2/3 of a year old!

Today Noah is 8 mos. old.  He's had a bit of a rough day.  He fell over the bed rail on our bed (he likes to pull himself up on it and this time leaned too far over) hitting his forehead on the frame of our bed.  He's cried pretty hard but got over it quickly and the bump wasn't too bad so I didn't feel the need to take him in to get checked out.  Then in the shower tonight he slipped and fell face first onto the tile and hit the corner of his eye.  I realize with his increasing mobility comes increasing opportunities for injuries like this.

His newest cutest thing is to fake laugh.  He forces it out if he likes something with the goofiest, widest grin he can do.  He likes to look at pictures of cute puppies on Pinterest and always forces out a laugh for them.  He's also officially waving in response to people waving at him.  Since it hasn't been too long since my last update, there isn't as much as usual but I did finally upload and sort through a bunch of pictures so here's a few of my favorites from the past couple months.

He decided the tube of toothpaste was his favorite toy one day.  He took it with him when we left the house.

He LOOOVES to watch Ellen

Don't be fooled, he is sound asleep

Helping Daddy build a computer

Family visit to the pumpkin patch

Our son, the energizer bunny...

So it seems that Noah is never happy to enjoy his latest accomplishment; as soon as he's mastered one new skill he's on to the next!  He's only been crawling for about 4 weeks and for the past 3 weeks he's been pulling himself up on furniture and laundry baskets.  He's already good at lowering himself down slowly, instead of just plopping down.  He can even stand unassisted for about 3-5 seconds sometimes.  A few things he loves:

~Oranges, or anything sour (lemons, kiwi, etc.)
~His "Mr. Brown Can Moo" book, he will sit still and quiet while I read it over and over again
~Daddy's keyboard and/or Mommy's laptop
~Cuddle time before bed with Mommy & Daddy
~Timmy Time on Netflix
~Mommy signing the Winnie the Pooh theme song
~Showers with Mommy or Daddy and getting to crawl around naked for a bit after

For the past month or so he's started to prefer to be with Daddy than Mommy unless it's food or nap time.  As soon as Daddy walks in the house from work all he wants is for Daddy to hold him and walk and explore the whole house and yard.  Matt says he feels like the chef in Ratatouille, being controlled by wherever Noah leans towards.  Noah knows to look for Daddy in his office.  He knows to crawl from the living room, up the step into the hall and into the office.  When he does it in the morning when Daddy's at work he's quite confused and disappointed when he doesn't find him.

He's also gotten really good with his pincer grip.  He's able to pick up small things and lately has been using his pointer finger to point/poke/touch things.  He also has finally started to take a bottle occasionally.  Usually I only try if we're in the car and have no choice or if he's really distracted while we're out and about.  He just wants to keep looking around and interacting with people so the bottle can move with him.

Here are some pictures of Noah's first pumpkin

It's official!

We have a crawler!  Noah took his first official "crawl" on his 6 month birthday (10/7) but it's only been the past week that he's really used it to get from point A to point B.  I think he's been fully capable of it for a while but he just didn't realize it was a useful accomplishment!  He still doesn't seem to grasp that it's the most efficient way to get places and he still ends up going backwards sometimes but he does it often enough and for long enough now that I know he's mastered the actual skill.  I think the funniest part is that he often will be on his hands and knees and he'll pick up one or the other hand and he constantly pushes himself up on one or both legs.  He's been going from hands & knees to sitting for a while and he seems like he's going to be pulling himself to stand very quickly.  He already does when holding on to my hands as he tries to get to me, so I feel like it's only a matter of time before he realizes he can do it to get to other things.

He's also doing well eating food now.  His favorite foods are oranges (he gnaws and sucks on them peel and all!), snap pea crisps and string cheese.  He doesn't seem interested in noodles or eggs.  Oh, and we tried lemon just to get that classic "baby-eating-a-lemon" face and he LOVED it.  Didn't even make a face!  In fact, he cried when we took it away! haha

Progress

A few days after I posted my last update (not the pictures) Noah started sitting up.  I can't really pinpoint exactly what day it was because he kind of started doing it gradually and I didn't even realize he was doing it until he had already been doing it for a few days.  He also now rolls from back to tummy and tummy to back both directions and gets up really well on his hands and knees and rocks.  This kid is determined to be mobile - I will not be surprised if he's crawling in a week or two!

He also seems to be getting much more interactive.  He's laughing at more abstract things, not just when you tickle him or make a specific noise.  He'll be sitting next to me and lean over and grab my arm and play with it and laugh.  His new favorite thing is bath time!  He loves splashing and kicking and if he's ever in a bad mood I just put him in the tub and he's happy.

