6 Months Old!!!

My baby boy is 6 months old today!!! He's growing up too fast!

He was very excited about his 6 month milestone, so excited that he decided to wake up at 4:00 am to celebrate. Needless to say that Justin and I didn't really want to attend the party that was going on in the crib at that time, but Noah insisted we wake up and join him. He never wakes up that early without nursing and falling back asleep. But, this morning after a few failed attempts to get him to sleep some more, Daddy finally took him down stairs. I have been getting up with him when he's been waking up at 5:15ish this week so it was nice for Justin to let me sleep in a little this morning.

I know I say this all the time, but we are so lucky to have such a happy, healthy baby. He's such a delight and his little personality shines through more and more everyday.
I've been a little sad all day thinking about the fact that he's 6 months old already. This time is going too fast. I wish I could hit the "pause" button and hold him for a while before he grows any more. I cherish all the time that I have with him.
We bought him a few Easter and spring books today in addition to a shape sorter. He like the shape sorter box more than the shapes that go in it. We read a couple of the new books tonight. He wasn't really in the mood to read many books, kind of tuckered out from the long day. We'll just have to read them tomorrow.
This is one of his new things: he'll be sitting in front of you and twist to try to climb over your leg. He's not quite sitting by himslef yet and he can't crawl so this is his way of trying to get around and see everything.

Happy 6 months baby Noah, we love you very much!!

Mmm, Mmm Good?

Justin and I decided early on that we would wait to give Noah solids until he was 6 months old. Seeing as how that will be Wednesday, we thought we'd start a couple days early. It's hard to tell if he enjoyed the rice cereal that we fed him. He didn't eat too much or seem too interested but then again he had kind of a rough afternoon, so we'll see if it goes better tomorrow.
We thought for sure he'd be gobbling it down as he's been very interested in watching us when we eat. Maybe he was expecting pizza? I think his facial expression in the picture below sums it all up.

He's outgrown his infant tub so we invested in a $10 Walmart blow-up yellow duck tub. He had his first bath in it Saturday night. What a riot! He had the best time, especially when he started kicking his legs and water went splashing everywhere. I must have taken him out too soon as he cried when the bath was over. We're looking forward to tomorrow night, another bath and another attempt at cereal, yea!
It's amazing and I've said this before, how quickly he's changing. He's jumping a lot in his Jumperoo, something that he's just started doing. But tonight while he was jumping he had to hold on to the Little Einstien toy that Aaron and Janis got him for Christmas. He had a blast!

6 Month Pictures

We took Noah today to Kiddie Kandids in the Flatirons Mall to get his 6 month pictures. That was quite the adventure. The picture taking process itself was quite easy: help pose baby, photographer engages baby by making funny sounds, photographer snaps picture of baby. Then comes the challenging part, nothing like I remember from getting photos taken as a kid. One of the sales persons sits with you at a computer. With you sitting there, they crop and edit your photos. They can change them from color to black & white or sepia (a lighter-brownish tint to the phot). They can make the corners lighter or darker, they can add borders, make the photos into magnets, mugs, mousepads. Then you also have to choose the package and sizes you want (which if you want a 5 x 7 you end up with two of them because you have to buy a whole sheet- 8 x 10) It's really quite an overwhelming process!
But it's great to have these great pictures of Noah, I need to get his photo album put together (and some of the 1,000s of photos that I've taken of him actually developed and put into them). That's the beauty of digital cameras: you can take as many pictures as you want without having to spend money developing them, especially if they didn't turn out too great.
When we got home, I was tired! What an exhausting process. I got Noah out of his carseat and we started playing on the ground and he FINALLY rolled from his tummy to his back. He's mastered rolling from the back to the tummy, so this has been a long time coming. Way to go baby boy!
His Grandma Kathy made him a quilt, which you've probably seen in the previous pictures on this blog: it's got Noah's Ark on it. Lately, he's been trying to grab the animals off the quilt, he gets frustrated when they won't get into his hand!

Almost There. . .

So, I think Noah is almost over his cold. He really seems like himself again, not coughing or sneezing as much. He was still smiley while he was sick, but you can tell he's feeling better. I'm glad!


I think that it looks like he's starting to get his daddy's dimples. You can kind of see them in this picture. What do you think?
He's changing so much everyday, I wish that I could stay home with him to see it all. He's still not rolling from his tummy to his back, but he's starting to try to crawl over us. He's getting better at sitting, trying to reach for anything and everything while doing so. It amazes me the things that he's holding. We have been playing with the train that he got from Santa these past few nights. He's not interested in the animals so much as the cars!!!
He's been reaching for the animals on the mobile on his swing. He's grabbed "Guy the Gecko" quite a few times and has almost gotten "Morris the Monkey" as well.

I'm enjoying this time before he gets moving. I know once he is mobile Justin and I will be getting a lot more exercise than the pilates that we do after he goes to bed! :)
Tuesday was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Colorado! Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kathy took Noah outside into their backyard for part of the day. It's actually the first time he has spent some time outside. I was so protective of him when he was first born. He was born in late August (we didn't get home from the hospital until August 31) and once September comes around the weather in Colorado gets "iffy". I hear he had a great time. Grandma Kathy showed him the pond, they touched some rocks and got to explore. There's lots to look forward to this summer!
Yesterday wasn't as nice, so there were no trips to the back yard, however Noah made the most of it. How grand it must be to lounge in your favorite chair with your legs crossed just so while someone feeds you! Ah, the life of a baby.

