Noah News: Week 29

From the newsdesk:

From Red Birds to Cardinal Red - This weekend Noah traded in his St. Louis Cardinals gear for some Stanford Cardinal red. With Stanford a stone's throw away we decided to take advantage and go watch an afternoon baseball game. It was such a great weekend activity and wonderful place to bring kids...I see many more of these in our future!

Fun at the ballpark.

Together, again - Well, my break up with The Bar Method was short lived. I tried to be strong and not let it woo me back, but, alas, my summer bikini bod (aka, post baby bod) needs some consistent exercise. The Dish is great, but a little unpredictable on when Noah and I can make it so I need to get back on the work out wagon, pronto.  Cheers to consistency!

No one wants to see my lack of muscle definition so instead you get Noah during meal time. Broccoli is the only item I have given Noah that hasn't gone directly in his mouth (it actually never made it)...he did try his ear though!

Get up, Stand up - Our little Noodle loves to stand. I give all the credit to his exersaucer but this kid is obsessed with being vertical. He is getting really good at holding on to furniture and standing for short periods of time. He is even starting to pull himself up from time to time. Good thing we lowered the crib mattress!

His facial expressions kill me! You can also see the pointy/pokey/hard trunk that will be replaced (read below).

Safety First - As I mentioned above, we went ahead and did some babyproofing as soon as Noah starting scooting around. Nothing major just yet, but we did cover all electrical outlets and lower his crib mattress. We also bought a new coffee table/ottoman for our family room since he has already bumped his head a few times on the current one (which is a trunk...not baby friendly).

Noah took his first swing ride (seriously, I need a parenting lesson) and LOVED it. Tanner was an excellent helper pushing.

Babysitting Bonanza - Ok, prepare to judge me. After a particularly bad day a few weeks ago (no naps, cranky baby, etc...) that ended with me in a trance sitting on the kitchen floor moaning about how I can't move, much less cook dinner, Scott and I decided that a little relief for me one day a week might be a good thing for everyone:

• Me: I am pretty much addicted to my son. Yes, this is a good problem to have, BUT the fact that I have not left him alone with anyone else for more than three hours (yes, this includes Scott) is not healthy. I need some "me" time and I need to practice some separation from Noah for both our sakes.
• Noah: Up until last week, Noah had only ever been babysat by family and only a handful of times. We really want him to be comfortable being left, put down for naps/bed, and hanging out with people other than us. We feel that having a babysitter or two will be a good start to Noah learning to be without me and/or Scott and hopefully we won't fight separation anxiety too badly as he gets older.
• Scott: Scott is the most supportive husband on the planet. He has been coming home whenever I have an appt (I think I am on #4 now for my stupid tooth), need to hit the gym, or just need a break. Of course, this takes away from his work day and his time. So, having a babysitter will allow me to schedule appointments without taking Scott away from work. PLUS, hopefully he won't have a zombie wife sitting in a kitchen corner any more ;-).

So there you have it, my justification for having a babysitter 3 hours once a week. Oh, and my mom lives in Missouri so I can't just have her pop over from time to time (not that I'm bitter-ha). We also plan to use the sitter for date nights, so, another bonus point for babysitting! ANYWAY, to quickly wrap up, she came, Noah loved her, everything went great (as soon as I stopped babbling like a loon and actually left the house), and we can't wait to have her back next week.

We did a little babysitting ourselves this week. Can you spot the extra furry mound?! It was one full bed!

The city by the Bay - The Golden Gate Bridge celebrated its 75th anniversary this weekend. While we opted out of the crowds and mayhem of the marina, we did journey to the city for a little lunch. I was craving some good sushi and decided I needed to go with an old favorite to make sure my lunch delivered. We also took a little detour through our old neighborhood and reminisced about all the fun times we had there and what we miss (coffee shop, nail salon, Thai food, Chinese food, market all within two blocks of home), and don't miss (fog, cold, parking, wind, lack of space), about living in the city.

No spoons so he settled for chopsticks.

Photo Bonus

I took a bunch of pictures of the Noodle yesterday so I thought I would go ahead and throw them on the blog to kick off the long weekend!

