing on command, but he did what we asked him to for the most part. Can't wait to see all the finished photos!

We were also lucky to hang out with RR and her two Moms. She's just so adorable!

The only down thing lately is that Noah has apparently decided that long car rides aren't any fun. That, or having Nerdstar in the car with us isn't any fun. (heh) We're learning he mostly just has to fuss it out, nothing really makes a difference. My guess is he's a little bored after a while.

These days he's still throwing books at us all the time and making us read them to him. It's crazy. He's got five books he wants us to read over and over. I'm already tired of them, and I tried putting them up and bringing in some new ones, he wouldn't have it. Sigh. One of them is the Dr. Suess ABC book. I put on FB the other day that I'm sometimes quite tempted to just make up cuss word phrases for each letter. (See name of blog.)

Sometimes when he's sitting on my lap I think, Wow one day this adorable little boy, who I can pick up and toss in the air and all that fun stuff, will be a grown man. It's cool and disconcerting.

He's not in any hurry to walk - he crawls so fast that walking would feel like a step back to him. That's fine with me. The big milestones can take their time. I think he'd like to be able to talk. Sometimes he seems to be making an effort to repeat us. Some days he talks up a storm, telling us who knows what. Nerdstar thinks he's telling us the winning lottery numbers and we're just out of luck because we can't understand him. I can't wait to hear his stories.

Tomorrow is his one year ped. appointment. We're waiting to see how tall he is.

11 Months

Wow, 11 months. The big 1 year is coming up soon!

You're doing new stuff on a regular basis and continue to be quite the goofy boy. You still do your inchworm, military, special olympics style crawl, and pull up everywhere. You still like to throw balls and go get them. You're changing your nap schedule, which is good. You insist on sitting on my lap when I'm at my desk. You still love going out to eat, and we think you did your first flirting with a lady at the restaurant the other day.

I got you a mirror yesterday and we think you loved seeing/playing with yourself more than anyone else. You waved at and smiled at and kissed yourself in the mirror. It was cute and funny.

You take in the world with your serious face on. You laugh with us.

We still love you more than anything and love hanging out with you. We know you're just going to be even more fun in the future.

So Lucky

I think I might have mentioned a time or two that if we told you just how good Noah is, you wouldn't believe us. Every night when we go to bed we talk about how cute he is, what all he did that day, and how lucky we are to have him.

Oh sure, there can be real tears if you're in the middle of feeding him and get up to do something like, get more food. And the way he yells at us to tell us he's hungry, well, for now it's still cute, along with the way he'll grunt between bites if you're not feeding him fast enough.
Can you tell he has a thing about food? If he had a motto it would be "The Hunger... It HURTS".

Generally, though, he's fun to be around. He has this cute way of cocking his head to one side and grinning at us. He is also fantastic at social laughing. Friday night we went out to dinner, on the drive home one of us said something funny and laughed. Then from the backseat came this laugh from Noah, which of course made us laugh again. So we laughed back and forth for about ten minutes of the drive home. It's cool, from almost day one he would recognize my laugh and look at me and see what was up.

He's also so well behaved in public. Saturday, we went to a friend's baby shower. He pretty much just hung out with us and ate all the grapes. After that we went out to eat again, and although he was starting to get tired, he didn't get fussy. I'm so glad he's so flexible schedule-wise. I used to think we should work harder to get him on a more regular schedule. But maybe it's worked out better.

He's happier now that he can inch-worm his way around the house. He's so good about just hanging out and playing with his toys while I'm online or in the kitchen or whatever. He loves "chasing" Ramen around. Ramen has finally learned that the way to deal with Noah is to get up and move. Unfortunately, he'll move about four feet, which takes Noah all of 30 seconds to cross.

Also, while he's hanging out, he'll grab one of his books and lay on his back and "talk" as if he's reading it. So cute.

He still really wants to be able to run around. We were at Ikea yesterday, and he saw some kids playing and so we had to at least go hang out in that area. He was so sad when they left and so we left.