6th Month Check-up

Although Noah won't be 6 months until the 27th, his 6 month check-up was today. He's still got the cough and stuffy nose so it was comforting to have the doctor confirm that he's okay. She said that he's doing great. He weighs 18 lbs., 15 ozs- almost 19 lbs! He's in the 60% for weight. He's 27 inches long (40 % for height) and his head circumference is 18 inches- the 90%!
He had to get shots again. He was a little trooper. I made his next doctors appointment for his 9 month check-up for May 27th. That will actually be my last day of school. The kids will be done the Friday before that and that day will be a workday for me to clean up my room and get everything stored for the summer. It's so hard to believe that there are only 3 months of school left. On the other hand, there are still 6 more concerts to go! Unfortunately it will go all too fast. I wish there was a pause button so I could hold onto these moments with Noah.

Happy Birthday Mary!!!

Happy 8th Birthday Mary!!!! I can't believe my little niece is now 8 years old. It feels like just yesterday she was Noah's size. I hope you have a great day Mary- enjoy your day off from school! :)

I love this picture of Noah and Uncle Aaron. He's still pretty happy even thought he's not feeling that great. He's got a bad little cough, it makes me want to cough everytime I hear it- he's got so much guck in there! His nose is also running. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for his 6 month check-up, I hope they can help him out so that he feels better. (I called the nurse two times last week. He doesn't have a fever and is still pretty active so they weren't worried about it- of course I am!) He's had a horrible time sleeping this weekend. Justin got up with him at 4:30 on Saturday morning (I was up at 5:30- I had a ROCKE workshop all day that I had to go to) and I was up with him at 4:00 this morning. This morning he fell asleep from 6-8 after he got up but only slept while I was holding him. Needless to say we are a very tired mommy and daddy.
Little Noah is very close to sitting all by himself. He goes for pretty long durations of time sitting up like this, but still leans back or to his left. He'll get it figured out all too soon, I bet!

This is a little preview of Noah's Easter outfit. When we were shopping today for Mary's brithday gift we found a very cute little outfit. I had to get this matching hat. It reminds me so much for my Gramps. He had a couple of them, he called them his "go to hell" hats, not sure why and it doesn't really sound too nice but that's what we grew up calling these hats.

We also found an Easter basket for Noah at the Pottery Barn for kids, it's very cute. It is brown wicker with a blue plaid liner. It reminds me of the basket that my Granny made for me. Of course we've also started looking for things to put in the basket. It's such great fun spoiling our little guy!

Happy Valentine's Day

My family has always had a tradition of giving each other Valentine's Day presents. When I told this to Justin he responded with a rolling of the eyes and a snickering: "Valentine's Day Presents?!" I sure gave him a hard time when his parents bought Noah a present for Valentine's Day this year! They got him a very cute Valentine's Day book, which we read right after we opened it. Thanks Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Tom!
My mom stopped by tonight to give Noah his present from her and Granny. Granny got him a cute little summer romper. Grandma Debbie bought him some pajamas for next winter. They are size 18 months and look SO HUGE!!! It's hard to believe that he will be that big in a year.
Our little guy still isn't feeling that well. He's got a yucky cough and a running nose. It makes it difficult for him to eat because he's so stuffed up. He's also a little clogged in the other end. I never thought I'd wait with such anticipation for a poopy diaper.

This has been a very hard and long week for me. I feel like I haven't had much time to spend with Noah. He fell asleep at 5 p.m. on Monday night- we woke him up to vasoline him and change him into his p.j.s and put him back to bed. He slept until 6:30 the next morning!

On Tuesday my 4th graders had a concert. Then on Wednesday we had staff development after school until 6:00. It was still going after 6, but a hand full of us who have small kids left even though it wasn't over. One nice thing, my prinicpal told the whole staff about how great the concert was and how nice it was to see how successfull the second language learners are in my class. I also have a student in fourth grade who is a piano prodigy. He won the Stars of Tomorrow competition (again, he won when he was in 1st grade) this year. He performed at the concert, I think it was the first time the principal heard him. He raved about how great he was and told all the staff they should try to get a chance to hear him play. Justin says he gets mad when he hears him play because he's so talented and he is jealous!
We haven't started Noah on any foods yet, still just breast milk but we thought we'd let him experiment with his spoon while we ate. I think he thought the air tasted good. :)
It's getting more and more difficult to change Noah at night and in the morning. I bought this stuffed animal, Classical Casey, that plays 6 different classical pieces of music, at the Music Educators conference last year after I found out I was pregnant. Noah adores Casey and has recently found out that he can grab Casey. First he tried grabbing just the hat. Next thing we knew, he was hugging Casey and pulling his ears. One of the best things I've bought for him: if Noah is ever fussy, we push one of the buttons on Casey's feet, he starts playing music and Noah is grinning from ear to ear!

Baptism

Here's Noah before the 8:00 service at which he was baptized. He looked so cute in his little baptism outfit and he was such a great baby in Church! He started to get a tad fussy right at the end but I think Pastor Dan was impressed -he made a comment about how great Noah was in Church today in front of the entire congregation.
We weren't allowed to take pictures during the service, but Grandpa Tom was allowed to video tape it for us. This evening I realized I forgot to get pictures of Noah with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leahna, his sponsors- Whoops!!! After the service, the church was quickly filled with kids from Sunday school and I think everyone forgot about getting those pictures, I feel so bad about that!
We all met at my mom and dad's house for lunch. It was nice to have everyone gathered. Aunt Connie and Uncle Adrian had to leave right after lunch to head back to WY, it was great that they were able to come down for Noah's baptism.

It was such a busy day and our little guy didn't get much sleep. He woke up at 5:30, took a 20 minute nap between Church and my mom's and about a 30 minute nap while we were there. When we got home he slept for about another 30 minutes. He was so tired that we put him to bed a 1/2 hour earlier than normal. He's still fighting a cold but was such a little trooper today. Hopefully he'll get lots of rest at Grandma & Grandpa's tomorrow.

Another Day, Another 3 Outfits!

So, I realize that I have already written one post for today, but I couldn't resist sharing Noah's wardrobe change throughout the day. Some days are just like this!!

Here's outfit #1: Gray "Property Of Mom" shirt with navy blue pants
Outfit #2: Bronco outfit that Uncle Aaron and Aunt Janis gave him when he was first born. We topped it off with a 101 Dalmations hat (it's actually a hat that I had bought for Mary when she was a baby, now Noah gets to wear it) Notice that he's sitting up by himself in his Daddy's chair!!!
Outfit #3: "My Heart Belongs To Mommy" t-shirt (for Valentine's Day) with a pair of jeans. While eating dinner tonight at Gunther Toody's Daddy and Noah decided to accessorize it with a hint of ketsup on the front. (the man sitting behind Noah is non-other than his Uncle Adrian)
Here's Noah with Aunt Connie, still wearing outfit #3- shortly before he went home and put on outfit #4: his jammies!!!

We've Got The Sniffles. . . .

Noah's got sniffles, sneezes and coughs. Yes, I think he has his first cold and I'm pretty sure that I'm the one that gave it to him.

He had a hard time sleeping at Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday due to the congestion. He was pretty tired last night so we put him to bed at 7:30 rather than his normal 8:00 bedtime. He slept about 10 hours straight, so I hope that will help him battle the bug.
He's quite the bookworm, you know. The book at the top of his reading list is still Mr. Brown Can MOO Can You? He LOVES that book. If he's fussy or tired I start reading that book to him and he instantly smiles, it's so funny.
We've got a busy day today. We need to go to the mall to pick up something for my 4th grade concert which is Tuesday. We need to go by Kohls to get me a top to wear to the baptism tomorrow and Sam's Club to buy a cake, also for tomorrow. Aunt Leahna, Uncle Adam, Justin, Noah and I are meeting with Pastor Dan tonight about the details of the baptism. Aunt Connie and Uncle Adrian are coming in from Wyoming tonight so we'll be going out to dinner with everyone (depending on how Noah's doing. He seems to be feeling better today). Then of course tomorrow will also be a busy, but fun, day. The baptism is at the 8:00 service. Everyone will be going to my mom's house for lunch, where' we'll have Granny's tamale sandwiches (which are nothing like tamales, I still don't know how they got their name).

Hump Day

Whew!!! Parent-teacher conferences are done!!! (at least for me, J has conferences on the 28th). It has been so hard getting home just in time to put Noah to bed. I took this picture on Monday morning of him all ready to go to Grandma & Grandpa's house. He's always so happy, we're so lucky!

Today was a late start day, on which students don't have specials. After our staff meeting I went to Kathy and Tom's and was able to see Noah for about an hour. It was so nice to have that time with him, considering I had to be at school late today.
Sorry this picture is blurry. Monday, after we got home, I had just finished changing his diaper and he started playing with his shirt. He had a grand ol' time! I love that little belly!

Super Sunday

It was a "super Sunday", in more ways than one.

These pics are of Noah getting ready to watch the Super Bowl. He's sitting in his daddy's chair, tv remote in hand,(okay, most of the time it was in his mouth) ready for the big game. And, yes, he's staying true to his hometown team by wearing his Bronco's gear, even though they weren't playing in the big game this year.

Aunt Leahna and Uncle Adam were in town to celebrate Leahna's b-day. We all met at the Shoemaker's for brunch. Uncle Sethie and Aunt Julie were also there. It was great to get everyone together.

Uncle Aaron, Aunt Janis, cousins Mary and Ellie came over around 2. We played trival pursuit: everyone vs. Justin. And, yep, you guessed it- Justin won. My folks and Granny joined us later for dinner and the football game.

What a great Sunday- rarely do we get to see so many relatives in the same day. How lucky are we that we'll get to see them all again next weekend at Noah's baptism!