Noah [20 months]

Oh Noah! 

We say that alot....along with "ohhhh boy, what are you doing?, where are you?, look what he did!."

You keep us going, that's for sure. 

You are talking more and more each day! Literally, I can't hardly keep up with the words you are trying to repeat starting this last week. You have entered the mimicking stage. 

Many words I said today, you had a version of repeating...but here are a few of the words you are saying on a more regular basis:

"Da-eee" (daddy): used very often, and said very excitedly...look around for him when he's at work saying this

"Ma-ma": JUST now started, and honestly, I only heard once. Daddy claims you said it over and over again when I was gone for the day!

"Cri-te or Tri-teh": I can't place what letters you're using..but it resembles the sound of saying Christian of sorts, and it is when you seem to be talking about him

"Papa": clear as a bell...you've been saying it for months now! You know your grandpa :)

"baby": very clearly. You love to look at pictures of yourself as a baby. You smile and giggle at it...repeating the word baby over and over. Just lately, you will say baby and then swat pat at my belly. I'm a little nervous about just how gentle you intend on being when this little baby joins our family!

"side": outside

"ball"

"Kkki-o" (Cleo): Grandma and Grandpa's dog...you LOVE her. You giggle and say this when we pull in their driveway and she is outside.

"Mitch": Mitch..it was a one time deal..so maybe not, but it sounded just like it when Mitch was in the room 

"ha": hot

"aa-ch": ouch

"iiight!!!!": light...you love them!

"moo": moon..you point up to it

"ay-ppay": airplane..you point up to the sky and say this when you hear one, and sometimes will actually look up to find it

"peese": please..you also sign this (you're REAL good at it when you want a treat!) Sometimes you sign it by doing the rubbing on the person holding you's chest instead of your own. As in, you want them to get you the treat, so you'll say "please" to them by signing ON them.

"mow": more..you also sign this (and its SO cute).

"bye-bye": clear as a bell today at the library!

"chhheee": cheese..as in for photo taking purposes, not eating :)

"shoe": it isn't that clear, but the shh sound is followed by some vowel close enough. You've known this one for awhile now...and you know exactly where to go get them when we say we're going somewhere!

"pa-eee": potty. And after tonight, when you said this after you lifted the lid to the toilet and tried to unsnap your outfit, leaned back like you were going to the bathroom and said "pa-eee" again...I'm wondering if you could be potty trained soon. It seems crazy...but I would NOT complain if that were the case!

"wheee!": going down the slide usually gets this!

"Go!": used often and clearly.

"reee!": when counting 1,2,3...its the THREE! With gusto.

"Bay": blanket/blankie. You love your white blanket.

"tra-ss": trash. You thoroughly enjoying tossing things in the trash..whether they belong there or not!

"Tr-a": truck

"tra-ta": tractor

I know there are more..I can't remember right now.

You know how to point to some of your body parts when asked. 

You clearly seem to understand what we are talking about on many topics..you don't always choose to use any of the words you do know to talk..but you are jabbering MOST of the time.

You are very aware of how to say "no" by shaking your head. You have said the actual word a couple times, but you seem to prefer the very clear head shake.

And if all else fails..Christian feels he has the ability to interpret most any action or jabbering combination you have to offer. Sometimes, he is quite offended by what you "seem" to be saying, and other times it is to benefit his wants/needs (especially when dealing with a toy that needs to be shared!). It seems a bit ridiculous when Christian can get in all out tears over what you have "said" to him, when indeed you are not talking in sentences, let alone many of the words that could possibly do this kind of insult.

................................

Other updates on your life at 20 months:

I put the dining room chairs back up, after months of being on their sides. I was tired of looking at the table like that, and never using the chairs. So, instead I FREQUENTLY get you down from on top of the table. The light switches by the table have been taped over, so you can't continuously flip them on and off. You have a very strong interest in switches and outlets, and no matter how many times you are told no very firmly...you go right for them the next time. I have covered all outlets..and even that doesn't stop you from prying the little "child-proof" plugs out.

You are a pretty decent eater. Its hard to really compare, because the only other comparison is pretty picky. You really like yogurt, meatballs, thin pancakes, spaghetti (although, not consistently), macaroni and cheese, blueberries (ALOT..we just discovered this!), pizza, bananas (although, you seem to be phasing out of your love for those), most cereals, baked oatmeal (another new discovery that you LOVE), and anything sweet (oooohh boy...you get very greedy when it comes to dessert/treats!) You definitely prefer to feed yourself. And when you are done, you are starting a bad habit of dropping things on the floor. If you are not strapped in tight enough...and left even slightly half supervised, it is a guarantee you will be out of the high chair, standing on the tray (and now you have discovered you can shimmy your way down to the ground from getting out on the side).

We have resorted to kitchen sink bath time immediately following some meals (mainly spaghetti and pancakes...yikes!)

