Noah is growing up so fast and we are apparently too busy to write about it! Noah is seven months old now and is full of personality.
He is cute and fat. His head is still kind of flat, but it doesn't look too bad. His hair was kind of falling off in the back, but it is starting to look better now. He has had a haircut or two, but is probably in need of another one. His hair is getting a little long in front. His hair is getting browner now and even just today someone said he doesn't look as much like the other boys. I think he looks more like me. He is pretty fat and chubby - he weighed 20 lbs at his 6 month well check. He was around 90% or something like that for weight, but only 50% for height and around 75% for head circumference.
He is still nursing, but he is kind of a distracted nurser. He nips around during the day, and only really eats well if he is tired around nap time or at night time. He has had a cold the last two weeks, so he has been waking up a lot at night and wanting to eat.
For the last few days, he has been coughing himself awake and then his eyes are glued shut in the morning. Poor thing. He was sleeping next to me, but I am trying to get him out of that habit since he is getting better and I really want him to be a crib sleeper, since none of the other boys ever lasted very long that way. He was sick most of February with colds and croup so it is hard to say how well he sleeps. He takes two naps a day usually. One shorter in the morning and the afternoon as long as he can manage before his super loud brothers eventually wake him up.
We started solids around 6 months. Spoon feeding went well until the last week or two, but now Noah wants to control the process. Even if he has a spoon, he still tries to take the one we are using and he flings everything everywhere. He loves to eat. He really likes table food though. He was in love with a cheese stick today, but he loves bagels, bread, pizza crust, crackers, bananas, apple slices, etc. He likes to drink water out of a cup if Katsu helps feed him. He is just starting to get the hang of the pincer grasp. He can pick things up between his fingers, but is still working out how to put it in his mouth. And of course, because he is the 4th, he has had ice cream, pudding, cookies, and all sorts of things.
He just learned to clap his hands this week and it is so cute. He will clap along to "If You're Happy And You Know It". He seems to really enjoy music and almost seems to kind of sing along sometimes. He likes to babble, though he is not super talkative. He has consistently said Mama or Mom to refer to me for at least a month so I think that is definitely his first word, but otherwise, he just babbles sometimes and loves to spit and blow raspberries.
He likes to sit. He is an awesome sitter. No interest in crawling or being on his stomach ever. Sometimes, you can entice him with something for tops a minute, but otherwise, he instantly rolls over. Lately, he will reach over to grab something and fall over onto his stomach, so maybe he will do it enough to want to crawl. He does love to stand. He does pretty well holding on to us. I have tried to teach him to hang onto a table and stand, but he isn't into it.
Noah had a hard time going back to Mother's Day Out at the preschool after Christmas. It was right when he started getting separation anxiety. But after a couple rough days, he is back to being okay with it. He doesn't love it, but he survives. He seems to do fine with teenage babysitters we have had over and actually seems to like having them hold him. So, I am hoping this holds up and we can go out every now and then (we just had babysitters when I had to work and Katsu was out of town at his mother's funeral).
Noah has his 3 comfort objects - his favorite gray blanket (a hand me down that funnily enough has someone else's name monogrammed on it), his thumb, and a teddy bear we call "Mr. Teddy" that Noah loves to cuddle with and hugs and kisses fiercely when he sees him again. So sweet.
Noah loves his brothers. He loves to watch them and play with them. He especially loves to play with their toys. He likes to play in the kitchen and sit on the counter and watch me cook. He likes to dance with us. Once he starts moving, life is really going to get interesting. ...
A few fun things
- Trip to Williamsburg and Norfolk.
- Watching lots of Andrew and Seth basketball games
- "playing" in snow - really mostly just looking at from inside. Not much fun to take a non-mover out in it.
- watching lots of work on our home, fixing the flooring and other random warranty stuff
- Dad out of town for 10 days ...
- Valentine's Day
- Lots of brother time when everyone was out of school or delayed from school for 2 weeks ...
Sunday, March 01, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Our Weekend Trip: Norfolk, Jamestown, and Yorktown
We all needed to get out of town after the busy-ness of school and work and holidays, and the boys had three days off of school for Martin Luther King, Jr day. We only decided a few days before, so we weren't quite sure what we were going to do, but we booked a hotel for a couple days in Williamsburg.
First Day - Norfolk
We left on Sunday morning. We all woke up pretty early and so we thought we would leave a little early to try to skip the rain. It didn't work. As soon as the garage door shut, the rain started. And it poured. Because we live in the middle of nowhere, everywhere is basically a 2 lane highway. So, the drive took a little longer than we expected.
We finally arrived in Norfolk, still in the pouring rain. Thankfully, not much traffic since it was Sunday - but, boy, just driving around Norfolk with the Chesapeake Bay and all the crazy tunnel bridges and road construction. What a mess!
The zoo seemed out, so we decided to go somewhere else. Nautilus wasn't open yet, so we pretty randomly decided to go and see the MacArthur Memorial because it opened at 11. After getting everyone out of the car (quite a feat to put 6 people in our little mini mini-van and get our bags, stroller, and pack and play) and distributing umbrellas, we ran over to the MacArthur Memorial. Katsu didn't even know it was for General MacArthur, and of course, the boys had no idea who he was. But there was a cool jeep and a motorcycle and the boys were excited to see the movie. They all ran and sat at the front by themselves and loved watching the war scenes. Next, they wanted to see the gift shop. We had to pry them away - they had all kinds of little collectible army guys and they wanted them all! The lady in the shop gave them a catalog and they poured over it the rest of the trip.
We went to the Memorial next. Seth was only sort of interested and Logan was kind of running around everywhere, but Andrew seemed really interested in the history and wanted to read all of the exhibits. Katsu was especially interested, as MacArthur had a very large role in the peace time rebuilding of Japan after World War II. We were able to show the boys the surrender document that Japan signed and different historical artifacts from that time period. Pretty cool for a random stop for the day.
We ate some sandwiches in the car and fed Noah and drove on over to Nautilus. We probably should have just walked ... by the time we found a parking space we were about as close as we were before. Norfolk has statues of mermaids all through town, and the boys were more than happy to search for them the whole time. The boys were fascinated when they saw the battleship. The boys were excited when they saw it ... except for Logan who was pretty nervous. He seemed nervous about a lot on the trip - scared of monsters on the battleship or monsters in the hotel room, but in the end, he had lots of fun.
First, we started off touring the free part of the museum. It was interesting, but the boys were getting bored, Noah spit up everywhere, and it was time to get tickets. So, we bought tickets and went to walk all around the exhibits. They were geared towards kids - they talked about the Chesapeake Bay and shipping and things like that. The boys especially loved the one where you could play on a water table and arrange tiles to make the water go in different ways. They spent a long time looking at that. Noah got fussy, but he finally feel asleep. The boys played in a play area and then we finally went and toured the battleship. The USS Wisconsin was HUGE. It is 16-17 stories tall and 3 football fields wide. It was really cool, walking around and looking at all the guns. They were amazingly big! Then, you could go up and down ladders and look in many of the rooms. The quarters were so small and such a maze. I can't imagine living there. Logan was pretty scared that monsters would get him and thought some of the mannequins were monsters. Then, when Katsu explained what they were, Logan though some of the real people were mannequins! The boys really loved it.
After this, we went and saw a 3D movie. Besides Disney, I think this was the boys' first. It was a surfing one. Andrew and Seth really liked it - Logan would try to reach out and grab things, but got bored quickly, so me and him and Noah went outside to look at exhibits.
When we were done, it was time to go back to the car and drive to Williamsburg. We had friends from Michigan that lived in Williamsburg, so we went to their house and had dinner. It was fun. The boys were excited to be able to run around and play with some new friends (they had a 2nd and 1st grader). And it was nice to have a good meal that we didn't have to cook and catch up with friends.
Finally, we were able to check into our hotel. Noah was pretty upset and ready to go to bed. Katsu set up the pack and play and amazingly, after eating, Noah went right to sleep and slept just like he did at home! Yay - success!
Second Day - Jamestown and Yorktown
We weren't quite sure what we were going to do. There is just so much to see in this part of the country. But, it was a fee-free day at National Parks, so we decided to check out Jamestown. There is a national park and also a dress-up village - but we only went to the National Park. I guess, until 1994, they didn't know exactly where the Jamestown Fort was. For some reason, they thought it had all washed away in the sea. But a graduate student thought it wasn't in the sea and did some digging in 1994 and found evidence of the fort. So, this area is still an active archaelogical site where they are still finding new parts of the fort and town and learning more about the people who lived there. We started out at the visitor's center and watched the movie. Logan kept loudly asking if it was done. The boys decided to do the Junior Ranger program and I am so glad we did. They got their booklets and we looked around at the exhibits. Both here and at Nautilus, the boys were very interested in looking at the replicas of ships and counting how many cannons they had. Then, we went outside to see the fort areas.
The boys loved running around and looking for answers to their worksheets. Seth got a little stressed out - he could read, but writing all the answers was a bit much for him, so we helped out. We ran and found the John Smith and Pocohontas statues and the Memorial and looked in the Memorial Church to find plaques on other people who lived in Jamestown and facts about them. Then, we looked at where they had dug up foundations and artifacts and bodies. Then, we went to the archaeology museum and looked around. The boys especially likes the skeletons and the weird little things they found - like piles of frog bones, or the ear wax picker. After running around a bit more, we had answered all the questions, so the boys ran back to the Ranger and got their first Junior Ranger patch.
