Noah @ 8 months

8 months is my new favorite.

NOAH
• Babbles to himself on the floor, usually while gnawing on a toy (or a remote, yay). It is so fun to just listen to him and laugh at his goofiness. He also has the cutest little voice when he starts talking. 
• Loves the air conditioner. He stands in front of it and makes the most gleeful screams. 
• Will eat anything we put in front of him. He has been loving the blueberries we picked. He is not afraid to grunt to tell us he wants what we have. He also is really interested in drinking from our glasses (and water bottles) but absolutely ZERO interest in a sippy cup. (If you have a sippy you loved, what was it? I'm curious to see if another brand will do the trick.)
• When he wants to be, he is pretty mobile. He's not fast, but he is a determined little guy. He still army-crawls because he isn't patient enough to learn the traditional way, but he is working on it. He has started realizing he can follow me out of the room. 

• He already liked to 'walk' but now he has realized he can pull himself up to standing in the bathtub. SCARY. And now that is usually all he wants to do. He also likes to grab for the faucet and has turned the shower on more than once.
• He can happily jump in his jumperoo for quite awhile which is helpful for me cleaning up breakfast.
• He is so good for me when we go out on our morning jog/walks. I'm not fast, but he loves to look around and watch cars so win-win, I guess?
• Loves to watch videos of himself, and will smile and grab for the phone as fast as he can. We have some pictures on the wall of him from a few months ago. We like to show him them and say "hi baby" sometimes. And a couple different times, both David and I have been carrying him in the room and thought he made sounds that sound like it. SO CUTE. 
• Randomly shudders. It is hilarious and we have no idea why he does it. But we laugh every time.
• Still loves dogs. We spent yesterday with friends who have a dog and by the end he was squealing and trying his best to crawl after it. He tries to follow bigger kids too. 
• Gives theeeee BEST kisses right now. No more open mouth sloppies (which I kind of miss already). These are the soft, lean-in kisses where he presses his face to yours- sometimes even holding your face in his hands. My heart melts every.single.time. And bonus: he will give them to David too.

MOMMA:
• forced David to go blueberry picking (twice!) so I could stock up on supah cheap ($2/lb!!!) blueberries. We also picked way too many peaches - I sense a peach pie in our future - and ate dee-licious homemade ice cream and blueberry fritters. I'm actually tempted to go back today but I know they only have fritters on the weekends. Maybe Saturday? 
• Planning on sneaking in some more pool trips before they close (in 2 weeks, whatttt?? where did summer go? I miss Dallas pools.)
• AUDIOBOOKS are apparently the secret to getting me out the door to run. They keep my attention so much better than music. Especially when they are 6+ hours long. If only my library had more that are on my list.  
• I typed Noah's birth story while still in the hospital with him but finally got around to actually writing it in my journal. It's been good to remember some of the small details I forgot already.
• Noah and I have a great bedtime/nap routine down and I love, love, LOVE every minute that he lets me snuggle him. And when he does fall asleep in my arms, I snuggle him for as long as I can soaking up every tiny second and trying to keep my baby little. So grateful to be his mamma. 

And some of the goodies from this month's iphone storage overload! 

 

 

 

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Baby, you're a firework.

(I didn't notice that my phone never published this. Oops.)

It rained on the 4th and the (very few) celebrations that were supposed to be that day got postponed. We tried to go on the 5th thinking that Noah would like the fireworks. We debated not going because it was going to be late and Noah REFUSES to sleep anywhere but his bed and at only at bedtime. We thought we could get him to fall asleep in the stroller. 

Nope. 

We ended up just playing with him. And he was mostly fine. He was really chatty and loved watching the other kids. Even when the fireworks started.  I think we were too far away from them (we had an escape route planned) and he didn't even notice them. So we left about 10 minutes into it and took him home to sleep. 

David and I discussed how, as a parent, you want your child to have new experiences and see new places and new things. Like Noah seeing fireworks. We tried to make it happen. However, you can't force your child to have the experience you want them to have. They have to do it on their own, in their own way. 

But that doesn't mean you stop trying. 

So maybe next year, kiddo. 

Baby Led Weaning (BLW).

Just posting this in case anyone wants to know more about a real-life BLW experience.

