Hemoglobin UPdate!!

The little man is a trooper - we had a very brief appointment at the pediatrician's office this morning just to have his 2nd round of the flu shot and recheck his hemoglobin.  The poor guy was a blubbering mess with needles coming at him from all angles! All in all we had good news, though, because his hemoglobin was 10 (you may recall that it was only 8.5 at his 12 month appointment and normal is 11-14)!  The doctor was very pleased with the results, so for now we will stick with the iron supplements and recheck it again at his 15 month appointment.  Hopefully no more meds after that!

After the appointment he was back to his happy self, so I loaded him up, we picked up Nana Schmith, and headed to Cincinnati for a little retail therapy at IKEA!  I was terrified that he would be a disaster today, but I couldn't have been more pleased with how the day turned out.  He slept almost the entire trip there, and he was a perfect angel while his Nana and I shopped!  He was entertaining to the other shoppers as well - he blew kisses to a few women without even being prompted (future heartbreaker) and he was delighted to help me push my cart (future perfect husband)!

He reminds me constantly how blessed I am to have him.  He makes Ben and I laugh a million times a day, and when I sometimes wonder if he will EVER snuggle with me, he somehow knows and will run up laughing and give me a big hug - right before resuming his laps of destruction around the house!

His current loves are belly buttons and the dog, Cooper.  He will lift up your shirt regardless of how many onlookers get a glimpse just for a quick peek.  Beware, if you ask him where his belly button is he will point to his right nipple.  Close enough?  Hmmm...He has been saying "dog" for quite some time, but recently he has become obsessed, running around the house after Cooper, pointing and yelling "DOG!"  Cooper is not a fan, so hopefully Noah will lose interest in him soon enough :)

October pics thus far...

We made another trip to the Children's Museum with friends! It will definitely be a favorite spot during miserable Indiana winters!

We had to take a time out from playing to have a snack due to a major meltdown...

Krista with her two munchkins, Oliver and Vivian, after checking out the inside of the train.

Is he not stinking adorable?! I kind of thought he looked like a little train conductor in his cute overalls :)

Noah and Harrison at the train tables.  Noah has a lot to learn about how trains are "supposed" to be played!

Our first trip to the pumpkin patch at Spencer Farms!  We didn't get too many pictures because it was soooo windy outside.  

He loved the dog.  Almost as much as he loved those pumpkins that he sat down with and tried to steal from another man!  I had to get a picture of our little pumpkin thief!

Another favorite game: Climbing under the chairs - especially if daddy is there studying.

This toy spins cars around the center of it, and he tries so hard to make is spin with him sitting in the middle...keep trying buddy! Please disregard the fact that he is not wearing any pants and has only one sock on.  This is how we roll.

September

About a week after his 1st birthday we had his one year check up with his pediatrician.  Developmentally he's doing great - walking, saying a few words ("mama," "up," "bath," - or his version of the word, and occasionally "dada," but for the most part he just speaks his own language all day long), and the doctor was pleased that he had weaned himself from the bottle by one year! No worries there - I'm a pretty firm believer that formula & breastmilk are the only liquids that belong in a bottle!  He's still pretty tall - 30 3/4 inches (85th percentile), but he's finally slimming down.  He weighed in at 23 lbs 8 oz (60th percentile).  This was probably a little skewed based on the fact that he had a stomach bug for about 6 days prior to his appointment and couldn't hold down the little that he ate.  Let me just tell you that dealing with a stomach virus in a child that can't communicate well with you is NO FUN AT ALL!  The only abnormal finding at his appointment is that he is pretty severely anemic.  Most pediatricians check all infants' hemoglobin level at either 9 months or 1 year, so during this routine check we discovered that his hemoglobin was only 8.5.  The normal level is about 11-14.  The doctor had it rechecked because she couldn't believe that such a big and healthy boy would be quite so anemic!  Sure enough, it was still 8.5 and thus began twice daily doses of an iron supplement called ferrous sulfate.  Delicious tasting stuff that Noah takes like a champ :)  We will have his level rechecked after 6 weeks and see if there has been an improvement.  Obviously, if the iron hasn't helped we will look into further testing, but for now we aren't worried!

Here are some more pictures from September!

Practicing squats.  The boy is in constant motion - I swear if he is awake he is not sitting still! He will walk laps around the family room and kitchen (while pulling everything out of the drawers that he can) until he collapses and is ready for a nap!

Such a happy boy! We are so blessed :)

Classic Noah face.  Making his famous "Ohhhh" sound that we have all come to know and love :)

My little goof.  Up to no good :)

Oh, hey belly!

We had his one year pictures taken by Lauren Weghorst!  We love working with her - she is so good :)  Let me know if you want her contact info - we love to refer her to our friends because we have been so pleased with her work!

