Where does the time go?! I can not believe we've made it this far already...1/2 way through the first year of Noah's life...amazing! We are just head over heels for him, and so is Drew - he has shown us that God has made us capable of so much more love than we ever thought possible.
Let's start with Drew this time...getting back into a normal routine of school 2-3 days a week has been nice for all of us. He fights it a tiny bit sometimes, but mostly enjoys being with his friends. His school has 'Tumblebus' come every other Friday, which he really enjoys...jumping, rolly-polly & jumping jacks are some of his favorites. One Friday I told him he would get to have Tumblebus; his response: "That will be so much fun!" What a cutie! Speaking of cutie...one Sunday I wore a dress to church (rare now again that I'm nursing) and Drew asked, "Mommy, you a princess?!", I was so shocked, and though it was so adorable! I asked him if he was my prince, which he quickly responded with "No, I a pirate!" - of course you are! :)
We are attempting to keep him in church with us on Sundays vs. going to the nursery...there have been a few embarrassing moments, and some challenges, and huge messes in the aisle, but he's doing ok we think. There's a learning curve for all of us for sure. He loves his Sunday School class with Mrs. Widger - we love it too! :) We are also starting to see a few more signs of toilet training in our future...we try a bit before bath time and any time he seems interested, but we are not pressing it by any means! As much as a relief it will be to have him potty trained, I am SO NOT looking forward to the process! He is pretty independent going up & down the stairs by himself now - we are always around, but not guarding any more, so that's nice. Of course, there are times it takes forever now, as he takes it as an opportunity to play or exert his power/control over the situation...ah, toddlers!
A few things we are 'working' on with Drew...waking up later in the morning! Gracious!!! He has been waking up way too early for us & for him. Yes, part of this is selfish on our part because we are not morning people, but he is so cranky by 10 if he's up too early, but will not take a morning nap and will not go back to sleep in the morning despite all efforts. So, we bought a toddler clock...we get to set the time the picture flips from night to day. He's suppose to check his clock before deciding if it's time to start screaming to us that he's awake. It's not working just yet, but there are signs of learning, so we are hopeful! He is always wanting to play with his water & milk glasses at mealtimes, pouring them back & forth, always ending in a mess...we have tried all sorts of things to get him to stop with natural consequences being enforced. When asked, he'll tell us that we play with water in the sink & the bath, but then goes right back to playing at the next meal...ugh! We are so tired of cleaning up that mess! On a positive note, he's really picking up his letters...he can correctly identify 10-15 capital letters consistently! So that's cool and a fun thing to work on that he seems to really enjoy.
He continues to be a very loving brother, while at the same time being rough & tumbly. He sometimes gets so excited about being with/around/playing with Noah that Noah often ends up in tears screaming from Drew screaming in his face, being all up in his personal space and just showing his love for him in a very physical way - that impulse control can just be so hard! But there are lots of hugs & kisses & singing of songs. He even smooches all over our friends' baby Caroline (3 weeks older than Noah), so at least his gut reaction is out of love! Though, there are times at home that he just looks for opportunities to get attention by being too rough with Noah - these are the times Mommy has to really control herself...man that's hard!
So, I'm becoming more aware of Drew's texture defensiveness...this is something I noticed pretty early on, even around age 1, but seemed to be able to take it all in stride. Well, there are just a few more scenarios that have prompted me to work a little harder at this...we made S'Mores for the first time in the fireplace and he was all excited about it, until he picked it up & immediately got marshmallow on his hands...he wouldn't have anything to do with it after that! I had to chew it down (I'm so sacrificial, I know!) to get it to a small enough piece I could just pop in his mouth, but even this, I had to bribe him with a new car! And he liked it, but still didn't want any more. So, we have a friend who's a pediatric OT and I talked to her about it...I'm going to do a little testing on him and she's going to let me know where we stand with it and give us some ideas...we'll keep you posted!
Some fun firsts for all of us this month was the first trip to the park! We've been before, but not all of us...we had a great time! Noah even got to swing for the first time & LOVED it! He just smiled & laughed the whole time. And of course, Drew loved the chance to run around! We are excited for the new park being built within walking distance of our house...Drew calls it his park already!
The boys have started to share baths together! A big step for us all, but so nice to not have separate duty for the same task, so we get to all be together instead of being spread out over the house. Mommy & Daddy appreciate the time together for sure!
Alright, so on to sweet little Noah! He is grabbing at everything these days! I forgot how I had to be really careful with what I got close to and what all I carried when Drew got to this point - this boy wants to check everything out! He tries to sit up quite a bit too, really working those abs to check out what's going on around him, especially when nursing! We are working on his sitting & rolling, which is getting better bit by bit - he'll be moving more and more before we know it. He's SO distractible while nursing now...I can hardly read a book without him wanting to see what I'm looking at! So, thankfully he's a quick eater, but I'm trying to use that time as prayer time...if I can stay focused!
He loves being tickled and getting zerberts. There's even been a few times where it seems he's trying to give us zerberts back - crazy I know, but really, both of us have thought that at different times! :) He is talking more now, and just recently starting to make "ga-ga" and "da-da" noises! Matthew said to mark it down on the calendar that he already said his name! HA! He is very responsive to us now, especially liking it when we make silly faces. He's also even more vocal about not having us in his line of sight - he has definitely entered the phase of knowing, and not liking, when he's 'by himself'.
He is eating dinner with us every night now, and has been for about a month. Some nights are pretty good, others, not so much, but we are trying. He has had banana and avocado in addition to the rice cereal now...I think he'll very much enjoy his new foods that taste so much better than the cereal! He got his 2 front bottom teeth in this month, one right after the other! Can't believe it! It seems so soon!
(Not to be left out of any type of attention situation, Drew insists on sitting in Noah's Bumbo and getting a picture himself!)He has finally dropped his late evening nap, making parts of the night easier, and others another learning challenge for us to learn to juggle it all, but glad that it's over and we are moving on. We were hoping that would help him sleep longer at night...but not so lucky! In fact, we are still struggling with that...oh so tired! Just keep reminding myself that it WILL get better...at some point! His naps are better during the day in that he goes to sleep pretty easily, but they are almost all 45 minutes on the dot! So ready for those to be a bit longer too! Our pediatrician has given us some tips to help Noah learn to sleep better - prayers he learns quickly...I think he will, he picked up on going to sleep initially well, now we just need him to figure out to go back to sleep on his own better.
He LOVES the outside...he is so content to just sit outside with us and check out his surroundings. And when it's too cold to go outside, he's almost as content to sit and look out the window - we are looking forward to spring when we can really enjoy it (though it's been a very mild winter so far!). We've brought out the exersaucer & jumper now that his trunk muscles are so much stronger and we are happy to say, he loves playing in both! Drew is excited to play with them too, but Noah is especially happy to be upright & playing!
He is wearing 6 month clothes now and grown into size 3 diapers! His growth stats are as follows: Weight: 15 lb. 12 oz. (25%), Length: 27.75 in (90%), Head: 43 cm (25%). So he's staying right on track!
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