Even though you may be a go-getter, and generally a rough and tumbly sort of little guy...

you are definitely a softy at heart. You can be quite sensitive, and melt when told "no". (However, this doesn't stop you from doing the same thing over again!) You come crying, your little sobbing-waddle walk to me, holding your arms up. I hold you..you lay your head down long enough to realize you were consoled...and you want down again :)

You love to be "gotten". Oh...your laugh fills my heart. You get so excited when you laugh :) 

Anytime you get the chance, you want to be "side" (outside). You know when anyone is ready to go..you pell mell to the door, grab your shoes, and stand there waiting for them to let you out! I make it sound like you're a caged animal..we do let you out, my dear! We play outside often..I obviously have to be out there with you because your sense of fear is nearly non-existent..and you get into things (shocking, I know)! You really like to play with water and mud. Splashing/sitting in the water, and stinking your fingers in the mud to be more precise. You "fling" and drink/eat both whenever you get the chance.

You used to love swinging..but now you are more interested in the clicking devices that keep you strapped in. You just want to click them together..and then get very upset if I don't unclick them fast enough for you to do it over and over and OVER again! You like to play with the assortment of cars/push toys that we have collected..but move through them fairly quickly. If they have any kind of hole or compartment..you really enjoy filling those with rocks!

We go on walks...you like that! Whether you are in the stroller or the wagon..you like to look around..and eat snacks along the way!

You play in our pool sometimes. You like to crawl over the edge to get in..whether you have a suit on or not. You will play in there..splash around, plop down, get out...go play with something and come back to it. At Grandpa and Grandma's pool, you are now getting very familiar with getting your own life jacket out, handing it to me...and promptly going to the stairs and getting in. Just a few weeks ago, you were pretty leery of getting in. You still want to be held closely if we start walking around in the pool. But if you are near the stairs..you act like you own the place!

 You are a little birdy when it comes to getting something you want. You start giggling, and then go up to the target and "beg". It was so cute when we went out for icecream the other night. You went between the two cones...Daddy's and Christian's. They each very willingly shared with you..and you were SO happy! You have started saying "peese" (please) and signing it when you see a treat. You also know "ca-ee" (candy)..ahem....Grandma!

 Behold, this is the sight of you sitting and playing!! It is starting to happen more routinely..and it's so cute to watch. You are so good at stacking and building! Now, its the sharing factor if both you and Christian happen to want to build at the same time. Oh, well...that's just how it goes..and so it does!

You love your brother! He makes you squeal and scream sometimes, but you show love to each other and each time it melts my heart. 

Noah, I hope you know you are loved SO very much. I may make you sound like a handful...and truly, you kind of are sometimes. BUT..I love you just the way you are. You are developing such a fun, loving, and lively personality. I love watching you grow and change. You have lots of energy...and lots of smiles..you bring such joy to our lives!!

Noah [one year]

Noah Bear you turned one year old!

What a big boy!

It's hard to believe one year ago you were only 6 lb 6 oz...a little bundle in our arms.

You are now 19 lb 6 oz, and so close to walking on your own (you took a couple steps by yourself just a couple days ago!). 

You climb, crawl, and get into just about anything and everything!

You love your brother SO much. 

He can make you laugh so easy. The two of you are very funny together sometimes. You make sounds back and forth than giggle so hard. Oh, it makes my heart happy.

You love to be outside.

We go on walks, you like to look all around.

It is funny how timid you are about things with different textures....this may be food, different types of toys, grass, leaves, etc. Oh, you can make some faces about these! But it also works for having you stay in a spot for a little bit...you don't want to touch anything to move.

 

You have slept a solid 8-9 hours in a row! HOORAY! It has yet to be a running trend, but that's alright, we're getting there :) You are a good eater for the most part. You definitely know how to bat your hand at something if you don't want it...or shovel it in your mouth a little too well if you like it.

You haven't said any words yet...but you can babble and jabber a long story worth. I'm sure one of these days something that is recognizable will come out. Every now and then, it sure sounds like you try to make the noises into something...but I think that might be us just putting 'words in your mouth.'

You are getting such a sweet personality.

So lovable. So playful.

You are overall such a happy little guy!

You LOVE balls.

You actually can throw them quite well!

You love your mama..and you can give the best snuggles.

(You love your daddy too...just to be clear.)

You are growing up so fast. Hard for me to believe that you are growing out of the baby phase and into being a toddler. I love you, my little pumpkin.

We are so blessed to have you in our lives Noah. 

I am so glad God gave us such a healthy, happy little boy to join our other one.

You may add more mess and more noise...but you my dear have added even more joy too!

I excited to see what this next year holds for you Noah Benjamin.

Noah [11 months]

Noah...eleven months old!

