And, he's off!!

Andrew found his flag and was waving it around. Then, he grabbed his step-stool and decided he was the starter in a race. Even better, Noah jumped right in and played along, appropriately wearing his race car overalls. Andrew would wave the flag and shout "Go!" and Noah would run in circles around Andrew while making car noises. Noah would win the race and then they'd start again.

I do love seeing their creativity. And playing together is pretty fun to see, too.

Lunch Break

It seems that Thursdays always end up being our day to run errands. Probably because they're usually our only day of the week with nothing actually scheduled.

We've come to enjoy our trips out. Andrew loves going to Target. Noah likes trips to Kroger if we're doing some actual shopping so he gets to ride in the cart. (most places he's in the carrier on my back).

Today, we went to Costco, Kroger and Target. We didn't get much at any of the stores, but it was all stuff we needed that couldn't wait for a large shopping trip, so off we went. Costco and Target are both good for wandering and browsing all sorts of things-- perfect for a cold, snowy day like today.

We had a great time and since it was lunch time and the boys were hungry, we went to Wendy's as a special treat. Wendy's is fast becoming our favorite place for fast food (on those rare times we eat out). Andrew is even requesting there over McD. Food tastes better, value menu makes it cheap, and unlike the other place, Noah and I can eat their French fries since they are dairy free. And what good is a burger without fries?!?

Busy, Busy!

To help Andrew begin understanding time, I make a calendar for him each month.  It hangs on the fridge so we can easily reference it and mark the days off each evening.  With our camping trip coming up, he is especially excited, but having a hard time understanding we aren't going "tomorrow."  Seeing it on the calendar helps.

I use pictures of events, rather than words, and if he has more than one thing happening on a day, I just pick a picture for whatever event seems most important (or most fun for him).  I was shocked when I printed this month's calendar and saw just how busy it is.  And he's only three!  Granted, ot & speech are 2 days a week and really only an hour, not an all-day thing, and the last week is all vacation, but still.

No wonder when Eric got home last Friday and asked Andrew what he did today (expecting him to talk about the playdough we made), Andrew said "We stayed home!!!" with as much excitement as if he had announced we had been to the zoo.

Solo Bath

The boys were playing together while I was getting some work done.  I checked on them to find Andrew "reading" Goodnight Moon to Noah.  So sweet!

Noah had applesauce and pureed zucchini at dinner tonight.  He's not the best at eating veggies as table food yet, so I still puree some once in a while, just to make sure he's getting some in him.  Of course, after a few bites he threw a fit until I let him feed himself.

And that meant getting a bath.  Andrew insisted he didn't need one, and I only insist he takes one if it's been a couple days or if he's had sunscreen on.  Since he just had a bath last night, we let him skip tonight so Noah got the tub all to himself.  I'm pretty sure it was a first for him.

Noah LOVES the tub, so he was quite happy to have even more room to splash and play.

Pretty sure this grin sums up how he felt about it:

The Chair

Just because it's been a while since I posted a picture of the boys together in the chair...

Actually, it's been a while since I snapped a picture of them together in the chair.  They get up there together, but it doesn't tend to last long enough for me to even grab the camera.

Play

What to do on a hot day with a child not interested in playing outdoors?

Make Playdough!!!

1 recipe.  3 colors.  Lots of fun.

The blue is his favorite....

And for entertaining the little one while the big one played?

He entertained himself by rolling around on his bumpy ball. He kept laying on it, rolling forward onto the floor and then laughing like mad at himself.

Peanut

We constantly hear comments from people about how little Noah is.  When we're out, people are surprised when they seem him walking around, and even more surprised to learn he is almost 15 months old.  Since he's still small, he is still using his infant carseat.  We generally leave it in the van and just carry him in & out like we would with a bigger seat..... but, if he falls asleep on a trip out, we still have the convenience of taking the seat out and putting it on the snap-n-go stroller and letting him sleep.  People see the seat and assume it's a young baby.  When he wakes and we get him out and he takes off running after Andrew, once again, we get comments of surprise because people had thought he was much younger.  I often refer to Noah as "Peanut" and found these pictures to help show just how little he really is.

