Noah's First Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of three is in the books, and it was a great first for all of us.  Noah especially loved Thanksgiving I think...considering he has eaten a "Pilgrim Platter" every day since.  He loved getting to try turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans, and he's had plenty of leftovers over the weekend.

Uncle Sean and Aunt Caroline came from Pittsburgh and stayed with us for a week.  They spent a few days with Noah while Michael and I worked, and they played all day and took him to the park.  We could tell that Noah really loved having them around.  He especially loved their sweet dog Dolly. We caught him sharing his food with her a few times as well!

Michael's mom "Nana" came to Birmingham on Wednesday, and my mom "Gimme" and Steve "Papa Shaw" came on Thursday.  We fried turkeys and ate Thursday afternoon then my mom and I went to a few stores on Thanksgiving.  I swore I wouldn't get out on Thanksgiving, but my mom was in town, and she was ready to shop from the moment she arrived.  I had plenty of help back at home with Noah, so I thought...what the heck?  We shopped for some new Christmas decorations, and we got some great deals on fall and Christmas.  I already had silver ornaments, but I wanted to add some gold.  I thought our tree turned out beautiful!

We had a wonderful time sharing our first holiday with Noah, and I am looking forward to our first Christmas together!

Noah is Ten Months Old!

Noah, today you are 10 months old.  

And because I did not post last month, I wanted to post your 9 Month picture. It captures your personality perfectly :).

You and I spent the entire day together by ourselves because your daddy had to work, and I can say that you are more fun to spend time with than ever before.  You are my little explorer who keeps me on my toes, and your personality is blooming more and more each day.   I cannot take my eyes off of you for a second or you will be tipping over Scarlett's water bowl (you are fascinated by that thing), or you will be pulling up on the toilet.  You talk all the time, and your favorite sound to make is "ba-ba-ba."  You have discovered all of the books on your shelves, and you love reading these days.

You finally started eating solids!  We started with puffs and let you eat at your own pace, and now you love eating boiled egg yolks, guacamole, roasted chicken, apple sauce and beans.   You aren't a big eater and still love to nurse, but its progress.  A few weeks ago, you went through a huge growth spurt and gained more than 1/2 pound in a week. You now weigh close to 19 pounds.

I suspect you crawl faster than most babies can walk.  You have the crawl down perfectly, and I think you may take your time to learn to walk.  You pull up on everything, but you haven't tried to stand on your own just yet.  You used to let us take your hands and walk with you, but now that you are a crawling machine you prefer that over walking.

We knew you were a strong-willed boy from the beginning, but it's very apparent we have our hands full!  We love to let you explore and discover the world around you, but we have a few things we do not want you to touch...and of course those are the ones you go for a million times a day.  Your daddy and I have gone as far as swatting your hand to keep you from hurting yourself, and you look at us with those doe eyes as your mischievous smile stretches across your face.  You look at us as if you are asking, "now what did you do that for?"  You giggle and try to touch it again.  You are something else!

The best thing you have done lately is give your daddy and me a hug.  I picked you up from your crib one morning, and you wrapped your sweet arms around my neck and squeezed.  I was so happy, I cried.  Your daddy didn't believe me, but you hugged him on Wednesday.  That was a hard day for your daddy, but giving him a hug was the best surprise.  I know your grandpa Kevin made sure you gave him that hug!

We celebrated your first Halloween.  You were the cutest Teddy Bear!  It was freezing outside, and you weren't feeling well, so we had your costume on long enough to take a few pictures.  I can't get over how cute you were!

We also went to the zoo for the first time.

We love you so much sweet Noah!

We could just eat you up!

Noah is Eight Months Old!

Well....Noah is actually 8 months and a week old.  Momma's been busy lately chasing around our little active 8 month old, so blogging is hard to do these days.  Noah seems to learn something new every day, and we are having so much fun being his parents. He's our sweet little monkey!

Noah, we love you so much.  You laugh and we melt.  You have become so smiley and happy, and you are our sweet social butterfly.  You started MDO again in a new class, and you love it.  I drop you off, and you are on the go crawling around with your new friends.  This month you traveled to Atlanta to see your great aunt Eileen, and you had visitors come to AL to see you.  You got to see your Nana, Gimmie, and Pawpaw!  You have so much fun with all of them, and you love being spoiled. You got a new plane (walker) this month, and you love it.  You love it so much, that every time you take off in that plane, you poop in your pants!!  It's hilarious to see how excited you get.  You love running errands with mommy and daddy because you are like your mommy and love to people watch.  You get bored easily, so anything new you can do, you have the best time.  Your army crawl has finally turned into a big boy crawl, and you are now on your hands and knees and can't be stopped.  You are making many new sounds, some are good and some not so good. You say "yayayayaya" and you growl.  I don't mind the "yaya," but I got to tell you, I'm not digging the growling.  You still aren't interested in food and prefer to nurse.  You have been cheering on the Vols with your daddy, and you helped us host our first fish fry.  You loved having lots of people over to give you lots of attention!

Noah loves pulling paper out of notebooks and shredding it all over the rug!

Buying the plane!

Noah and Daddy playing

Love these two!

The plane!

On the way to Atlanta

 Visiting Aunt Eileen in Atlanta

Sitting at the table like a big boy.  Having fun eating out.

Climbing on Mommy

Riding the buggy with his friends at MDO

Fish Fry and Football

Go Vols!  So excited about the game, he can't keep his hands out of his mouth :)