Since they enjoyed it so much and we are notoriously cheap, we decided why not head to Yorktown. We took the Colonial Parkway and loved it. The road was so calm and peaceful and reminded me of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It totally set the mood, too - you could hardly seen any buildings or road or traffic - just the trees and the water. Logan and Noah fell asleep in the car. So, Katsu and the two older boys went into the visitor center and found the Junior Ranger booklets and started watching the movie. Noah woke up and woke up Logan, so we all came in and finished the movie and then looked at the exhibits. The boys really liked walking on the ship and seeing what it looked like. Then, we ran outside and the boys ran along the embankments and pretend to shoot each other and climbed on the cannons. We walked down to Main Street and tried to answer all the questions from their booklets - some were hard! We couldn't believe when we saw the cannon damage on the houses in Yorktown - the cannon balls were still embedded in the walls! Crazy! After answering to the best of our ability, we walked back and the boys got another patch and got sworn in as Junior Rangers. Then, we drove around and saw all the major places the battle took place and drove by the field where Cornwallis and his men surrendered. The boys loved running around all the embankments and it was pretty fun.
We ended the day with a trip to an Asian buffet - the only time we ate out on the trip - and back to the hotel to watch TV (Sponge Bob, oh joy!) and go to sleep. Another tiring and fun day.
Third Day - Zoo and Great Dismal Swamp
We left a bit early and go to the zoo in Norfolk before it opened. The boys were stoked because their was a mermaid painted like a tiger and they had plenty of time to get their picture taken with her. The zoo was perfect - pretty small, so it only took an hour and a half to see it. The animals were pretty active. The sun bears were fighting over food and the tigers were growling up a storm. Our boys were fighting over the map, as usual, but once we got over that, we had a pretty fun trip. We drove to the next-door park afterwards and played and had lunch. We tried a new way home with a different tunnel bridge and went right next to the Dismal Swamp. I thought it might be fun to stop if we saw a visitor center, and we did indeed find a visitors center to the Great Dismal Swamp State Park right over the state line. We stopped and got brochures and then went to the state park visitor center. Unfortunately, the ranger wasn't there, so we couldn't do their Junior Ranger program, but we looked at the exhibits (fought over all the interactive ones), got some activity books, and then did a little hike on the boardwalk. They built a large canal in the late 1700s around the eastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp since the area was mostly impassable and they needed a way to transport between Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle Sound without going through the treacherous waters of the Outer Banks. The canal is really pretty to look down. The hike on the boardwalk takes you right into the swamp - it was pretty cool to see. The light makes the stagnant water look all the colors of the rainbow. The boys eagerly looked for signs of wildlife - footprints or scat. They really always want to see bears and bobcats, but unfortunately (or fortunately) we only saw some birds. It was a nice little stop before we finished our trip and got home just in time for dinner.
First Day - Norfolk
We left on Sunday morning. We all woke up pretty early and so we thought we would leave a little early to try to skip the rain. It didn't work. As soon as the garage door shut, the rain started. And it poured. Because we live in the middle of nowhere, everywhere is basically a 2 lane highway. So, the drive took a little longer than we expected.
We finally arrived in Norfolk, still in the pouring rain. Thankfully, not much traffic since it was Sunday - but, boy, just driving around Norfolk with the Chesapeake Bay and all the crazy tunnel bridges and road construction. What a mess!
The zoo seemed out, so we decided to go somewhere else. Nautilus wasn't open yet, so we pretty randomly decided to go and see the MacArthur Memorial because it opened at 11. After getting everyone out of the car (quite a feat to put 6 people in our little mini mini-van and get our bags, stroller, and pack and play) and distributing umbrellas, we ran over to the MacArthur Memorial. Katsu didn't even know it was for General MacArthur, and of course, the boys had no idea who he was. But there was a cool jeep and a motorcycle and the boys were excited to see the movie. They all ran and sat at the front by themselves and loved watching the war scenes. Next, they wanted to see the gift shop. We had to pry them away - they had all kinds of little collectible army guys and they wanted them all! The lady in the shop gave them a catalog and they poured over it the rest of the trip.
We went to the Memorial next. Seth was only sort of interested and Logan was kind of running around everywhere, but Andrew seemed really interested in the history and wanted to read all of the exhibits. Katsu was especially interested, as MacArthur had a very large role in the peace time rebuilding of Japan after World War II. We were able to show the boys the surrender document that Japan signed and different historical artifacts from that time period. Pretty cool for a random stop for the day.
We ate some sandwiches in the car and fed Noah and drove on over to Nautilus. We probably should have just walked ... by the time we found a parking space we were about as close as we were before. Norfolk has statues of mermaids all through town, and the boys were more than happy to search for them the whole time. The boys were fascinated when they saw the battleship. The boys were excited when they saw it ... except for Logan who was pretty nervous. He seemed nervous about a lot on the trip - scared of monsters on the battleship or monsters in the hotel room, but in the end, he had lots of fun.
First, we started off touring the free part of the museum. It was interesting, but the boys were getting bored, Noah spit up everywhere, and it was time to get tickets. So, we bought tickets and went to walk all around the exhibits. They were geared towards kids - they talked about the Chesapeake Bay and shipping and things like that. The boys especially loved the one where you could play on a water table and arrange tiles to make the water go in different ways. They spent a long time looking at that. Noah got fussy, but he finally feel asleep. The boys played in a play area and then we finally went and toured the battleship. The USS Wisconsin was HUGE. It is 16-17 stories tall and 3 football fields wide. It was really cool, walking around and looking at all the guns. They were amazingly big! Then, you could go up and down ladders and look in many of the rooms. The quarters were so small and such a maze. I can't imagine living there. Logan was pretty scared that monsters would get him and thought some of the mannequins were monsters. Then, when Katsu explained what they were, Logan though some of the real people were mannequins! The boys really loved it.
After this, we went and saw a 3D movie. Besides Disney, I think this was the boys' first. It was a surfing one. Andrew and Seth really liked it - Logan would try to reach out and grab things, but got bored quickly, so me and him and Noah went outside to look at exhibits.
When we were done, it was time to go back to the car and drive to Williamsburg. We had friends from Michigan that lived in Williamsburg, so we went to their house and had dinner. It was fun. The boys were excited to be able to run around and play with some new friends (they had a 2nd and 1st grader). And it was nice to have a good meal that we didn't have to cook and catch up with friends.
Finally, we were able to check into our hotel. Noah was pretty upset and ready to go to bed. Katsu set up the pack and play and amazingly, after eating, Noah went right to sleep and slept just like he did at home! Yay - success!
Second Day - Jamestown and Yorktown
We weren't quite sure what we were going to do. There is just so much to see in this part of the country. But, it was a fee-free day at National Parks, so we decided to check out Jamestown. There is a national park and also a dress-up village - but we only went to the National Park. I guess, until 1994, they didn't know exactly where the Jamestown Fort was. For some reason, they thought it had all washed away in the sea. But a graduate student thought it wasn't in the sea and did some digging in 1994 and found evidence of the fort. So, this area is still an active archaelogical site where they are still finding new parts of the fort and town and learning more about the people who lived there. We started out at the visitor's center and watched the movie. Logan kept loudly asking if it was done. The boys decided to do the Junior Ranger program and I am so glad we did. They got their booklets and we looked around at the exhibits. Both here and at Nautilus, the boys were very interested in looking at the replicas of ships and counting how many cannons they had. Then, we went outside to see the fort areas.
The boys loved running around and looking for answers to their worksheets. Seth got a little stressed out - he could read, but writing all the answers was a bit much for him, so we helped out. We ran and found the John Smith and Pocohontas statues and the Memorial and looked in the Memorial Church to find plaques on other people who lived in Jamestown and facts about them. Then, we looked at where they had dug up foundations and artifacts and bodies. Then, we went to the archaeology museum and looked around. The boys especially likes the skeletons and the weird little things they found - like piles of frog bones, or the ear wax picker. After running around a bit more, we had answered all the questions, so the boys ran back to the Ranger and got their first Junior Ranger patch.
Since they enjoyed it so much and we are notoriously cheap, we decided why not head to Yorktown. We took the Colonial Parkway and loved it. The road was so calm and peaceful and reminded me of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It totally set the mood, too - you could hardly seen any buildings or road or traffic - just the trees and the water. Logan and Noah fell asleep in the car. So, Katsu and the two older boys went into the visitor center and found the Junior Ranger booklets and started watching the movie. Noah woke up and woke up Logan, so we all came in and finished the movie and then looked at the exhibits. The boys really liked walking on the ship and seeing what it looked like. Then, we ran outside and the boys ran along the embankments and pretend to shoot each other and climbed on the cannons. We walked down to Main Street and tried to answer all the questions from their booklets - some were hard! We couldn't believe when we saw the cannon damage on the houses in Yorktown - the cannon balls were still embedded in the walls! Crazy! After answering to the best of our ability, we walked back and the boys got another patch and got sworn in as Junior Rangers. Then, we drove around and saw all the major places the battle took place and drove by the field where Cornwallis and his men surrendered. The boys loved running around all the embankments and it was pretty fun.