Andrew.  Just shy of 9 months.

Noah. Same outfit. Just shy of 15 months.

Andrew.

Peanut.

As best I can tell from the photos, the outfit fits both of them very similarly.  If anything, it looks like it was starting to get a little snug on Andrew.  Fits Noah great right now.  It's a size 6-9 month!

Bath time!

Noah thinks it's great he gets to sit in the tub like a big boy now.  But, he keeps us on our toes since he doesn't like to sit still and often tries to stand up!  They both LOVE bath time!

Fireman Noah

During the Health Fair at church a couple of months ago, we had a fireman that visited and talked to the kids about fire safety.  Of course, a fireman visit means getting a hat!  Noah still loves it and walks around with it on all the time.  And if he can't get it on his head himself, he'll bring it to one of us to put on for him.  Too bad he isn't this excited about regular hats.

There it is!

Back when I did the "Almost Comparison" post around Noah's 100-days, at the time I took the photo, I was certain Noah was wearing the same outfit as Andrew.  It was Andrew's 100-days photo, that I remembered, and I knew I hadn't gotten rid of the outfit because I thought it was cute.  Noah's 100th day came along, and I thought it would be neat to have a picture of them in the same outfit at about the same age.  Took Noah's photo, called Andrew's up on the computer and realized the outfit was different.

Strange.  Similar outfit, but not the same one.  How did that happen???

This week, I discovered how.  I found Andrew's 100th day outfit in with the 3-6 month size clothes that Noah is just starting to fit well in.  It wasn't the same outfit at 100 days because Noah is a lot smaller than Andrew so the outfit wouldn't have fit him then!  Mystery solved!!!

Noah went to the dr today for his 6 month check-up and weighed in at 14 lbs.  Andrew was just a bit bigger than that at his 3 month!  Noah is just a peanut, though. The dr. didn't seem concerned with his weight at all.  He's healthy, meeting and exceeding milestones and growing right on track for him.  And at 6 months is finally wearing things Andrew wore at 3 months so I can get those matching photos.

Noah: 186 days old (14lbs)


Andrew: 100 days old (approx. 14.5 lbs)

First Food

Noah tried his first solid food today!  6months, 1 day old.  He's been eyeing our food for a couple of weeks now and threw an full-out fit last weekend when I wouldn't let him have my pizza.  So, it was definitely time to let him start trying some things.

We decided to start with avacado so I mashed 1/2 of a small one up for lunch.  As I expected, he got more on him than he did in him... but not bad for a first attempt.  So much to figure out at once-- new taste, new texture, new way to use the mouth.  He ate around half of it before deciding he was finished.  We'll try more again over the next few days.

Ready to eat:


First bite:


This stuff isn't too bad!


Messy face!

Reading

After all the hopping, Andrew asked me to read to him.  We made it through one book before he was telling me to get out of the chair because he wanted to sit there and read to Noah.  They read.  I took pictures.

Hot-scott

Or, hopscotch, as most of you are used to calling it.

Ever since seeing some kids playing hopscotch at the park a few weeks ago, Andrew has been fascinated with it.  Add to that, an episode on one of his favorite shows where the main character was learning to play hopscotch, and his fascination grew even more.

This morning, he was jumping around the house and said he was playing "hot scott."  So, I got out the masking tape and turned it into a real hopscotch game.  Andrew thought it was the greatest thing to have hopscotch right in his own living room!  He understands the basic concept-- toss a stone, hop in the squares, pick up your stone when you come back-- and before I was even done taping it off, asked where his stone was.

Hmmm....  no stones in the house.  And even if we had some, I wouldn't trust him to throw one around with Noah and the tv in the room.  But giant legos make a good substitution.  I finished taping and we played hopscotch.  He knows the numbers through 10 and would cheer for each number he got his stone on.  "YAY!  I got a 3!" and so on.  And he thought it was great fun when Noah played, too.  (I held him while I hopped-- talk about a challenge!  Noah laughed the whole time and enjoyed it as well)

He started out just jumping with both feet-- he doesn't yet have the ability to hop on one foot.  But he certainly tries his hardest at hopping!  It ends up looking more like a gallop, one foot out front with the other dragging behind.  By bedtime, the "hot" was sounding more like "hop" and "scott" had an "s" on the end, getting closer to the "tch" sound.  Amazing sometimes how quickly he learns.

