Noah Patrick: The 7th Month!

April was a busy month for our house!  Ben's last round of exams for the year started in the middle of the month, and he had an exam every other day for just over 2 and a 1/2 weeks! Yikes! A BIG thank you to my amazing husband for all of his hard work! Noah and I are so lucky to have such a dedicated and hard working daddy :) :)

Just before he turned 7 months old, he started moving from laying down to sitting up all by himself! I can't believe how strong he is! He could honestly be laying flat on his back and sit straight up! When he wanted to get back down to crawl he would just throw his body sideways on the ground and take off again. :) He changes so much every single day!  By the middle of the month he was pulling himself up to stand while holding on to a table or the couch.  This was forever making me a nervous wreck - I couldn't let him out of my sight at all without worrying that he would let go of whatever he was holding onto while standing and fall over and hurt himself! I guess he needed to learn his limits somehow, though!



This shows off his bottom teeth a little bit :)



The sippy cup is more of a toy than an actual drink - he loves to play with it and throw it, but he could take it or leave it when it comes to actually drinking out of it! (And he usually chooses to leave it)!

We went with Ty and Kate to watch them at the Easter Egg Hunt in Papaw and Nana Schmith's neighborhood!  Ty loved it, Kate decided she'd rather not hunt any eggs :)

Even Noah got a little basket this year (I know, his Easter bunny is kind of lame, but he liked all the toys so that's what counts)!!

Ty and Kate met the super creepy Easter Bunny - can you really blame Kate for wanting nothing to do with the big bunny?!



Showing off how he can go from crawling to sitting in no time at all :) Unfortunately the sitting up picture didn't turn out! FAIL!



We call this the "blanket test." If we think that he is tired, we toss him a blanket and if he rubs his face in it then he is tired! So then we toss him in bed and he goes right to sleep! Works like a charm :) :)

 

This was one of the first things he stood on - a little transition :) Don't mind the clothes on the floor behind him - his size and the season changes so often I feel like we are constantly swapping out clothes!!



So proud of himself!



Such a ham!! How could you not love that grin?!



He promptly fell off the back of his toy right after this picture was taken. And he laughed. I'm in so much trouble! ;)

Post-Bath hair is my favorite!

He got up onto this table all by himself! It quickly became his favorite trick! (Gotta love the convenience of iPhone photos - even if they are a bit grainy)!

Noah Patrick: The 6th Month!

SITTING UP AND CRAWLING!!

Yes, two huge milestones in one little month!  He started sitting up all by himself (of course, he was a little wobbly at first, but it only took about a week before he learned to sit for a long time without falling over)!  He also started army crawling this month.  He would get up on his hands and knees, rock back and forth, then get back down on his belly and take off across the room!

At the beginning of the month he had his 6 month pediatrician's appointment where he weighed in at 21 pounds!  We saw a new pediatrician for the first time - Dr. Carolyn Robinson at Carmel Pediatrics.  I had been unhappy with our first pediatrician - I didn't really "click" with him, and his staff was rude most of the time.  The final straw happened one morning when I brought Noah in (about 4 1/2 months old) because he had been running a fever for several days and had a terrible cough.  I had never before brought him in to the office or even called when he had been sick, so clearly I was worried.  I was treated terribly, and when the doctor said he wanted to take his temperature I said that was fine, but that I could tell he wasn't currently running a fever.  Several minutes later the nurse comes in, shoves a MERCURY THERMOMETER (umm what decade are we living in??) under his armpit, and tells me to hold it there for 5 minutes.  Really? With a squirming baby that I already told you isn't running a fever?? Well surprise of all surprises, no fever! And I was sent away with no compassion for my little boy.  And that meant Goodbye Meridian Pediatrics and Hello, Dr. Robinson!  I couldn't be happier with my choice!  I ended up with this doctor by the recommendation of a friend and I am so grateful. She sat down with me and talked about milestones and feedings and really got to know us.  She was so caring and acted as though she had all the time in the world and no other patients to see! Noah instantly smiled at her and reached for her, and she even sat and played with him for a few minutes.  The staff was fabulous and actually seemed to be happy with their jobs!  What a difference that makes in the overall feeling of comfort for a mom!  