We got the okay to start Noah on solids at his 4 month check-up. And he liked them! However, with the purees came diarrhea. We had just gotten over 4 weeks of unexplained diarrhea, so when it started again the purees stopped.  A month and a half later when he was really into trying to grab our plates and was staring every time we ate, I decided to try BLW. (side note 1: our doctor gave us the okay at 6 months to let Noah eat whatever.... except the usual trifecta of cow's milk, honey, peanut butter/nuts, etc...  My family also has no food allergies that I'm aware of, so I was pretty confident in letting him try anything.)

Cucumber stick.

What BLW is:  Basically, you let your baby feed himself starting around 6 months because that is when he has more developmental skills. The whole idea is to let the baby decide what and how much he wants to eat and it introduces him to a variety of tastes and textures very early on. (Playing with food is highly encouraged.)

How you do it: Start with "sticks" of food (cooked to where they are soft) and then let the baby go to town! And he will do it with mucho gusto! Seriously. I was nervous that Noah would spit it out or throw it away because the texture was bad to him or the taste was too unfamiliar. But noooooooo. This kid loves food. He dug in right from the beginning.
   
   The hardest part of the whole process is making sure you don't panic when your baby uses his gag reflex when learning to swallow. The book goes in-depth on how babies have a different gag reflex than adults and that gagging is not the same as choking. After CAREFULLY (read: staring and hovering and minor panicking) watching Noah use his gag reflex many times, it really is crazy-amazing. He just spits that piece out and then will try to pick it up and eat it again! But we are there every time Noah is eating for the entire time. (And I read this and watched this multiple times to re-familiarize myself with infant choking rescue procedures.)

What we started with: plain cooked carrots, steamed apples, cucumbers, and broccoli. Then added squash, toast sticks, and sometimes cheese. Not a lot of actual eating happened. But he really seemed to enjoy the whole process -- picking the sticks up, gumming down on them repeatedly, and just trying new foods!

Broccoli was a BIG hit.

Where we are at now: Again, this kid loooooves food. He really enjoys it. It's at the point where we can't eat in the same room with him unless he can have some of it. I was trying to eat a pear this morning sneakily while he was drinking a bottle. Didn't work. He pushed his bottle aside so he could eat my pear. When/If we use a spoon, I just put the food on it and let him put it in his mouth.  At night, he mostly just eats what we are eating. (Side note 2: we really don't eat any "processed" foods and hardly ever go out, so we pretty much know what is going into each dinner we make.)

For example, from what we had this week:

• red curry soup - Noah ate potatoes, chicken, green beans, rice balls, and chewed on a slice of lime (which we thought he would hate, but nope. He kept trying to put the whole thing in his mouth.).

• homemade pizza - Noah got slices of fresh whole cheese, pieces of crust that had tomato sauce on them, and mango slices.

• this dish from Rachel's blog -- Noah eats EVERYTHING from it - the sweet potatoes, chicken pieces, black beans (all with spices on them and some melted cheese and cilantro and made with chicken broth), sometimes he gets an additional mini quesadilla and/or some fruit.

Here is everything else he has eaten so far that I can remember: squash, bell pepper, tomato, hummus (homemade), cottage cheese, hamburger, pasta, a little sausage (we added the spices to ground pork), toast, bagel, plum, peach, pear, grape, watermelon, apple, lime, banana, black beans, avocado, strawberries, cucumber, mango, scrambled eggs, french fries (He and I were in the airport. Just the two of us. And it was necessary.) 

a la airport with his french fries.

What I liked about it:

It is FASCINATING to watch his development. He was terrible at picking up food at the beginning and even worse at being able to get it to his mouth. Fast forward a month and a half. It is a completely different game. He knows what he wants and he can grab it so quickly.

 He is starting to use his thumb and first finger in a pinching motion, has significantly improved on chewing his foods and is still getting better at that, can now swallow with minor occasional gagging (usually on the tiniest of pieces which I don't understand, but hey...), and can even successfully scrape the "meat" off a piece of fruit and leave the skin with just his two teeth. He devoured almost a whole plum one day (not cut into sticks -- I just took a bite of it and handed it to him and he went to town). We were left with the pit and a little bit of skin.  