I've taken him to the park down the street to swing a couple of times. He thinks that's pretty cool.

So yeah. We still think he's the greatest thing ever.

9 Months

It took nine months, but our boy finally had his first fever and apparently has his first ear infection. He's getting in two more top teeth, so we think that was part of his problem with the fever on Wednesday and then throwing up last night. I knew he didn't feel well when he didn't want to wiggle his way around on the floor, but wanted to just sit with me. He was a good sick kid, not fussy, just less energy.

He had his 9 month check up today. We think he's a pretty tall kid, but in his measurements he's just dead average for height and a little on the skinny side. The pediatrician said we really need to phase out the purees and get him more into solid foods. I haven't been in a big hurry because he still can't/won't pick up his food and put it in his mouth. But, we're gonna start baking/steaming things so he can eat them instead of pureeing it. Now I'm seriously going to be Noah's chef.

His skin was getting better, but it's taken a turn for the worse in the last 36 hours. It's so frustrating. I have a feeling the teething and ear infection are using up his immune system so his skin is suffering for it.

Other than that it's all good. We think he's the cutest most wonderful kid ever. Every day he makes me smile and laugh. He's such a good kid. I have a feeling he'll have a little bit of a stubborn streak, but that's ok.

7 Months

Our little boy isn't so much a little boy anymore. He's got two bottom teeth. He's tall and skinny (I'd say at least 28/29 inches tall). He's about to outgrow all of his winter clothes, which are 9 month old size. We bought him a bunch of new clothes last weekend, most of them for warmer weather and they're all in the 12 month size. I'll be glad when he can run around in t-shirts and diapers! He'll just be glad when he can run around!

Every night when we go to bed, we talk about how cute he is, how good he is, how amazing he is! We honestly can't believe our luck. Although, I am getting closer to taking just a little bit of credit. More than anything, I'm so glad he's still a happy, mellow kid.

He and I have a pretty good routine most days. He's still eating about every three hours, still napping pretty well most days, and the rest of the time is playing in his big boy chair, rolling around on the floor, or in his bouncy chair. Hopefully soon it'll be warm enough to spend some time outside. Nerdstar has a good early morning and then night time routine with him.

He still loves going out to restaurants. We went to Joe's Crab Shack a week or so ago and he had the best time ever watching all the lights and stuff hanging from the ceiling and watching all the people. He loves watching other kids run around and you can just feel how much he wants to run around with them. Now that the weather is better, I'm working on taking him to at least one of the mom's group meetups each week. It's good for both of us!

I waited so long to have a kid, and I can't express how happy I am he's a part of our lives. I love staying home with him and playing with him and watching him grow and change all the time.

Just the past couple of days, we started tickling him and it makes him laugh a lot. I love it.

6 Months Old!

Our little Noah Maxx is six months old today. It really does seem like he's been with us for so much longer! But I'm glad that it doesn't feel like time is flying by.

While many of the big milestones are coming up in the next six months - teeth, crawling, walking - he's started to look like a little boy and not a baby. He's so long and skinny. And he's just so darn cute.

And he couldn't be a better kid. I'm so very thankful he's not a fussy kid. We spend most of his awake time chillin upstairs. He goes from one type of chair to the other to tummy time to his bouncy chair. I love watching him take in the world.

He's taken well to solids. He's had bananas, avocado, apple sauce, the purees are sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots and peaches. He loves the carrots as long as apple sauce is mixed in. We'll eventually try mixing the green beans with apple sauce because he didn't like them at all plain the first time. Next we'll add some peas to the mix.

He loves to sit in his high chair any time we're in the kitchen. He does NOT love it when we're in the kitchen without him!

While it would be nice if he'd sleep a little later most mornings, he's sleeping ten to twelve hours at night, so we can't really complain.

We feel so lucky and blessed to have him.

5 Months

I know it sounds crazy, but this week in particular he seems to be little boy and not a baby boy. Maybe it's because he's so long and skinny. Maybe it's that he's started this little protest noise that's part moan, part growl. Baby protests are kinda funny, actually. I mean, really, what does he have to protest about?