Your smile is so sweet. The bigger your teeth get, the older you look! You only have 4 for now...but you chew on most anything to try and help those side one come in. You are definitely becoming more verbal within the last month. You make a growl sound with the letter "A"....it sounds so funny. You make a lot of "ba-ba-ba and daa-da-daa" sounds, but have yet to put a word to anything in particular including mama or dada :) 

You are a go-getter and a tough little guy. Your big brother gets a little frustrated at how much you can get into "his" stuff, and has to be reminded not to push you away. However, you think it's a game to be pushed down, and you laugh! This usually makes Christian say, "No, Noah...its not funny!"...which just causes you to laugh more. Oh you two!

You eat a variety of food. You prefer to have whatever it is we are having most of the time. You are a big fan of most fruit, whether it be fresh peaches or the baby food version. Anything you can pick up yourself..you usually try it out. You're not a big fan of drinking from a sippy cup. You would rather it be just a regular drinking cup that I have..or a bottle (to mainly chew on).

You nap good. You sometimes get to take a short nap in the morning (often it is shortened because we need to pick up Christian from preschool)..and then you lay down for a two hour nap in the afternoon. Night time is getting better??? The last several nights you have only woke up once..we'll get there..at least you go back to sleep fast! You like to sleep with your white blanket. When you wake up, you are SO happy..you bang on the top rail of your crib..and start your form of laughing when I come to pick you up. (your socks are coming off in this picture..your feet look a little wonky)

You have your own look. 

It feels as though you are staying around the same weight now, your chubby legs are not quite as chubby, and your face not so round. Perhaps this has to do with how much you get around. Either way you are still wearing alot of 9 month clothes,  a few 12 month outfits and PJ's. Your hair is getting long, still strawberry blonde...and your eyes are still blue, although some days they have a hint of gray in them..so I'm wondering if they will stay blue (Christian's changed after he was one).

You love...

to bang your hands on things and are reminded often to be "gentle"...which you just find funny

to swing

balls...you know how to throw really well

to sing...and listen to music

a wreath that hangs in our living room...it makes you so excited when you go past it

to see the rolling pin..again, you start getting so excited when you see it (I don't know why!)

your brother...he can really get you to laugh the best

for us to clap our hands when you do something and say "YAY YAY!"...you clap your hands too

to get into anything you are not supposed to!!

You are getting much faster and swifter at walking with help (whether it be leaning on something or somebody). You are just getting so big my dear, I'm sure you'll be walking on your own very soon!

For now you know how to make a bee line for what you need in a hurry...drop to your knees and crawl very fast!

Sweet Noah Bear, we love you so much. 

Hard to believe next month you will have your FIRST birthday!

Noah [10 months]

Noah, you are 10 months and on the move!!

It was VERY difficult to get a picture of you holding still, unless you are being held or strapped into something. Whew.

You LOVE to climb stairs. You know you are watched closely when you do it...as you start to take off, you have to peek over your shoulder to make sure you have our attention. You can zip around on the floor really fast when you want to...especially when you are wanting me to hold you..you crawl over and climb up my legs. You've started a new kind of crawl where your right foot pushes off and your left knee stays down. This way you can be standing once you find something to lean against in no time! You walk along furniture very well...I'm sure you'll be doing it all by yourself in no time!

You are a tough guy..a bit of a "bowzer" as Grandpa and Grandma would say. I tell Christian he better teach you to play nice and show you how to be gentle...because you don't mind being rough. You're pretty solid...and you already like to wrestle around with Christian. The other night, you were laughing when Christian was saying, "that's enough!!!" We are often saying, "gentle...gentle..." when it comes to your hands whacking around. You are very playful, but my dear, you are getting strong too!

You love music...and really love to sing. It is quite funny how noisy you are when you try to "carry a tune", especially in church. Once the song is started...your voice comes alive!! You also like it when I play the piano...and think you need to help me out :) 

You can be such a sweet boy. Your toothy (4 teeth now!) smile gets me every time! You are still bashful when strangers look/talk to you...but you almost always check to see if they are still there after you turn your head and give them a big smile. You get SO excited when I come in to get you out of your crib. You know how to make your mama smile!

You are doing much better at eating. You eat better when you get to feed yourself pieces..you eat what we do often. Some of your favorites; pizza, macaroni, spaghetti, meatballs, bananas, peaches, bread. As long as we have something for you to grab and put in your mouth...we still are able to feed you the baby food at the same time. You aren't very good at drinking out of a sippy cup...you chew on it VERY well, and you don't mind it...but you don't seem to necessarily have a  need/want for it.

I still feed you at least 4 times I day...you seem to appreciate that quite a bit!

