night disturbances

Last night was another bad night for Noah. Not sure what triggers it but he gets up and doesn't want to go back to sleep for some reason. Of course he picks the night that Jude sleeps AMAZING (woke up once at 4am to feed and then back to sleep until 8:10am).
He also was so angry when Jamie left the room (oh probably around 1am?) that he somehow fell out of his crib. First time doing that. He's climbed out of the pack 'n play but never the crib.
Ah well, I suppose it was only a matter of time.
We'll see how it goes tonight.
Speaking of which...why am I still awake at midnight?! Dar.

Noah hungry!

I can't recall if I've posted about this, but lately Noah's been saying, "EAT" when he's hungry.
My little caveman.

Trick or Treat!

Noah did so well on Halloween. We decided to take him Trick or Treating and I was amazed at his willingness to wear the Buzz Lightyear costume. We showed him at our house how to ring the bell and hold open the bag and say "Trick or Treat" or as we modified it, "Treat please!".

The first house we went to Noah didn't quite understand the concept and started to walk inside the woman's house. It was really cute and not something I was expecting from him as new places or change often result in him running away, not embracing the new place. Perhaps the idea of getting to eat candy was a bit of a motivation for him (although he hadn't actually tasted any of it yet).

We let Noah have some chocolate (Smarties, KitKat bar) for the first time and of course, he was an immediate fan. J He started screaming when people put the candy in the bag or when Jamie told him to put the candy in the bag because he wanted to eat it right away. We were able to make it almost all the way around our block and Jude fell asleep in my arms (in his chicken costume of course).

I was so proud of Noah trying out this new thing and he did really well. Of course when we got home and dumped out all the candy he wanted to eat it all. Right. Then.

2 year letter

 

Dear Noah,

 

You are 2 years old! I can't believe I have a 2 year old son!

Well, this year has certainly been full of amazing, hilarious, challenging and wonderful experiences! You've learned so much I don't think I'd be able to sum it all up in a letter! (But I'll try.)
You've learned how to run, climb up on tons of things (including getting into your dinner chair), you've learned so many new words (with the most recent one being that you actually say "Yeah." Instead of "Uh huh."), you've recently become especially clingy to Mom (more on that later) and have learned that you have a new baby brother who you often can make smile just by leaning up near him and saying in a sweet voice, "Hi Jude!".

You've had tons of new experiences too! You've been apple picking, rode on a school bus, played at the YMCA (not yet by yourself, though), spent days with Grandma, moved into a house with a big back yard where you rake leaves, run around, play in your sandbox, dig in the garden and play in the garage.

You are right on time for hitting the "trying twos" and frequently throw fits (mmm…about anything and everything it seems like) and you definitely know how to throw around the word "NO" quite well. You then swing to the other side of the equation and can be the biggest cuddle bug and enjoy snuggling with Mommy. You are very, very attached to me these days. I'm not sure what triggered it but my guess is the entrance of your baby brother to this world. You are no longer the centre of Mommy and Daddy's attentions and we both know it's a hard transition for you. You are great with Jude and already it's hard to picture our family without the both of you!

You are currently going through a very fussy eating stage (since about May of this year!) and that's been hard for all of us. You have no problem gulping down juice or eating sweets (I think you may have inherited my sweet tooth) but I guess that's all part of toddlerhood. You still don't like pasta. (Seriously! Who doesn't like pasta?)

You're still taking one nap a day (hooray!) and I hope it continues, although we are much more flexible now as you can survive without one if need be (although it's often not pretty by the end of the day). You go to sleep at 7:30pm and wake up around 8am which I am quite pleased with (and hope it continues). You've had some sleep disturbances and wake up from time to time, but generally they are related to change, sickness or teething.

Speaking of which, you are getting your 2 year molars (um, it seems like I've been saying that for FOREVER) as you've been drooling way more (again) and chomping on anything you can get into your mouth. I caught you chewing on my couch pillow the other day and promptly marched you out to the store to buy you a teething soother. Well it was a hit and has helped considerably.

Ah yes. Soothers. You're still loving your soothers. You didn't seem to care either way around 12-14 months but then I think your molars started shifting and coming and you can't get enough of your soother. You love love love it. And I admit that I let you walk around with one in your mouth at home. Before I would make you leave it in your crib (also a good way to make sure we didn't lose one) but these days you're usually seen with one in your mouth.

So today. Today you turned two. You decided to enter the year of TWO by throwing a tantrum and smacking the muffin with a lit candle in it onto the floor because you didn't want to blow it out after your Daddy and I sang you Happy Birthday. Then you got a time out. Then you apologized. Then you threw another fit (full-on, screaming and kicking on the floor) on the kitchen floor. So we ignored you.
You got over it and we gave you your presents and you ate your muffin.
We went to your Grandma and Grandpa's house because you and Grandpa have the same birthday! We ate lots of food, you threw quite a few tantrums and were my total shadow which was quite frustrating for me because I don't always want to go where you're going – especially when there are plenty of other able-bodied family who want to love on you and spend time with you. Anyway, so you got a LOT of books that are so fun – some make noise, some are all about trucks and some are ones that I read when I was a kid and loved! So we'll have lots of reading opportunities together (although I'm putting them away and bringing them out one by one over the next few weeks to prolong the fun!

Anyway…these next few months weeks (?) are going to be trying as we work on weaning you off of your extreme attachment to me, but we want you to be happy with other people as well – for all of our sakes!

I love you, I wouldn't ever leave you and not come back and I want what's best for you. You are my sweet two year old and I look forward to this year and the years to come with you.

Love

Mommy

1st Haircut

So Noah got his first haircut today! He totally flipped out when I put him in the chair but we stuck with it and eventually he felt comfortable enough to put on the cape (with much persuasion from me) and sit and talk to me (or rather listen to me babble to distract him as much as possible).
He looks so cute and clean cut now (no more hockey hair!) and maybe he even let the hairdresser use the buzzers around his ears and at the back.

words

Noah's speech has been taking off recently.
One of his favourites is "All gone". He started saying it when Jamie left for work.
"Daddy all gone."
So cute. But Jamie didn't like that. He would try and tell Noah that he wasn't "all gone" for good. That he would be back. It's too funny and now it's almost a game between the two of them.
When we ask Noah where something or someone is that he can't see he immediately says, "All gone!".
He knows all the characters to his favourite movies lately...
"Buzz" - which sounds more like "buj" kinda.
"Woowee" - Woody
Oh I need to blog more or write them down because he actually has some phrases but I can't recall them right now.
He can clearly say "Gramma" now which is super cute.
He also babbles and talks but I have no idea what he says sometimes.
He now will also say "pees" for Please instead of just signing it. Now we gotta work on "Thank you". :D

I wanna hold your hand...

Last night we were driving home from my parent's house and I looked back and Noah in his pj's (it was 8:30pm) and his soother and he reached out his hand to me so I held it.
It was really sweet and as he started to fall asleep his hand would loosen but then he would tighten it again and grab my hand again. He finally conked out and I got my hand back but it was a moment that melted my heart completely. He sure does have his moments...:D

apple picking!

Johnny Appleseed.

He ate so many apples! It was really cute.

Friends in a wagon!

Trying to pick it up!

Fall Retreat

We had a great weekend at Summit up North in Haliburton. The weather was decent and Noah seemed to enjoy the outdoors playing with his friends and making new friends!

Our family of four. (Noah is attempting an escape.)

Sulky McSulkerson

He wouldn't smile for our self-shot so I joined in the pout-fest. :)

Drinking Juice!

My happy little guy.

He found a hockey stick!

boys will be boys

Today Noah and I went into the garage to tidy up a bit.
Noah just loves being in there tromping around and climbing into his stroller or whatever else he can climb up on.
He found one of those swiffer duster things (without the duster part) and automatically started doing his boy "monster" noises like it was his sword or pointer or bat or something...boy-ish.
And I loved it.
He does this "boy noise"/"monster noise" all the time.
The other day I had flipped on the living room light and because of the angle it cast Noah's shadow on the floor. It took him a bit to notice but when he did, he spotted his fingers and started roaring and making monster noises while making a "claw" with his hands. Over and over...it killed me.
When I see him flying his airplane around and making the sounds it melts my heart and I think, "Yeah. I was totally meant to be a Mom to 2 boys." (and maybe more?)

no longer a baby

I'm watching some home video footage from January-June of this year that my Dad put on a DVD. Even at 15, 16 months...Noah was still a little baby boy. And when I think of him now (only 7 months later) it's so clear that my baby is now a boy. And I could cry when I watch this footage. He was such a sweet little guy. He still is...but he's so all boy now. And I LOVE it. But the "no longer"s of my kiddo still get me right here *points to the heart*.

words!

Noah's vocabulary and language skills are totally taking off! It's actually REALLY cute. He just pops out with words I didn't even know he had!
Like today when we were in the grocery store in line, Noah was fooling around with the grocery cart and sticking his foot in and out of the bottom part of the cart. Until his foot got stuck in between the slats and he couldn't get his croc up and out of it. He looked up at me and said, "Stuck." It was pretty cute and despite having told him NOT to stick his foot in the cart I couldn't help but smile and help him out.
And then tonight at dinner I was cutting him some pieces of apple. At one point he looked up at me and then held his empty plate out at me and said, "More Apple." And he said it several more times as he continued to eat all the pieces of apple I gave him. I could tell he was focusing quite hard on saying it properly and it was REALLY cute. Especially when he messed up "apple" or "more". Just so so so cute.
I love my little guy.

big boy

Last night Noah stepped on the scale in the bathroom before his bath.
He weighs in now at 35.6 lbs.
Whoa.