Now that we're feeding him bananas and avocados and not that rice cereal he seems to think comes straight from satan, he's finally happy to be eating. The face he made over the rice cereal was a riot. And the "mmmmmm"s he says when eating bananas is adorable. Yesterday I made some oat cereal and that went over a little better. This morning I just mixed it in with his banana and he scarfed it all down. This weekend we'll make some applesauce and pear or squash purees. Fun.

We call the kitchen "The Magic Room" because he gets all happy and wide eyed when he's in there. He's memorized watching us stir things on the stove. Last night we were eating dinner and just had him in his lounge chair. That would not do. We had to mash him up some banana so he could eat with us. I know this is a good thing, that he wants to eat dinner when we do. It'll just be easier when he can sit up and be in a high chair. For now he's on one of our laps to eat. Fortunately, he's not messy, yet.

He seems to be a pretty goofy boy. I'm convinced he's taking inventory of everything, particularly on my desk, for future use/destruction. He is good at entertaining himself, whether in his chair with toys, or on the floor on his back or tummy, but mostly in his bouncy chair. As we've said for months, he's so ready to be in motion!

The last few days, it seems he's changed his nap patterns. There are shorter ones with a much longer one in the middle of the day. It's a good change. We're hoping he keeps staying awake in the evenings a little more for dinner/bath times.

I can't believe it's only been five months. He's a fun, happy, sweet boy who loves to go out to eat and hang out with people. I pray he stays that way!!

20 Weeks

I keep thinking about this time last year, and how much of it I spent wondering what this time this year would be like. Yes, I also think about how this time next year will be just a little more fun because our boy will be more aware of everything and will be mobile. For example, it's snowing for the first time since he's been born, but he's not really aware of it. I'm more content and happy than I even imagined.

I've also been thinking, "Wow, we have a baby boy around. And we get to keep him!" I still find that very cool.

Well, we were optimistic that starting solids would go well after that first attempt. Alas, not so much. We're not sure if homemade rice cereal just isn't very appealing (I'm sure it tastes like wet paper) or if he's not entirely ready to swallow stuff. We're avoiding the gagging and choking, but aren't sure any's making it to his tummy. This weekend we'll try a little avocado and see if it goes any better.

He's also lost interest in rolling over. I'm back to making him do tummy time. He does love the jumper we got him and I still think he'd rather just walk than roll around or crawl.

He's still the cutest, sweetest baby. He and I spend lots of time smiling and laughing at each other. And that's all right with me.

4 Months

Little Noah had his four month check-up yesterday. He gets much more mad about being hungry than he does getting shots. He's in the 45% for height and 65% for weight, which is weird because he's actually long and skinny. Other than that he was declared "perfect".

He's ever so slowly moving beyond the "baby" stages. I'm still in no hurry and love watching his little changes every day. Although, we have told him that his life gets exponentially better once he can sit up - then he can eat real food and will enjoy bath time even more.

He really seems to be a happy kid. He doesn't melt down when frustrated. And he can focus and concentrate very well. He also seems to love live music, so it really sucks we can't sing and play guitar for him. It's also too bad we're not still in Austin with all the live music there.

I have a completely over-active brain, so I spend a lot of time thinking about how we got so lucky he's such a good baby. We both agree that we can't take any credit for it until he's older. But we do thank God on a regular basis. The problem is that with any ideas on why a particular kid is so good, you run into the "then why are some kids not so good" stuff - and no way am I going there!

The only problem he has is his eczema. Nerdstar has it, so he got it from her. We tried soy formula for almost two weeks now and it didn't make any difference, so it's not likely to be allergy related. Right now he's got 3 prescriptions, 2 kinds of lotion, and butt paste for general skin stuff. We're not clear on how you use an antibiotic cream twice a day, a steroid cream twice a day, and keep his face moisturized. Thankfully, we're not using the antibiotic much. The upside is that other than when his scalp gets dry and itchy, his skin problems don't bother him at all.