Hopscotch!


"Hopping" to 10.


Pick up your "stone."


I tried and tried but couldn't get a shot of him looking at the camera.  He was too focused on where he was hopping!

Amber

Have any of you ever used amber as a natural pain reliever, or is that another sign of my crunchy ways?

I'd heard many good things about amber necklaces for teething babies... helps with the pain and improves their mood.  As I understand it from a bit of research, the amber necklace is worn (not chewed as some may think when they hear it's for teething).  The warmth of the skin causes the amber to release small amounts of succinic acid-- which is the chemical that makes it work for pain.

Noah has been a terrible teether-- always fussy, refusing to nurse and regular fits of screaming/crying that last from 30 minutes to 2 hours.  Tylenol and teething tablets help a bit, but I hated the thought of medicating him all the time, so after asking some friends about the amber and getting all positive responses, I decided to order a necklace and give it a try.

Noah's necklace arrived earlier this week and I already feel comfortable in saying it has made a difference for him!  When I took it off at bedtime the first night, he started crying not 5 minutes later and cried for 30 minutes.  Coincidence?  Sign the necklace works?  Too early for me to say... but it was the only crying he did all day so it made me wonder.

He's been wearing it for a couple of days now and my opinion is that it has definitely helped improve his mood.  No crying fits.  He's nursing better during the day.  Still waking every 2 hours or so at night... but even that is an improvement over the every 90 minute waking he had been doing.  I take the necklace off at night, for fear of strangulation, so nights seem to still be rough for him.  It's only been a couple days but already I'm liking the affects we're seeing with the necklace and it goes on the minute he wakes up!

In my readings on it, I found lots of offerings for it as a teething necklace.  It seems though (not as widely discussed), that necklaces & bracelets can also be used for migraines, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain and on and on.  Makes sense to me.  I'm considering getting one for myself for my back/hip pain I've struggled with off & on for years.

Interested in trying it for yourself or reading more about how it works? I ordered Noah's from inspiredbyfinn.com They have an info page on there that explains more about it.  I know... why take the word on benefits from someone trying to sell you something?  I researched elsewhere and found the same information on non-retail sites as what they have on theirs. 

When I did further reading and wondered if I should have ordered hazelwood instead of amber (since it helps with acid reflux, too), I emailed Inspired by Finn and asked which they thought was better to try.  They suggested amber, which is what we have... and the hazelwood is more expensive... which to me says they're honest people looking to help others with their product, not just make a buck.  So, trust what you read on their site. :)  And if you want to order something for yourself, enter code SAVE15 during your checkout and they'll give you a 15% discount!  And once your item arrives and you've tried it out, let me know how it works for you as I'm curious about its affects for things beyond teething.

In the meantime, my cloth-diapered, amber necklaced, hug-a-tree-jammies wearing, breastfed, crunchy baby will keep wearing his and we'll update in the future on its continued benefits.  Besides... how incredibly cute is this???

New Jammies

Fall has arrived with cooler weather, which means time for warm jammies.  Both boys got new jammies while we were out running our usual Saturday errands.  Andrew picked his out-- and try as I might, I couldn't convince him to pick the blanket sleepers.  Nope.  Big boy jammies for him.  Though, I later realized that as we work on nighttime potty learning, these will make that task easier for him, so they were probably the better choice.  Came home, tossed them in the laundry and they happily put them on tonight.

Nothing but air!

Up on fingers and toes, nothing but air under the belly!


Noah has started pushing up on fingers & toes, and flopping forward onto his belly, just like Andrew used to.  Noah also gets on his hands and knees a lot though, and rocks and gets frustrated as he tries to figure out how to crawl.  A few times he's managed to move a knee or two, but hasn't got it all figured out just yet.  As it is, he is all over the room now and nothing is safe!