We ended the day with a trip to an Asian buffet - the only time we ate out on the trip - and back to the hotel to watch TV (Sponge Bob, oh joy!) and go to sleep. Another tiring and fun day.
Third Day - Zoo and Great Dismal Swamp
We left a bit early and go to the zoo in Norfolk before it opened. The boys were stoked because their was a mermaid painted like a tiger and they had plenty of time to get their picture taken with her. The zoo was perfect - pretty small, so it only took an hour and a half to see it. The animals were pretty active. The sun bears were fighting over food and the tigers were growling up a storm. Our boys were fighting over the map, as usual, but once we got over that, we had a pretty fun trip. We drove to the next-door park afterwards and played and had lunch. We tried a new way home with a different tunnel bridge and went right next to the Dismal Swamp. I thought it might be fun to stop if we saw a visitor center, and we did indeed find a visitors center to the Great Dismal Swamp State Park right over the state line. We stopped and got brochures and then went to the state park visitor center. Unfortunately, the ranger wasn't there, so we couldn't do their Junior Ranger program, but we looked at the exhibits (fought over all the interactive ones), got some activity books, and then did a little hike on the boardwalk. They built a large canal in the late 1700s around the eastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp since the area was mostly impassable and they needed a way to transport between Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle Sound without going through the treacherous waters of the Outer Banks. The canal is really pretty to look down. The hike on the boardwalk takes you right into the swamp - it was pretty cool to see. The light makes the stagnant water look all the colors of the rainbow. The boys eagerly looked for signs of wildlife - footprints or scat. They really always want to see bears and bobcats, but unfortunately (or fortunately) we only saw some birds. It was a nice little stop before we finished our trip and got home just in time for dinner.
Thursday, January 08, 2015
Noah in December 2014
Noah turned 5 months old during December. He had a busy and full month. He was pretty fussy most of the month, whether from visitors or teething or illness, it is hard to say. He has gotten back to being not so fussy now.
Noah also went from being more of a little baby who mostly laid down or was held to taking a much greater interest in the world. He sits pretty independently now, though it helps to be right close by because he will still eventually fall over, although not usually for 10 or 20 minutes. When you carry him, he is always tilting downwards so that he can look around see if there is anything interesting to grab. He likes to spend part of the day sitting down, part of the day holding on to your fingers so he can stand up, and part of the day being held. He also has started sitting in his highchair while we are eating. He likes being part of the family. Sometimes we will feed him little bits of food, but mostly he is there for sociality.
Noah had a rough month in terms of sleep, but is still a pretty good sleeper. He is awesome about going to sleep on his own during the day. He gets fussy or yawns or starts sucking his thumb or stares lovingly at his crib (no, really) and then you know it's time for a nap. You wrap him up in a swaddle blanket - one hand out to suck on, he pops his thumb in, and then he goes to sleep. Occasionally he will be fussy for a bit, but he'll go to sleep within a few minutes. Unless he is really not tired, but that will be clear very quickly. Sometimes he will rouse a bit during sleep and then will put himself back to sleep. But at night time, he still wakes usually once but sometimes twice to eat at night. I tried getting him to put himself to sleep (not a chance) or not feeding him (also not a chance ... he will eventually go to sleep after a long struggle, but then he'll wake right back up like 15 minutes later). So, he's not ready to sleep all the way through (i.e., 12 hours) yet. He usually has a good 6-8 hour stretch though from around 7pm-2am. And he is still pretty much a 3 nap boy, though sometimes it's just 2 and he goes down for sleep really early. Sometimes he is up early, but he usually sleeps until 8 something in the morning.
Noah has been talking a lot more. He still loves to blow raspberries and say things like ga and gi. But now he will say "ba ba ba" and "ma ma ma". He does seem to reserve "ma" for me a lot of the time; the kids are convinced it is his first word, but I am not so convinced.
Breastfeeding has been tough this month for me (I keep getting clogged ducts and such until I got flow blown mastitis on Sunday), but he seems to still enjoy it. He takes a bottle on Friday mornings at the preschool and apparently is very demanding about it. No matter how much I pump, it is never enough and they resort to giving him water on top of it. Next time, I think I am going to pack formula. He has tried various little bits of table food - maybe we will try real baby food on him soon. Maybe. None of the other boys were very interested and I'm not super interested either. Table food is so much easier. He still seems to have a bit of a hard time eating, but is interested in being spoon food. He doesn't really seem interested in picking up cheerios or puffs or anything yet.
Tummy time is officially over. He will roll over almost first thing and refuses to stay on his tummy. And he will put up a big fuss until he is all the way rolled over as well. He rolls over with his head / torso first, before finally bringing his leg around to complete the roll. I think I have seen him roll the other way around, but his interest in that is 0.
Well, nap time is done. Noah is a sweet fun boy and another fun month.
Noah also went from being more of a little baby who mostly laid down or was held to taking a much greater interest in the world. He sits pretty independently now, though it helps to be right close by because he will still eventually fall over, although not usually for 10 or 20 minutes. When you carry him, he is always tilting downwards so that he can look around see if there is anything interesting to grab. He likes to spend part of the day sitting down, part of the day holding on to your fingers so he can stand up, and part of the day being held. He also has started sitting in his highchair while we are eating. He likes being part of the family. Sometimes we will feed him little bits of food, but mostly he is there for sociality.
Noah had a rough month in terms of sleep, but is still a pretty good sleeper. He is awesome about going to sleep on his own during the day. He gets fussy or yawns or starts sucking his thumb or stares lovingly at his crib (no, really) and then you know it's time for a nap. You wrap him up in a swaddle blanket - one hand out to suck on, he pops his thumb in, and then he goes to sleep. Occasionally he will be fussy for a bit, but he'll go to sleep within a few minutes. Unless he is really not tired, but that will be clear very quickly. Sometimes he will rouse a bit during sleep and then will put himself back to sleep. But at night time, he still wakes usually once but sometimes twice to eat at night. I tried getting him to put himself to sleep (not a chance) or not feeding him (also not a chance ... he will eventually go to sleep after a long struggle, but then he'll wake right back up like 15 minutes later). So, he's not ready to sleep all the way through (i.e., 12 hours) yet. He usually has a good 6-8 hour stretch though from around 7pm-2am. And he is still pretty much a 3 nap boy, though sometimes it's just 2 and he goes down for sleep really early. Sometimes he is up early, but he usually sleeps until 8 something in the morning.
Noah has been talking a lot more. He still loves to blow raspberries and say things like ga and gi. But now he will say "ba ba ba" and "ma ma ma". He does seem to reserve "ma" for me a lot of the time; the kids are convinced it is his first word, but I am not so convinced.
Breastfeeding has been tough this month for me (I keep getting clogged ducts and such until I got flow blown mastitis on Sunday), but he seems to still enjoy it. He takes a bottle on Friday mornings at the preschool and apparently is very demanding about it. No matter how much I pump, it is never enough and they resort to giving him water on top of it. Next time, I think I am going to pack formula. He has tried various little bits of table food - maybe we will try real baby food on him soon. Maybe. None of the other boys were very interested and I'm not super interested either. Table food is so much easier. He still seems to have a bit of a hard time eating, but is interested in being spoon food. He doesn't really seem interested in picking up cheerios or puffs or anything yet.
Tummy time is officially over. He will roll over almost first thing and refuses to stay on his tummy. And he will put up a big fuss until he is all the way rolled over as well. He rolls over with his head / torso first, before finally bringing his leg around to complete the roll. I think I have seen him roll the other way around, but his interest in that is 0.
Well, nap time is done. Noah is a sweet fun boy and another fun month.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Logan in November 2014
Logan is just a sweetheart. He is at that age where you just love listening to him talk because you never know what he will say. He tends to say every single word and very clearly. So, instead of "dunno" he will say "I did not know that". So sweet. He also is usually pretty honest. If he was crying or scared or whatever, he owns up to it.
Logan is still enjoying preschool. As soon as he wakes up, he wants to know if it is a preschool day. He is pretty happy either way. He likes going and he likes his days at home. When I pick him up from preschool, he always asks if I brought him any food. Even with a snack at preschool, this child is ALWAYS hungry. Then, he tells me about the story they read, the craft they did, and what they ate for snack. He is pretty convinced that the other kids don't play with him, but I'm not so sure. There are no girls in his class, so it must be pretty busy in there! He has been making lots of ornaments and cute things for Christmas and he is so proud to put them on the Christmas tree.
We are trying potty training again and it's going better. He still has about 0 interest in pooping on the potty, but as long as we aren't out and about and really busy in something, he will pee in the potty pretty well. He really loves the Pull-ups that we bought and loves to sort them into piles based on type. He wants to do this pretty much every day.
Logan is really into sorting and playing games. He likes to play matching games the most, but also Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Spot It. He really loves to play Zingo and Go Fish as well. He still loves to be read to. He enjoys playing with toys - super heros, cars, and trains, but only if I am there watching. Getting him to play independently since Noah was born is pretty hard.
He likes to help clean and feed Joe.
He got a big twin size bed from a friend down the street who was selling it. He LOVES it. He feels so grown up and was so proud of his new sheets and pillow. He is easy to put to sleep now (Katsu puts him to bed) and he sleeps snugly in their all night long and never bother us. AWESOME!