I'll try to post some pics later.

16 Weeks

He's growing and changing slowly but surely. I love watching the little changes and am in no hurry. Although, it'll be nice when he can sit up and can start eating solids. I think he's going to love it. Some nights at dinner, Nerdstar will have him in her lap and he'll watch each bite go from her plate to her mouth. It's so cute. It'll also be nice when he can sit in a grocery cart and not have to lug around the car seat.

He's 95% done with pacifiers now that he's 95% mastered sucking his thumb instead. This means he's now swaddled with one arm out and he's really good at getting to sleep. The other morning he woke up at 5 a.m. and was just lying there talking to himself for a while. He pretty much wakes up anywhere from 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., I'd say 5:30 being the most common this week. The good thing about that is that Nerdstar gets to spend some time with him before going to work. The crazy part has been when he's gone to sleep at 4 or 5 p.m. and seemed all set to sleep through the night - except we had to wake him up about 7 or 7:30 to feed him and change him and get him ready for bed. He's missed a few baths. He goes back to sleep well if we wake him, so it hasn't been a problem.

I love that he wakes up happy and gives us big smiles when we go get him out of bed. I've never been a morning person, so all of this ass early waking up is tough on me, but his smile sure does help make it better. I told Nerdstar the other night that my 16 year old self is laughing her butt off that I go to bed at 9 p.m. on a Friday and Saturday night. My 30 year old self is probably laughing just as hard. I'm more amused at taking naps at 8 a.m.

He's not quite rolling over yet. He's been more content to lay on his back and check everything out and watch the dog. He's getting better at tummy time, but mostly likes to lay there and suck on his arm.

Yesterday we went to a friend's house with about six other moms and their kids for music time. He loved it so much. He sat on my lap and chatted up a storm and wiggled around. I guess our little fellow is going to be a social dude. I hope so.

Then this morning he was getting much closer to rolling over and just seems to ready to be in motion. I think he'd rather go straight to walking, he loves to stand up on our laps. Maybe seeing all the other kids yesterday inspired him.

His poor eczema is getting better with the new meds, but it seems to just keep popping up in new spots on his face. We hope and pray he grows out of it eventually.

I'm still so very happy to have my handsome boy to spend my days with.

9 Weeks

Our poor boy had his 2 month check up today and his first set of shots. He did great getting his shots, only cried for a minute and then was fine. I swear this kid is going to be all - ok, you can cut my fingers off, just don't make me late for dinner!

He now weighs 13 pounds 10 oz. Chunky. He's 23 1/2 inches long.

We're well into week 2 of me being a SAHM while Nerdstar gets into her new job. While this is certainly the most tiring job I've ever had, it's also the best. I've never been a "baby person." I don't love babies in general. I'll probably like yours if I know you, but have never oohhhed and awwwed over them. I always said if I had a kid, I wouldn't mind starting out with it once it could walk and talk. Nerdstar's just the opposite, she likes them at this age and would hand them over at the age I prefer.

So, here I am at home with this absolutely adorable little boy - and in some ways I think we're both bored. He can't sit up yet. He can't play with toys. He doesn't really care about story time. He does "talk" a lot. When I read him stories he usually babbles along more than he listens. He's not into music, which is just as well for the poor thing, neither of his mothers can sing. He does love to be held so that he can stand on his legs, or so that he can sit up and look around. Thankfully, he still likes the swing and will nap in it. He still sleeps fantastic at night, but isn't too interested in naps during the day. I still get the feeling he's just waiting until he can be mobile. He's not hyper or restless or anything, just not into laying around. I'm so glad the warm weather will return at just the right time for him in the spring.

One thing I wish we'd done before he got here was to learn how to go to bed early. We've both been night owls our whole lives. It's very hard to adjust our bedtime from 11 pm or later to even 10, much less the 9 pm we should be going to bed. I guess enough of these early mornings will eventually reset our clocks.

He's still the cutest, sweetest little thing we've ever known. We can't believe he's only been on the outside with us for two months, it's like he's been a part of us forever.