Finally!

First, we finally had the birthday party.  Second, it is finally snowing in Little Rock and not just ice.  It is coming down pretty hard and it is beautiful.  Noah did great at the party.  He was a little tired and overwhelmed, but over all, he was quite the trooper.  He went crazy over the dots of icing on his cake, but wasn't too interested in the cake itself.  It was so much fun to share with friends and family and we are so thankful for all of you.  Here are some pictures...

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Noah is one year old.  I can't believe it.  Today came and went like any other day, but yet it was different... My baby is one.  No longer an infant.  He just seems so big now.  We were supposed to have his birthday party today, but because of all the ice, we had to postpone it until next weekend.  Brian's mom and brother were here and our friends Layne and Casey braved the elements to come over for some sledding and the warm-up party.  Brian made Noah a sled out of a cardboard box, a jumprope, and some duct tape and we pulled him up and down the street.  He loved it.  I was a little disappointed at the beginning of the day because of canceling the party and my family not being here because of the weather, but it ended up being a really fun day.  

Here's what Noah is up to these days:

- Walks everywhere with his little walker.  He can't quite do it on his own, or he is just scared to try, but he pushes that walker all over the house.  He LOVES it!  

-  He has incredible rhythm.  For Christmas we gave him one of those fridge farm things where you match up the animals.  He isn't really interested in that part, but he loves the music that it plays.  He will pull it off the fridge and sit down on the floor with it.  He will then push the button and tap his foot to the beat.  When the song is over, he does it again.  The other day, he sat for over five minutes (which is an incredible amount of time for a 12 month old to sit still, or at least mine) just playing music and tapping his foot.  

-  He loves to wave!  Parking lots are his favorite.  He waves at all the cars and always uses two hands turned sideways (like he is milking a cow).

-  He loves being outside.  If ever I open the door to our back yard just to let Rudy, our dog, out, he gets so upset because he wants to go out too.  He will cry also when people leave the house because he wants to go out with them.  

-  He sleeps on his stomach with his hands tucked under his stomach and his bottom in the air.

-  He sleeps about 12 hours at night and takes two naps during the day.  What a good little sleeper he has turned out to be.  Who would have thought after his rocky start.

-  He has two teeth on the bottom and two that are coming in on top.  He loves brushing them.  He shrugs his shoulders, leans in, and says 'Ah' while we brush them.

-  Eating can still be a little frustrating at times, but it is getting better.  He doesn't throw his food down to Rudy quite as much, but you have to watch him pretty closely.  He does, however, love to throw his cup down.  Rudy, who is normally under his chair waiting for crumbs, has learned to be on alert for the falling cup.  We are always on alert with our hands to the side of his face when he is drinking and even then he somehow gets it past us.

- I think he may have inherited a few obsessive compulsive traits from his mother (and father).  He does not like to have too many things on his tray.  If there is too much food/stuff on his tray he starts clearing it off, aka he wiping his hands back and forth like a windshield wiper pushing everything to the floor.  He does not usually like his cup on the tray, but it is okay to have it in the cupholder section of the tray.

- He takes a big drink of milk, swallows some and then lets the rest dribble out of his mouth.  This is why he ALWAYS wears a bib.  Otherwise he will be soaked by the end of the meal and smell very sour after a few hours.

-  I am pretty sure he can say dog, daddy, sort of mommy (more like mamamamama when he is upset), and banana (he says something like na-with a long a -nu)

-  He is very independent and does not seem to notice when we are not around.  He loves people!

-  Perhaps more than his love of people is his love of Rudy and dogs in general.  He loves to grab Rudy's toys from him and play tug-of-war.  Thankfully Rudy goes easy on him.

-  He loves Brian.  As soon as he hears the garage door opening, he says something that I think is "Daddy" and crawls as fast as he can for the door.  He usually prefers to be held by Brian if he is around.  Unless he is upset and then he definitely wants Mommy.

