One More Notable Mention...

What a horrible parent!  I forgot to say Happy Seven-Month Birthday to Noah!  He turned seven months old on Thursday.

By the way, at seven months, we began baby sign language.... This is where we begin with one or two words per week gesturing as well as speaking the word so that he can gesture his wants and needs before he is able to put them into words.  Our two words we have begun with are "more" and "all done."  It is a good idea on paper, but he mostly looks at us like "Why the hell are you poking your fingers together like that when you should be putting more food in my mouth, morons?"

Of course we diligently continue happily questioning and gesturing "more?" "more?" as we spoon the food into his mouth certain that he understands and just is not in the mood to poke his fingers together right now.

Meanwhile, he did shake his hands (the "all done" gesture) earlier this week while crawling towards his toy- we were not sure what he had finished, but clapped with pride for him anyway.

A week in the life...

Last week was filled with installing and uninstalling hurricane shutters.  Noah truly enjoyed the tropical storm festivities- especially the part where he got to sleep in Mom and Dad's room as I was positive the tropical storm force winds would rip the front of our condo off and carry our baby along with them across the state of Florida.  Needless to say, that never happened and Noah was quite unFayzed by Fay...

Friday we spent an evening with our newly engaged friends, Janet and Billy.  They made us steaks and Noah played with his cool new toys at their house.  Their two large dogs (horses, according to Scott) were very accommodating.  Scott was positive they planned to devour Noah in two bites, but they were happy to ignore him as he drooled and spit-up throughout their territory.

Noah spent the rest of the weekend with his Gams.  He charmed the soup-nazi at Larry's Lunchbox (a feat I understand is nearly impossible), jammed on his four-key piano (he is quite the musician- already an accomplished pianist and he is becoming quite the percussionist as well), and otherwise ruled the roost as per usual at his Gams's house.

Scott and I joined our neighbors Ben, Amanda, and Harper, sans Noah, for sushi and Smores Saturday night.  Harper made sure we were entertained so as not to miss Noah too much.  He drooled and chewed and squealed- and made us smile just like Noah does.  Thanks for a lovely evening!

For now, it is back to the grindstone.  Noah took an early bedtime- 8:15.  This is a first.  I think I will head to bed now as the boss may be calling as early as 5am...

A few more firsts...

Well, it's official- our boy is a crawler.  Apparently, of all places to go in our home, it was under the table he preferred the most.  As you can see, he currently adores spending a good part of his day peeking around table legs with big smiles for us all.  "Getting into everything" is an understatement.  This morning alone, he dumped out the cats' food- twice, splashed in the cats' water bowl, unfolded all my folded laundry, and pulled apart a photo album.  Apparently we are not as baby-proofed as we thought we were and I don't watch him closely enough!

As you can clearly see from the video here, he also is refining his walking and speech abilities. He has learned to say "Mamamamamama" as well- he usually does this when he is crying for something. I don't know if he knows that is my name, but my heart melts every time he says it and I ultimately give him what he wants- either way it makes him say my "name" more often so we both are happier people in the end.

Noah has given up the Bumbo seat in favor of his spiffy new high chair and is also giving the sippy cup a shot as was suggested by Dr. Wilson- I feel certain because he is aware of how advanced Noah is.  Currently, Noah loves chewing on the bottom and sides of the sippy and pouring all of the water out onto the tray... at least he is holding it.

While he is enjoying the sippy cup, his drinking method of choice is still the trusty bottle- of course he prefers to have his bottle while playing with his dad's chin hair- such a little multi-tasker!  In general, Noah adores pulling hair- be it from my head or from his dad's legs, either way our two-foot torturer is always squealing with delight from our grimaces.

An finally, much to our distaste, Noah has moved up to the big-kid tub.  While we had hoped he would stay atop the sink until he was confidently able to bathe himself, he no longer fits safely into his infant bath tub.  So as we bend an contort our backs to soap, scrub, and protect from drowning, he gleefully splashes and chews on his bath toys.

To Laugh or Not to Laugh

Recently I took Noah to his 6 month doctor's visit (sniff sniff).  FYI he is in the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th for height.  He may not be shooting many famous hoops, but there is still hope for a running back- I think.

I mentioned to Dr. Wilson- who is the best doctor we ever could have hoped for (I call him for the slightest worry- bug bites, colorful puke, colorful poop, runny noses- and he even answers his phone himself after hours and on weekends- without sounding annoyed!).  So anyway, I mentioned to the Doc that our neighbor, Harper, has been laughing since he was probably about 10 minutes old.  Some babies do that, he reminded me.  So then I said that Noah is not a big laugher.  Dr. Wilson then commented on how much he smiles and talks and that there is nothing wrong.  When I mentioned that he laughs at his grandparents, Dr. Wilson said, "See, Janet, Noah is perfectly fine- you are just not that funny..."

A Week of Firsts

Last weekend, we drove a trailer full of goodies up to Dan and Aunt Stephie's new home near Washington D.C.   It was a long drive, but well worth it to see Steph and Dan and to visit the Capital.  

While we were there, Noah spent the weekend at his Mema and Gramps' house.  No, he did not receive a diploma, but he did surprise us with a very cute little pearly white upon our return.  Later in the week another tooth pooped out- he now has two little nubins on his bottom jaw.

He is also "crawling," apparently.  Tuesday morning he was playing happily in the Living Room while I brushed my teeth in the Bathroom.  After I rinsed and spit I turned around to find him squealing with delight behind me- he loves it when I rinse and spit.

Noah also had his first raging diaper rash last week which resulted in his first "Hang out with his wang out" session.  We placed towels all over the Living Room floor and he frolicked in the buff to give his toosh some healing fresh air.  There were very few mishaps and Noah now has a new favorite appendage.

Yesterday we did our part to refuel the Economy and spent the day at Coconut Point Mall.  We got Noah a high chair and had some pictures taken and he enjoyed stopping at this little playground there.  Notice how excited he is about this turtle.

This morning brought another first.  Noah was down for his "nap" in his crib and decided he was going to start pulling himself up- I think he felt it would be a good idea to get as many milestones out of the way in one week as possible.  Well he pulled himself up and right out of the crib onto the floor.  When I ran in the room he was sitting up looking at me like he was surprised his wings didn't work- everything else had been working so well for him this week, it's no wonder.

Noah is fine- despite his parents best efforts.  He is giggling, crawling, squealing, and chewing on everything within reach- instead of rolling in a circle as if trying to get his bearings as we feared would happen all morning.  Needless to say, we have lowered the crib.