He started with only eating teeny tiny amounts; now, he is really starting to want more. But he still drinks his bottle every 3 hours and gets all the nutrition he needs from that. This is purely just exciting fun for him.  Now if we are going out, all I have to do is bring a bag of fruit or veggies. Or we have the option of just letting him eat food from our plates, which is fantastic too.

from a couple nights ago (during a world cup game, in the living room...)

The hard part: Your baby is going to gag no matter what. It doesn't mean he's choking. But the panic is still there. It's really hard to watch this happen and you worry every time (part of being a parent, right?).
• We still have to make sure certain foods aren't too big (grapes - because he likes to swallow those without chewing. yay.) and that the food we make for dinner has pieces that are a good size for him.
• He drops his bottle for our food. Which means we have to be willing to share and also really have to watch what we are eating. No more jelly beans or bowls of cereal in front of him.
• You do it on their time. It is best when they decide when they are done. Sometimes Noah liked to go slow and play around more.
• It is messy 98% of the time and not just him. The chair. The table. The floor. Trying to wipe him up is a bit of an effort and he sometimes gets an extra bath if it is really bad.

But I really love it. It feels like a normal family dinner time for us and I think Noah likes it too. So for me, the benefits >>>>> cons. I know this has been a rather lengthy post, but hopefully(!) it was informational for anyone interested. This was definitely the best way for us to go, but to each their own, right?

*I was totally not paid for this post. I think maybe 5 people read this blog and heaven knows I have no sponsors or anything like that. No, this is purely because I wished I could have read someone else's experience before starting ours. Just thought it would maybe help someone some day. 

Noah @ 7 months

warning. skip this if you don't want to read ALLLLL about my baby.

Teeth!

This kid. ♥♥♥

Life as a parent is definitely not glamorous but sure is glorious.

And Noah is our favorite part of every day. 

Noah:

• loves anything that makes noises -- rattles, banging toys together, banging his bottle on the ground, when the lawn is being mowed outside. Related: loves dumping his toy basket over.

iphone goodness...

• likes books! and will even hold still for them for a few pages. We have a 'touch and feel' book about animals that he really likes. He knows where all the spots are to rub the fur/touch the feathers. The whiskers page is by far his favorite. It is so much fun to watch him wait for that page. 

• still loves to watch cars. And now notices dogs and people more. Especially dogs. He gets excited when he sees them and will start giggling when they lick him. 

• will tilt his head to peer at you. Especially if he knows you are hiding around the corner. SO fun.

iphoooone too.

• jabbers at his daddy when they play on the ground before bedtime. It's all complete nonsense babbling that he never makes during the day at me.

• loves to tell us when he is done playing or eating, or ready to be picked up, or when he is not interested in trying to crawl anymore, or is stuck (usually under the bed or chair from scooting backwards). It's a nice loud grunt of frustration. 

• working on crawling - can go backwards, but not forwards. BUT would much prefer to be standing up holding your hands pretending to walk. Can turn his body on the ground fairly quickly and can roll over in the blink of an eye when he wants to (usually when getting his diaper changed or before getting in the bath....of course....)  

• still loves his bathtime and now sits up for the majority of the time. We also took him swimming a few days ago and he is definitely a fan. Except when he decides to put his own face in the water. Then he is NOT a fan.

comfortable, right?

• is a craaazy sleeper. moves EVERYWHERE. Also enjoys sticking his legs out between the slats, using them like a ladder to push himself around, and occasionally kicks his feet against the boards at either end. Which of course is awesome.  He does let me rock him before I lay him down now, hello heart melting daily! And it also makes me more likely to let him fall asleep in my arms because I know time is slipping away from us too quickly.

Out of focus face, but his hands!

Momma and Dadda:

• David has started studying for his test (which isn't until OCTOBER. yikes). Which means I should be working on a mini project every night with the time I have. Of course that hasn't happened yet. The dishes getting done (most nights) is my current accomplishment. 

• working on coming up with some summer plans. We toss around weekend options but then usually just end up relaxing which is just as good. We do want to do some berry picking now that blueberries are almost in season (!!)

• I've been binge-watching the world cup. (which coincides nicely with binge-watching Netflix when soccer isn't on... no wonder I get nothing done at night haha) I think I've only missed two games. It's pretty awesome and I will definitely have withdrawals when it's over. (*I also have issues when the Olympics are on.)    

