Noah is 10 Months Old!

I know I say this all the time, but I cannot believe I have a 10 month old! It is just crazy! Now I see why people have a bunch of babies because they grow so fast! Let see what Noah is up to now:

* Noah weighs 26.5 pounds and is 31.5 inches tall! He was in the 95% on his height at his 9 month appointment - he is a tall boy!

* Noah has 7 teeth - 4 on the bottom and 3 on top, and one more about to come thorough on the top. I'm guessing it won't be too long until that top one comes through!

* Noah wears 18-24 month clothes and is still squeezing in his size 5 shoes for now. I got him some size 7's the other day, so we are ready for the day I can't get that chubby foot in his shoe anymore!

* Noah is wearing size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 night diapers. I have found a size bigger night diaper has helped prevent him from leaking since he sleeps so long.

* Noah has a good night routine: 7:30 eats dinner (12.5 ozs of baby food - 1 meat, 1 vegetable, 1 fruit and oatmeal mixture), 8:00 bathtime, 8:30 pajamas and a 9 oz cereal breastmilk bottle. He usually sucks that down in 10 minutes and I let him stay on the couch with me and Nathan until 9:00 unless he falls asleep eating or is really sleepy. Then I just put him in his bed and he goes to sleep on his own. No crying or anything  - the occasional talking though. We hear a couple of uh-ohs occasionally :)

* Noah is sleeping from 8:30 or 9:00 at night until around 6:00 the next morning! He then nurses and goes back to sleep until 8:00! Occasionally he will wake up at 5:00 to nurse, usually when he is teething. He has also skipped that early morning meal altogether and slept straight through until 7:30-8:00. He is a very good sleeper. I worked hard to get him to sleep good and be a self soother. I think it worked off. I do know that some babies just do not sleep throughout the night at all for years, I am so glad I was blessed in this department. I think God knew better! :)

* Noah now says "Uh-oh" and uses it properly. He says "Bye-bye" and waves, but not all the time. He can say momma and daddy, but only on occasion. He also says "Un-uh" (the no sound) alot, but I don't think he knows he is saying it. He babbles alot and lately it has been "Ow, ow, ow" so it sounds like he is getting hurt over and over again, it is really cute!

* Noah is crawling like crazy! I have had to hide and move alot of stuff in the living room! He is really fast! He likes to pull the cord on my breast pump while I'm pumping to make it go off all the time - the stinker! We had to put the baby gates up to keep him in the living room, especially when I am home alone and pumping, because I have a limited reach then.

* Noah is pulling up on a few toys and lately he keeps pulling up on the side of the tub and trying to grab stuff outside the tub. I'm not a fan of that slippery situation! He is a chunk as it is, so add water to that and his strength and it takes all I have to keep him in the tub sometimes! I have found that giving him cups in the tub to play with works as a good distraction though!

* Noah isn't much on anyone besides me, Nathan, and Miss Laurie (babysitter), but he does warm up quickly to others. It even takes him a little bit to get used to people he sees regularly - but if someone he isn't really used to takes him from one of us 3, the lip comes out :(

We have started the party planning for his big 1st birthday! Our boy is growing so fast!

Noah's Top 5 Toys!

Noah, like most kids, has a bunch of toys. I don't feel he has too many yet because he literally plays with every toy on a daily basis! Now, after his 1st birthday in 2 months I may be singing a different tune! I wanted to do this blog on Noah's top 5 toys for a couple of reasons: 1: I will know later which toys were good toys when/if we have another child; 2: Someone may want a toy reccomendation for a child Noah's age; 3: I may want to tell Noah later in life what was his favorite things to play with.

In order of Noah's preference:

1: Ty bear named Baby Bear Blue

Noah goes to a sitter and her daughter had the girl (pink) version of this bear she calls Baby Bear. Her daughter loved it so much that she bought an extra as back-up in case something happened to the original Baby Bear. Well, of course her daughter wants nothing to do with Baby Bear #2 so she let Noah play with it. He fell in love. I wasn't real wild about him loving on a pink bear so I asked her where she got it. I was so happy it was just from a local florist! So, we got Noah the blue version and named him Blue after the old man on the movie Old School - I'm hoping one day we can get Noah to say "You're my boy Blue!" Noah LOVES Blue! He goes everywhere with us and he sleeps with Noah. Noah rubs Blue on his eyes when he is sleepy, throws him up in the air and then crawls to get him, and sometimes just chunks him out of the way, but he always comes back to him. When we get him out of his crib or pick him up off the floor we say "Get Blue" and he snatches him up and laughs everytime. Noah loves Blue.

2: My Pal Scout

Scout was a Christmas gift from my mom. At first I wasn't sure about him. The box said he learns your childs name and sings songs. I was intimidated that it was going to be a difficult process. He came with a USB cord and a little instruction sheet. I was way wrong - it was simple. I just plugged him in and there were a few steps and in about 5 minutes I had him programmed to know Noah's name, favorite food, favorite color, and favorite animal. Also - you can pick what songs he sings and change them up with the seasons (for example: he can sing Christmas songs and Happy Birthday). Noah loves Scout. He grins from ear to ear when he sees him and caught on really fast on how to push the buttons on his paws to play music. He is obsessed with the bedtime music! Without a doubt, everytime he is playing with him he will turn on 10 minutes of bedtime music. We still laugh everytime - it is like he knows that the bedtime music is annoying so he turns it on over and over. When Noah turns on the regular music he bounces up and down dancing along with him and everytime he comes to a part where he says Noah's name he smiles really big. Nathan and I both love Scout - so glad we have him!