Logan had a really nasty stomach bug the week of Thanksgiving, but is thankfully all better. I hope he does not catch the croup.
He is loving the Christmas countdown and the advent calendars, the goodies, and all things Christmas. Every time I turn around, he has turned on the Christmas lights.
Fun Things This Month ...
- Charlotte's Web
- trip to the Aquarium and to the historical museum in Beaufort.
- Shichigosan - we got family pictures taken in the morning and the boys went to a baptism and in the evening, we all went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant which the boys loved.
- Stake Conference -Too bad it was raining or we would have spent more time in New Bern. It still took 6 hours total for the whole day!
- Thanksgiving Day was a bust. Logan ended up sick, so we stayed at home but still took over food to the party we were supposed to go to. Boys enjoyed watching the parade and the food, more or less.
- Church Christmas party - they ate treats, watched part of the Polar Express, and took a little Polar Express ride (really a hay ride on a trailer) to go meet Santa Claus. Boys seemed to enjoy it.
- ECU football game. They had lots of fun, even though it was cold and super late (Game started at 7:30 on a weeknight!). They stayed for about half of it. ECU has been doing really well this year, so it was fun.
- enjoying lots of treats in December.
- loving Advent, Christmas Countdown, and our first year with Elf on the Shelf after much begging. Logan is so excited to get to blow out the pink candle, since that is the 3rd one.
- Lots of work parties for Katsu. Logan has been loving all the food. That kid can eat!
Logan is still enjoying preschool. As soon as he wakes up, he wants to know if it is a preschool day. He is pretty happy either way. He likes going and he likes his days at home. When I pick him up from preschool, he always asks if I brought him any food. Even with a snack at preschool, this child is ALWAYS hungry. Then, he tells me about the story they read, the craft they did, and what they ate for snack. He is pretty convinced that the other kids don't play with him, but I'm not so sure. There are no girls in his class, so it must be pretty busy in there! He has been making lots of ornaments and cute things for Christmas and he is so proud to put them on the Christmas tree.
We are trying potty training again and it's going better. He still has about 0 interest in pooping on the potty, but as long as we aren't out and about and really busy in something, he will pee in the potty pretty well. He really loves the Pull-ups that we bought and loves to sort them into piles based on type. He wants to do this pretty much every day.
Logan is really into sorting and playing games. He likes to play matching games the most, but also Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Spot It. He really loves to play Zingo and Go Fish as well. He still loves to be read to. He enjoys playing with toys - super heros, cars, and trains, but only if I am there watching. Getting him to play independently since Noah was born is pretty hard.
He likes to help clean and feed Joe.
He got a big twin size bed from a friend down the street who was selling it. He LOVES it. He feels so grown up and was so proud of his new sheets and pillow. He is easy to put to sleep now (Katsu puts him to bed) and he sleeps snugly in their all night long and never bother us. AWESOME!
Logan had a really nasty stomach bug the week of Thanksgiving, but is thankfully all better. I hope he does not catch the croup.
He is loving the Christmas countdown and the advent calendars, the goodies, and all things Christmas. Every time I turn around, he has turned on the Christmas lights.
Fun Things This Month ...
- Charlotte's Web
- trip to the Aquarium and to the historical museum in Beaufort.
- Shichigosan - we got family pictures taken in the morning and the boys went to a baptism and in the evening, we all went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant which the boys loved.
- Stake Conference -Too bad it was raining or we would have spent more time in New Bern. It still took 6 hours total for the whole day!
- Thanksgiving Day was a bust. Logan ended up sick, so we stayed at home but still took over food to the party we were supposed to go to. Boys enjoyed watching the parade and the food, more or less.
- Church Christmas party - they ate treats, watched part of the Polar Express, and took a little Polar Express ride (really a hay ride on a trailer) to go meet Santa Claus. Boys seemed to enjoy it.
- ECU football game. They had lots of fun, even though it was cold and super late (Game started at 7:30 on a weeknight!). They stayed for about half of it. ECU has been doing really well this year, so it was fun.
- enjoying lots of treats in December.
- loving Advent, Christmas Countdown, and our first year with Elf on the Shelf after much begging. Logan is so excited to get to blow out the pink candle, since that is the 3rd one.
- Lots of work parties for Katsu. Logan has been loving all the food. That kid can eat!
Seth in November 2014
Seth is still a little nutty and hysterical. He is doing well in Kindergarten; probably a little bored, but his teacher is working hard to keep him learning. He does well reading. He doesn't want to sit down and read with me ... I keep hoping he will want to try reading an easy chapter book together, but he's not much interested. But when he does read things - offhandedly on signs or things or when he reads me a book, I can tell that his reading is improving very quickly. He is getting much more fluent. Over break, I want to be more consistent about reading to and with him. Andrew apparently reads to him and tells him stories at night and before he went to see Charlotte's web, I read the book to him and Logan.
Seth's little brain is always working away. He has croup the last few days and slept with me part of the night a couple days. And you can hear him just whispering away math problems or spelling words. I think he is like me and just can't shut it off. He loves to play with numbers. He does his doubles really high and can add any 2 or 3 digit number as long as there is no carrying. He writes the cutest little stories for homework. The first time he had to write a story, he freaked out and said he couldn't do it. But now he pretty much wants no input from me and does his homework without help. His two favorite topics are soccer (writing about scoring goals and winning) and the jungle.
Seth is quite an exaggerator and likes to "lie" about things. I think he has a hard time telling the difference between what he wishes was true and what is actually true. He told me that he was a character kid when Andrew actually got it. (Of course, he was a character kid in November, because he has good behavior, too). He also way exaggerates numbers - he will get 100 goals or get 150 dojo points during the day (the points he gets at school for good behavior).
Seth is enjoying basketball. On basketball days, he wakes up and changes into athletic shorts and a sleeveless shirt, regardless of the weather. He was having a tough time dribbling but has gotten a lot better. He concentrates so hard on whatever the coach is saying and you can tell he is good at figuring out positions, but it is a little hard just because he is quite small. I think he will really enjoy it, though.
Seth has been sick quite a bit lately. He had the stomach flu after Thanksgiving and now he has croup - I am pretty sure it is his first time. Yesterday, he stayed home from church and Katsu told him he could watch TV the whole time. I offered to read to him or let him do something else - but no, he just wanted to watch TV. He loves the new Odd Squad show and also loves Wild Kratts, still.
Seth is doing piano lessons again. He is doing pretty well and gets counting - his hands are still pretty small.
Seth's favorite thing to do is play with friends and he is very motivated to get piano practice and homework done so he can go play. He wants to play with whoever he can find in the neighborhood. As long as he goes with Andrew, he is allowed to go through a lot of the neighborhood, as long as I know where he is going.
Fun Things
- Logan's birthday party
- Lightning Thief musical
- Charlotte's Web
- trip to the Aquarium and to the historical museum in Beaufort.
- Shichigosan - we got family pictures taken in the morning and the boys went to a baptism and in the evening, we all went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant which the boys loved.
- Stake Conference - the boys sang in the Primary choir for prelude and got a little treat afterwards. Too bad it was raining or we would have spent more time in New Bern. It still took 6 hours total for the whole day!
- Thanksgiving Day was a bust. Logan ended up sick, so we stayed at home but still took over food to the party we were supposed to go to. Boys enjoyed watching the parade and the food, more or less.
- Day after Thanksgiving - Andrew went to Raleigh with Seth and Katsu. They went to Pullen Park and enjoyed the train and playing. Then, they were shortly at the Natural History Museum before Seth starting puking. Andrew still insisted they go to Trader Joes to get fried rice; amazing Katsu agreed and we have a freezer full of fried rice and dumplings.
- Church Christmas party - they ate treats, watched part of the Polar Express, and took a little Polar Express ride (really a hay ride on a trailer) to go meet Santa Claus. Boys seemed to enjoy it.
- ECU football game. They had lots of fun, even though it was cold and super late (Game started at 7:30 on a weeknight!). They stayed for about half of it. ECU has been doing really well this year, so it was fun.
- enjoying lots of treats in December.
- loving Advent, Christmas Countdown, and our first year with Elf on the Shelf after much begging. Andrew gets to blow out the first candle for Advent which he thinks is pretty cool. They love trying to explain each of the names of Jesus that we are doing for Christmas countdown. They write letters to the Elf asking him to hide certain places.
- Andrew has been sick most of the week and missed several days of school.
- Lots of work parties for Katsu. Andrew really enjoyed the one last night where he was busy playing some hide and seek tag game with the other kids.
- Barnes and Noble night - Seth repeated a sweet little Thanksgiving poem.
Seth's little brain is always working away. He has croup the last few days and slept with me part of the night a couple days. And you can hear him just whispering away math problems or spelling words. I think he is like me and just can't shut it off. He loves to play with numbers. He does his doubles really high and can add any 2 or 3 digit number as long as there is no carrying. He writes the cutest little stories for homework. The first time he had to write a story, he freaked out and said he couldn't do it. But now he pretty much wants no input from me and does his homework without help. His two favorite topics are soccer (writing about scoring goals and winning) and the jungle.
