FALL!!

The kid loves the fall weather.  I'm not sure he's truly my son - most people know I'm a summer person.  I could skip all of the other seasons and live in 80 degree weather all year long.  Not Noah.  This is his personal paradise!

We loved the fall leaves!

We live on a dead end street, so Noah loves to run here :)

Super helpful!

This was filmed after Ben made Noah come inside.  He was super happy about it...Oh, and the broom was a replacement for the rake in an unsuccessful attempt to make him happy.

He loved his first bubble bath! (As if I needed to do anything to make him like the bath more....)

Surprise, surprise - we had a fun time at the Children's Museum with friends!

I'm either brave or crazy, but I did let him play in the sand for a little bit and he loved it! I told Ben this means we really need a beach vacation :)

Fun times at Nana & Papaw Schmith's house! Elle and Noah are climbing in the tub of blocks.

Our attempt at a group shot of the Schmith grandkids.  Gotta love that Kate's belly made it in the shot!

We celebrated Papaw Schmith's 57th birthday with some delicious homemade cupcakes!  Noah thought Aunt Renee was a pretty good cook!

Ty made this very special card for Papaw :)

Halloween!! And other October happenings...

Our little monster was a neighborhood hit! At least at the 3 houses where we took him trick-or-treating!

He thought we should have dressed him as "Bam Bam"

Not a big fan of the head piece!

Off we go! "But Mom, I can't see!!"

"I'll just leave my hat here, OK?"

Mom and Dad had to guide him to the door.  His preference is to play in the street.

"Trick or Treat?!!"  Pretzels were his first treat - YUM!

Nana and Papaw Schmith came over to watch him trick or treat for the first time and take some pictures!

He definitely enjoyed Halloween! He loves anything outside, so it was a treat to walk around to the neighbor's homes.  He also really enjoyed watching all the kids come to the door in their costumes.  All in all, definitely a success!

We had some other fun times these last few weeks, too! Ben had a few weeks off school and I took a little time off work so we could spend some quality time together as a family.  We mostly relaxed at home and enjoyed as much of the fall weather as we could!

Papaw Schmith came over for some snuggles :)

There's that favorite outfit again! This is the start of a temper tantrum...And those don't get old at all...

Stealing his cousin's drink! He's quite the little bully and thief!  But he does it so innocently.

Reese, Ben, and Elle are playing after a fun dinner! Renee and Ty went to Boston for the weekend, so we fed Tim and the girls one night!

Silly Mamaw closed her eyes!

Reese! 

"Naked" became everyone's favorite outfit! They clearly had a blast together :)

Aunt Jamie got to give some lovin' to the twins! (Reese - left, Elle- right)

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 :) :)