We have so few family shots that we appreciate our photo sessions with Lauren so that Noah will know that we really were young once :) :)

No Big Deal: It's Just ONE YEAR!!

September 3, 2011.

It happened.  He turned one, and I have no idea where the first year went!  Of course we had to have a celebration!  We are lucky enough to have most of our family living right here in the Indy area, so lots of our loved ones were able to join in on the fun!

I have to say, the morning of the party was a bit stressful...Ben decided that "we" should make all of the food rather than buy it, so needless to say I was busy in the kitchen from about 6:30 am until the party started at noon!  In the midst of the madness, Noah snuck into the laundry room, ripped off his dirty diaper, opened the door to the kitchen and threw the diaper at me.  If we hadn't been so busy getting ready for his party (not to mention disgusted by poop flying across the floor of my kitchen - I promise, no food was anywhere near said diaper), we probably would have laughed our butts off, because the little fat man sure thought he was hilarious! I'm learning to always enjoy the little things - even when they're a bit messy :)

Despite dirty diapers and a hectic morning, the party was a success.  We had plenty of sandwiches and other goodies for Noah's guests to enjoy, and I have to give myself a pat on the back for some pretty yummy stuff!

Happy 1st birthday, Noah!! Waking up a whole year old is fun :)

Surprise! The Kenney's came to the party :)

The one big fail: This cake is from Kroger due to the fact that I had an epically failed attempt at making a giant cupcake for him.  I had the special mold and everything, but it didn't cook evenly and fell apart :( Bummer!

Homemade cupcakes decorated by this momma :)  I'm not very creative, so I'm pretty proud of myself!

Cousin Kate, Aunt Mickey, and cousin Lydia

Aunt Renee and cousin Elle

Uncle Tim and cousin Reese - we were interfering with nap time :) This was exit time for Tim and the twins!

All of the kids enjoyed our former dining room - turned playhouse

Great Grandpa Kirkhoff and Grandpa Havens!  It was a special treat for Grandpa Havens to be at the party :)  We were so incredibly excited to have him there!

While it looks like he enjoyed the cake, he didn't.  He literally stuck his hand in it and left it there like it was in cement.  He would eat a bite off of a fork but wanted nothing to do with eating it from his hands :)  I guess he doesn't have his momma's sweet tooth!

Cousins Bryce, Ty, and Kate (tucked behind Bryce) helped sing happy birthday

These two win the prize for traveling the farthest! Paul and Erica came all the way from St. Louis and Houston, respectively.  Even if they were in town for a wedding, we felt pretty special that they came all the way here!

Cousin David Jr, Aunt Mary, and cousin Conor 

"That was fun.  Can we do it again tomorrow?!"

MIA once again!

I blame technology for my shortcomings as a blogger, but thanks to my brand new macbook I have no more excuses for another 3 month lapse in posting!  Let's do a not-so-quick recap:  Noah turned ONE!! And we are now just about to the 14 month mark, but lets back up to 11 months:

At exactly 11 months (August 3rd, to be precise), I switched Noah completely to whole milk from his bottles.  He refused the bottle for an entire week and a half, and I finally gave up and offered him milk.  I had learned that the risk for milk allergy is almost entirely outgrown by 9-10 months of age, so my guilty conscience could rest easy :)  Noah started taking one to two steps on his own just before 11 months, and just before 11 1/2 months he began walking everywhere!  He never had much regard for the safety of his head, so we have had our fair share of bumps and bruises!

Papaw and Nana Schmith celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary on August 6th, and Renee and I left the kids at home to throw a party for our deserving mom and dad!  This was the first time we have ever paid a sitter to watch Noah (aside from his daycare provider, Beth, of course)!  We knew he was in good hands, so we were definitely able to enjoy our night out!

Enjoy some pictures from July and August! :) :)

Noah's first trip to the Indy Zoo - with his buddy Jack Schmadeke

Best attempt at a group shot with little movers! Henry Brown, Lilly Brown, Grace Schmadeke, Noah, & Jack Schmadeke.  It was a fun day for us moms to get together, too :)

Noah and best bud Katelyn Kenney wearing Noah's favorite outfit :)

Loving Nicole's shades!

Big cousin Lily is a perfect jungle gym!

Searching for food?

Having a serious conversation with Aunt Karyn about Bud Light vs Coors Light

Good-bye dinner for Emily before she moved to Georgia! :(

Enjoying the water table during his 1st trip to the Children's Museum with friends!

I don't know what it is, but I love this picture.  And immediately after this was taken my camera died, so unfortunately no pics of our friends the Ludwigs or the Hursh's during our museum trip!

Noah and Katelyn just lounging together :)

He LOVED this swing at the Chen's house!

Lindsay Dempsey with Evan Chen at Evan's house for a cookout!

I realized when uploading these pictures that someone should seriously reprimand me for not taking more pictures of my son!! I'll try to do better :)