HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

I swear I didnt give him the candy......

Well, Its October 31 - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I cant believe how fast this year has gone by already!! Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away - and then Christmas - ACK! I am getting really excited for the holidays though..I LOVE this time of year! And now that we have a happy little baby to share it with it will be even better....

We have been having a great time hanging out with other babies and new mommies with the MOMS Club I joined - I tell ya....its been a LIFESAVER! Well, maybe a marriage saver is a better description! HA!

We walk almost everyday with out new friends at a nearby park - we go to infant story time at the library and I really think Noah likes it - they read several short books and then we sing and dance along to rhymes and goofy songs like 'The weels on the bus" and Noah smiles through the whole thing!

Last night Noah was laying on floor on his play mat just sucking away on a new pacifier and it fell out of his mouth - and as I was leaning down to put it back in for him, he reached out, picked it up, and stuck it right back in his mouth all by himself!!!!!!!! I was shocked! And then so excited and impressed by him - and then sad....he is already beginning to not need me as much - its a small thing, I know, but it sure pangs the heart anyway. We get so excited for him to grow and learn new things...but when you actually see it happening you want them to stay a baby forever!

He is beginning to sit up better and for longer periods by himself - he reaches for and wants to explore everything. I held a peice of ICE to see what he would think about that and he sort of made a sour face when he touched it - I wonder what he thought???

He loves to pet Bandit - everytime Bandit comes close Noah reaches out for him. I encourage it because I want them both to get used to each other - but I think Bandit is sort of shocked by it - I can just see him thinking "Woah, it sure moves a lot more than it used to! Got any food on those fingers?" I put some sunscreen on Noah one morning before our walk - and Bandit tried to lick every inch of it off him - Noah laughed when his feet were being 'cleaned'! It was cute...

Noah is definatley more aware of who Mommy and Daddy are and who 'strangers' are - he will cry for a few seconds if someone new holds him - but once he figures out he is safe and new people are funny - he will smile and be just fine with it. Then he will spit up on them...thats when ya know you are really accepted! HA!

Anyway, we just wanted to say HAPPY HALLOWEEN to everyone! We sure miss you all and cant wait to see ya'll for the holidays!

4 Months

Well - we are beginning yet another month as a family! Noah is now 4 months old and its been exciting! He has started to experience solid foods - so far just oatmeal and squash from time to time. He loves it - we tried apple sauce and he didnt like that too much - he gave me the cutest sour face, gagged, and then out it came! It was a messy job at first trying to feed him completely dressed and with a bib on- all he wanted to do was put the filthy bib or his food covered hands in his mouth which just made the mess worse - so now he eats almost naked -and with all furniture draped in plastic shower curtains...kidding...but thats not a bad idea hmm...

As you can imagine Bandit is never very far away when Noah is getting fed - he just sits beside him and patiently waits for that little squash covered hand to fall into the perfect licking position. hehe

As the video shows below he can roll over - from belly to back and from back to belly. Sometimes he forgets and panics when he suddenly finds himself with a different view! And I know it may be early but I really think he has crawling on the brain already! He is trying with all his might to figure that one out. I wonder how long it will take??? Right now I think its adorable - well I think everything is adorable - but its scary to me too. I only thought I was tired now, I have a feeling that this little guy is going to run me ragged! With any luck at all we wont be the parents of the little kid wearing a helmet and leash at the playground!

I see YOGA in his future...I can't even do that pose!

Noah got his second round of shots this past friday and that was hard - he cried for about 2 minutes and then was happy again. I love his ability to get over things pretty quickly. Of course there is the rare occation when he cries himself to sleep, but we really are blessed with a happy baby - all we need to do is look at him and he gives us the biggest gummy grin and squeals in delight.

The BIG NEWS is that he is sleeping through the night!!!! I am now beginning to feel more like my old self - I actually wore make-up and did my hair the other day (WOOHOO!!) - we walk at the park several times a week - I am making lots of friends in my local MOMS Club...life is just wonderful these days!

Our little PUMPKIN

We went to a pumpkin patch this week. I don't know why really, we didn't get any pumpkins and Noah is WAY to young to appreciate the scraggely farm animals and rinky-dink corn maze..I guess I just wanted some pictures of him at an actual pumpkin patch for his first Halloween. It was a bit hot outside so shortly after this Noah fell asleep in his stroller for the remainder of the visit while I chit-chatted with other moms from my MOMS Club group. We actually ended up having a good time and I'm glad we went! :0)

Noah Rolling Over

Here he is ROLLING OVER!! He did this for the first time over a week ago but it has taken me this long to get him to do again in front of the camera....

Milestone Week!

Well - it has been an exciting week here at the house with Noah. He had his first real belly laugh on Tuesday (Oct 2nd for those keeping record)!! I was changing his diaper and he had his feet in the air - so I grapped his little toes and stuck them in his mouth! He thought that was pretty funny so we did that over and over again until I got teary eyed from listening to his adorable little laugh! hehe

THEN - we spent the day at the office on Thursday (Oct. 4th) and I put him down on the floor for some 'Tummy Time'. (I confess, we hadnt been doing that as much as we should) and after about 15 seconds of working it out in his head he rolled over all on his own!! And to my knowledge on his first try! We were so excited at the office we made him do it again! He had a surprised but very pleased look on his face - his little grin said " HA! I dont need no stinking 'Tummy Time' !!!" hehe

He gotta wear shades...

We went to the lake with some friends this past weekend and of course, I had to get the appropriate gear for Noah - little swim trunks, baby sunscreen, a hat, and some very cool baby shades. The swim trunks he didnt wear afterall for a couple of reasons - they ended up being WAY too big for him....and I really couldnt figure out if he was supposed wear a diaper underneath them...it said 'no additional diaper required'...but it just didnt look very leak proof so I just avoided it all together! What can I say, Im clueless...I just didnt want my friends to get pee'd on! BUT he still looked adorable. I learned that the lotion type of baby sunscreen is SO much better than the twist up stick kind - those take FOREVER to apply and are harder to make sure you have all areas covered well - but we stayed under the umbrella anyway so it worked out. We did let him put his feet in the water and he seemed to think that was pretty cool - well he didnt react to it at all really, but at least he didnt cry! He loves being outside and I think he had a good time....AND he slept like a log that night so that's a plus for me!

Daddy and Noah

Noah enjoying some play time with Daddy! Patty cake with his feet is a family favorite! hehe