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"