According to our pediatrician we should have started cereal at 4 months.  It kinda of bothers me because that's very much old outdated information.  So not only are we delaying cereal, we're skipping it all together as well as skipping purees all together.  We're going to do a modified baby-led weaning.  Basically, he's gonna eat what we eat as much or as little as he wants to explore food - textures, tastes, etc.  Baby-led weaning's little saying is "food before one is just for fun".  Nutritionally, babies don't need anything other than breast milk (when fed on demand 24/7) until they're one.  Since we're doing that, I don't need to worry about him getting a certain amount of any one particular thing since nutritionally, he's getting all he needs from me.  You start letting them have/play with food when they act interested (after 6 months).  I say we're doing it modified because part of baby-led weaning is to never feed your baby on your own (with the idea of letting them control what goes in their mouth).  Well, sometimes when he wants to suck on my apple or a piece of melon he can't really hold it so I'll hold it in his mouth, thought I never force him to eat or swallow anything.  Anyway, today he did really well with a 1/2 stick of low fat mozzarella string cheese and a couple pieces of honeydew.  Surprisingly he seemed to like the cheese more though that might have been because it was easier to hold (that honeydew is slippery!).  Technically you're supposed to wait until they're 6 months so I've only been giving him some food here and there when he's really grabby during my meal times.  We'll see how it goes!

The heat makes Noah crabby....

Big things!

It's been a big week for our Noah-man!  Last Wednesday he rolled from tummy to back multiple times proving it was now an accomplished milestone, not just a fluke.  That same day I realized he was grabbing his right toes with his hand, so he's also discovered his feet!  And today, Aug. 20, 2012, our little man rolled very intentionally, TWICE, from back to front.  The first time I was out running errands and Daddy texted me (I was very sad) but a few hours after I got home he did it for Mommy!  I missed it with the video camera but literally a few seconds!  Here's a picture of him in his new shade hat I found on clearance!

What's the haps?!

Life has been moving by steadily.  Noah turned 4 months on the 7th and had his 4 month appointment on the 9th.  He weighs in at 15 lbs. 15.9oz. and is 25in. long.  I think the dr. said that was 50% for both but I'm not sure and can't find a calculator online that confirms anything (plus the CDC uses a different chart than the WHO so I'm not sure which my pediatrician uses and the ones online are clearly labeled).

In the middle of July, Noah spent a week as "Super Baby" at Granada's VBS.  "He" led cape time.  It's amazing how telling a group of 20-25 energetic 1-6th graders that "Super Baby left me some orders for you" gets them to actually listen!  He did amazing, napping in the Moby or watching it all from his Bumbo.

At the end of the VBS week, Noah got to meet his 2nd cousin, Norah, who was visiting (with her mommy and daddy of course!) from IL!  They're only about 4 months apart so it was fun to see them interact and also see a little glimpse into the near future for what Noah will be like.  I'm a little sad that they live so far away as I grew up so close with my cousins, but it won't be long til Noah has some more on the Alcorn/Nieto side, 7 more months to be exact (Thanks Neeva & Brian!).

[insert adorable picture of Norah and Noah here] (will add it when I get it from Norah's daddy)

As for milestones, he's rolling really well from back to side but not quite making it over to his stomach.  He can roll stomach to back like a champ though!  He's super interested in his hands, often going way cross-eyed as he looks at them.  He also seems to be teething as he's gnawing like crazing on his and mommy & daddy's hands and starting to drool a lot more.

Most recently, Matt's cousin Janna got married yesterday.  This was Noah's 2nd wedding and first time on a boat (they got married on a yacht).  He did really well considering being out all day and the heat. (excuse my finger in the top corner of the picture)

I'm 3 months old today!

(I don't know why it won't let me post pictures vertically...sorry!)

Noah's 1st 4th :)

Nothing much, just a few pictures!  On the 3rd we spent the evening in our traditional way, at the park with a group of church friends to watch the La Mirada fireworks show.  Thankfully Noah was not the least bit disturbed by the noise or the pesky June bugs and he was totally mesmerized by the fireworks!  On the 4th we went over to the Javiers for a BBQ and ice cream but came home early since he had been out late the night before and Matt had to go back to work early the next morning.  Luckily we can see multiple professional (and illegal) firework shows from our front yard.  It's really quite the view!  Here we are at the Javier's in our matching Old Navy shirts - hopefully a new family tradition.

Where does time go?!