Seth is quite an exaggerator and likes to "lie" about things. I think he has a hard time telling the difference between what he wishes was true and what is actually true. He told me that he was a character kid when Andrew actually got it. (Of course, he was a character kid in November, because he has good behavior, too). He also way exaggerates numbers - he will get 100 goals or get 150 dojo points during the day (the points he gets at school for good behavior).
Seth is enjoying basketball. On basketball days, he wakes up and changes into athletic shorts and a sleeveless shirt, regardless of the weather. He was having a tough time dribbling but has gotten a lot better. He concentrates so hard on whatever the coach is saying and you can tell he is good at figuring out positions, but it is a little hard just because he is quite small. I think he will really enjoy it, though.
Seth has been sick quite a bit lately. He had the stomach flu after Thanksgiving and now he has croup - I am pretty sure it is his first time. Yesterday, he stayed home from church and Katsu told him he could watch TV the whole time. I offered to read to him or let him do something else - but no, he just wanted to watch TV. He loves the new Odd Squad show and also loves Wild Kratts, still.
Seth is doing piano lessons again. He is doing pretty well and gets counting - his hands are still pretty small.
Seth's favorite thing to do is play with friends and he is very motivated to get piano practice and homework done so he can go play. He wants to play with whoever he can find in the neighborhood. As long as he goes with Andrew, he is allowed to go through a lot of the neighborhood, as long as I know where he is going.
Fun Things
- Logan's birthday party
- Lightning Thief musical
- Charlotte's Web
- trip to the Aquarium and to the historical museum in Beaufort.
- Shichigosan - we got family pictures taken in the morning and the boys went to a baptism and in the evening, we all went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant which the boys loved.
- Stake Conference - the boys sang in the Primary choir for prelude and got a little treat afterwards. Too bad it was raining or we would have spent more time in New Bern. It still took 6 hours total for the whole day!
- Thanksgiving Day was a bust. Logan ended up sick, so we stayed at home but still took over food to the party we were supposed to go to. Boys enjoyed watching the parade and the food, more or less.
- Day after Thanksgiving - Andrew went to Raleigh with Seth and Katsu. They went to Pullen Park and enjoyed the train and playing. Then, they were shortly at the Natural History Museum before Seth starting puking. Andrew still insisted they go to Trader Joes to get fried rice; amazing Katsu agreed and we have a freezer full of fried rice and dumplings.
- Church Christmas party - they ate treats, watched part of the Polar Express, and took a little Polar Express ride (really a hay ride on a trailer) to go meet Santa Claus. Boys seemed to enjoy it.
- ECU football game. They had lots of fun, even though it was cold and super late (Game started at 7:30 on a weeknight!). They stayed for about half of it. ECU has been doing really well this year, so it was fun.
- enjoying lots of treats in December.
- loving Advent, Christmas Countdown, and our first year with Elf on the Shelf after much begging. Andrew gets to blow out the first candle for Advent which he thinks is pretty cool. They love trying to explain each of the names of Jesus that we are doing for Christmas countdown. They write letters to the Elf asking him to hide certain places.
- Andrew has been sick most of the week and missed several days of school.
- Lots of work parties for Katsu. Andrew really enjoyed the one last night where he was busy playing some hide and seek tag game with the other kids.
- Barnes and Noble night - Seth repeated a sweet little Thanksgiving poem.
Andrew the last few months 2014
Andrew, Andrew, Andrew. Let's see, what's new. Andrew is still reading, reading, reading. He always seems to have his nose in a book. He is allowed to read in bed because we put the boys to sleep quite a bit earlier than he probably needs to go to bed (say, 7:30), but if we aren't careful he reads way too late. He still likes to read favorites - mysteries, I survived, etc. But we are starting to run out of new books for him to read from my childhood. I remembered about the Chronicles of Narnia and he's read two of those this weekend. He also read the Percy Jackson books because we went to see the play - those are probably a little more grown up than the other books he reads. He read all the Bunnicula books I had. He's tried Beverly Cleary, but was not a fan. He's read almost everything that Roald Dahl has written now. At school, he is usually checking out the latest Geronimo Stilton book, though he still doesn't usually say his name right. I think right now he has an Indian in the Cupboard book checked out so he can read it at home and at school. And I'm sure he's read like 100 others than I can think of.
Andrew seems to like school alright. He seems to have some friends, though I'm not sure how many in his class. He likes to play all kinds of games like Zombie on the school playground. Andrew does really well in class, though he tends not to do the most careful work and then gets defensive when you show him so. But he does really well and his teacher always says so. Second grade doesn't seem too hard - Andrew needs to work on his writing (both penmanship and composition), but he will tell you that that is what he is worst at. He is probably the best reader in his class. He does well in math, but makes silly mistakes. We probably should work on speed math facts over the break. He really loves to do puzzle problems. He always has wonderful behavior. He comes home with a pink almost every day (the highest level) and sometimes a double pink. He gets all kinds of candy from his teacher for his behavior, but is usually kind and shares it.
A new girl from our neighborhood moved into his class a few weeks ago, and generally they like to go play over there. They have had a lot of fun playing with neighborhood friends, although Andrew tends to think people make fun of him and are mean to him all the time and doesn't seem to see it when he is acting snotty. But generally, he and Seth go over to a friend's house and play for an hour or two each day. So nice - we love our neighborhood. He loves to ride bikes and occasionally his scooter.
Andrew started basketball for the first time last month. We had some mix ups about practice times due to email getting sent to spam, but I think it's all worked out now. He seems to really be enjoying it and loves to dribble the ball around at home. Most of the other kids have played more than him, but hopefully he'll learn to play the game and enjoy it. Otherwise, the boys still play lots of soccer at home and they play football with the neighbor kids, too, though there is no chance I am letting them play that when they are older.
Andrew has gone to a few plays with Katsu - Little Prince, Lightning Thief (which was a musical), and Charlotte's Web. I am thinking about having him audition for the next play they do in Ayden. I think he would really enjoy acting.
Andrew has had pretty good behavior for the most part. He still has occasional angry outbursts, but generally has gotten better about controlling his feelings. He is a good brother most of the time. Andrew and Seth are thick as thieves and usually are playing with friends together or building some fort or Army/Lego/Trio/Lincoln Log structure. He loves to talk to Noah, sing to him, and make him laugh. It is all very sweet.
We started up me teaching piano lessons again and it's going better. Hard to fit in lessons with a baby who needs lots of attention, but Andrew is doing well.
Fun Things
- general conference. We had candy for the key words.
- Trip to Asheville.
- Flu mist
- Greenville fall festival ... kind of a bust since everything cost money and I didn't bring any cash, but they got cotton candy and got to get fire hats and go on a bus.
- making Halloween cookies at home.
- first play - Little Prince.
- help feed the homeless at the park. We are going to start going each month.
- trunk or treat at church
- trick or treating at library
- fall fest
- halloween festivities at school - making cookies, counting and sorting candy ... sounded fun.
- neighborhood halloween party
- Halloween!!!!
- Logan's birthday party
- Lightning Thief musical
- Charlotte's Web
- trip to the Aquarium and to the historical museum in Beaufort.
- Shichigosan - we got family pictures taken in the morning and the boys went to a baptism and in the evening, we all went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant which the boys loved.
- Stake Conference - the boys sang in the Primary choir for prelude and got a little treat afterwards. Too bad it was raining or we would have spent more time in New Bern. It still took 6 hours total for the whole day!
- Thanksgiving Day was a bust. Logan ended up sick, so we stayed at home but still took over food to the party we were supposed to go to. Boys enjoyed watching the parade and the food, more or less.
- Day after Thanksgiving - Andrew went to Raleigh with Seth and Katsu. They went to Pullen Park and enjoyed the train and playing. Then, they were shortly at the Natural History Museum before Seth starting puking. Andrew still insisted they go to Trader Joes to get fried rice; amazing Katsu agreed and we have a freezer full of fried rice and dumplings.
- Church Christmas party - they ate treats, watched part of the Polar Express, and took a little Polar Express ride (really a hay ride on a trailer) to go meet Santa Claus. Boys seemed to enjoy it.
- ECU football game. They had lots of fun, even though it was cold and super late (Game started at 7:30 on a weeknight!). They stayed for about half of it. ECU has been doing really well this year, so it was fun.
- enjoying lots of treats in December.
- loving Advent, Christmas Countdown, and our first year with Elf on the Shelf after much begging. Andrew gets to blow out the first candle for Advent which he thinks is pretty cool. They love trying to explain each of the names of Jesus that we are doing for Christmas countdown. They write letters to the Elf asking him to hide certain places.
- Andrew has been sick most of the week and missed several days of school.
- Lots of work parties for Katsu. Andrew really enjoyed the one last night where he was busy playing some hide and seek tag game with the other kids.
Andrew seems to like school alright. He seems to have some friends, though I'm not sure how many in his class. He likes to play all kinds of games like Zombie on the school playground. Andrew does really well in class, though he tends not to do the most careful work and then gets defensive when you show him so. But he does really well and his teacher always says so. Second grade doesn't seem too hard - Andrew needs to work on his writing (both penmanship and composition), but he will tell you that that is what he is worst at. He is probably the best reader in his class. He does well in math, but makes silly mistakes. We probably should work on speed math facts over the break. He really loves to do puzzle problems. He always has wonderful behavior. He comes home with a pink almost every day (the highest level) and sometimes a double pink. He gets all kinds of candy from his teacher for his behavior, but is usually kind and shares it.