Noah's Funny Faces

Please someone make the screeching, screaming, yelling, wailing STOP STOP STOP!!!

It makes me feel ugly-angry.

So please stop.

PLEASE.

"o"

One of Noah's many adorable faces. Checking out his baby brother ("My Baby Jude") and probably singing a song to him.

movies and walks

Cutting out all movies and tv went REALLY well. Noah stopped looking in the tv drawer because they weren't there and we got out, saw people and did things.
There has been no more screaming at night although the screaming during the day still persists. Boo.
It's mostly when he doesn't want to do something or doesn't like something but doesn't communicate it in a way that is - mature I guess. Hahah...I guess that's a toddler for ya. I still tell him to use his words because the screaming DRIVES ME INSANE.
So mornings have been much more enjoyable and relational since Noah's not glued to the tv. We read books, he's much more content to play with his toys by himself and we take self shots with the camera. :)
Anyway, so we got a double jogging stroller which Noah does really well in and likes that he can put Jude's soother back in his mouth if it falls out. I really like the stroller and am pleased with the purchase. It definitely helps me feel more confident and free to get out and about with both boys. Yesterday I took them on my 4.5 k walk to the library. I discovered this walk before Jude was born (on his due date) while walking with Noah. It's on some back forest-y paths and is quite beautiful! It's a hilly path at times, though and was quite a feat with the jogging stroller. But both boys did well - Noah stayed in and was happy to be there and Jude fell asleep. :)

winter in the fall

Yesterday I was sorting/unpacking a couple boxes of winter clothing (jackets, mitts, etc.) to figure out how to fit it all in our front closet.
Noah saw his winter hat and mitts and IMMEDIATELY wanted to put them on.
Can you guess why?

sweetie pie

Noah has been doing really well these days. He's been listening and obeying me especially when we're out and right now he's actually in his crib singing to himself since waking up this morning. It's sooo cute. I love my little (big) guy.

Screamy McScreamerson

Even with all the sleep training and whatnot that we've done with Noah, he still persists from time to time with a little scream action.

I thought we were past it all as of last week or whenever it last was but tonight he persisted.

Of course Jamie was at work and I had both boys. By 8pm both boys were in bed and quiet. And then 8:10pm hit. And Jude started crying. So I wanted to try an experiment and see if Jude would settle after a couple minutes of crying.

He didn't.

And then Noah started crying. But just quiet crying. Not screaming.

So while I comforted Jude and eventually put him back down, Noah was working himself up. So I went in, found his soother and put his blanket back on top of him (he was already laying down) and left the room. But this only served to anger young Noah and the scream fest began. I let him scream for about 15 minutes at which point Jude started crying again and I went in and settled him and then went to Noah (in the other room – thankfully they are not in the same room yet). I lay him down (he was standing at this point) and gave him his soother and left again and the screaming continued for another…oh 15 minutes or so. I went back in and decided to sit in the room because Jude hadn't cried out again at all. I set my watch timer to see how long it would take for him to fall back asleep. (As long as I'm sitting in the room he's generally calm and quiet and just lays there). Well he did indeed lie there quietly and when I saw his bent legs straighten out and him eventually turn onto his belly I knew he was almost asleep or already asleep. I quietly left the room and minutes later the screaming began again. I decided to let him scream. I think within 5 minutes he had stopped and was quiet.

The kid knows how to scream, I'll give him that.

I'm always amazed at the capacity that children have to scream for long periods of time. It's exhausting! I don't know how they do it. I'd collapse after a minute or so, but some kids can carry on for HOURS. Amazing.

Well, all this screaming got me thinking. Noah watched an especially large amount of movies today. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it (and one movie he seemed slightly frightened of at parts) but I decided to pack up all his movies (he knows where they are and opens the drawer every day and picks out movies he'd like to watch) and put them away. We will be going out in the morning for a walk to the park (or maybe just a walk) and maybe run a few errands. But no more movies for (at least) the rest of the week. Movies have literally been my lifesaver but it's time to crack down and start being a "good" Mommy.

This means that I won't be seeing you, Internet, as much as I have been in the past. I've realized that movies have let me partake in some of MY leisure activities, but being a Mom who doesn't plop her kid (or let her kid plop) in front of the tv for long periods of time each day requires more action, thought, planning and intentionality (if that's a word). So…we'll see.

play by play of a poop

Tonight while in the bath, Noah started reaching around to his bum and then looked over the side of the bath tub - this was where his potty chair had been sitting up until this morning when he decided to take it into his bedroom as a toy...or prop...or something.
Anyway, so I read his cues and asked him if he had to poop and was looking for his potty chair. I think he said, "Uh huh" or was positive in his body language so I told him I'd go get it (yes, I left my child in the bath alone...bad Mom!). I ran to his bedroom and grabbed it and ran back. Then I decided to stick the potty IN the bath tub and get him to sit on it while in the bath (this may possibly back fire on me in the future when he sees the bath as a place to take a dump...but only time will tell). At first he threw in a few of his bath toys into the potty and I laughed and told him it wasn't for toys, it was for poop and pee and that he should sit on it if he had to go poo.
So I helped him stand up and then properly sit on it.
Then (yes, I did it AGAIN) I heard Jude crying in the other room so I told Noah to stay seated on the chair and I'd be right back with "Baby Jude". So I ran and got Jude and came back just as I started to see a more concentrated look on Noah's face. Then a real "push" face and I heard the load being dumped. A poop! Initiated completely by Noah!
I asked him if he was done and it seemed as though he was so I told him to stand up and I wiped him, showed him his accomplishment and then told him I was flushing it down the toilet where poop and pee go.
I cheered him on and told him I was proud of him.
He seemed more into his bath toys, though.
Anyway, so who knows how long this will take, but it seems as though he's been showing more awareness of his bowel movements and whatnot, so we'll see how it goes.

feet and cars

My little (big) boy now wears size 8 shoes. My goodness.

He also just asked to watch "Cars" and then patted the seat beside him and said, "Mama".
So sweet. My little tv couch potato. :p

words

We've entered the stage of trying to guess what Noah is saying.
He's got so many words now but a lot of them sound the same.
Like:
Juice, Two, Choo choo
or
Cookie, Cracker, Crocodile
or
More, Milk, Mama

Sometimes I just can't figure it out and I feel quite bad about it, but I suppose I need to get used to it, eh?

movies

Today for the first time in weeks, Noah didn't go straight to the DVDs/tv when he woke up this morning. We played with toys for awhile and had breakfast and then played with more toys.
Now he's watching Horton Hears a Who, but that's fine because I just need to pass out from sheer exhaustion.

an update

Yikes! I just logged on to blog about Noah and saw the previous post about "quiet times". And then I realized I hadn't given Noah a "quiet time" - uh, probably since that post.
Oops.
Tomorrow.

Anyway, a few things:
1. Sleeping in
Noah's totally been sleeping in these days. Today he slept in 'til 9am! But he did go to bed about 3 hours after his bedtime last night. So that might explain it.
On mornings previous to this one, he's been sleeping in until at least around 8am, sometimes 8:30 or 8:45! I gotta say that I'm definitely appreciating it a whole lot more than the 6:30am wake ups!

2. Using your words
When Noah has been screaming/whining/wailing for something I'll look at him and tell him to use his words to tell me what he'd like or what is wrong. That usually stops the screaming immediately while he tries to explain the situation. I'm loving this solution! I have zero tolerance for whining and screaming for something to me is just unacceptable. We'll see how long it lasts.

3. Lacking appetite - for everything but sugar?
Lately Noah can eat barely anything these days and be totally fine. Of course, offer him a cookie, cake or anything sugary (including JUICE) and he'll gobble it up. I'm guessing it's a combo of picky-toddlerhood + two year molars coming in.

That's it for now...he's a total couch potato and loves watching "BUH" (aka Buzz aka Toy Story) and Horton Hears a Who. I know it won't always be like this and I'm trying to get away from watching so many movies, but some days it's pretty hard.

quiet time and transformations

So far "quiet time" lasts about 15 minutes. In its true form, that is. Quiet.
Then all hell breaks lose.
Today Noah started crying which escalated to screaming bloody murder for the remaining 15 minutes. This of course coincided with Jude screaming bloody murder after I changed a blowout of a diaper of his so both boys are hollering at the tops of their lungs and I just stood at the kitchen sink washing my hands thinking, "Is this my life?"

Anyway, we're going to persevere with the quiet times and hopefully Noah can make it to 30 minutes soon.
He's still acting out big time, and I'm not sure how to curb the bad behaviour. I pray it's a phase we just have to live through. He can go from sweetie pie to monster in 6 seconds. It's really quite a phenomenon.