God has blessed us so much in the last year, but by far the greatest blessing has been giving us the opportunity to be parents to such a sweet baby boy.  Noah, thank you for making this year one of the most exhausting yet most fun years we have ever had.  I don't know what we ever did without you. We love you so much!!!

Glad We Did It

In my last post, I wrote about how we lowered his crib on Saturday.  We didn't have any reason for doing it  at the time- he had made no attempts to pull up.  We really just did it because we had time and didn't know if we would when he actually started pulling up.  It's a good thing we did because here he is yesterday.

He managed to pull up onto the ottoman as I turned away and pulled that green tray off which had a full glass of water on it.  I obviously didn't learn my lesson because the green tray is still there in the picture.  There is not, however, any water on it.  The tray has since been removed.  Being able to stand up adds a whole new meaning to child-proofing.  I can't wait until he starts walking!

Stop Growing Up

Today was a sad day for me.  As you can see, we lowered Noah's crib.  I am not sure why, but this just made him seem really big to me.  He isn't supposed to be growing up so fast.  I think he was very confused when we put him down tonight.  Hopefully he will figure out how to reach the button to turn on his crib aquarium in the morning.  Otherwise it may be a very early morning for us.  

Check out that belly... No concern for being too skinny anymore.

Nine Months Old

Weight:  21lb 4.7oz (75%)- Yes that's right... from 10% at 4 months to 75% at 9 months

Height:  27.5 inches (50%)

Head:  45 cm (25%)

I know I say this every month, but, Where has the time gone?  Nine months already!  Here's what he can do...

-  He can crawl.  He started at 8 months 3 weeks and is everywhere now.  People always told me that it was nice when their kids started crawling because then they could follow them when they left the room.  Not so for Noah... As soon as I leave the room, he goes for the nearest outlet or plant.  I can't wait until he starts walking!

-  He is not a big vegetable fan.  He is doing better now, but for a stretch he would spit every time we gave him vegetables.  It was the first time we have really had to get on to him.  I do not look forward to disciplining, but I guess it is a necessary evil.

-  He can drink from a cup, but usually half of it ends up down the front of his shirt.  He thinks he is pretty big though when he does it.  

-  He loves bananas.  Pretty much the only time he throws a fit or gets upset is when he feels like we have not given him enough banana.

-  He naps well now.  He sleeps about 1.5-2 hours in the morning and afternoon.

-  He claps all the time.  Any time he does something that he feels is an accomplishment, he stops and starts clapping and waits for us to do the same.  Whenever we say "Yea" he immediately starts clapping.

-  He LOVES Rudy.  He loves grabbing Rudy's hair.  He also squeezes Rudy's rubber ball and then laughs when Rudy starts barking at him.  He will then barely hit the ball away from him in an attempt to throw it.  Rudy likes Noah also, but not quite as much.

-  He has pretty much stopped nursing.  I try each feed, but most of the time he does it for a few seconds and then wants his bottle.  I think this would have upset me had it not been such a long saga, but as it is, I am happy for a healthy chubby boy even if that means it comes from formula and not me.

-  He continues to love going to bed at night.  Whenever we pull his pajamas out at night he gets really excited.  Once we put them on him, he lies on the floor and kicks for a while, laughing and spitting.  Then he takes his bottle and goes to sleep.

-  He can wave.  He usually does it with both hands for good measure.

-  When he gets really excited, he clenches his both fists, his eyes get really big, and he shakes all over.  

First Halloween

The spider and his web.

Sunday School

Noah started going to Bible class this month.  If he looks tired in the picture, it's because he is.  It starts at nine which is nap time.  I was a little nervous about how he was going to do, but he did great- or so they tell me.  He just takes an extra long nap in the afternoon.  He also has been staying in there during worship time as well.  I think Brian finally got tired of wrestling a bear cub during church and collecting the toys that he had thrown all over the auditorium was getting a little old as well.  He's getting so big!