I tried something new for monthly pictures. It was pretty much a fail as the chair is too short, sheet is wrinkly, and background is less than pretty. However, they are finished and that is victory enough for me!

In the words of Derry, "I kiilll you".

AHHH! He's still here!

Hi, Mom.

This was a moment where I had to decide whether to shoot the picture or intervene to avoid Noah pitching forward off the chair. Luckily, we got the shot and he stayed put!

Working on his standing!

All for today. More news next week!

Noah News: Week 28

Can I just remind everyone that 9 months is a loooooong time?! No, I am not pregnant, but as I typed week 28 it occurred to me that if I was incubating a baby I would still have 3 months to go and it seems like we have never lived a moment without our little Noodle, thereby making 28 weeks feel very long and 9 months even longer (how is that for a run on sentence?). 

A day in my life :-).

ANYWAY, in our 28th week with Noah, here are the headlines.

Diagnosis: The bear needs a nose-ectomy - Noah sleeps with a "lovey" that is a little blanket with bear head attached. Recently I noticed that the face of Bear has been wet in the morning or after a nap and put two & two together to realize that he uses it as a pacifier when he can't find his (or teething toy, you get the idea). Well, Bear had a little round nose and I had to make the unfortunate decision to give Bear a nose-ectomy for the safety of our little man. It actually made me really sad because Noah liked to play with his nose BUT I decided a moment of "where did his nose go" from Noah was much better than a choking incident with Mr. Bear. Fortunately, no one is any worse for wear and they are happily snuggled in together as we speak. 

Poor Bear lost his nose.

Take me out to the ball game - Noah attended his first baseball game this week! AND, to make it even more special, the Giants were playing the St. Louis Cardinals. Since Noah will inevitable grow up wearing a lot of orange and black, I took advantage of the day and gussied my man up in his best red duds. He was a great fan and we look forward to many more baseball games in his future.

He sported a tiny bot of Giants pride in his hat! It was dumb luck that our stroller was red :-).

Family fun at the ball park. We'll have to get Noah to Busch ASAP.

Sometimes you need a snooze mid game.

But then you wake up ready to cheer on the red birds!

A Pew Baptism - Sunday we all fancied up and headed to the church for Noah's Baptism. We knew going into it that there would be other babies being Baptized as well, but what we didn't expect was the complete disorganization and shenanigan that would ensue. We got there the required 15 minutes early but apparently for no reason because at 1pm the Priest came in and simply began. He was hollering out names, trying to locate babies, parents and Godparents and coming up and down the aisles for various parts of the Baptism. We stated our responses about his Baptism in unison with who knows how many other people from our seats and craned our necks to see what was going on. The saving grace was that we actually got to stand up front for the water over the head portion of the event. Noah was a perfect little Catholic and didn't even peep and we were so proud to see him Baptized. It was a great day surrounded by loving friends and family...albeit a little hilarious in the moment! 

My handsome men.

Pew side Baptizing...

Our big moment up front.

Silly faces for the little guy!

Godfather Tommy, Scott, Me, Noah (and his candle..I wasn't going to try and take it away!), Godmother Chrissie

Noah was psyched about all the picture taking. All the generations.

If only there was a reason for him to wear this again. So stinkin' cute.

Before the big event Noah got to meet his cousin (second cousin), Griffin. Griffin is just 7 weeks but only 1 lb. less than our peanut. I see much trouble in our future from these two!

"Hey, Griffin and Vale, look what I can do!"

Creepy Crawler - Our little Noodle wants to move! I swear I blog about this every week but each week we are getting closer and closer. He has started "planking" but still fails to make any forward progress. It sure is cute to watch him try to wiggle himself forward. He is a mover and a shaker though...rolling and grabbing for everything in sight!  Since I typed that this morning we had our first official forward motion. The power of an iPhone to motivate a little one to move! He has done this three times today so I will go ahead and put us in the "big trouble" category with a mover on our hands.

Our big boy can also hold his bottle all by himself now. Quite handy when we are out on walks!