We love having dinners at the Stratford with "Mamaw Great Up High!"



He is so proud of himself every time he tips this over :)



Managed to stop scooting around for a quick picture!



I love that hair so much I can't stand it!



Sitting up like a big boy!



What?!?!?!



We started taking baths in the kitchen sink once he was sitting up pretty well, but not quite well enough for the big tub! That only lasted until he threw himself backwards one night and smacked his head on the granite! I wasn't winning any awards for mom of the year that night :)

We love his hooded towels that Aunt Renee made!

He loves crawling over to this and looking at himself! It also makes a fun noise when he bangs his toys against it or kicks it against the wall! Time to get with the program and baby proof the house!



Noah Patrick: The 5th Month!

 This was a busy month for our big boy! He mastered the art of rolling and managed to get pretty much any where he wanted to go by barrel rolling! He also started loving meal time - there was no pureed food I could give him that he would refuse! Every day is something new, and there is never a dull moment! He still loves going to visit his cousins at Aunt Renee's and playing with other babies - and his momma loves the free entertainment!

Rolled right into the TV stand - this was a constant occurrence!

 

Happy to be 5 months old today!



We had a playdate with the Hursh twins and the Ludwig boys!  Oliver and Noah became fast friends...kind of...And the mom's got to hang out and drink McD's diet cokes while the kids ran wild! (Or crawled...or rolled...)

 

Noah thought this was great fun!

Oliver...Not so much!

While the toys may not have been age appropriate (or color appropriate) for Harrison, he found plenty of fun things to keep himself entertained!



Brooks was searching for food I think... ;)

Vivian joined in all the fun too - and she showed off her "sitting up skills" for us!

He has always loved bath time!



Check out those rolls :) :)



The rattle was his favorite toy - and play time in the high chair gave me a few minutes to do some dishes or laundry without him getting into anything mischevious!



This is a series of 3...I just love his many faces he makes while yelling!  Don't be fooled - he isn't angry! In fact, he couldn't be happier in these pictures!!



I Confess: I'm a TERRIBLE blogger!

So after months of computer problems, I no longer have any excuses for not posting any new updates (other than an extremely busy 8 month old, work, a husband in med school, a house to maintain... but other people with much busier lives are able to squeeze in a post here and there, so I figure it's about time for me to make it happen)!   I have been stressing about how in the world I can fit the last 4 months into one post, and I have decided it is probably impossible!  I don't expect most people to read through the next few posts, but as I have said before this is all for my own memories and my family, so while I am willing to skimp on most details, I think I will still be writing a lot and posting a lot of pictures.  We'll see how this goes!

Noah Patrick - The 4th Month
The day after my very last post, he started rolling over back to belly and hasn't stopped moving since!  He seems to do everything a little bit ahead of the game and I've known for some time that I would have my hands full with him!  The biggest changes in our day to day routine during his 4th month was that he started eating rice cereal and figured out how to nap! No more 45 minute intruder! Hooray!  Ben and I also decided to turn off the monitor at night so that we could sleep better without hearing every breath he took or every time he readjusted in bed.  I'll get rid of the monitor sooner with the next baby - I think that this step saved our sanity and therefore our marriage!

I started out just giving him rice cereal once a day for a couple of weeks, then I started him on veggies (of course, only introducing one new food every 3 days - who comes up with this stuff??)  He didn't enjoy it much at first, but he quickly learned to love it - especially once we introduced fruit after a couple of weeks!

He really started enjoying playing with his toys this month.  Until now, he would look at toys but couldn't do much with them, but once he learned to grab things and make noises with the toys he started having much more fun!  He also started discovering his voice this month!  Ben and I just loved hearing his sounds and I'm sure the neighbors would have us committed if they could have heard the noises we would make just to get a laugh out of our son! Funny how you are suddenly so willing to make a complete fool of yourself just to hear that sweet little laugh! :)

He has always had a very serious face - and he will win any staring contest, hands down, without blinking!

Nice face :) Actually I love this picture not just for the priceless expression, but also for the spiky hair!

HI MOM!