Noah's 11 Month Update

Noah is about 21 pounds, wearing size 3 diapers and mostly 9-12 month clothes.

He learned how to crawl up the stairs (with one of us right behind him, obviously) and started pulling himself up on the furniture and walking around. The first time he pulled himself up in his pack and play, he was so proud! He also loves standing up in the tub, which freaks me out even more now that we've moved him out of the baby bathtub.

First time standing up on his own.

This month we introduced cantaloupe, pineapple, beets, apricots, cinnamon, strawberries, barley, eggplant, potatoes, purple carrot juice, and Cheerios. He's become way more interested in finger foods and feeding himself. He adores apples, especially sharing them with me. I love the way he furiously crawls to me and sits on my lap when I have an apple because he knows he'll get some.

Speaking of apples...we took him on his first apple picking expedition this month. He loved the apple part but was even more entertained by the dog running through the orchard.

The apple Noah picked.

After months of giving me awesome kisses, he'll finally kiss dad. Before, Josh would try and Noah would turn away.

Sitting is not something he does often.

He's started pointing his finger, though I'm not sure if he's pointing at things with intention yet.

He's totally fascinated by the train behind our apartment. He'll hear it coming and start almost hyperventilating because he's so excited. Then he books it to the back door or I'll pick him up and we'll run because it's faster and he'll watch it in awe.

This boy has such a feisty personality! He's opinionated, social, energetic, vocal, and totally perfect. What a blessing.

Fall Family Pictures

Noah's (very late) 10 Month Update

(I wrote this long ago but am posting it so late because our laptop hasn't been working!)
It seems like Noah is learning something new every day! Right after I posted his 9 month update, he started going from laying down to sitting up on his own, and then on 8/24 he started crawling, which has revealed his love for all things dangerous and disgusting, including stairs, shoes, and power cords (he makes a mad dash every time he thinks he can get away with it). He follows me whenever I leave the room, which I totally love. He also learned how to open and close drawers and how to pull himself up on his knees (which he loves doing in the bathtub).

He's wearing 6-9 and 9-12 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and is about 20 pounds and 28.5 inches long.
This month we introduced him to apricots, tofu, cranberries and cherries.
He learned how how to turn pages of board books and loves looking at them.

He's obsessed with animal books and loves banging things together (such a boy).
He likes riding in the shopping cart and always bounces up and down when I put him in.
He's started "sharing" things like food and his binkie.
I'm in love with his big, open mouth kisses (that he only gives to mama) and his cute little wave.
He officially dropped his third nap and, as always, gets super giggly when he's tired.

And most of the time he goes by Mr. Noah or Boogs.

Happy, Friendly, Just Like Dad

When people meet Noah, they say one of three things: he's one of the happiest babies they've ever met, he's one of the friendliest babies they've ever met, or he looks just like his dad. Sometimes he gets all three at once and it makes my mama heart so proud. I love this little boy so much and to have other people see what I do, and to love Noah, fills my heart with joy. He smiles at strangers in the grocery store who aren't even looking at him. He babbles on and on to people he's only been around for a few minutes. One day we were out and someone came up to me and said, "I don't know if you noticed, but your baby has been smiling at me, and it has really made my day".  He's so full of joy. As he grows older and faces challenges and rejection and disappointment and fear, I hope that he never loses that.

Noah's 9 Month Update

I can't believe Noah has been here with us longer than he was in my belly! This last 9 months of being a mama has gone by so much more quickly (and been a lot more fun...and more challenging) than my pregnancy. So much has happened with him this month!

Right now he's wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

This month he's started to show a strong preference to me over anyone else, even Josh.

He has this super cheese ball smile that I can't manage to get on camera.

He slept through the night for 3 or 4 nights a couple of weeks ago and has totally regressed since then, and now wakes up 2-3 times a night and has a really hard time falling back to sleep. It's seriously harder than when he was a newborn. He just got his two bottom teeth about two weeks ago so I don't think that he's teething.

He's become a tummy sleeper.

A few weeks ago he started scooting backward and moving around in a circle while on his belly. He can also move around in a circle while he's sitting on his bum. The last few days he's started rocking back and forth while on his knees, so I think crawling is right around the corner. His favorite thing to roll or scoot to are power cords...power cords that are plugged in. I've run across the room and ripped one out of his hands in a panic more than once. He's such a curious little guy.

He has become terrified of so many different noises. The washing machine, the bath water running, blenders, blow dryers, and hand dryers (you should have seen me trying to calm him down by singing the ABC's while simultaneously talking on the phone and changing his diaper in the Target bathroom...I looked like a nut). He also screams dramatically while being dressed. Yeesh. This boy has become way more opinionated lately.

He's also been imitating what we do, like dancing, putting a toy in a certain place, etc.

We took Noah to the zoo for the first time this month. He was most into the deer.

He's a champ with solids and the only thing he really hates in zucchini, unless I mix it with something else. A list of foods he's eaten:

Fruits- Apples, bananas, prunes, peaches, pears, blueberries, mango and a smidge of apple juice
Veggies-Carrots, string beans, broccoli, spinach, pumpkin, peas, sweet potato, avocado and corn
Other- Oat, rice and teething wafers

Sleeping Through the Night!

Last night Noah slept through the night for the first time, 8 PM to 6 AM! I'm not sure if it'll become a regular occurrence, but it feels like a great success because it took so long to happen and it wasn't the result of anything drastic. About a week ago, Noah was still waking multiple times a night and eating 1-2 of those times, so I started focusing on getting him back to sleep without eating. About half of the time we were able to get through the night without eating (but still waking), but the frequency of night wakings immediately started to decrease and then last night he slept through. Success! Here's to hoping it lasts!

Noah's 8 Month Update

This little guy is 8 months old! He's about 19 pounds and wearing 3-6 and 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

This kid is social. He loves being around people and is always smiling and babbling. Our biggest challenge with him these days is keeping him entertained. He gets bored easily and doesn't like playing alone. I can also tell he has a shy side when somebody's talking to him and he smiles and lays his head down on my shoulder.

 We introduced teething wafers and he's obsessed.

Still loves drinking through a straw 

and story time.

This boy has gotten so much more mobile this month! Not crawling yet but rolling everywhere...and quickly!

He went to his first car show with dad, grandpa Jack, and uncle Dave!

And we learned that this is what happens when you sneeze after eating peas for lunch?

Noah's 7 Month Update

Noah is at the age where he's more fun every day. He's constantly laughing, smiling and babbling. Prior to this month, we could only really get him to laugh by tickling him, but now he laughs at things we do.

He's wearing 6-9 month clothes (some 3-6 in pants) and size 3 diapers.

He's so curious about what's going on around him and wants to touch everything. I left him in his bumbo for probably 20 seconds and and came back to this:

He had pulled down his whole playmat (which, by the way, I didn't even think he could reach because of how far away it was).

He's started to prefer sleeping with us. Before, if he was upset, laying down in bed with us didn't help to calm him down. I'm not sure what's changed, but that's definitely not the case anymore.  He's such a little snuggle bug.

He's started sleeping on his side with his top leg crossed over his bottom leg. So cute!

He finally rolled from his back to his belly on May 21, and now he's rolling all over the place! He's also sitting up unassisted for brief periods of time.

He started making consonant sounds when he babbles.

And he sat in a swing for the first time this month.

Duck Pond

Last week we took Noah to a duck pond for the first time. He loved it, but I think it had more to do with the fact that we were outside than the actual ducks. Noah loves being outside and in addition to our daily walks, I'm making it a goal to take him to do something outside (swimming, the park, zoo, etc.) a couple days a week. Anyway, here are a few photos of our afternoon: