Monday, April 28, 2008

It's Amazing How. . . .

Noah puts EVERYTHING in his mouth, except food! We decided to try to give him a "biter biscuit" so he can start eating finger foods. These are designed to dissolve in his mouth. When he got it he stared at it and couldn't figure out what to do with it. Now, had it been the t.v. remote, the phone or the camera it would have gone straight to the mouth. As you can see in the picture above, he had to hit it against the lid from his baby food. And to the left is the one split second that the cookie was actually in his mouth. Sad to say the cookie ended up being thrown away because someone didn't eat it.

Well, we struck out with the "biter biscuits" so we decided to give "puffs" a try. Puffs are about the size of Justin's Corn Puffs and there's 80 in a serving and only 25 calories, why don't they make adult snacks like that? Any how, I think his facial expression sums it up: "you want me to put it where?"
He did actually eat two of them. Hey, only 78 more to go for the full serving! One of the problems he was having was that his fingers would get wet from his spit and then the puff would stick to his hand. I was actually quite impressed with the fine motor skills he had to pick it up! I can't wait to have him try them again.
I mentioned in the previous blog that Noah's new thing is standing up. Justin (who had the day off) took him over to Grandma & Grandpa Shoe's and he stood against their footstool while Justin let go. I enjoy watching him grow and accomplish new feats, however it's all going WAY too fast!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Fun Family Weekend

This weekend just flew by! And we spent SO much time with family, it was really nice.
Friday night Aaron, Janis, Mary and Ellie came over. Here's Noah playing with his cousins. We had pizza and played games. It was so nice to get to spend time with them.
No, Saturday was not Halloween, although from the looks of Grandpa Tom I could see where one would get confused. It was the second time the Shoemaker clan got together for poker night, so he was "dressing up". Now I know I haven't been to Vegas in a while, is this how they're dressing there now?
Here's Noah with the reigning poker champion: Leahna. She won the last time we played in March and she won again Saturday night. She and Adam will be leaving for Washington state in May for a couple months for Adam's internship. The good thing about this is it will give someone else the opportunity to win!
One more picture from poker night. Here's Noah with Uncle Seth. Notice the kicked up feet on the table, just a lazy Saturday for him.
This brings us to Sunday. We went to my parents' house for dinner where we got to see the cousins again. Here's Justin, Ellie and Noah in the backyard.

So, while Noah got to wear many hats this weekend, (son, cousin, grandson, nephew; cowboy & baseball) he also worked on learning some new tricks. The most impressive one is standing next to the coffee table at my mom's house. My mom jokingly calls him "jello legs" because whenever we go to stand him up his legs turn to jello. I think we started noticing it yesterday that all of a sudden he was standing up, nice and straight, with no jello legs! He still isn't crawling, but he can roll across the room like no body's business.
And did I mention how LOUD he is? This kiddo's got a set of pipes! He loves to yell and then laugh and give you a great big smile! It's so much fun to see this little guy's personality develop more and more each day!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

My Book Worm

So Noah has enjoyed being read to for quite sometime. Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Tom read to him everyday when he is at their house. I read to him every night before he gets ready for bed. We read to him during the day when he needs some downtime. We've even started taking him to the library baby story time, he's going with Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow in fact. Well, the past couple of days his favorite thing to do is pull lots of his books out of his book basket that we have sitting on the floor by Justin's chair. He'll grab a book, sometimes open it but most times chew it and punch it, set in on the floor and grab another one. He ends up sitting in the middle of a pile of books. It's really pretty cute! But then again, I'm his mom and I think everything he does right now is cute!


Noah got to see his cousins, Mary and Ellie this past weekend at Grandma Debbie's house. It feels like we hadn't seen them for a while. Aunt Janis came by after she got off of work. Noah LOVES his Auntie Jan, he always laughs and has a great time when she's around. Sunday was no exception. All he had to do was look at Aunt Janis and he would start laughing.
We're planning on getting together with them this Friday for pizza and some more laughter!



Saturday, April 19, 2008

Too Tired To Title This Post

I just can't think of a clever title for this post today. All I know is it's been a busy day. Susie's bridal shower was today. It went really well, but this morning was hectic. Between getting everything organized, picking up the cake and balloons and borrowing tables from Seth, we also had a little boy who wasn't interested in eating. And as you can see below, he's sticking out his tongue. Both of these behaviors they (the parenting book) say are signs of teething. All I know is if he is cutting a new tooth this one is a lot more painful and difficult for him than the first 2! Poor baby!
Here's Noah playing with his farm that Santa brought him. This should make his dad happy. The other night as we were sitting with Noah, who was playing with his train, Justin was commenting on how he wished Noah would play with the farm because he likes the music from the farm better than the music from the train. Well, J finally got his wish!
Noah has learned to eat prunes: woo hoo! Go prunes! But this isn't why I took this picture. We're going to have to teach him soon that it's not polite to put your feet on the table when you're eating dinner!


My little book worm: he can't get enough of his books. He enjoys having books read to him but he also enjoys eating them. Now that he's got those two bottom teeth we have to be careful: there are a couple books that have got chew marks on them!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Two To Go

What a busy week!! My 1st graders had a concert on Tuesday and the choir had a concert tonight. My mom is watching Noah tomorrow and Monday. And on Saturday I'm throwing a bridal shower for my best friend, Susie. The good news it there are only 2 more concerts this year!!! And as much as I love teaching my choir students, it's going to be nice having 2 planning hours in the morning. Maybe I can find my desk again!