• Most (UN)importantly --- I can now do the 2x2x2 rubik's cube. Add that to the 3x3x3 and the 4x4x4 from a little while ago. Definitely going to round out my resume someday.......

• my trial period on lightroom ran out and I'm still waiting on a good sale. Which never seems to come when you're waiting, right? If you see one, lemme know pretty please?

Bonus for making it this far! Family picture from a week ago! Our family apparently likes to tilt our heads all in the same direction.

(camera via phone....)

Noah @ 6 Months (!!)

*You can skip this post if you have no interest in the development of a 5-6 month baby. Because really, I'm the only person who is overly excited about these.  But hey, pictures!   :)

SIX months! How did that even happen?!

(Our appointment isn't until tomorrow, so I'll post stats when I get them...)

Oh baby. You are so loved! It makes me a little heartbroken to see how big you are getting. But also so happy because you have the CUTEST personality and are so active and love life.

NOAH:

- For a couple weeks, he would shriek/scream loudly to get our attention when he decided he was done doing something. Like sitting in his high chair when I try to make dinner. Or laying on his back. Now he makes the cutest ba/muh-muh sounds that lead up to the shrieks or whining. However, happy shrieks happen too.

-  When he is excited he will point his toes and hold his legs and arms out super straight with a huge smile on his face. Like planking face-up style, accompanied by happy shrieking. This always happens at bath time. He just loves it so much.

- Stares at people/things he doesn't know. Like stroller rides. They are pure silence for the longest time because he just loves to look. 

- Cut his first tooth! (5/23/2014) We had no idea it was coming in. And he is working on #2. But he doesn't seem to really notice.

- He really discovered his toes this month. And finally can put them in his mouth. (yay?) Last night he spent a lot of time putting them in his mouth before he finally went to sleep.

- Speaking of cribs, he rolls ALL over his. And not just when he is awake. Rolling happens multiple times every night. He really seems to like sleeping with his face smushed in the mattress. Which of course makes me nervous. But he is sleeping through the night (hallllllelujah). Wakes up early some days but I get a straight 6ish hours now. 

- His grabbing/chewing abilities have improved VASTLY. I'm doing mostly BLW (more on this later? maybe.) and he really seems to be loving it. Even just a couple weeks of it and he is way, way better. He loves broccoli and really liked his squash last night. 

- Figured out peekaboo (object permanence) with mommy/daddy. We aren't 100% sure he knows the game part but he definitely knows we are still there. 

- He is ALL boy. Loves to be roughhoused with --  tossed in the air/ tickled / being scared and the anticipation of all the above -- and hates to be cuddled or held close. 

- He notices details now. Like my hair (so fun. Hello, death grip) and likes to watch cars drive by out the window. It is so fun to watch his head swivel back and forth.

Mom (and Dad?):

- I love my sleep so sleeping through the night has been glorious. And napping when he does is nice too. 

- Went running on my own for the first time in..... A year? 15 months?.... And it showed. I felt like a dinosaur lumbering down the street while trying to get my body to remember what jogging (running sounds prettier, right? But let's be real here. It's like a mini step above a fast walk right now) feels like. 

- [TMI right here. You might want to skip this one.] I quit breastfeeding a month ago - but someone needs to tell my body that. Still get a little leaky occasionally. Someone tell me this goes away, please. He wasn't even eating from me very much before that.

- I have formula stains on lots (MOST) of my clothes from an unusually spitty phase Noah went through a couple weeks ago. (Not having a washer stinks big time).  I think I need a new wardrobe.....

- Feeling completely panicky that my little thanksgiving baby is already 6 months old. Lots of conflicted feelings over how much I love watching grow and learn and just wanting to put him in a protective little cocoon and never let anything happen to him. But life is about falling down and learning new tricks and growing and experiencing things. Mostly I just want to give him all sorts of experiences that teach him to be a kind, compassionate boy and to make the world a better place. He definitely makes MY life better. 

SIX MONTHS. Oh man.

Being a mom because of you

It's Mother's Day. I know I already posted but Noah had a rough bedtime and I had to rock him to sleep. 

Which NEVER (never,ever,EVER) happens. 

This boy does not like to be held close for more than half a second. And as I'm savouring this moment, there are SO MANY thoughts tumbling around my head.