"quiet time"

Well, we've started a new routine for Noah and hopefully can make it stick.
Since Noah has been whiny from the get go - as in, from the minute he wakes up and disobedient and acting out I've decided to get him some quiet time to himself in the mornings to read and play with his toys in his room.
This will be his "quiet time". It's not a punishment or discipline, but a time for him to be quiet and NOT watch movies which I have a feeling only serve to further his bad behaviour.
I realize some of the acting out comes from a reaction to Jude coming in and taking some of his spotlight but I also know some of it comes from the stage he's in plus the fact that he's cranky from his 2 year molars coming in - I can't see them, but all signs point the fact that they are in fact coming.
So right now I can enjoy a breakfast with quiet little Jude while Noah sits in his crib with a ton of books, some toys and listening to Steve Green's "Hide 'Em In Your Heart" (if I can't teach him things straight out, I might as well be subconscious in my approach).
7 minutes in and Noah's whining. We'll see how it goes today.

couch potato - but not on the deathly humid days

Oh dear. I believe we have a couch potato on our hands.
Noah is constantly asking to watch Winnie the Pooh these days and often we give in as it's easier on us all. He's got so many toys, though, it seems sad that mostly he just wants to watch movies!
I'm sure it will pass and unlike past inclinations, Noah is out in this hot, muggy, "feels like 40+ degrees" insisting on getting dirty in the garden and sandbox.
What a boy.

big brother Noah

Well, Noah is a big brother to Jude Calvin Strickland. And he is a great big brother so far!
He loves holding Jude and is very sweet and gentle to him. Lately he's become interested in the breastfeeding process which I find quite amusing and explain it to him that I'm giving Jude milk.
Yesterday evening Jude was having a bit of a fussy time over dinner and near the end when he was crying a bit, Noah looked up from his booster seat and stuck his fingers in his ears. It was HILARIOUS. What a kiddo.
I am loving this stage and finding it being a lot more enjoyable second time around.

more big brother pics

funny boy

Noah is one funny guy.
Today my family was over and near the end of the day Jamie put on Star Wars and as the Imperial March was playing, Noah held onto the coffee table and shook his booty - he did a little dance all throughout the playing of the song. It was hilarious.
I also really laugh every time he does these little boy noises which are impossible to replicate by typing, but maybe I'll catch it on video some day.
He's also started doing what Jamie and I call "the Mater smile". Mater is a character from the movie Cars and he's got these huge buck teeth and Noah will kinda do this buck-toothed grin every now and then which I HAVE caught on video and will hopefully post sometime this week.
He babbles all the time and even makes up his own songs - so cute!
Today on the way to church he kept singing "Pooh. Tig-tig (Tigger). Pooh. Tig-tig." So cute.
He just makes me laugh every day and I'm reminded how blessed I am to have such a precious little guy!

emotional melt downs

Last night my Mom and sister slept over at our place since we all thought baby was going to make an appearance (he didn't).
When Noah woke up this morning he seemed thrilled to see Grandma but when Grandma went to pick him up (probably along with the combo of: I'm going to change your diaper) he totally flipped out and ran to me and literally CLUNG to me for a good chunk of time.
It was quite surprising but he often gets into these emotional bouts which I think is brought on by a growing emotional developmental stage. He's experiencing emotions he's not quite sure about or why he is feeling them and then just melts down. It doesn't happen too often, but I think with a couple extra faces this morning and probably a "sense" that something is changing it was a bit much for him.
So it's interesting.
He also ate pretty much all morning. Not sure what to do about this. At this point, as long as he's in his chair to eat, I'm okay.
He got in trouble from me yesterday for not listening when I said to stay in the kitchen with his milk and then when I took it away from him after he went into the living room, he spit it out everywhere. Oi. Not impressed.
So we're having little mini-battles pretty much every day but he is a quick learner and knows and says "sorry" when he's done something wrong.
Oh and also this morning he had a FULL BLOWN FREAK OUT in his high chair because he couldn't suck up the smoothie through his straw (it was broken and I didn't know it). Seriously, like loud screaming and crying and just throwing his head back. It was intense.
So I took him out, brought him upstairs and told him that screaming like that was NOT OKAY. We had some time to cool down in his room and then he played with Daddy for a bit while I ate breakfast.
Anyway, crazy times around here...maybe Noah will be a big brother sooner than we know! (I certainly hope so!)

regression

Lately Noah has been doing things that I would say are a regression for him - not sure if he "gets" this whole baby thing, but sometimes I wonder...
The other day Jamie, his Mom, Noah and I were walking back home from the park and all of a sudden Noah wants to be on the sidewalk (I believe Jamie was carrying him at that point) and crawling ON THE PAVEMENT. He says, "baby" several times and insists on crawling like a...well, baby. We convince him this will give him an "owie" and Jamie picks him up again. But then he squirms and says "baby" again, wanting to get down and crawl on the sidewalk. Silly boy...it was hilarious, but also a bit disconcerting as he really wanted to be doing that - it wasn't for show or to make us laugh.
He did something else too, the other day but now I forget what it was.
Anyway...oh yes, I think it was today - he only gets his soother in his crib, but today he was wandering around half the day with it in his mouth and really loving it. It's not a huge deal, but he's hasn't taken a liking to his soother like that in awhile.

just me and Noah

Tonight Noah and I went with Jamie to watch him play soccer in a league he plays in on Thursday nights.
It was a beautiful evening and Noah was happy to watch Jamie and pointed him out confidently each time he spotted him on the field.
I took him for a wagon ride too in his new wagon we got today.
I really took the time to just enjoy being with Noah and playing with him and making funny faces and just laughing with him and enjoying who he is.
It was a good day today.

update on Noah

Sleeping
Since we've moved into our new place Noah's done so well. His wake up times are back to normal varying between 7:30ish (sometimes a teeny bit earlier) and 8am. On Tuesday he slept in 'til 8:45am!
He's comfortable in his room and will often play for awhile in his crib in the mornings. He usually wants his cars/trucks and lately has loved his doggie in his crib and getting the train book we took out from the library in the mornings.
He has sometimes woken up in the wee hours of the morning (between 3am and 5am) and cry out for about a minute and sometimes goes back to sleep on his own, but usually I've gone in and laid him back down, put his blanket on him and given him his soother.
But Jamie and I decided it would be better if he started doing the nighttime comforting but Jamie was worried that Noah wouldn't "take" him. So I just told him to do whatever worked for both of them and eventually it would be fine.
So the next night when Noah woke up Jamie went in and lo and behold, Jamie did the same thing as me and Noah went right back to sleep. He didn't wake up last night which was nice.

Outside
Noah has loved going outside and sometimes if I leave the screen door open, he'll just open it and go outside, to which I respond, "Help yourself to the outdoors, why don't you?"
He loves running into the water/sprinkler when we have it on and the Watts gave us a little slide/climber thing for outside which he also really likes. We finally bought sand for the truck sandbox and he loved climbing in and getting all mucky (the sand is not dried out yet).
He loves playing in the garage and in our car for hours if we let him!
There are quite a few dogs on our street which Noah has enjoyed pointing out.
He also likes going for walks and behind our street is a small meadow area (in newer subdivisions they put these "green spaces" that are supposed to be good for the area or something?) with tons of little paths around it and Noah loves going in the stroller on the meadow trails.
Jamie also takes him for walks up to the mailbox and Noah always gets to hold the key which he seems to enjoy.

Baby
Noah knows that the baby will sleep in the bassinet and that the baby is in my belly right now. He also is quite aware of real babies and points them out wherever we go. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts when this baby actually comes...I think he'll be okay, but I'm sure he'll go through a jealous phase.

eating habits

The past two dinners (yesterday and today's) have been small victories for me.
Noah has eaten everything we've had for dinner!
Last night it was salmon steaks that were BBQ'd on a cedar plank with butter, s&p and dill with Cesar salad and rice made in veggie broth.
Tonight it was homemade (not by me, though) perogies and Cesar salad.
I was so shocked when Noah just dug right into the perogies that I put on his plate and yesterday when he willingly accepted the salmon from my fork.
Wow! I almost forgot what life was like with a kid who eats what you're eating!
I hope it continues but at the same time, I'm not holding my breath. (He still refuses pasta.)

day out

On Saturday Jamie and I left Noah with my Mom and Sister for the day while we went out and celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary.
It was a good day. I think that may be the longest that we've BOTH been away from Noah at the same time (I've gone away over night but Jamie was with him, etc.). But apparently he did well. He called out for me all morning apparently, but was easily distracted and from the sounds of it, he had a blast! Played out in our backyard on the new sod, in the sprinkler with his friends Hannah and Elijah and went down for a nap well as well as bed time.
Jamie and I definitely need to go out more often as I think it would benefit us AND Noah as well.

new home update

Today was a good day. I felt like I had my boy back. He slept until 7:30 which was great even though I woke up at 6...boo. But then I feel back to sleep until 7 so that was okay.
Anyway, he was cheery, much more obedient (probably more to do with starting to feel more at home and understand what's off limits, etc.) and ate a lot better than he has been.

Breakfast: a bowl of plain oatmeal, a small bowl of blueberries and 1/2 a banana
Snack: Water and some animal cookies (I was in Zellers and it kept him happy...:D)
Lunch: Cheese, 1/2 a banana, crackers with hummus (I only got him to eat 2), 2 fish sticks and a bowl of strawberry yogurt
Snack: bowl of blueberries, milk, and 1 banana bread cookie thing
Dinner: Almost an entire hamburger (I was shocked at this, but he was totally into it!) and a bowl of strawberry yogurt (which once he finished most of it, promptly put his fingers into it while I had my back turned washing the dishes, and proceeded to finger paint with his yogurt on his tray).