A new girl from our neighborhood moved into his class a few weeks ago, and generally they like to go play over there. They have had a lot of fun playing with neighborhood friends, although Andrew tends to think people make fun of him and are mean to him all the time and doesn't seem to see it when he is acting snotty. But generally, he and Seth go over to a friend's house and play for an hour or two each day. So nice - we love our neighborhood. He loves to ride bikes and occasionally his scooter.
Andrew started basketball for the first time last month. We had some mix ups about practice times due to email getting sent to spam, but I think it's all worked out now. He seems to really be enjoying it and loves to dribble the ball around at home. Most of the other kids have played more than him, but hopefully he'll learn to play the game and enjoy it. Otherwise, the boys still play lots of soccer at home and they play football with the neighbor kids, too, though there is no chance I am letting them play that when they are older.
Andrew has gone to a few plays with Katsu - Little Prince, Lightning Thief (which was a musical), and Charlotte's Web. I am thinking about having him audition for the next play they do in Ayden. I think he would really enjoy acting.
Andrew has had pretty good behavior for the most part. He still has occasional angry outbursts, but generally has gotten better about controlling his feelings. He is a good brother most of the time. Andrew and Seth are thick as thieves and usually are playing with friends together or building some fort or Army/Lego/Trio/Lincoln Log structure. He loves to talk to Noah, sing to him, and make him laugh. It is all very sweet.
We started up me teaching piano lessons again and it's going better. Hard to fit in lessons with a baby who needs lots of attention, but Andrew is doing well.
Fun Things
- general conference. We had candy for the key words.
- Trip to Asheville.
- Flu mist
- Greenville fall festival ... kind of a bust since everything cost money and I didn't bring any cash, but they got cotton candy and got to get fire hats and go on a bus.
- making Halloween cookies at home.
- first play - Little Prince.
- help feed the homeless at the park. We are going to start going each month.
- trunk or treat at church
- trick or treating at library
- fall fest
- halloween festivities at school - making cookies, counting and sorting candy ... sounded fun.
- neighborhood halloween party
- Halloween!!!!
- Logan's birthday party
- Lightning Thief musical
- Charlotte's Web
- trip to the Aquarium and to the historical museum in Beaufort.
- Shichigosan - we got family pictures taken in the morning and the boys went to a baptism and in the evening, we all went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant which the boys loved.
- Stake Conference - the boys sang in the Primary choir for prelude and got a little treat afterwards. Too bad it was raining or we would have spent more time in New Bern. It still took 6 hours total for the whole day!
- Thanksgiving Day was a bust. Logan ended up sick, so we stayed at home but still took over food to the party we were supposed to go to. Boys enjoyed watching the parade and the food, more or less.
- Day after Thanksgiving - Andrew went to Raleigh with Seth and Katsu. They went to Pullen Park and enjoyed the train and playing. Then, they were shortly at the Natural History Museum before Seth starting puking. Andrew still insisted they go to Trader Joes to get fried rice; amazing Katsu agreed and we have a freezer full of fried rice and dumplings.
- Church Christmas party - they ate treats, watched part of the Polar Express, and took a little Polar Express ride (really a hay ride on a trailer) to go meet Santa Claus. Boys seemed to enjoy it.
- ECU football game. They had lots of fun, even though it was cold and super late (Game started at 7:30 on a weeknight!). They stayed for about half of it. ECU has been doing really well this year, so it was fun.
- enjoying lots of treats in December.
- loving Advent, Christmas Countdown, and our first year with Elf on the Shelf after much begging. Andrew gets to blow out the first candle for Advent which he thinks is pretty cool. They love trying to explain each of the names of Jesus that we are doing for Christmas countdown. They write letters to the Elf asking him to hide certain places.
- Andrew has been sick most of the week and missed several days of school.
- Lots of work parties for Katsu. Andrew really enjoyed the one last night where he was busy playing some hide and seek tag game with the other kids.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Noah is 4 months old!
Noah turned four months a week ago. He went to the doctor on Tuesday and got his shots - the poor thing gets these huge lumps and bruises where the shots were. They are still there. The first night after his shots, he woke up a lot and had a fever, but after that, they didn't seem to bother him. He is basically huge - he was 50% for height, but weight 17 lbs 11 oz - around 90% for weight. (He is a big boy, wears 6 month clothes, but 9 fit pretty well too and a size 3 diaper). His head circumference was around 50%, too, I think. He is healthy, but the nurse practitioner was concerned about how flat his head was and we are going to see a neurosurgeon (!) to have it evaluated for a helmet. Sad ... sigh - a bit of a bummer. It's not very symmetrical - he definitely prefers to turn to his right. But we did everything we could, so we'll just see what they say about how bad it is.
In other news, Noah still sleeps like a dream. He is so easy to put to sleep, I just can't believe it. If all kids were like this ... it would be so much easier! He sleeps roughly 12 hours at night, sometimes quite a bit more, sometimes less. He usually wakes up once at night to nurse. He takes 3 naps a day usually but they aren't at any specific time. We just play it by ear. He does not like sleeping anywhere besides his crib or his car seat. And he sleeps much better in his crib than his car seat, which frankly he doesn't like to sleep in much.
He nurses well - every 3 hours or so. He does get kind of distracted, but is pretty efficient and it doesn't seem like too much of a big deal or too big a part of the day. He still spits up profusely all the time. It's pretty gross, but oh, well.
He does well with the preschool on Friday mornings. Katsu drops him off at 9 and I pick him up between 11 and 11:30. He takes a bottle there and has a nap and usually talks and plays with the ladies there the rest of the time. They really like him. He always seems a little suspicious of me when I pick him up but he perks up quickly and wants to be held. He has been babysit once for about an hour while I got a hair cute, as well. That is about it.
Noah really loves Katsu. He gets excited when Katsu comes home and wants to be held. He thinks Katsu is so funny. He loves to dance and sing with him and also play peek-a-boo. He will just laugh up a storm - it is really cute. He likes when Katsu touches his nose, lips and chins, and go "Nose, lip, lip, chin". He is also quite ticklish.
He also LOVES his brothers. I can tell that he misses them when they are at school. He looks around wondering where they are - it definitely is more quiet. He loves when they sing and play with him. They all have their little songs and games they play with him - Andrew sings something like YMCA and Seth had cute little songs. Logan will just tell him over and over how much he loves him. Of course, generally, they all want to give him love at the same time. The rest of the time, I am hauling him around with me.
Noah wants to be held pretty much all the time. He will consent to tummy time for awhile before he starts whining which leads into crying. He doesn't like lying on his back anymore and really gets bored. He used to grab things with his hands and such, but now he wants to be picked up and just kind of whines until you do. He was so done with the swing so we switched it out thanks to our friends for an exercauser, more of like a bouncy one. He will play with it a bit ... but again just gets fussier and fussier till you finally take him out. He really likes to be held. He will sit on your lap or on the floor up next to you and is getting much better at sitting. And he will play with a toy for a little bit. He likes to be entertained. Loved, hugged, sung to, etc. He stands up pretty well if you hold his hands.
He can roll from tummy to back and can almost roll from back to tummy.
He likes to watch candles, fires, and Christmas lights.
He slept through our Thanksgiving feast which was nice for us - but it wasn't that exciting of a feast due to the stomach flu and following through of plans. Bit of a bummer of a week, but didn't effect Noah at all.
Fun Things This Month
In other news, Noah still sleeps like a dream. He is so easy to put to sleep, I just can't believe it. If all kids were like this ... it would be so much easier! He sleeps roughly 12 hours at night, sometimes quite a bit more, sometimes less. He usually wakes up once at night to nurse. He takes 3 naps a day usually but they aren't at any specific time. We just play it by ear. He does not like sleeping anywhere besides his crib or his car seat. And he sleeps much better in his crib than his car seat, which frankly he doesn't like to sleep in much.
He nurses well - every 3 hours or so. He does get kind of distracted, but is pretty efficient and it doesn't seem like too much of a big deal or too big a part of the day. He still spits up profusely all the time. It's pretty gross, but oh, well.
He does well with the preschool on Friday mornings. Katsu drops him off at 9 and I pick him up between 11 and 11:30. He takes a bottle there and has a nap and usually talks and plays with the ladies there the rest of the time. They really like him. He always seems a little suspicious of me when I pick him up but he perks up quickly and wants to be held. He has been babysit once for about an hour while I got a hair cute, as well. That is about it.
Noah really loves Katsu. He gets excited when Katsu comes home and wants to be held. He thinks Katsu is so funny. He loves to dance and sing with him and also play peek-a-boo. He will just laugh up a storm - it is really cute. He likes when Katsu touches his nose, lips and chins, and go "Nose, lip, lip, chin". He is also quite ticklish.
He also LOVES his brothers. I can tell that he misses them when they are at school. He looks around wondering where they are - it definitely is more quiet. He loves when they sing and play with him. They all have their little songs and games they play with him - Andrew sings something like YMCA and Seth had cute little songs. Logan will just tell him over and over how much he loves him. Of course, generally, they all want to give him love at the same time. The rest of the time, I am hauling him around with me.