These are pictures that Kathy took when she, Tom and Noah went to Poudre on Monday. Aren't they great?! It was hard deciding which ones to post! It seems to me that Noah really enjoys the outdoors. This summer is going to be so much fun taking him for walks, going to parks and going on mini-day trips.

It looks to me like Grandpa Tom might have a new fishing buddy in a few years! Don't these two look like they'd have a grand time fishin' together?!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Shorts!

It was a beautiful day here in Colorado! Grandma and Grandpa took Noah up to Poudre today. My mom will be watching Noah on Friday and Monday so they're thinking of going camping and went up there to check out camp grounds. I guess Noah loved being pushed around in the stroller up there.

It was so nice today that when we got home from Grandma & Grandpa's we changed him into shorts (in fact we all changed into shorts) and took a short walk to the grocery store. Noah loves to go for walks it seems. Today and last week after we went for walks outside he seemed upset to be home!
Here's Noah and J modeling their shorts. Unfortunately I don't think Noah will be able to wear this pair again, they were pretty tight. My mom got them on sale last fall and didn't know what a big boy he would be this spring!

I had to share the picture below of Noah and Daddy playing with his toys. Or should I say Daddy playing with Noah's toys! I think Justin enjoys them more than Noah! He's got the whole "Super-star Stage" toy figured out and has fun "mixing" his tunes. Way to go J! Now let Noah have a turn every now and then. :)
Just one more picture of my cutie pie. I love this picture, I think the shirt says it all!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Getting Stuck and Loving It!


Noah has really embraced rolling. He's really getting around now. I noticed that today he's rolling both ways off of his stomach and back. And he doesn't seem to mind it so much when he finds himself in a tight situation. What cracks me up in the picture below is how he has that one leg draping over the arch of his gym. The other night he just kept kicking and kicking that leg, bouncing it up and down on the gym, it was too funny. The picture below that was taken Friday. He had rolled and gotten under his swing before we left for the Shoemakers. He looks like a little car mechanic under there.
So, Noah went with Justin, Seth, Grandma and Grandpa Shoemaker to the Waffle House today. I personally don't like the Waffle House and since I had an all day ROCKE workshop that's great that they went today. It seems to me from this picture Noah doesn't share his dad's sentiments for the Waffle House (he even looks a little scared!)

What I like about this pic is if you look closely you can see those two bottom teeth! Maybe someday soon he will be eating waffles! (AT HOME!)

Here his is making the most of the situation at the Waffle House with Uncle Seth and Daddy. What a good sport his is! :)

Something fun and new- Noah has learned that when he speaks into something like this water bottle his voice is louder. He learned this over at Grandma & Grandpa's. It's too funny to watch him do it. But really, I think everything he does is fun to watch! I'm not biased!! :)

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The Problems That Come With Rolling

So, Noah is finding that there are problems associated with rolling. For instance, getting into places that you can't get out of! Since he's been rolling around more he's gotten his feet caught under the couch, been trapped under his swing, had his head wedged between the couch and the chair and got stuck under the stroller at Grandma and Grandpa Shoemakers!
Above is a picture of him stuck in his floor gym. He hasn't figured out that he can get out of it by rolling the other way!

Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Tom took Noah to story time at the library today. I didn't' get details as I had student council after school today. I'm looking forward to hearing about how it went tomorrow morning!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Boo Hoo, Back to School

Tomorrow morning is going to be so hard, I don't want to go back to school! I have enjoyed spending my spring break with my baby boy. The only way it could have been better is if Justin was home also. It was so great to go places with him, play with him, read to him and sing him to sleep. I wish we could afford for me to stay home with him, I think I would really love being a stay-at-home mom. But, I just have to keep reminding myself that there are only 7 weeks of school left and I will get to be a stay-at-home mom for a couple months. And those 7 weeks will go all too fast: Noah's nine month check up is on the 27th of May, that last day of school for teachers!

We went on a shopping spree yesterday. Noah got lots of new clothes for summer, including the summer hat in the picture above. Isn't it cute?

We stopped by Uncle Seth's and Aunt Julie's house on the way home from shopping to say hi. Kathy and Tom were there. Seth and Julie were working on cutting back bushes and trees in their back yard. Here's Noah playing with one of the clippings. It was a beautiful day.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

He's Mobile!

Noah has not wanted to roll from his tummy to his back. . . . that is until today!!! He finally got it! I actually counted the number of times he did it before Justin got home. Nine, he had done it nine times. Way to go Noah!

Well, tonight before bed he finally showed off his new rolling ability to his Daddy and ended up rolling across the room. He just kept rolling and rolling. I'm so excited and yet not. My little baby has reached a big milestone. It just reminds me of how quickly he's growing up.


I think he looks like such a big boy in this picture. He's been grabbing stuff and switching an object from one hand to another for quite a while. Now he's really starting to reach for things.

Yesterday I took him to story time at the local library. It was the first time that they'd ever done a baby group and it will continue through April then start again in the fall. It sounds like Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Tom will take him this month, that should be fun for all three of them. At story time, a few of the babies were crawling around. He watched them then leaned over my leg, with his tummy resting on my leg and started moving his legs like crazy. It was so cute and good for him to see other babies. Maybe he'll learn more than just rhymes, songs and stories!

I have very much enjoyed my week at home with him. It's going to be harder than ever to go back to school on Monday. I wish I could stay home with him everyday. Something to look forward to this summer!