He napped for almost 2 hours and was not as cranky as he has been after naps - what a blessing!

He enjoyed playing with Hannah and Elijah and running around outside and blowing bubbles with me.

He knows what "time out in your crib" means and obeys immediately (er, usually) - today I made a rule that all cars/trucks/things with wheels cannot be wheeled on the coffee table but have to stay on the floor as they often fall off the table, get "zoomed" off the table and then end up denting the nice living room hardwood floor. Noah will immediately take the car/vehicle/wheeled item and put it on the floor when I tell him, but then look at me and put it gently on the coffee table. He's done this numerous times so I've just taken the toy away from him for the rest of the day. Yesterday it was his beloved school bus and today it was his safari car. He usually moves on to the next toy, but at least there's no chance of him dropping it on the ground again (at least today).

Yesterday and today our yard has been ripped up, weeded and re-soiled. Tomorrow the sod is arriving and I can't wait for Noah to have a yard to play around outside on. We'll buy sand and put it in his Truck Sandbox and it'll be a sweet little backyard for our family to hang out in.
I think Noah is going to love it!

new home, new boundaries

It's been a tumultuous few days/weeks! We are finally in our new house and Noah is doing alright. His mornings have definitely been earlier (6:30am vs. 7:30 or 8am) so I'm hoping after a week or so this will fall back into our previous schedule even though the sun streams into our room at a lovely 6am so I wake up anyway around then.
It's been hard as it's all new and so with the new comes new rules and boundaries that definitely haven't been fully established so Noah is into everything and I'm exhausted but tonight/today realized that Noah is on the "brat track" as I called it. We aren't really doing anything for discipline but he's at the age where he "gets it" so tonight I stuck to my guns and did repeated time outs in his crib. He HATES this and after a couple minutes is ready to behave. But I did have to do at least three time outs (for different things - but essentially all of them have to do with listening to me and obeying me) within a span of 40ish minutes but he recovers within seconds afterwards and is off to the newest discovery.
Noah can open and shut the doors of all the rooms in our house except the door to the garage and the front door (thank goodness!) so absolutely loves opening and shutting doors throughout the day. It's starting to drive me a bit crazy, but I'm trying to figure out what the boundaries should be and then we'll lay down the law.
I think/know that really all I need to do is to take some time with Noah and teach him to obey me on the first time for about 10 or so minutes each day and then after we do "practices" (where I call him to me and when he comes right away he gets a fruit snack) and I am confident he fully understands I will hold him to it for the rest of the day and we will likely implement spanking when direct disobedience occurs.
He's a really great kid, but I know that I've been TOTALLY slacking in teaching him to obey me the first time and I really have myself to blame for that. I want to get this somewhat established before baby comes so that gives me around 4 weeks and I know he's smart and can do it, so it's really up to me at this point.
We'll see how it goes.

veggie victory

Well, I think it's safe to say that Noah likes the corn bread muffins.
At first they weren't a hit and I was a bit disappointed, but at dinner tonight he was asking for "more muffin" and got really excited when I showed him the muffin so I gave it to him and he ate the whole thing! Granted, he didn't scarf it down as quickly as he does blueberry muffins, but I feel like I had some sort of mini-victory in the vegetable department!
(These were the spinach and cheese corn bread muffins - click the link for the recipe - although I did omit the jalapenos because I didn't have any and added a pinch of cumin and a pinch of chili powder. Next time I will add a bit more chili powder and some cayenne pepper as well.).
I think I will go ahead and make the green pepper/carrot ones as well as the broccoli ones.
Also, the spinach and cheese corn bread muffins are delicious when heated up and have a bit of margarine (or butter, whichever you prefer) on them.
So good!
*fist pump*

truck!

Today I took Noah into St. Jacob's village in search of a toy store that Jen had told me about. Apparently they have great dress up hats (fireman, policeman, viking, Davy Crockett hats...etc.) for reasonable prices.
We got there and Noah had zero interest in wearing a hat so we played at the display tables (well, he did and I looked around at all the fun toys) and just as we were leaving he spotted the Thomas the Train play table and I knew we'd be there for a while longer. He absolutely adores Thomas and it's really cute. He'll just stand there and put the little Thomas train on the track and say, "Chew chew" but often it sounds more like "cheeew cheeew". It's cute.
I then spotted a toy truck that is a garbage truck and the back opens up like a real garbage truck. It's similar to a Hot Wheels car, but a bit bigger. Noah instantly took to it and it was a good price so I decided to buy it for him. I don't often (read: rarely) buy him toys as he already has so many but it was really cute and his love for the truck continues to grow.
I also picked up a same-sized taxi cab and a VW Beetle which I think I will give to him as a gift when the baby is born (a friend of mine suggested this and I think it's a sweet idea) FROM the baby to Noah.
AS WELL, I picked up some fun sand toys for the sandbox we'll have in our backyard when we move next week!

Operation Veggies!

So these days Noah's intake of veggies is pretty much...zero.
I have finally decided to be proactive and try some different ideas: ie. let's be sneaky!

So here are a few ideas:
1. Corn Muffins
Noah absolutely LOVES muffins and when I found an idea online about putting things like spinach, peppers, carrots, broccoli into corn muffins I was/am pretty sure I found a winner. We'll see. So off I went to the grocery store today to buy said veggies in preparation for Sneaky Veggie Operation #1. We'll see how it goes. I plan on making them tonight if I'm not too hot in this apartment.
2. Smoothies
Oh shoot - I forgot to buy straws. Oh well. Anyway, Noah will totally drink out of a straw and I think he'd like to drink a smoothie so I'll put carrot puree into it with blueberries, bananas, OJ and yogurt and see what he thinks. Maybe I could buy tomato juice too?
3. Soup!
The other day we were over at Jen & Graham's and Jen had made asparagus soup and Noah totally loved it! So my plan is to make soup even though it's TOTALLY not soup season right now, it just might work - I just have to make soups I want to eat too in case he doesn't go for it.
4. The Cop Out
And of course there's always the cop out: fruit snacks. Fruit Source has made these fruit bites that are pure fruit - no added sugar. But there's also veggies in them like carrots and ... I don't know what else, but it's easy and he loves them. So if all else fails, I'll know he's getting some veggies this way.

And those are my ideas thus far.
If you have any ideas that have worked for your kids, let me know!
(Other ideas I found online included loading up on the veggies in these foods: salsa, pasta sauce and something else which I forget except Noah is totally anti-pasta right now...so while the salsa could work - he's recently discovered the beauty and enjoyment of dipping - I'm not sure it's the most effective way for Noah to get veggies.)

camping and sleep

Well, our camping weekend was a wee bit of a bust in my mind.
I had hoped Noah would love it and do so much better than he did at night time than when we took him when he was 9 months old. Well, he was okay outdoors, but then the first night he woke up at midnight and screamed and screamed and after about 1/2 hour of trying to get him to go back to sleep I decided I had had enough and would drive back to Waterloo.
I packed up the pack 'n play and loaded us into the car and drove myself and Noah back to Waterloo. He conked out in the car and I mean...CONKED OUT. He slept all the way home (about 40 minutes?), slept as I opened and shut car doors once we got to Waterloo, slept as I put him in the stroller, slept all the way up to our apartment (through several doors and the elevator) and slept as I set up the pack 'n play and then as I took off his two sweaters (it was cold!) and a pair of jogging pants that were OVER TOP of his pajamas. He was out cold. At least he slept 'til 8:45am.
I was disappointed. I felt like I had failed at camping with a toddler. And even though I had given myself permission to leave if it wasn't going well, I was still mad and frustrated because I truly love camping but Noah apparently did not.
The next day we went back to the campsite for the day but due to the lack of sleep Noah had, he was slightly grumpy and a bit "off". He got into the outdoors in the late afternoon/evening and then Noah and I went into Guelph to stay at the Watt's house for the night.
He slept until 11:30 and then cried off and on until 2am. I realized at that point it was because of the many, many large mosquito WELTS he had all over his head. I found some Bactine in the Watt medicine cabinet and sprayed it on his bites and that seemed to help a bit. But I was in and out of his room until 2am, had him on Hannah's bed, held him, stood by the crib. Ugh. But amazingly I had some God-given patience and wasn't really frustrated with Noah. When he woke up at 3:45am (after only 1 hr 45 minutes of sleep since his last wake up!) I decided to let him cry and fall back to sleep on his own since I knew he was okay. He fell back to sleep within 30ish minutes and I was amazed that I still had it in me to do the whole "cry it out" thing. It doesn't get any easier, that's for sure but I have one determined streak in me to stick it out.
Last night he slept from 7pm-8:45am!!! Over 13.5 hours of continuous sleep! I was amazed.
He even napped this afternoon for about an hour and 20 minutes!
Tonight he was in bed sometime just before 8pm and then cried around...8:55? I went in around 9 and then just decided to let him cry himself back to sleep since he started crying again after I left the room and it took less than 10 minutes for him to fall back to sleep.
ANYWAY...so all that to say that Noah looks like he's getting over a really bad case of chicken pox and we are continuing to work on sleep, but he's a trooper and is doing well.
I think I would attempt camping with kids once they are 2 years or older. We'll see.
And maybe not try it when I'm so pregnant.
You live, you learn.

good stimulation

Yesterday was a fun day filled with the good kind of stimulation for Noah. In the morning I took him to the Early Years Center here in Waterloo and we read (well, he pulled books off the shelf but for once did NOT seem interested in reading), he played with sand, played in the little play kitchen and interacted with many kids (it was so busy there!).
Then we came back to our apartment and met Grandma and Auntie Bean (my Mom and Sister who's name is not Bean but Shereen :D) and had lunch and then it was naptime for Noah. He took a pretty decent nap (1 hr 45 min.?) and then we went for a walk to the convenience store and then Grandma took Noah to Waterloo park while Shereen and I organized my kitchen.
Noah played and ran and climbed and saw animals and fish and apparently had a great time!
We came back, had dinner, played in the hallway and then it was bedtime for him.
He made not one peep until 7am this morning. :) (and then nothing after that until 7:20 at which point I plopped like 50 books into his pack and play in the hopes for 20 more minutes of sleep - which he pretty happily obliged.)
(The past 2 nights he's cried out multiple times - less than 30 seconds each time, but still...disruptive to his sleep as well as ours - if we're asleep.)
Anyway, so today we're off (with Daddy!) to the midwifery clinic for an appointment and run around Guelph to do a few errands (return library books - one of which I searched high and low for and then Noah turns around, lifts up a diaper pad and there it is. Too cute.) and then back to Waterloo for naptime and then a BBQ tonight!