Noah wants to be held pretty much all the time. He will consent to tummy time for awhile before he starts whining which leads into crying. He doesn't like lying on his back anymore and really gets bored. He used to grab things with his hands and such, but now he wants to be picked up and just kind of whines until you do. He was so done with the swing so we switched it out thanks to our friends for an exercauser, more of like a bouncy one. He will play with it a bit ... but again just gets fussier and fussier till you finally take him out. He really likes to be held. He will sit on your lap or on the floor up next to you and is getting much better at sitting. And he will play with a toy for a little bit. He likes to be entertained. Loved, hugged, sung to, etc. He stands up pretty well if you hold his hands.
He can roll from tummy to back and can almost roll from back to tummy.
He likes to watch candles, fires, and Christmas lights.
He slept through our Thanksgiving feast which was nice for us - but it wasn't that exciting of a feast due to the stomach flu and following through of plans. Bit of a bummer of a week, but didn't effect Noah at all.
Fun Things This Month
- Halloween - Noah dressed up as a cow, which he didn't particularly like. He fell asleep in the stroller at the trunk or treat and slept through the whole thing. The fall carnival was a little overwhelming for him and we ended up going outside to kind of calm him down. All the late nights were hard, too. On Halloween, we went to a party down the street and then we were going to go trick or treating, but he was pretty much done, so we sat on the porch and handed out candy. Eventually, I just put him to sleep.
- 100 days - we had rice, fish, and soup. He spit out the rice mostly and was choking on the fish. That was about the end of that.
- He came along in the stroller both days we went and fed the homeless with Brother's Kepper.
- Shichigosan - we took pictures in the morning. We went out to a Japanese restaurant for dinner, but Noah thankfully slept through the whole thing in his car seat.
- Day in Beaufort / Aquarium / beach. Noah was interested in the beach, until he got sand in his mouth and all over his clothes. He seemed to like the waves though, of course, we didn't get in the water - too cold. He liked the aquarium. He enjoyed watching the otters. The dinosaurs were still outside, and he though they were hilarious. Every time they would roar, he would laugh. It was cute. He was pretty fussy at the museum in Beaufort, but cheered up after I nursed him. He was fine on the ride home until we dropped Katsu off in New Bern - then he cried the entire rest of the way home almost. He can not stand being in the car seat at night. He wants to be home sleeping.
- Watching brothers' performances at Barnes and Noble.
- Stake Conference in New Bern.
- Thanksgiving - slept through.
- First Sunday of Advent - likes the candles.
Sunday, November 02, 2014
Seth in October 2014
Another month of kindergarten done. Seth seems to like it, but he doesn't tell me very much. He comes home and is off ... he loves to ride his bike around and go to friend's houses and play. He spends a lot of time playing with the kids at the houses next door and the next door over. But he also likes to ride his bike down the next street and play with kids. A boy a few houses done is in his class (though the kids at that house kind of run wild ... the 2 year old runs around unsupervised and often in the street) and they like to play together. He really likes to play with his friend from preschool last year and also just found out one of his soccer team mates also lives in the same col-de-sac as that friend. But I have to be careful, because I can make an off hand remark and Seth will think that means he can play and he will just leave. Or he will go and wait for his friend to get home ... he really LOVES to play with his friends and nothing at home can compare.
Seth started homework this month. He finds it pretty exciting. I wish they would send home books for him to read, but it's mostly practicing writing. He zips it out in a few minutes and doesn't want to hear my commentary about what he did right or wrong.
Seth is still loving doing the walking school bus. He likes to tell the other kindergarteners how it works and what they are doing wrong.
Seth still insists on matching clothes with Andrew every single day. His fleece from Ridgewood finally came, so now their jackets can match, too. I had to change how I keep their clothes so it's easy for them to find matching clothes. Seth tends to just pull out every single article of clothing until he finds what he wants and then leave them all on the floor. It drives me nuts! He does that with everything ... just leaving everything everywhere and then he can't find anything. He is always leaving his bike helmet everywhere and then we can't find it. One day he left it at a friend's house and his mom found it in the kitchen sink!
Seth is still a little hysterical at times (like today, he was positively nuts!). Every time it is time to clean up, he starts crying, sometimes hysterical and moaning and groaning and thrashing around on the floor. It is all a little ridiculous. Even if everything is almost clean and there is just a bit to do, it is the same theatrics every time. Also whenever he wants to play video games. Or watch TV. Or look at a screen. Drives me crazy!!!
Also, every night at dinner, he starts the same moaning and groaning about "I hate it". It doesn't matter what it is - he will hate it. Or on the off chance that I make something he likes, he will be upset that he doesn't like the side dishes. He always moans "Why do you always make something I hate" which is always answered with "because you hate almost everything". It usually is met with some more rolling around on the floor and maybe a tantrum, though he usually ends up eating a bit at least. He always eats during the prayer and just can't sit still during dinner.
Lately he has started to be trouble at church ... I don't know if he is just getting the short end of the stick lately, but he seems to always want whatever Logan wants and they are fighting more than usual. At church, he wants whatever Logan is looking at. Then he will try to touch Noah when he isn't supposed to or otherwise cause trouble until he finally gives up and lies on the ground looking bored out of his mind.
Seth had his last soccer game of the season yesterday. He played well as usual, though not quite as fancy footwork since it was so cold. He got 2 goals, about typical for him. I think he probably has some of the best footwork of any of the kids we saw on the league. He just really gets soccer, much better than most of the other kids. He seems to reflexively know where to run and what to do. Even the other parents notice that Seth is a natural - of course, he loves to practice all the time, too. I just hope he never wants to do travel soccer - parks and rec is already exhausting enough for me! He got a little trophy. We just brought it into the house this evening and it already had its head knowcked off within an hour. Ahhh ... life in a house full of boys. Seth is already excited for the next sport - basketball which starts in a few weeks. He wants to do every sport as he is constantly telling me. New sports are always being added ... he says he needs to do gymnastics now! We'll see about that.
Seth really enjoyed hiking the mountain with Katsu. He is not a really great traveler, but I think all-in-all he enjoyed the trip. He is always in such a hurry that he practically ran up the mountain. Hopefully, it will be good memories for the two of them.
Seth went to his first play this month. He went and saw the Little Prince with Katsu and Andrew. I tried to read them it but we only got through a few chapters. It's hard to get in novel reading with a baby around. I did pick up the graphic novelization of it at the library and the boys read/looked through most of it. He really enjoyed it. They went up to shake hands with the characters at the end. Their next play is on Friday.
We also went and helped feed the homeless one Saturday in October. I hope to keep being able to do service days and find service I can do with the kids. Seth was great at handing out water and making friends with the other little boy there helping.
Fun Things This Month:
- lots of soccer games. Seth made lots of goals.
- general conference. We had candy for the key words.
- Trip to Asheville.
- Flu mist
- Greenville fall festival ... kind of a bust since everything cost money and I didn't bring any cash, but they got cotton candy and got to get fire hats and go on a bus.
- making Halloween cookies at home.
- first play - Little Prince.
- help feed the homeless at the park. We are going to start going each month.
- trunk or treat at church
- trick or treating at library
- fall fest
- halloween festivities at school - making cookies, counting and sorting candy ... sounded fun.
- neighborhood halloween party
- Halloween!!!!
Seth started homework this month. He finds it pretty exciting. I wish they would send home books for him to read, but it's mostly practicing writing. He zips it out in a few minutes and doesn't want to hear my commentary about what he did right or wrong.
Seth is still loving doing the walking school bus. He likes to tell the other kindergarteners how it works and what they are doing wrong.
Seth still insists on matching clothes with Andrew every single day. His fleece from Ridgewood finally came, so now their jackets can match, too. I had to change how I keep their clothes so it's easy for them to find matching clothes. Seth tends to just pull out every single article of clothing until he finds what he wants and then leave them all on the floor. It drives me nuts! He does that with everything ... just leaving everything everywhere and then he can't find anything. He is always leaving his bike helmet everywhere and then we can't find it. One day he left it at a friend's house and his mom found it in the kitchen sink!
Seth is still a little hysterical at times (like today, he was positively nuts!). Every time it is time to clean up, he starts crying, sometimes hysterical and moaning and groaning and thrashing around on the floor. It is all a little ridiculous. Even if everything is almost clean and there is just a bit to do, it is the same theatrics every time. Also whenever he wants to play video games. Or watch TV. Or look at a screen. Drives me crazy!!!
Also, every night at dinner, he starts the same moaning and groaning about "I hate it". It doesn't matter what it is - he will hate it. Or on the off chance that I make something he likes, he will be upset that he doesn't like the side dishes. He always moans "Why do you always make something I hate" which is always answered with "because you hate almost everything". It usually is met with some more rolling around on the floor and maybe a tantrum, though he usually ends up eating a bit at least. He always eats during the prayer and just can't sit still during dinner.
Lately he has started to be trouble at church ... I don't know if he is just getting the short end of the stick lately, but he seems to always want whatever Logan wants and they are fighting more than usual. At church, he wants whatever Logan is looking at. Then he will try to touch Noah when he isn't supposed to or otherwise cause trouble until he finally gives up and lies on the ground looking bored out of his mind.