I'm always shocked when I realize how long it's been since I posted!  Noah turned 12 weeks old yesterday and will be officially 3 months old on Saturday!  He is such a smiley, happy loving baby!  My favorite thing he does is probably how he breaks out into a huge grin whenever his daddy gets home from work.  That or his HUGE smiles and cooing for about an hour every morning.  It's like he's just so thrilled to wake up next to Mommy (and on the weekend he gets Daddy too!).  Definitely helps this not-a-morning-person mom to be a little less frustrated when we wake up!

Let's see, since I last posted, Noah has a new baby cousin!  Amanda Dawn Winn was born 5/30/12 at 6:30am after a VERY short 4 1/2 hour labor.  We missed her arrival by about 15 min. but spend the whole day getting to know her.

On June 11 the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup for the first time in their 45 year history!!!  Our little Noah "Stanley" Hamel is a hockey fan in the making!  Daddy was very happy with their win!

Oh, and earlier that day Noah had his 2 month appointment.  He weighed in at 12.6lbs., 23 1/4in. long.  He's in the 50th percentile for height, weight and head circumference!  He got one oral antibiotic (on which he choked and scared the poor nurse) and one shot that he was quite the trooper for!  He cried while the needle was in but settled after as I nursed him.

Then we celebrated our first Father's Day!  On Saturday we celebrated with Grandpa A. with some yummy carne asada.  Then on Sunday we did a family photo shoot at our house with Grandpa H.  Noah also was sporting a fun "My Dad is Rad" onesie like his Mother's Day one.

Just this past week Noah trekked along with me as we helped run a 4 day music camp at church.  He did really well, nursing when I wasn't needed and sleeping a lot in the Moby.  It was a big plus that Grandma was there too so we could trade off helping with kids and holding Noah.  (pictures to be added later)

Then on Friday we coordinated our first wedding together!  Congrats to our dear friends Dan and Emily Kamwesa!!!

Finally, yesterday we hosted our Bradley class reunion!  It was so fun to get to meet all the babies that we had been seeing in their momma's bellies for the past 6ish months (our class ended in March).  It's such a neat group of people, all with similar birthing/parenting styles so it's really fun to be able to get together and share stories and what works.  (again, pictures to be added later).

And that brings us up to date.  Oh, and Noah is trying desperately to roll over, but his one arm keeps him from making it all the way over officially!  So we'll definitely post again once he's conquered that hill!

And so goes life...

Man, time sure flies for me now!  I can't believe it's almost been a month since I posted!  Life has found a pretty good routine, it's such a blessing to not have any outside responsibilities...I don't know how women return to work with a newborn!  I can focus 100% on being available for him.  I mean, even my household responsibilities or things I want to do for myself just fall by the way side if necessary; "oh, you're going to nurse and only sleep in my arms all day? ok, fine, I'll stay in my pjs and not to laundry!"  :)

2 weeks ago I got to finally celebrate my first Mother's Day!  It was super sweet as the past 2 years have been difficult...2 years ago it had only been about a month since I miscarried and last year the frustration and fear of trying for over a year and getting an not very convincing diagnosis of PCOS 2 months prior kinda put a damper on things.  Plus it was just a reminder that I was STILL not pregnant and didn't know when I would ever be.  Same feelings on my 25th birthday last week.  As "young" as I know that is, for some reason every birthday that rolled around I felt like I was getting older and older and "still didn't have a child".  I would calculate how old I would be if I had the 4-5 kids I'd like with the 3 years in between each like I'd prefer (obviously these are just my ideals at the moment).  Like I said, it just put a damper on things.  This year it was so special to be able to celebrate both those days with my lil man by my side!

So Noah will be 7 months weeks (oops, Mommy brain!) old tomorrow and is holding his head up really well now.  He's all smiles, especially in the morning and especially when Daddy's holding him and Mommy comes in for kisses.

Last weekend we spent up in Big Bear with my family - his first trip of, hopefully, many!  He did so great on both car rides, pretty much slept both times.  It helped that we timed our departures right away his typical "bed time".  

Ready for Big Bear!

My two boys enjoying vacation

Oh that's right, he's close to sleeping through the night a lot of nights too!  Last week he started with a 10-7:45 stretch, followed by a 8-5.  Since then, a typical night is falling asleep around 8:00, waking up around 10-11 for a last diaper change & nursing to sleep until anywhere from 3-6 when he gets a diaper change and again nurses to sleep.  That usually lasts until 7-9.  If I'm especially tired I'll stay in bed and try to get one more chunk of sleeping in til about 10 but sometimes I get up and start the day.  How fun to start the day to this face:

Mother's Day morning

Some more shots of the "Many Faces of Noah"