19 month update

Noah is now 19 months and seems to be entering a lot of new phases.

1. PICKY EATER
If I listed off all the things Noah refuses to eat I would be typing for a long time. He looks at a food item and usually will decide by how it looks whether he "likes" it or not. If the food passes the visual test, he'll touch it (with a hand or finger or fork) and if it "feels" funny he is physically repulsed (he'll shudder or say "ucky") by the sensation and refuses to eat it. I'm finding this extremely frustrating as Noah used to eat EVERYTHING. Now it's very basic and limited. I know it's a phase (oh please let it be a phase) but I'm just not sure where the line is in catering to his picky demands.
2. WEIRD SLEEP PATTERNS
Noah was totally sleeping fine (7:30pm-7:45isham) but then once we started going back and forth between Guelph and Waterloo Noah's sleeping habits were totally thrown off (understandably). He would wake up several hours after going to sleep and sometimes he'd cry for awhile, sometimes not. My feelings are that the back-and-forth trips between Guelph and Waterloo PLUS Noah being sick for over half this past month definitely played a HUGE role (if not the only contributing factor) in his weird sleep patterns. For example, after Saturday's move and then a family gathering plus then sleeping at ANOTHER family member's house Noah woke about 2 hours after going to sleep and wouldn't go back to sleep. He cried until he was in my arms and then around midnight I took him into the bed with Jamie and I and he did fall asleep but Jamie and I did NOT so back into his crib he went (around 2am) and then slept until 6am (WHAT?!!?!?). That following day was NOT an easy day!
I think his sleep is getting back to normal which is good.
3. MR. CLIMBER
So Noah has climbed/flipped out of his pack and play TWICE now and I have to admit that I'm quite paranoid every time his starts crying or I hear him awake in the mornings that he will attempt it again. I'm torn between wanting to surround his pack and play with pillows and yet not wanting to make the "fall" too pleasant that he'll WANT to get out and plunk onto the pillows.
He also is quite into climbing up things and would rather climb UP slides than go DOWN them. He's into climbing over bed rails (in play time) and he's on and off couches and chairs (if they're low enough).
4. POSSESSIVE/GRABBY MCGRABBERSON
Noah now grabs toys away from other children and tends to have a harder time sharing toys. He used to be fine with it but I did know it was only a matter of time before this started. Nothing surprising there, but I've been trying to explain to him about sharing and he gets it sometimes, other times...not so much.
5. LOVE LOVE KISS KISS
Not to be all negative because these past couple months have been a lot of fun too! Noah's discovered how to give kisses and it's BEYOND cute. I love it. Sometimes it's a wide open mouth, but most of the time he keeps his lips together. Jamie will ask for a kiss and Noah will say, "Mama!" and then he'll give me a kiss and then Jamie a kiss and then Jamie and I will kiss and Noah REALLY likes that. He actually will push our heads together to keep giving each other kisses.
It's pretty sweet and reminds me how important it is that the Mom and Dad are first of all Husband and Wife. It is comforting for kids to see their parents interacting with each other in a loving way and provides a stability that is so important for them as they grow up and interact with other people. Noah is very cuddly and huggy (not all the time, but generally pretty affectionate). He's also learned to give "props" and high fives although he definitely gets a bigger response to giving props so he usually prefers to give "props" out instead.
6. HITTING
Yes, we have entered the hitting phase. It comes and goes. I usually find that when he's not feeling well or is lacking sleep he'll hit. He'll hit Mommy or Daddy and then make a "o" with his mouth - he KNOWS he's just done something wrong. The last time he hit me in the face (okay, so his actual "hits" are more pats than anything else) I took him directly to his pack and play and put him there for a few minutes. He knows how to sign "sorry" and so I asked him to say sorry to me and he did and then he was back to playing. He actually hasn't hit in over a week now I think...so we'll see. It's all a part of his growing independence and so I'm just taking it in stride and trying to figure out how to deal with disobedience in regards to his age and capability of understanding right and wrong and how actions have consequences. We'll just keep rolling with the punches on this one (literally...haha).

I love my little guy and it's hard to imagine him with a little brother and me with two little boys but we'll be there soon enough. At this point Noah doesn't really know what to do with littler kids. He's usually just around older children or kids his age so we'll see how it all goes down. :)

"see" food

Sleep update:

Last night Noah slept solidly from 8pm-7:45am.
Sweet relief.
Let's hope tonight is a repeat and we are THROUGH with this wretched sleep regression, sickness, change thingy or whatever it is!

sleep - the blogging continues...

I thought I had blogged about Noah's recent sleep patterns but apparently I haven't.
So while we've been going between Guelph and Waterloo for the past 3ish weeks Noah was sleeping great in Waterloo but waking up at least once after going to bed but before I would go to bed while we were spending the nights in Guelph. I found this so interesting since I would have assumed it would be the other way around.
Well...sleep is pretty much out the window these days. At least before midnight.
Noah has been sick (at least it feels like) for the past 2 weeks. First week with a stomach flu and the second week with this darned head cold. Now he's been waking up every 20-30 minutes after being put down - tonight he slept from 7pm-8:30pm and then woke up and it is now 10:15 and he's still awake. In fact, right now it's an ANGRY scream so I know that likely he is fine but is angry for some reason or another. After going in at least twice tonight and sitting with him, I have reached my limit and told Jamie that he is sleep master for the rest of the night. We did let him cry it out when he was younger in order to teach him how to sleep on his own but after getting OUT of the habit of doing this it is mighty hard to hear him cry. However, hearing him do his ANGRY cry I don't feel as bad because I know that he's not dying or whatnot. He's just mad. And making himself heard. And to me, I can handle that.
Anyway, so Jamie just went in with him and he's been doing ANGRY crying still...but I'll let Jamie handle it.
I think it's safe to say that our entire family is sick of being sick (oh yes, I caught the cold late last night).
So I am very ready for him to get back to his normal sleep patterns of 7:30pm-8am but I have no idea when this will happen. I pray soon. Very, very soon.

**So seconds after I posted this blog, Jamie walks in and says, "Okay, I'm going to go into him now." And I look at him and then with horror ask, "You weren't in there with him this whole time?!?!"
He says No. He was down the hall figuring out plans for tomorrow with our friends.
Oh God.
I know I heard crashing coming from Noah's room, I swear I heard the door opening and his crying get louder...
We both rush over to his room where the crying has actually stopped, but we hear this strange tapping noise by the door.
Jamie asks if it's possible he got out of his pack 'n play.
I open the door and feel a bit of resistance and then hear the crying start again and I look down to see my little boy right by the door clutching onto an animal picture book.
I scoop him up and the guilt comes pouring in. I frantically search the room to make sure no one is in it (who would be anyway? Only a mother.).
We all partake in hugging and cuddling Noah who likely just pushed himself up and over and crashed onto the floor. The dresser drawer is open and there is a laundry basket that is over turned. The poor kiddo likely was trying to get out but couldn't figure out where he was in his dark room. I still feel horrible, but probably (hopefully?) I will laugh about this soon.
Every time I think of him holding that sweet little picture book, standing in the dark by the door the tears start again.
Anyway, yet another thing to be paranoid over.
Well, he is in his pack 'n play again not asleep, but hopefully the sleep will begin for all of us now.

dump truck

Lovin' his dump truck. A total boy, through and through...

Noah and other things...

Noah's taken to kissing on the lips. Only Mommy and Daddy and sometimes other relatives, but it's beyond cute. Usually he manages to keep his mouth closed, but every now and again he goes in with his mouth drooly and wide open. Good times...

He also woke up this morning with a runny/stuffy nose. Seems like he caught Jamie's head cold. Poor kid. If it's not one thing, it's another.