Seth had his last soccer game of the season yesterday. He played well as usual, though not quite as fancy footwork since it was so cold. He got 2 goals, about typical for him. I think he probably has some of the best footwork of any of the kids we saw on the league. He just really gets soccer, much better than most of the other kids. He seems to reflexively know where to run and what to do. Even the other parents notice that Seth is a natural - of course, he loves to practice all the time, too. I just hope he never wants to do travel soccer - parks and rec is already exhausting enough for me! He got a little trophy. We just brought it into the house this evening and it already had its head knowcked off within an hour. Ahhh ... life in a house full of boys. Seth is already excited for the next sport - basketball which starts in a few weeks. He wants to do every sport as he is constantly telling me. New sports are always being added ... he says he needs to do gymnastics now! We'll see about that.
Seth really enjoyed hiking the mountain with Katsu. He is not a really great traveler, but I think all-in-all he enjoyed the trip. He is always in such a hurry that he practically ran up the mountain. Hopefully, it will be good memories for the two of them.
Seth went to his first play this month. He went and saw the Little Prince with Katsu and Andrew. I tried to read them it but we only got through a few chapters. It's hard to get in novel reading with a baby around. I did pick up the graphic novelization of it at the library and the boys read/looked through most of it. He really enjoyed it. They went up to shake hands with the characters at the end. Their next play is on Friday.
We also went and helped feed the homeless one Saturday in October. I hope to keep being able to do service days and find service I can do with the kids. Seth was great at handing out water and making friends with the other little boy there helping.
Fun Things This Month:
- lots of soccer games. Seth made lots of goals.
- general conference. We had candy for the key words.
- Trip to Asheville.
- Flu mist
- Greenville fall festival ... kind of a bust since everything cost money and I didn't bring any cash, but they got cotton candy and got to get fire hats and go on a bus.
- making Halloween cookies at home.
- first play - Little Prince.
- help feed the homeless at the park. We are going to start going each month.
- trunk or treat at church
- trick or treating at library
- fall fest
- halloween festivities at school - making cookies, counting and sorting candy ... sounded fun.
- neighborhood halloween party
- Halloween!!!!
Logan is 3 years old!
Today was Logan's birthday. We spent the weekend celebrating. On Saturday, we went to Seth's soccer game, then we came home and got ready for Logan's party. I really am out of energy (especially after all the Halloween festivities), so we wanted it to be really low key. Running around outside and eating some cake. Of course, the weather turned cold and windy and rainy yesterday, so we decided to be inside. And I only wanted to invite a few of his friends (plus, I never got around to inviting the kids from preschool), but then half of them didn't come.
So, the party was ... different, but it was fun. One little girl showed up half an hour early, another about 15 minutes late, and then the last little boy about an hour late or something. And one kid didn't end up coming. And apparently everyone was kind of cranky because of naps and stuff. But it ended up being fun. They played and then we played a few little games (duck, duck, goose; playing musical instruments; bubbles, etc). Then, we had cake. Logan for the last couple months said he wanted a pizza cake. So, I made him a cake that looked like a pizza. He really liked it. He got a toy motorcycle, car, book, and game. It was just the right size.
Today, we had cookies and ice cream after lunch (the rest of the cookies are going to preschool tomorrow) and he found the rest of the presents - we hid them to make it more fun. We got Logan a scooter and my parents got him Zingo. So, while Katsu put together the scooter, we played Zingo. Logan is really starting to get into games and it is fun. He has loved playing memory games and Candy Land lately, which is good. Sometimes, I only have patience to play games or read books to the kids. Playing just takes too much energy sometimes. Seth was freaking out because he didn't have a present to give to Logan, so he gave him the present the boys picked out for Noah when he was born.
Logan had a lot of fun for Halloween. Surprisingly, he stuck to one outfit the whole time - he dressed as a tiger. We went to the trunk or treat last week. Then, Tuesday we went to the library Trick or treating ... totally not worth it, but the boys' liked it. Then, Thursday they work costumes and went to the school's fall fest - why everything has to be this week, I have no idea! Logan enjoyed playing all the games, but it was sure crowded. And then a neighborhood party and then trick or treating. He sat next to his friend Lucy at the party and then loved going trick or treating. Katsu dropped him off because he was tired and then he sat on the porch and helped pass out candy. He loved doing it. When the other boys came back, Logan wanted to stay and pass out candy more than going trick or treating more. It was a fun evening and Logan loved all the candy!
Logan has really starting tantrumming and being difficult again. I guess it had to strike again sometimes. His tantrums always start with him wanting something "right now" and then it just devolves from there to hysterical crying. After a while ... like 20 minutes to an hour he calms down, but geez ... it is tiring. He also has become very difficult to dress, brush teeth, put on shoes. He just wants to run away. Logan also has like the huge gag reflex - always has - so it is so hard to brush his teeth or wash his face to begin with.
The rest of the time, he is pretty sweet. And he is a pretty helpful kid. The most likely to actually put things away and things like that. He is still loving preschool. He had his preschool party on Friday. He was crying when Katsu dropped him off because he thought I was going to preschool with him right then. But I did show up for the party and they ate their treats and it was pretty cute. He was excited for me to be there. I don't know how much he actually plays with the other kids, but he seems to enjoy it.
Fun Things This Month:
- lots of soccer games to watch. He loves to play soccer with Katsu on the sidelines and can't wait until he can play on a team, too.
- general conference. We had candy for the key words. Logan thought it was pretty fun.
- seeing a fire truck at preschool. Logan liked to look ... but didn't want to go on.
- Trip to Asheville.
- Flu mist
- Greenville fall festival ... kind of a bust since everything cost money and I didn't bring any cash, but they got cotton candy and got to get fire hats and go on a bus.
- make brownies together for our date
- help feed the homeless at the park. We are going to start going each month. Logan enjoyed handing out chips and drinks to the homeless.
- trunk or treat at church
- trick or treating at library
- fall fest
- neighborhood halloween party
- Halloween!!!!
So, the party was ... different, but it was fun. One little girl showed up half an hour early, another about 15 minutes late, and then the last little boy about an hour late or something. And one kid didn't end up coming. And apparently everyone was kind of cranky because of naps and stuff. But it ended up being fun. They played and then we played a few little games (duck, duck, goose; playing musical instruments; bubbles, etc). Then, we had cake. Logan for the last couple months said he wanted a pizza cake. So, I made him a cake that looked like a pizza. He really liked it. He got a toy motorcycle, car, book, and game. It was just the right size.
Today, we had cookies and ice cream after lunch (the rest of the cookies are going to preschool tomorrow) and he found the rest of the presents - we hid them to make it more fun. We got Logan a scooter and my parents got him Zingo. So, while Katsu put together the scooter, we played Zingo. Logan is really starting to get into games and it is fun. He has loved playing memory games and Candy Land lately, which is good. Sometimes, I only have patience to play games or read books to the kids. Playing just takes too much energy sometimes. Seth was freaking out because he didn't have a present to give to Logan, so he gave him the present the boys picked out for Noah when he was born.
Logan had a lot of fun for Halloween. Surprisingly, he stuck to one outfit the whole time - he dressed as a tiger. We went to the trunk or treat last week. Then, Tuesday we went to the library Trick or treating ... totally not worth it, but the boys' liked it. Then, Thursday they work costumes and went to the school's fall fest - why everything has to be this week, I have no idea! Logan enjoyed playing all the games, but it was sure crowded. And then a neighborhood party and then trick or treating. He sat next to his friend Lucy at the party and then loved going trick or treating. Katsu dropped him off because he was tired and then he sat on the porch and helped pass out candy. He loved doing it. When the other boys came back, Logan wanted to stay and pass out candy more than going trick or treating more. It was a fun evening and Logan loved all the candy!
Logan has really starting tantrumming and being difficult again. I guess it had to strike again sometimes. His tantrums always start with him wanting something "right now" and then it just devolves from there to hysterical crying. After a while ... like 20 minutes to an hour he calms down, but geez ... it is tiring. He also has become very difficult to dress, brush teeth, put on shoes. He just wants to run away. Logan also has like the huge gag reflex - always has - so it is so hard to brush his teeth or wash his face to begin with.
The rest of the time, he is pretty sweet. And he is a pretty helpful kid. The most likely to actually put things away and things like that. He is still loving preschool. He had his preschool party on Friday. He was crying when Katsu dropped him off because he thought I was going to preschool with him right then. But I did show up for the party and they ate their treats and it was pretty cute. He was excited for me to be there. I don't know how much he actually plays with the other kids, but he seems to enjoy it.
Fun Things This Month:
- lots of soccer games to watch. He loves to play soccer with Katsu on the sidelines and can't wait until he can play on a team, too.
- general conference. We had candy for the key words. Logan thought it was pretty fun.
- seeing a fire truck at preschool. Logan liked to look ... but didn't want to go on.
- Trip to Asheville.
- Flu mist
- Greenville fall festival ... kind of a bust since everything cost money and I didn't bring any cash, but they got cotton candy and got to get fire hats and go on a bus.
- make brownies together for our date
- help feed the homeless at the park. We are going to start going each month. Logan enjoyed handing out chips and drinks to the homeless.
- trunk or treat at church
- trick or treating at library
- fall fest
- neighborhood halloween party
- Halloween!!!!
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