I have big hopes for your sleep pattern this month. You are ten months old now...so I think you can master sleeping through the night, right? Not to be picky...but it really is a good idea. You take a morning nap, usually an hour long...and an afternoon nap, usually 2 hours or so. You go to bed around 9:30...and you HAVE been getting up around 1:30-2 for a snack (although I've been turning this option down, and you will sometimes go back to sleep with some coaxing...but other times I give in...because that's what kind of mama I am!) And then you will get up another 2 or 3 times! Yes, see...this is why I have big hopes for this month...now let's work together and see if this can happen...okay, buddy??

As far as your looks and growth. You still wear 9 month or 6-12 month clothes. Your hair gets thicker and longer every month. It still has a strawberry blonde tint to it...so different than Christian's. You have a rounder face/head than him too. Your eyes are still very blue. You hold yourself very well...but you're solid. I can't tell you how many people say you look like your Grandpa (Sweigart). It is so funny seeing you and Christian together...because you really don't look like each other...yet you are quite the brothers!

Love you Noah Bear...you are quite the little guy...you keep me on my toes!

Noah [9 months]

Nine months old...

Noah you are growing up so fast...but you're still my little baby boy!

(This one will have to do, until I get the other one edited right.)

It seems like in the last month you have really changed in many ways...

Physically...

you are able to whip up into the sitting position like a champ,

you can crawl so quick and so uniform,

you pull yourself up to anything you can possibly get enough grip to do so, 

you WALK alongside the furniture you pull yourself up to,

you CLIMB stairs (what???),

and you finally broke through those ol' teeth...you have 2 1/2, that other bottom one is almost all the way broke through making it 3 (within a couple weeks).

You also enjoy banging your hands against most everything...chairs, toys, people, your crib rail...anything, especially if it makes a noise.

You have started to "sing" when others around you are singing. I noticed it first at church..its funny. You open your mouth and just make noise with the music.

You are starting to babble more and loudly when you do! Your choice words are "ba, baaa, baaaa" every now and then you switch it up with a "daaa daa daaa". (Not exactly "dada" in terms of your daddy however!)

Socially...

You play shy with people...you like them to look at you and you smile at them, but then quickly tuck your head into me and peek to see if they are still looking.

You have a special liking for me (don't worry I like you too!)...Daddy claims you will be fine for him, until I walk in the room and then you decide you need some attention from only me...happy to oblige. 

You like to play with anything you're not supposed to...anything found on the floor that didn't get swept up in a timely manner. It seems a little crazy that you won't touch the MANY toys that we lay out for you to get into. Although Christian will sometimes leave an intentional trail of your toys to see if you'll stop at each one to check them out...its pretty amusing.

You love "playtime in Christian's room" (as Christian calls it)...where you mosey on in there to check out what's going on. Your favorite spot is to climb on his bed, since its on the floor. But you'll pull up to the train table..if he lets you, and walk around it. You also love your baths with Christian (you sit in your blue tub, while the regular tub is filled for Christian). The two of you can giggle so sweet!

As far as sleep...well, you don't really have much improvement in that area since last month. I don't know what happened from the several weeks that you seemed to have it figured out a couple months back. I don't count how many times you usually wake up in the night...not really a reason to figure that out. But when you do sleep, its the sweetest thing ever. In your crib you usually end up laying on your side, on top of your white blanket (that really has been a little lifesaver at getting you to go down!). And you sleep with the same Christmas lullaby CD that Christian does...we get Christmas tunes all year round I guess! If I can't get you to go to sleep any other way and I've tried feeding you...I rock you and you bury your head downward in between my arm and my chest. Silly guy!

You like to swing. You actually roll out of this hammock swing a little too easy now..because you don't sit still anymore. But you LOVE to be pushed in the baby swing. It relaxes you every time!

Your head sweats...easily! Thankfully the summer has actually been mild!

You love to sit in this position on your Grandpa and Daddy especially. You get up on your little perch and start banging away on their head! This was taken on the boat in Arkansas (we went with the whole Sweigart clan). You were NOT however a fan of the trip there or back...yikes.

You eat...better than you were last month. I think you prefer table food over baby food..but of course not always, because that would mean I could figure it out! Some "table" foods that you seem to like are bread, Cheerios, pineapple, noodles, crackers, meatballs, and your puffs. For some reason you often do better with the baby food that is packaged in the bag with the screw top lid...half of the time, you will eat it directly from the bag if I squirt it in your mouth.

You have a very DIRECT form of communicating that you do not want to eat...you provide the noise (not crying, but a closed mouth version of loud whining), you give the stiff arm swat to get the food away from your mouth, or you finally just start crying and refuse to be convinced that it would be a good idea to eat a meal.

Your hair is light brown, with a tint of strawberry blond in it. Your eyes are still very blue.

You wear mostly 9 month clothing...some 12 month rompers. You wear size 3 diapers.

You are 19 lb 6 oz....and 28 inches tall.

So glad you are growing and healthy...

we love you Noah Bear...a WHOLE bunch!