Meanwhile I'm exhausted from being up every few hours through the night feeling like I needed to make sure it wasn't too cold (which it was and I noticed Jamie all under his blankets so I went and got another one for him) or too hot (because then I can't sleep). I have yet to figure out this apartment's heating. It's either full-blast heat or nothing and we all freeze.
Oi.

hitting

Lately Noah is going through a "hitting" phase even though it's more of a stroke than a hit. But still, he KNOWS he isn't allowed and will make an "owww" noise as he motions to hit someone and make an "o" with his mouth afterwards which is his "I Know I Just Did Something I'm Not Supposed To" face(usually it's just me or Jamie, but also Auntie Bean and Grandma got the "hit" today). Sometimes he just does a "fake hit" but often he'll follow through. In Waterloo I was putting him in his crib for a few minutes with no soothers/toys and the door shut. He often would sign "sorry" when I came in to get him, and was back to his happy self.
So...I guess we will continue to tell him "no hitting" and do the isolation in his crib thing.

update

Noah's speech lately has been expanding. He mostly says the first syllable of words but lately has been saying 2 syllable words. His "dah" now sounds like "car"!
He still says "Wassat?" a lot and loves to babble "Mama" and "Dada". Today he even showed off his ability to say "umbrella" to my sister - "a-la-la".

He is obsessed with all things vehicle and continuously points out cars, vans, trucks, buses and motorcycles. It's amazing this growing fascination.

Speaking of vehicles, today my Mom spotted a toy car in the dumpster in our parking lot. I peeked in and it looked in pristine condition! So I got my sister to grab it (as my belly would have made it quite the feat) and sure enough - practically new! The wheels looked as if they'd never been outside and the buttons on the steering wheel still make noises! Noah was instantly enamoured and was in boy heaven to ride on it. It's basically a dump truck and the back part lifts up and becomes a seat. Noah rode on it for over an hour today and loved being pushed and pulled on it. What a find!
Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but I'm sure there will be many a picture taken with this dump truck in it and my Mom got a lot of pictures (and even some videos) so I'll have to get some of hers. :)

Mother's Day

This year was the first year I actually celebrated being a Mom on Mother's Day. Last year Noah was 6 months old but we were in Africa and the day kinda passed us by. The year before I was pregnant, but felt funny being celebrated as a Mom - I guess carrying a child in pregnancy does prepare you for some of the changes motherhood brings, but even at that time I knew that pregnancy was a walk in the park compared to the challenges and struggles I'd face as a mother (not to mention the extreme joys and rewards of being a mother!).

Anyway, "Noah" got me two beautiful mugs from Starbucks (so nice) and we enjoyed the weekend with Jamie's family and mine on Saturday and Sunday.

Noah's doing better health-wise. I gave him a bit of milk this morning and he had a funny smelling poop but is doing well. He also slept in to a more normal time of 7:50am!!! WOOHOO!
His nap is going well so far (1.5 hrs and counting!) and he's been happy and cheerful and spunky. It's nice to have my little guy back. :)

the "sick" diet

So his stomach is not quite back to normal. He's had a couple episodes of diarrhea today already so it's bananas, cheerios and crackers for now.
Poor kiddo.
Thank goodness laundry is half the price here in Waterloo than it is at home!

poor guy

Poor sickie. This was taken on Monday when he started taking a real turn for the worse - energy wise. He conked out on a walk with Daddy and slept in the stroller for over an hour - right during dinner time.

update on the sickie

This will be a short post because I'm zonked.

Noah is finally on the mend. After falling asleep at 6pm and then waking up and screaming (angry, tantrum-y screaming) for an hour last night between 7 & 8pm (and me winning the battle of him going back to sleep by laying him down repeatedly until he just decided to stop screaming and fall asleep within 5 minutes!) he slept through the night until 6:50am. Now, this is definitely much earlier than his usual wake-up and he was a wreck by 7:30am so he went back to sleep at 7:50 for about 50 minutes. He had a long nap in the afternoon and is still dealing with diarrhea so it's been hard to tell him he can't eat what we're eating ... but I think with persistence he'll soon return to full health.
He was cranky mccranksalot this morning but the nap did him good and I look forward to the Noah I'm used to. :)
I think it'll take me (and probably Noah too) a few nights of good sleep to be back to normal...but we'll get through.

sick boy

My poor little sick boy.
This morning was our first morning here in Waterloo for the next 2 months and I lay awake numerous times throughout the night (must have been mother's intuition...that or I just suck at sleeping these days) and when Noah finally cried out at 8am I told Jamie I'd get him this morning so he didn't have to. I walked in to find Noah sitting up and wanted to be picked up right away - he didn't even want to look at the pictures on the wall that he was so enamoured with yesterday. Well, I quickly realized he was completely soiled and then the smell hit me. Diarrhea all down his legs and pants, soaked through the sheet and onto the pack 'n play mattress.
Jamie ran the bath and I tried to clean up as much as I could. There was also what looked to be vomit in his hair but I wasn't too sure.
He seemed in great spirits in the bath tub and I didn't think anything else of it (other than the gigantic clean up job and hoping I could get it all out of the pack 'n play mattress). Gave him a large glass of milk for breakfast with toast and some apple sauce.
Half an hour later one of the staff here in Waterloo comes into our apartment holding Noah (Jamie had taken him for a walk to visit someone's dorm room) who is covered in white stuff. She tells me there was a spill and then something about him being sick.
Oh.
Not a spill.
Vomit.

Crap...

So I wasn't imagining the rancid milk smell. Poor kid. In the space of a couple hours he vomited 4 times - only one of which I was actually in the room for. I don't need to go into details, but I will say that it was so sad to see him cry and wretch to get the last of the food out. :( Poor kiddo.

So now he's been getting by soley on pedialite (like gatorade for kids I think) and this afternoon if he seems okay we'll try some crackers.

What a great start to project.

Chicago trip update

So our trip to Chicago was good.
I'm really glad we went and Noah was such a champ! Actually, this was our best trip anywhere as Noah napped well, slept at night really well (aside from the 6am wake up which was really 7am for us - Chicago is 1 hour behind), loved playing with both Elijah and Zoe and generally was a happy camper.
The ride home he did well until nighttime hit and he realized he was going to have to sleep in his carseat. He did not like this idea. Nope. Not one bit. He eventually fell asleep around 10pm but then woke up an hour later and had a 10 minute meltdown. Nothing I did could calm him down. He just didn't want to be in his carseat. He wanted to be sleeping in his crib. Poor kiddo. He fell back asleep until we got home and seemed geniunely thrilled (in a very sleepy, contented way) to be back in his crib and flipped right onto his belly and clutched onto his blankey.
I'm so glad I went to Chicago. It was nice to be there with other Moms who I love and respect and to kinda "do this together" was a real refreshing change. It was great.
I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Noah really seemed to grow up even more into a little boy as the style of play and level of interaction with Elijah (who is 18 months older than Noah) has totally changed and matured a bit so that they actually play TOGETHER and Noah absolutely adores Elijah - chasing after him, hugging him, wrestling with him but much to Elijah's chagrin he still doesn't get "playing hockey" yet. That will come soon enough, I'm sure.

18 months!

Noah had his 18 month check up today.
Here are the stats:
He weighed in at 33lbs even.
He's 3 feet tall.
He's still on the same 95th+ percentile growth curve.

He got 2 shots - one in each arm but was such a champ. He squirmed and did a small yelp (and looked at the nurse with a look that said, "WHY WOULD YOU!?!?") but otherwise didn't cry.
I found out you can buy toothpaste without floride so I'll look for that this week so I can start cleaning Noah's teeth with some toothpaste! (He'll love that I'm sure!) If anyone has any tips on how to brush your kid's teeth properly (uh, a squirmy, active 18 month old BOY) that would be much appreciated.

He seemed otherwise unaffected by the shots and had a blast today playing outside with Gramma, playing and splashing with water in the sink, had a long 2 hour nap, wrestled with Daddy. It was a good day.

popsicle!

Today Noah tried his first popsicle. Real Fruit of course! :) He was hesitant at first (of course) but he found it fun to feed ME the popsicle and then instead of just feeding me he would take a lick in between my licks.
It was really cute but at the very end he got a chunk in his mouth and it got too cold for him - his face turned really red and then he started to cry. Poor guy. Ah well, I guess everyone has to experience a cold headache for their first time.
Tomorrow we're off to Chicago which means a 9 hour drive (technically it's about 8, but with stops it will likely be 9+ hours). I'm sure Noah will do just fine! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures! :D

Mega Bloks

Noah loves dumping out his Mega Bloks. But at least he's pretty good about putting them all back!

Noah loves his Daddy

As Jamie was getting ready for the Guelph End of Year Banquet, Noah decided it was a good time to show some love to his Daddy.

sweet sleeper

I just went in to check on Noah before going to bed and as soon as I opened the door (it actually didn't even make any loud noise!) I heard him stir in his bed and when I opened the door he had just sat up. He mumbled something (maybe Mama?) and I whispered in my quietest whisper, "It's okay, lie down sweetie." and he did and I covered him with his blankie.
I love my little guy so much.

outside!

With the weather having been so nice lately, I've been taking Noah outside quite a bit.
And.
He.
Loves.
It.

Seriously, he just adores being outside and it so sweet to see him playing around - whether it climbing UP a slide, playing in sand and piling it up on his legs or picking up random things, it's really heart warming and makes me so excited to have a backyard for him to play in.
There's a park near by our house (to be!) and it's sand-based and Noah loves it.
He wails when we go inside even though he's clearly tired.
And I got some wonderful hand-me-down Crocs from Jen for him (they've been through 2 kids already!) and they're a bit big for him, but he likes them already and they'll do just amazingly. At least for the rest of the summer too!

