It is starting to become more real to me how quickly time goes with these kids...it seems like it's going even faster with Noah around now! My goodness, it's hard to hold on to them and still let them grow up! We are so blessed...
So Noah's big triumph this month is he is officially on the move! He started getting to it at the beginning of the month, scooting around and maneuvering his way to get to things he wanted, and within about 2 weeks, he was making his way where ever he wanted, going clear across the room for something that caught his attention! Now, some of you may remember Drew's infamous scooter crawl with his belly on the ground and nothing symmetrical about it...well, Noah has his own special way too! His arms are symmetrical, but his legs are silly! His right knee is on the ground, but rotated so the foot is toward is other leg and he pretty much drags it along, while the left foot is on the ground with his hip and knee at a 90 degree angle, also turned out, and propelling himself with that foot! I've said it before, but the non-conformist in me loves it, but the PT in me is shaking my head in defeat...oh well! I am happy he's getting around, so all in all, it's great! He is funny though, he can't figure out how to get to this point from any other position than from sitting, so if he ends up on his tummy, he just cries until we set him back into sitting and he'll immediately fly off "crawling" - what a goof! I wonder sometimes if we created that monster by going to him too much, but surely not, we aren't that good of attentive parents! :)
Noah is certainly becoming more playful and interactive...he is very good and initiating peek-a-boo with us and loves to roll balls back and forth! He can find a ball in any room (granted they are EVERYWHERE in our house with these 2 boys, so it's not that hard!), but that's one of his favorite toys to go after. He's even happier if he finds two he can bang together!
He is starting to wave, and it's kind of like he's saying Hi or Bye, but sometimes, he just waves! His vocalizations are coming along well too - babbling it up and making sure he's not left out of the fun or conversations! He's imitating more - sounds, actions, motions, and even some clapping and dancing - we love it!
He got 2 more teeth in this month, so we are up to 7! He wants to feed himself so badly, but he's kind of a gagger, but we are starting some finger foods which he loves, but still makes me kind of nervous! We are also starting to let him try to drink from a sippy cup - this will take some time, but hopefully by 1 year he'll have it down?!
Oh, did I mention he's a Momma's boy?! I think they all must be at this point, but man, if he's not 100% ok, it's gotta be fixed by Mommy! But we are very blessed in that while he prefers Mommy if around, if not, he does well. He is especially good with his teacher at school - you can tell he feels comfortable with her - which is oh so comforting!
He also loves to stand and pull up on anything he can find - I see lots of bumps and falls in the near future! And just in the last few days, Noah is now not even completely satisfied with just his crawling, he is wanting to stand and hold onto our hands so that he can walk - I guess he's gotta find a way to keep up with Drew as quick as he can!
He also really impressed us the other day - we got home, I put him in the middle of our living room downstairs. Without hesitation, he crawled over to and around the large couch, over to between the two couches to find the bowling pins crate (he loves these) - he knew exactly what he wanted to play with even though he didn't see them, and he knew exactly where to go! NICE!
His growth stats for the month are: length: 29.5 in (80%), weight: ~19.5 lbs. (25%).
Drew, Drew, Drew...what a silly boy! Growing so fast and changing just as much every day it seems! He certainly keeps all 3 of us on our toes - whether it's throwing toys, jumping/climbing on furniture, "playing" (AKA pushing) Noah or taking his toys, playing chase or soccer, either playing with cars or animals, the boy is BUSY, which means we are too!
He is lots of fun to play with more and more, as he is starting to be able to follow along with directions and such. He is also getting better and better at being able to do some independent play. These are both huge steps for our family! :) He does play with cars and animals (particularly his lion and tiger) EVERY day! They are not to be misplaced or replaced! He is really getting better at his imaginative/pretend play too - it's funny to hear what his lion and tiger talk about...most of the time it is Drew repeating what he hears from us all the time - pretty funny, but also enlightening from our side! I've started to catch him more and more sitting surrounded by books, paging his way through on his own which makes me so happy - that he really does enjoy books! and that he'll initiate it on his own! He of course LOVES playing outside, usually initiated with playing soccer! But he loves that we've been able to get the water table out again now that summer is in full swing (not officially of course, but in Texas, yes!). He is intrigued by bugs, but not a huge fan of them, and still loves to ride his bikes whenever he gets a chance. He jumps and climbs all over the place and especially loves the trampoline Papa and Grandma have at their home - we did not know, but there is more than one way to jump on a trampoline - on both feet, one foot, both knees, one knee, on your bottom, on your side...just as long as you are jumping! :) And yet, for all that jumping, the child is terrified of bounce houses - we tried it out this month with some of his friends and Mommy climbed up with him to the top of the big slide and he was crying in terror - it's amazing we ever got down. He didn't get on another one the whole time we were there, just ran around and played chase! What a goof! I keep saying, you just can't put a label on him - so true!
Speaking of ridiculous fears, we had another Dentist appointment this month - we were in the back for maybe a total of 7 minutes, and Drew screamed the ENTIRE time! I hardly even saw the Dentist with Drew completely distracting me - I've never been in and out of any kind of appointment that quickly before! Crazy! The entire waiting room gave us looks when we came out - the kids looked like "what happened to that kid" and all the parents had a look of "so sorry for you" on their faces! Glad that is only twice a year! And another one we had to experience this month was breathing treatments...it's been awhile since Drew's been sick enough to need these, but he's had them before of course. So I thought it no big deal when we were told to do them again...man, was I wrong! The first one was with Taron and Daddy and he maybe got a minute or two of the medicine. So we tried it again with Mommy and Daddy and full body restraint was required, the child was absolutely terrified! Of what, I'm sure we'll never understand, but we just gave up and didn't try it again, and just doubled up on the prayers! Gracious!
Drew is learning a hard lesson that every first child goes through - to share! It's been random up to this point where we've needed Drew to share with Noah, but now that Noah is on the move, Drew's toys have become fair game and Noah is all about it while Drew is not AT ALL! Drew's definition of sharing so far is when Drew plays with Noah's toys without knocking Noah over, he'll tell me, "Mommy, I sharing!" and he's so proud of himself! Ugh! So much further to go with that concept!
He is such a sweet boy though despite all of the crazy...even his pediatrician noted how polite he was with his pleases and thank you's, often unprompted! On Mother's Day, the second I was within ear shot he told me Happy Mother's Day, unprompted! He is a sweetie and can be very thoughtful! We are blessed to have such a dear boy! It's sweet when he just flat out says what he's thinking sometimes - one day he and Noah were taking a bath and we didn't put Noah in the bath seat, and Drew was so excited and said "We're together!" - it just made his day!
Drew had his little "graduation" ceremony at school at the end of the month, and all the classes 2 and up sang a song for everyone. Drew's class sang "God is so great" with the motions, well, Drew just stood there and watched his friends do it...didn't sing, not a motion, nothing! But he was still so proud of himself...funny what kids do during those programs!
For the first time, just in the last few days, the boys actually PLAYED TOGETHER without requiring any parental intervention - the boys were just having the best time crawling around and semi-chasing each other around the couches - it was so sweet, and so comforting to know that sooner rather than later, that will hopefully be more of the norm!