Snooched - This is a new verb which means, "you have been out-smarted by a small, fluffy, peanut brained Pomeranian". I love my little Snooch (aka, Arnold) very much, however he has a less than awesome habit of ruining the rug in our family room by marking his territory when we are away. We moved in one year ago and we are on our third rug. SO, I decided to take action and put the poms in the kitchen whenever we left the house to alleviate this little issue. Apparently, I should have consulted the fluffiest pomeranian because this action was not approved. I knew neither of them liked it but Arnold apparently snapped. Over the weekend he started shaking and panting continuously for 24 hours which led to a visit to the vet on Saturday morning. The vet told us that he has an anxiety issue and we need to stop locking him in the kitchen because it is leading him to his breaking point. So, long story short, Arnold wins and he no longer has to go in the kitchen AND I apparently get to keep buying new rugs...thank God for Ikea.

Please don't put me in the kitchen!!

Noah News: Week 27

Here we are...barreling into summer and staring down an insane summer calendar. I told Scott that I was happy that we had Noah on the way into winter as things seem to be a bit more calm. I couldn't have been more right and now that the Noodle is a predictable little guy I am anxious for all our summer fun. 

Cottage cheese. The jury is still out.

But, let's not forget the last week as it was a very special one.

Mother's Day - I never really got this holiday until I became a mom. Sure, I celebrated every year for my mom, bought cards, gifts, etc... but I was playing along. I don't think you really can understand what this holiday means until you become the mother. Sunday, I officially deemed it my favorite holiday. Not because I was sipping wine on a surprise Napa getaway (more on that soon), but because I truly felt like this holiday makes sense. I have never been a big birthday person. I don't dislike my birthday and I do enjoy it every year, but I am pretty indifferent to festivities or special accolades. I feel like my mom should get the award on this day (just as I should get one on Noah's!). But, I digress. Mother's Day just felt special. I felt like I joined an elite club and one that I am damn proud to be a part of. I feel like I am good at my job as Noah's mom and I take pride in toting him around, showing him the world. All that to say, I actually felt deserving of a holiday. My job is amazing and rewarding, but it is also hard and having a day to recognize my "work" AND the fact that I get the privilege of being a mom to the most amazing boy was a very nice treat. 

The two most wonderful boys a girl could ask for.

Surprise! - I had a surprise party once in middle school. Other than that, I don't really recall ever being swept off my feet by something so unexpected. On Friday, Scott came home with flowers and a card for me. I was busy cleaning and cooking for our dinner guests so I quickly tossed the flowers on the counter and opened the card. I.was.shocked. Scott told me to pack my bags because we were going away for two nights to Napa for Mother's Day. OH, and he booked me a massage for Sunday morning. Shocked! I was actually frozen in disbelief and didn't know whether to cook, clean or pack. I need to do a full post on what an amazing husband and dad Scott is, but suffice it to say (since this is already long) that he swept me off my feet and made me feel like the only mom in the world this weekend. 

Noah checked out Gloria in his PJs (after a mad scramble out the door before morning nap).

Fortunately for the other patrons I managed to clothe myself in day-wear.

One very relaxed Mommy after a massage and looooooong shower at the spa.

Mother's Day lunch at Redd.

There are really no words for these pork buns. You should just probably plan a trip to experience them in all their tastiness.

Crashed out after a long weekend of wine tasting/dining.

Swiper, no swiping! - Noah is officially becoming a baby and not so much an infant. Dining out is proving to be interesting as he has realized that silverware, glasses, place mats, plates, salt & pepper, etc. are all much more fun than baby toys. He is quick and swipes things off the table before you can blink! Luckily we have a few distractions up our sleeves when the food arrives but I see our dining our experiences changing from Bottega to Pizza Hut verrrrrrry soon. Plus, I am not sure Bottega will let us come back since Noah stole a spoon (Scott found it in his car seat the next day!). He also swiped the tubing off of my pump while I was pumping...not a pleasant experience!

"No way, I didn't do it!"

The kid likes spoons!