Fake laugh

Lately Noah has been doing this forced little laugh - almost like an evil laugh. It cracks me up every single time.

Noah vs. the goose

Today Noah and I went to the riverside park to feed the ducks. We ended up feeding a lot more seagulls and geese, though. There were two geese that were extremely bold and I thought they would totally nip Noah - one didn't even flinch when I shooed him away and shook my foot at him. I was a little intimidated, I have to admit, but Noah didn't seem scared or worried at all - even though the goose was the same height as him!
We walked around, Noah pointed at all the rocks (he's obsessed/irrationally afraid of large rocks) and saw a few dogs. It was a nice morning to go out and I'll have to do it again soon!

sleep - 18 month sleep regression begins

Oh young Noni (that is our nickname for him if I haven't mentioned already).
Why must you have difficulty sleeping? Why is sleep something I'm STILL blogging about and you are almost 18 months?

Well, he didn't wake up at 6am again, but it was right around 7am that I heard his little peeps and "Mama?" coming from his room. So around 7:15 I went in and changed his diaper and plopped a ton of books into this crib. I left and he looked at books until...7:45ish? So I went in and got him and brought him into bed with Jamie and I, and he watched random cartoons that happen to be on at 7:45am.
He had a decent nap today and I decided that he could probably use the extra sleep and he was in bed by 7:10pm. He woke up once at 8ish while I was on the phone but then fell back asleep within ... I dunno...less than a minute? But then at 9:20ish he woke up again and by 9:30 was in (as Jamie phrased it) "full cry mode". So I told Jamie to let me know what happened in 24 (we were watching it on tv) and I would go in and sit with the night light on and he would (hopefully) fall back asleep since this is what happened a few weeks ago.
But...35 minutes later he was just laying in his crib, playing with his soothers, contentedly playing with his blankey and every now and then would look over at me.
So I changed his diaper, turned out the night light and left the room. "Full cry mode" began once again but this time I think he just needs to cry it out and fall back to sleep on his own. Oh and both times I went in he got angry and flailed himself backwards, hitting his head on the crib. The flip-out is a self-fulfilling prophecy. He ends up GIVING himself something to cry about after he's hurt himself.
Anyway, so we're going on 15 minutes now since I left and full-cry mode is still in high gear. It's been awhile since Jamie or I left him to cry for a long period of time and it really doesn't get any easier.
Well, I hear it's all part of the 18 month sleep regression so I'm just going to go with that and hope that "this too shall pass."

Easter - and a little update

Noah's second Easter was a lot more fun than it was the first time around. Only because it was fun to watch him pick up eggs and play outside. He had far too much dessert last night and seemed to think this was a trend Mommy and Daddy would let him continue today. But...he was mistaken. And none too happy about it.
He also decided to break his wonderful trend of waking up at 8am and wake up today at 6am. Boo to that. I hope it doesn't continue because I don't think I can handle that.
He's such a little outdoorsman. He absolutely LOVES being outside and there isn't really anything else you can do to make him want to come back inside. I do look forward to the summer and warmer weather but also wonder how I'll ever get him to come back inside - especially when there's no cold wind to make him a little chilly and intice him back to warmer places.
Back on an Easter note, though...I do look forward to being able to explain more fully to Noah why we celebrate Easter and what it's all about. More exciting and wonderful that any amount of dessert or egg hunt.

belly

Recently I've been showing Noah my belly when we talk about things like our bodies (where body parts are) and the baby. Most times he'll just hesitantly poke my belly with one finger and say, "oo" and then try and pull my shirt back down over my belly. It's kinda funny. Guess it is a pretty large belly and he doesn't want belly overload. :)

rash

Today I took Noah into the Dr's office to get him checked out for a rash I noticed on the palms of his hands. I first noticed it yesterday and while he didn't seem out of sorts, it wasn't scabby (more just red dots) I thought that getting a rash on your palms is a weird place to get a rash. I tried to take a picture of it earlier today, but my camera died and I wasn't able to.
So the doctor checked him out (including the usual rash he has on his torso - front and back) and when she saw his hands definitely concluded that it's viral and will likely pass with time. He's not sick and his ears and throat are clear so everything is good otherwise.
I wasn't really worried, but I thought it was probably worth it to check out - especially since I'm pregnant and if it's something more serious it may hurt the baby or me.
Anyway, so alls well that ends well and Noah did amazing during the check up (as usual if I do say so myself :D) and got to stay up later (the appt wasn't until 7:30pm) but was ready and excited for bed at 8pm. :) Which reminds me that some day I should really post on the value of setting a routine and bedtime for your kids. At least for us ("us" would be INCLUDING Noah) right now it's paid off big time. But that's for another post another time...

shoes!

Noah's fascination with shoes is really taking off. He put my shoes on (bottom picture) all by himself as well as Daddy's shoes (top picture) and the other day at my Mom's he put his own boots on by himself ... on the right feet!

Bathtime Giggles

This is what happens when Daddy bathes Noah.
Although, I suppose I'm condoning the behaviour by taping it and laughing...
Oh well.
Enjoy.

big foot sighting

Today I met up with a friend and her daughter at the mall with Noah. We had intended on going into the Early Years Centre but it was full so we walked around for a bit. We both had our kiddo's feet measured.
Noah is a whopping size 7!!! He's still wearing size 6 for now, and technically was around 6.5 but the saleslady said it's probably better to get a size 7 as he's close enough.
Crazy!
I was VERY tempted to buy a pair of Crocs for him, but passed for now. Hopefully we'll get him a pair before the weather becomes consistently nice. Today we just stuck with rain boots. :)

the infamous toddler word...

There's one more word Noah can say now...

NO.

Right now it's more a string of "no"s but it's there.

Oh boy.

oops

Recently whenever Noah sees TEO (please refer to the following post for an explanation on TEO) on the black chair in the living room, he'll walk up to him with a grin on his face and then roughly shove him off. It didn't click with me until Sunday when we had guests over that Noah has likely seen me shove TEO off the chair and is now copying me. Except Noah finds this funny and I think is just happy that he's getting to touch TEO.
As much as I hold mucho disdain for TEO, I have to admit an "oops" that Noah saw this and is copying me (at least, I'm pretty sure he is. He could have done this on his own, but...it's likely he did witness me pushing TEO off once or twice - note, I did not do this with cruelty, more just a need to sit down somewhere).
I don't want to teach him to be mean to animals - even if he does it with love and lightheartedness.

i hate cats

Ugh. I just went to do a quick check on Noah before heading to bed and who came out of the room when I opened the door.
THE CAT. Henceforth referred to as, "THE EVIL ONE".
I was (and still am) so mad!!! Since when did he start thinking that going into Noah's room is acceptable? This is the SECOND time I saw him sneak out of Noah's room. But imagine if I HADN'T gone to check on Noah! The Evil One (TEO) would have been in there all night, possibly until he meowed or did some other heinous feline activity and woke Noah up. Ooooh...I woulda been soooo mad.
URGH.
To some, this is not a big deal. To me, it is. We worked hard to train TEO not to go into Noah's room, regardless of whether Noah loves him or not. He is still a lowly animal and I am master. I make the rules.
So I chased him around saying in a loudish whisper, "NO!" and attempting to squirt him with the spray bottle. Hopefully that will give him a LOUD reminder that Noah's room is STILL off limits.
Oh yes and Noah was sleeping quite peacefully and sweetly. What a sweet, sweet boy we have.

17 months old

Happy 17 months, my little fishy!

Mama

Over the past...4 or 5 days Noah has been constantly calling me: "Mama, Mama, Mama."
It's taken 17 months for him to actually CALL ME BY NAME so it's been nice to finally hear that. It was cute at first - okay, so it's still really cute, but sometimes he just calls my name for no reason in particular. Now in the mornings he's called out for me in his sweet little voice and if that's not incentive to get up and get him, I don't know what is.

"acting out"

Lately I've been feeling...at a loss as to how to deal with Noah's behaviour when he "acts out". We've been going out to different things such as music classes at the library, drop-in play centres, etc. and he just does his own thing. He throws whatever he's holding onto if he gets mad or frustrated or just wants a reaction, he flings himself backward as the beginning of a tantrum without regard as to what's behind him (the other day it was a tiny 7 month old girl and she got scared and started crying) and he doesn't share. Now I know sharing will take awhile but all these things make me feel so helpless and unsure as to how to address them. I don't want to spend my days disciplining him all day long but I think the first few days of "training" will likely be as such.
I'm not sure when or how I'll start, but I do know I need to address these things before they become acceptable (to Noah).

vomit

There's nothing worse smelling that rancid milk/vomit. I had my first vomit-clean-up as a Mom tonight. A child who has vomited is different than spit up. So tonight would be my first.
Noah has a cough and I heard him coughing about an hour after he went to sleep but he went back to sleep on his own.
About 3 hours after he originally fell asleep he woke up crying and didn't stop after a few minutes like he usually does so I went in and was hit with the stench of vomit. BRUTAL. Poor kiddo. It wasn't a mass amount of vomit, but the whole room STANK. I'm guessing he threw up from coughing so hard which means he fell back to sleep and slept for 2 hours in vomit. :(
I don't think I'll get the stench of vomit out of my nose for a long time...

fine motor skills

Noah was more than happy to sit and put money away. I guess two spenders CAN produce a saver. :D

It's just better if you watch it

sickie

My poor little guy is sick. He woke up with a slight fever this morning but after a bit of Tylenol he seemed to be himself. But as the day wore on he became crankier and more and more tired. His nap didn't last long (shorter than usual instead of longer!) I think because he had pooped and then he wasn't really interested in eating dinner. Instead he lay his head down on his tray after he had finished his milk. Poor guy!
So we bathed him and he came out - blue lips and shivering! I took his temp, not a high fever, only slightly so he got some more Tylenol (Bananaberry? Gimme some of that!) and was in bed at 6:50pm!!! I hope he sleeps the night because he needs all the sleep he can get! Poor little dude.

i do it.