Game Time

Still loving Candyland.  And fully grasps the concept now and can usually play an entire game without reminders of how to move his "cookie man." (the game pieces look like gingerbread men)


He was excited to get the ice cream card. (I belive it's Princess Frostine?)  It's the special place that's highest up on the game board and means you are close to winning the game.


Playing the game with him is so much fun and usually brings a few good laughs, too.

New Toys

Not really new.  Just new to Noah.  We got out the stacking cups that also lock together to make balls to roll around.  Colorful fun!  Noah goes right for them when he's on the floor playing.


Andrew can be a bit posessive of his old toys when we get them out for Noah to use now, but not so with these.  Maybe he doesn't remember them?  He's been very quick to let Noah play with them and we say they are Noah's and he doesn't argue it like he does with some things.  He was happy to play with them with Noah, and thought they made a fun pair of earmuffs.

New Dinner Skills

Both boys took on new challenges at the dinner table this evening.  Noah had his first try with a sippy cup.  Andrew wanted to use his own knife to cut his chicken.  Do they BOTH have to grow-up so much in one day?!?

Noah did pretty good with the sippy.  He preferred chewing on the spout over drinking (still just breastmilk at this point), but once he figured out there was something in the cup, he did better with it.  And for the first time in months, I got to eat an entire meal without a baby on my lap for part or all of it, so we'll continue with the sippy cup distraction at the dinner table!




Lately, Andrew has wanted his chicken nuggets left whole so he could just pick them up and take bites.  Tonight, he wanted them cut up... and he wanted to be the one to cut them.  We have a couple of toddler-sized knives that came with his silverware sets, so we gave him one of those and let him give it a try.  Worked okay for getting the grip down and understanding the motion... but dull knives and tough chicken don't make for an easy first cutting attempt.  I think tomorrow we may try cutting a banana for some easier practice.

Potty Time

On Labor Day (Sept 7), we decided we would give the potty another try with Andrew.  I made a sticker chart and decorated a prize box for him.  He helped decorate the box and we talked about how-- tomorrow-- we were going to put his diapers away and he'd wear his underwear all the time.  Using the toilet meant getting a sticker each time on his chart.  Keeping his underwear dry all day would earn a prize from the box.  I took the box in and started putting the "prizes" (big Cars stickers, some matchbox cars we had collected from cereal boxes quite some time ago when he was still too young for them).  Andrew saw the prizes, said "I need to go potty!" went in, used the toilet, and hasn't looked back.

His first week, he had a total of 5 accidents, most of those in the first couple of days,  and always when he's been distracted with something.  We struggled at first, with getting him to sit properly on his little chair-- which he seems too big for, so I'm not sure how older or bigger kids use one.  So, we got out the step-stool, and he was quick & eager to go standing up at the big toilet, which resolved one of our biggest problems.

It's not quite been a full second week and he's only had 2 accidents this week.  We don't count naps/overnights, since he still wears a diaper then and we haven't started working on those yet because he always wakes up really wet.  The first week was full of reminders.  This second week, we're still reminding some, but he's also starting to go on his own.  We've attempted before, but clearly, he wasn't ready until now.  This time he's been very excited about it and very proud of himself for learning.... and it's been super easy on us.  And, of course, we're quite proud of him, too!!!

I waited nearly 2 weeks to blog about it because... well... for one, I was afraid I'd jinx things since it's been going so well.  And two, as he's made the switch to using the toilet and wearing underwear, I've been feeling a stronger "mama bear" instinct in wanting to keep certain things in his life private... for his sake.  It seems running around in a diaper is cute, and appropriate for a baby/toddler... but running around in undies is a whole different game... at least in my mind.  But, it is an important part of his life and milestone in growing up, so I didn't want to leave it entirely out of the blog.  So, you get this post and photo.  Maybe one more in the future, when he's fully potty learned, but maybe not.  Even as I type, I'm hesitant and struggle with posting this one.

This afternoon, he was looking at an ad from the weekly sales fliers... picked it up and took it to the bathroom with him.  Too cute to not snap a photo!  (even better if you know the t-shirt says "I'm definitely up to something!")