A Dimond in the Rough

Friday, December 02, 2011

This was the 12th year that Alan and I prepared a full Thanksgiving meal together. We love it. Our day was full of wrestling, dart battles, good food and smiles. It was a lovely way to spend the day together.

Here you can see how much he likes food:

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Noah at 5 months

I can't believe how little I have to show for the last month. I guess that we've just been so busy doing life that I haven't had time to document it. But I want to write a quick update on Noah, as he's changed so much since the last time I really sat down to capture his little life.

Physically, Noah is right on track. He rolls from front to back and has recently started rolling from back to front, as well (much to my chagrin). Diaper changes have become more difficult because as soon as I lay him down, he grabs his feet. He loves to hold his feet and works very hard to get them in his mouth. His socks don't really stand a chance these days. Noah can sit unassisted for a few seconds, but is definitely not stable. He still folds forward on himself or tips over. But he's working on it--Sometimes when he's on his back, I see him straining to pull himself up. He's going to have some serious abs!

Noah has found his voice. He loves to talk and yell. He has learned to make these funny guttural sounds, almost like he's gargling. He still says ah-goo, but has lots of other sounds, too. Mostly he just seems to enjoy hearing himself. He has also started laughing at things around him, not only when we tickle him. He thinks Abbie is the bees knees--She gets more grins than any of the rest of us.

Sleep... I think I remember what that is. Noah is a cat napper. He sleeps for about 20 minutes at a time, maybe three times per day. I can't understand how he isn't exhausted, especially because he's been up eating every 2 hours again at night. But he is a happy camper, despite the lack of naps. It's driving me nuts, I must admit, because I can't get anything done. He's not a real self-occupier, so when he is awake, he expects me to be very interactive and playing with him. He has definitely figured out what he does and doesn't like. He doesn't like to be put down and left alone. That makes laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc. pretty difficult to get done. But he's just such a sweet baby that I don't really mind spending my entire day entertaining him. He still lights up at my face which is all I need anyways.

I've started giving Noah some solids. I've never seen a baby so interested in food before. This kid will sit in my lap at dinner and open his mouth every time I bring a bite to mine. He cries if you don't give him a taste. So I've given him some rice cereal (not a fan), applesauce (not a fan) and pears (yum). He has also tried all manner of other foods. I guess with the third you just don't care that much, so he's tasted popsicles, chocolate, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, yogurt, rolls, etc. His favorite is popsicles. That's what he cries for until you give him another lick. I love it. Noah is still breastfeeding a lot. He's been sick again this week and I feel like I have a newborn again. He just wants to eat and eat and eat. That goes for the nighttime, as well. But it's been good for my weight loss and comforting to him, so I'll take it. He's reached that distracted stage of nursing, though. He pops on and off, on and off, looks around, grins at me, spills mouthfulls of milk out the side of his mouth, grabs at my face, claws at my chest... But nursing is such a special time for us, just the two of us. I just love nursing him, the way that he stares up at into my eyes. I love this kid.

So Noah is doing great. He weighed 15.5 lbs a few weeks ago; he's chunking up nicely. He's brought so much joy to our family and brings so much on a daily basis. I can't even begin to explain how much I love him. He makes my life worth living.

Rhode Island

Oi. I'm almost a month behind in blogging. I completely missed Noah's 4 month post--He turned 5 months old yesterday! We have been so crazy busy. Let's see what I can do during Noah's 20 minutes naps...

It was a Friday morning. I was having a bad day. Scratch that--It was a horrendous day. Any normal person might call a friend, go shopping, eat some ice cream. What do I do? I call my two best friends, rant and rave about my life, then book myself tickets to fly Rhode Island to visit my twin sister with all three kids. For Saturday. Yes, the next day. Tickets were $100 round trip from Chicago to Boston. Trust me when I say that it was too good to be true.

Noah, unlike my other kids, is not a road-tripper. This kid cries when I put him in his car seat, then cries until we get where we're going and I take him out. 3 hour drive to Chicago plus 1 hour drive to Providence (from Boston)? Sure, why not. Alan drove us to Chicago. Noah cried. We boarded the plane and suddenly I understood why the tickets were $100. Drinks were $3. The seats were so crammed that once the lady in front of me put her seat down, Noah couldn't stand or sit facing me in my lap. He had to be laying down or sitting with his back against me the entire flight. Did I mention that I hate flying? Like hate it so much that I cry as soon as we drive onto the property of an airport, even if I'm just picking somebody up. But we made it. My sister picked us up in Boston. Noah cried. Almost the entire trip to Providence. A good 45 minutes.

The flight home was even worse than the trip there. 10 minutes before we were supposed to board our plane in Boston, we were told that there was weather in Chicago and that we'd be delayed. It turned into a 3 hour delay. Nothing like keeping three kids happy for an extra three hours in an airport, then getting on a plane for another 3. The weather made the flight home terrible. Turbulence almost non-stop. I cried and prayed. A lot. Abbie vomited twice. Luckily there were a couple of nice guys (one in the airport and one in front of us on the plane) who helped me out. The guy in the airport said he could get me anything I needed, a drink, etc. (I really wanted that drink!) The guy in front of us was traveling with his 2 year old son and was incredibly helpful during the puking. He passed back an extra bag and wipes. He saved us from all being covered. FYI--It's hard to help your daughter vomit into a bag while holding a baby.

I could spend an hour writing about all of the things that happened. My sister's baby got Croup. My kids had Strep (although we didn't figure it out until later in the week that we got home). Noah cried EVERY SINGLE TIME WE TRIED TO GO ANYWHERE. But it was still really good to see my sister. It was so fun to watch our kids play together. Her oldest, Ben, is a spitting image of Abbie. I got to see the ocean. We went to Newport, got some fantastic candy, saw the mansions, had a picnic. We went to Battleship Cove. We went to Build-a-Bear. Being there was great. It was just really hard to be a single parent to three kids away from home. And I learned a very important lesson:

No matter how bad things seem at home, it's going to be worse when you're away. Thank you, Lord, for teaching me that lesson in such clear ways. I won't ever doubt it again.