Noah just put his rainboot on by himself.
I helped him with the second one, but I guess the whole "dressing yourself" thing starts now.

No Fear

I'm sick but I can still blog...

Anyway, yesterday we were at a friend's house for her son's birthday party. They have a set of stairs that go from the main floor up to the bedrooms and of course Noah loves climbing up and down them and playing on them. He seems to have no fear and no concept of falling and hurting himself - even though he's fallen on these very stairs before.
At one point Jamie was watching him, sitting about 4 stairs below Noah (Noah was at the top of the stairs playing on the landing) when all of a sudden Noah was in Jamie's arms. He literally had dove off the top of the stairs at Jamie. Nobody could believe it! He was pretty shaken up and cried for a few seconds, but apparently didn't learn his lesson because he did it AGAIN later on in the evening.
No fear, and apparently no ability to comprehend cause and effect. And the fact that he could get seriously hurt.
Oh what a boy we have.

music for me and Noah

This morning I took Noah to the library for a free music class called Music For You and Your Child. It was 40ish minutes long and while Noah was his usual dead-pan self in this new and stimulating environment (although VERY content to wander up the three steps and around while everyone else was waving their scarves and shaking their eggs) I think he warmed up to it at the end. We danced, we sang and I really liked the lady who led this class. She was very frank and honest that if you're not singing and dancing, your kid is not going to sing and dance.
Noah even got to pick out two Winnie the Pooh books from the library before we left.
We got home, however and he threw a 5 minute (maybe longer on and off?) tantrum because I took his soother away (that he had found close to the edge of his crib). He seemed inconsolable so I left him, put on some Baby Einstein music and put out some books for him on the living room telling him to "go read some books".
Well, I think he must have been overstimulated and needed some calm, quiet time because he's just quietly sitting on the floor, looking at books and is currently enjoying the DOG book (awhoa whoa).

little comedian!

What a ham!
Today we spent the majority of our day at the Watt's house. After dinner, Noah kept running up to Jen where she would stick her foot out and tickle Noah's stomach and make funny noises.
After a couple times he fell on his butt and one time he lost his balance completely and after falling on his bum, he slowly fell backwards onto the floor. We all laughed of course and he rolled over and got up and ran towards Jen's foot. Except the next time he fell on his bum he purposely fell all the way back onto the floor. He kept doing this over and over because he kept getting a hearty laugh out of all of us.
Later on once we got home and Noah was bathed and dressed his jammies he grabbed a soother from his crib. I didn't realize, though, that he already had one in his mouth and had jammed the second one into his mouth as well! He giggled as he ran away from me and straight into the living room to show "Daddy". We had a good laugh and Noah thought he was quite clever and funny for sticking two soothers in at the same time.

to whom it may concern...

Dear Noah,

Why is it that you are 16 months now and still wake up after going to sleep in the evenings? I know you're just a kiddo and still figuring this thing out, but why can't you just lay in bed, wiggle around, scratch that itch or whatever it is and then fall back asleep on your own?
I know I shouldn't expect this of you, but ... I kinda do.
I love you. You're adorable, but your timing is actually quite impeccable. It seems like just as I've gotten in my pajamas and ready for bed, you start squawking. Not all the time. Not even the majority of the time, but the nights you DO, it feels like this is an every night occurance.
I AM thankful you don't do this at 3am...but I just don't get it. I wish I could understand your cries like words of the English language. Or that you could speak full and coherent sentences and tell me what's going on in that cute, round head of yours.
Anyway, just wanted to send you this note and let you know where I'm at these days with your sleeping habits.
love you always,
Mama

words

I'm not really a milestone person (that is, I don't usually keep track of what Noah "should" be doing at this age, etc.) but ever since I went to the hospital to do a pre-birth registration and was talking to the nurse and found out that at 18 mos he "should" have 18 words all I can think about is how many words he has. I'm not worried, it's more of an heightened awareness of his actual words.
One night while lying awake I counted his "words".
Here's what I've come up with so far:

Mama
Dada
Pooh
Ball
Door
Giraffe - sounds like "je" (heavy on the "j" sound)
George - sounds like "jej" (again heavy on the "j" sound)
Dog - sounds like "whoa whoa"
Lion - sounds like "a whoa" (sometimes hard to distinguish between this and dog unless he's pointing at pictures or specific toys - it's basically the sound of a roar)
Duck - sounds like "duh"
Kitty - it varies, sometimes it's "tti" or "kki"
What's that? - sounds like "assat?" or "ssat?"
Makes a Snake sound - SSSSS
Makes a Monkey sound - ooh ooh ooh!

I have heard him say "teeg" for "Tigger" occasionally and other words that he doesn't use as often - he's been known to say "side" for "outside".
Lately he's been making this whiny, small noise that I think it supposed to be a cat's meow.

So he's on par, but I just thought I'd make a list for posterity more than anything else. (I think.)

He knows...

Just now I was reading a book with Noah about animals. When we turned to the next page it had a picture of a panda bear holding her baby panda. I told Noah and pointed, "Look, a baby panda." he turned around right away and looked at me. Then he pointed to my stomach.
I said, "You're right! Just like the baby inside Mommy!"
So cute. And smart! I was so surprised he's retained that information even though we haven't drilled it into him or anything.
Amazing.

Pooh Boots

I was in Walmart today and couldn't resist buying these for Noah.
I won't show them to him until it's actually time for him to wear them, but dang...! They're so cute!

first hair cut!

I finally gave in to Jamie's wishes and snipped the "mullet" off at the back of Noah's head.
It totally wasn't a mullet, just a little bit longer.
Anyway, it was mere wisps of hair but I did it.
His first hair cut.
Man, it's hard to cut a 15 month old's hair!
He wasn't complaining, just whipping his head back and forth, leaning forward to grab stuff or looking around at Jamie (who was taking pictures for posterity, though it didn't help me any).

stacking!

The other morning Noah stacked 3 baby food jars on top of each other, on top of an apple juice can!

he's walkin'...yes indeed

Noah LOVES walking around outside. He's really not a fan of holding my hand. ESPECIALLY in parking lots. What is the deal with that? In the store he'll hold my hand. In our building he'll hold my hand. The SECOND we get to a parking lot - BAM! - he's outta there. Thank goodness I can keep up with him, but one day I won't be able to! Yikes.
But it is pretty darn cute to hear him giggle with glee because he's walking.
Love it.

see? food?

Noah's newest eating "thing" is spitting chewed up food out of his mouth. If he sees something else he wants or someone mentions another food he'd like or someone offers him a different food than what's in his mouth...out comes whatever is in his mouth.
I recall another friend (although I can't remember which one) telling me about her kid doing the same thing.
Hopefully this too shall pass.

funny boy

In the car on the drive home from a coffee date Noah and I went on (remind me never to do that again!) I was listening to the radio when "In da club" (or whatever it's called) by Fifty Cent came on. I turned it up because it was catchy and stole a glance in the rearview mirror to look at Noah.
He was sitting there, deadpan look on his face with his baby sunglasses on. Upside down. I laughed so hard.
What a funny kiddo.

Beyond busy

Today when Noah and I got home I found cat poop on the carpet (I hate that cat) and dried pee in the bathroom (definitely not Noah, Jamie or I...again...I hate that cat). So while I was cleaning up in the bathroom, Noah was exploring.
I came out into the kitchen to find him repeatedly spraying himself in the face with Spot Shot (a carpet cleaner).
What a busy, busy boy. Quiet too! I doused his face, hands and head in water and flushed out his eyes as best I could. The actual bottle didn't have any warnings other than that it was an irritant.
Sigh.
Major baby proofing happening this weekend.

Let them eat cake!

I realized I never published any video from Noah's first birthday.
Here's a little clip of him eating his birthday cake.

Pooh!

Noah used to absolutely love Curious George and while I'm sure he still likes George, lately all he talks about and wants is "Pooh!". I don't think Jamie or I had anything to do with it, his preference just changed. So today we're onto Pooh video number 2.
SIGH.
I always feel so guilty when I put tv on for Noah, but it doesn't happen every day and I must admit I have taken advantage of this time and actually gotten things done!
So whatever triggered the fondness for Pooh in Young Noah, it sure is cute to hear his little high pitched, "Pooh!".
Check it out for yourself:

paper products!

"What's in your mouth, Noah?" is a common question I find myself asking these days. My son's love of paper continues. Lately he's been eating corners of books, pamphlets and random pieces of paper lying around. Just now I fished out a huge gum-wad sized piece of paper from who knows what paper product he found. Ha...as I typed that I looked over and there was a piece of paper shoved into his ball popper. The insert from a DVD. Half eaten and placed into a convenient "hole" he found.
So busy!