Movin' and a Groovin' - As evidenced by our new restaurant experiences, Noah is changing SO much right now. He is so aware of his world and is constantly trying to take in new things and understand it all. My favorite is when he knocks toys off his exersaucer and then looks over the edge as if wondering, "Now, how did that happen and how do I get it back?!". He is also desperately trying to crawl although he has pretty much figured out how to move wherever he needs to go by scooting, rolling, and spinning on his belly!

To quickly sum up this week, because my to-do list is a mile long with exciting chores like sweep down cob webs, life is good. We are a very blessed family and we are thankful every day for all that we have...especially each other!

Sunday happiness at Frog's Leap

Noah News: Week 26 (SIX MONTHS!)

Here we are. Half a year has gone by since our little Noah came into our lives. It seriously seems like a flash. The memories of early days of sleepless nights, constant feedings, and general disaray are all pretty much erased. These past couple of months have been some of the most rewarding and fun times of my life. Watching my little Noodle grow and change and seeing his fun and happy personality develop is absolutely the best. We are truly blessed and couldn't be a happier little family.

November 9, 2011

And this week, making a mess with mangoes & pears.

I just want to eat him up! This was to say Happy Birthday to our favorite New Yorker, Kate.

Cinco de Churcho & a little lotta Drinko - Saturday we managed to pull ourselves together by 9am for our Baptism prep class. Scott, Tommy, Crick & I all had to attend in order to get the go ahead for Noah's baptism in a couple of weeks. It was 3 hours, people! 3! Luckily, it was followed with some Cinco de Mayo festivities at our house, and of course, great friends!

Noah wanted to try some of this Skinny Girl Margarita mom was "buzzing" about!

Who knew the exersaucer would be the hit of the party?!

Silly teeth :-).

Paisley taking a whack at the pinata.

And the inevitable candy scramble!

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said - We had lots of fun with Dr. T this week. Let's give the full rundown...

• Noah had what might have been his first cold. He was super congested every morning and had a few very rough sleeps as a result. One night he slept with us and on me. He would scream hysterically if I laid him flat so my arm acted as his pillow for the night (sad news for the circulation to my hand!). I say this might have been a cold because during the day he was his bubbly self. He would play, laugh, and was just generally normal. Only when it came time to lay down did he get congested or upset. That, and his snot was always clear (TMI?). SO, cold, or not, it was a little bit of a hiccup in our week that we tackled with our arsenal of cold remedies thanks to my Facebook friends! 
• Six month check up:
• Height: 26.5" (75th percentile)
• Weight: 14lbs. 10oz. (15th percentile) 
• Yes, we have a long, lean baby but he is as healthy as can be!
• Noah got the ok for smooth road jogging in the new Bob. We can't wait to hit the pavement!
• Food, food, food. We have been instructed to give Noah at least two solid feedings daily. This, on top of naps, breastfeeding, and outings is pretty much going to keep me on my toes all day, every day. I have been lucky to be consistent with one. Fortunately, we have a much more expansive menu now that he has hit 6 months (cottage cheese, egg yolk, yogurt!)!

First teething biscuit. He loved it; I think it is a messy disaster!

Summer Sun - It appears that summer has officially landed in the Bay Area. Noah loves to be outside so we spend the last hour, or so, before bed hanging out in the yard saying hello to neighbors and watching cars go by. The poms think this is a pretty nifty way to spend an evening as well. 

A little evening fun in the front yard.

The sun is a new development. Last Thursday it was still a bit chilly on our evening walks.

Dish it out - As I mentioned above, we got the a-ok to head out in the Bob. Noah and I decided to break it in on a walk around the Stanford Dish. That walk is no joke! I failed to take into account I would be pushing along an additional 40lbs (baby & stroller) which definitely added a little challenge to my new favorite exercise routine. I see some serious fitness and awesome tan lines in my summer future. 

The reason it is called the Dish. Yes, I was "that girl" who stopped to take a picture!

I'd say the Bob is going to work out just fine. He actually played for the first 30 minutes before succumbing to the stroller sleep.

Just for fun...

AP plotting his destruction protecting Noah's toys