I'm suddenly so aware of what type of mother I am. Yes, there are moments where I'm frustrated and bedtime is sometimes a very, very welcome time. However - this baby is MINE.

 I get to love him and teach him and show him the best things in the world. And want so much for him and want to shield him from the world as long as possible. And teach him how wonderful life is and how Heavenly Father has given us this earth and a chance at JOY. I get to raise this baby who I'm sure will be too old too quickly. And as he is snuggling into my shoulder, it's all I can do to hope that time slows down for just one second. One magical moment where he is my baby and I am his mommy together on our first Mother's Day. Because he is and always will be the greatest decision/accomplishment of my life. 

And I am a mother because of the influence of so many other women. Mothers, teachers, leaders, even friends my age who have been examples of the person I want to be, of who I want my children to emulate, of who I would LOVE for Noah to learn from and the type of person I want him to marry. You are incredible wonderful women. All of you. Even the ones who have no idea this blog exists. I would not have this sweet little tiny world of mine without you being placed in my path. 

And maybe someday in the heavens above, I will get a chance to squeeze you and maybe, just maybe I'll be able to finally find adequate words to explain how thankful I am to you. 

I am eternally blessed. Not just because of this little boy I can't bear to lay down in his crib. Because of you. 

Happy Mother's Day!

For all you moms, future moms, and grand-moms.
Especially the ones in my life.
You are the best!
Have a happy day!

The day I became a mother.

Extraordinarily ordinary.

I'm not fantastically amazing at anything specific. Like cooking. Or cleaning. Or public speaking. Or athletics. Or creativity. Or studying. Or mothering. Even though I would like to be sometimes. 

I'm above average at many, many things and normally mediocre at some things. And terrible at plenty. 

I do like to try new things. Even though steep learning curves often freak me out about 2 days in and I talk myself into how it isn't worth the time or money to be trying that new particular thing. Sometimes it is hard to justify even trying new things if I know I'll never be incredible at any of them because my life now belongs (mostly) to another person. 

But nevertheless, my bank account can tell you that I have found too many fads and new obsessions that catch my eye. 

All of that to tell you that I'm thinking of expanding on an earlier explored hobby. I got a nice(r) camera, took a class (which coincided not-so-perfectly with the beginning of my pregnancy. Boo.), and am now moving on to making my extraordinarily ordinary photos just extraordinary. 

Stay tuned, folks because it's bound to last a week or two! 

:)

See below: 

⬆️Still one of my favorites. 

Four!

Happy Anniversary to the best husband and father!
You make me SO happy that I will stop writing sappy love notes about you on the blog today.
Let's celebrate by kissing our baby too much.

I didn't understand.

(iphone) 1 week before Noah decided to make me miss Thanksgiving dinner :)

I know there are many, many people who yearn so desperately to be parents. There are those who don't want that lifestyle. I, personally, always wanted to be a mother. Before Noah was born, all I knew of parenting was from the one-sided view of a child and being friends with other children who had parents. And I've only been a mother for 157 days so I definitely have a long way to go before I will even begin to think I have experience at all.

Before Noah, I didn't quite fully understand what people meant. 

I didn't understand when they said having a child is like letting a piece of your heart walk around outside your body. 

I didn't understand when they said baby things would take over your home and you won't really even care. 

I didn't understand when they said watching their child grow each day and learn a new skill was so much fun. 

I didn't understand when they said they stayed up late at night many times pouring over old photos of their child.

I didn't understand when they said this was the hardest thing they would ever do. And the best. 

I didn't understand when they said it is the biggest sacrifice they have ever made. 

I didn't understand when they said a part of them would never stop worrying. 

I didn't understand when they said they would do ANYTHING for their child. 

I didn't understand when they said it physically pained them to see their child hurt or crying. 

I didn't understand when they said pregnancy was one of the greatest experiences in the world (even with a bad pregnancy). 

I didn't understand when they said the best day of their life was when their child was born. 

I didn't understand when they said meeting their baby was like meeting someone they've always known. 

I didn't understand when they talked about the incredible amount of joy you feel.  

I didn't understand when they talked about putting their child to bed and then missing them afterwards. 

I didn't understand when they said they loved their spouse so much more after having a child. 

I didn't understand what it meant to have a child. 

I didn't understand what it meant to be a parent. 

I didn't understand what it meant to be a mother.

But now I do.