3: Spin & Spill Cement Truck

This was a gift from Noah's 2nd cousin in our Christmas gift exchange. It has several things Noah likes: balls that rattle, a truck, and 2 spinning things. Noah always picks up 2 things and bangs them together - especially balls. So, these were perfect! There are 3 balls that go in the back of the truck and you push down on the green lever to spin the "mixer" part of the truck. Noah hasn't got the whole green lever thing down, he just spins it by hand. He also put all kinds of other toys in there and spins them. The truck also has a spinner on top of the cab and Noah loves that part of toys! When you push the truck around the eyes (headlights) move around and the truck make a clicking noise. Noah just loves this truck. We will put a bunch of toys in the floor for him to play with and he always goes for this truck first!

4: Go Baby Go Musical Jungle

I got this for Noah when he was 5 months old at a Rhea Lana's sale. I just thought it was adorable! He hasn't much cared for it until about 2 months ago and now he loves it! He takes the balls and puts them down the spiral ramp and sticks them in all the little hiding spots on it. It sings some cute songs and keeps his attention easily. He is also pulling up on his knees using it and playing with the toys on top of it which is a springing frog, spinny ball, mirror, and butterfly wings that flap. He has sat and played with this toy for an hour straight before - he loves it!

5: Laugh & Learn Kitchen

My Dad got Noah this for Christmas and I think he was a little worried when I told him I wanted to get Noah a kitchen. But, he really enjoys it. It is a refrigerator on one side and a stove, sink, and oven on the other side. It has a cute little trash can on the side too. It comes with a pot with alphabet soup in it (sticker), a spoon, carrots, applesauce, and milk. The carrots are triangle shaped, the applesauce round shaped, and the milk square shaped to fit in the shape holes in the refrigerator door. The refrigerator opens and there is a pull out drawer, light, and flaps of food to go through and they all make noise. The stove, sink, oven, and light switch all make noises depending on what setting you have it on. You can have it on learning time, spanish, songs, or playtime. He will play really good with it and loves to flip it over upside down and play with it usually. He loves to flip the light switch and the clock on it has a spinning ball that plays time telling music when he play with it. He has tons of fun with his kitchen!

Each kid is different but Noah seems to enjoy these toys the most over all. He has some close contenders for 5th place though! After his birthday in 2 months he may be onto a whole new set of favorites, but it is fun to watch what draws him in.

We Will Decide Our Own Future

I read this on someones Facebook status and loved it! It is the perfect way to put how I feel about certain parenting opinions Nathan and I get constantly! Don't get me wrong, helpful advice is welcome about phases and issues children have - but when people tell me what negative thing Noah is going to do - all the time- it gets old. I don't mean the stories people tell us about the crazy or bad thing their child did, once or twice. It is the ones who act like their child is a brat, and they don't know why or how to fix it because that is how all kids are. Noah is not perfect and throws mini-fits already when you take something away or he is not ready to get out of the bath tub - that is to be expected. But when other peoples under-disciplined children are rude and disrespectful, that is not something that I think ALL kids do - the kids that get away with it do it. Noah may try it and we will handle it then. But for people to tell me constantly about how big of a brat or spoiled my child is going to be or act is very irritating!

I was told several things that would happen during my pregnancy that didn't happen, and several things happened that no one told me about! The same has happened since Noah was born. All children are different, all parents are different. So, the combination of the two creates the dynamic of how that child will behave. I'm not trying to say I am an expert on anything - Noah is my first child. I do have 11 nieces and nephews however, coached hundreds of kids, and have been around children for a long time. So, I feel I have a valid opinion on the subject.

There is not a day that seems to go by that we don't here "You just wait until..." or "When Noah is older you will..." - I'm not a fan of being told what I will or will not do - whether it is true or not. I read several books before Noah was born and one talked about not letting the baby come in and take over as in charge of everything - and I really liked that. Noah is a part of our family, not the leader of the family. We have had to change a few things we do to accommodate his schedule, but that is what families do. If you let the child come in and you cater to their every need and they do not have to adjust, you are setting them up to be defiant when things don't go their way. So far, this has worked great with Noah. We have a good routine. He knows what to expect from me and I know what to expect from him.

When people talk negatively to me about what their kids are doing and what Noah is "going to do" it sounds like they are unhappy. Unhappy with their children - and that makes me sad. I do not want to talk to anyone and them come away from that conversation thinking I am unhappy with Noah in any way. He is going to upset me, disappoint me, and down right tick me off at times - but that does not make him a brat or me unhappy with being his mom.

This is just my opinion, and I had to get it out there because this has been going on since long before I even had Noah. Before I even got pregnant we have heard this. I am so proud to be Noah's mom and cannot wait to teach him right from wrong in the upcoming years - and I can only wish everyone else felt that way.