Fall Beach Fun

Joshua, Mommy, and Noah
Mommy and Noah
Here are some pictures that were taken at the beach when Celeste and Elaine were visiting. Noah was not digging the beach, but in his defense it was very windy. Why is Joshua holding a football in some of the pictures? Throwing a football at people is better than throwing sand at them. Makes perfect sense, right?Mommy and JoshuaLife is full of surprises. Noah has never been fond of pacifiers but they can be awfully handy, especially when a baby is fussing at night. My master plan before he was born was to buy various pacies, but no soothies because that was Joshua's brand and I wasn't sure if he would go back to them or not (He kicked the habit a couple months before Noah was born). Well as it has turned out, soothies are the only pacies that Noah will marginally accept - I bought some out of frustration when the others didn't work. So much for my master plan. Oh, and Joshua is showing no interest in them other than he likes to hide them in shoes - yuck!I should mention that when Noah was born, Grandottie and Jerry Pop gave Joshua a Veggie Tale DVD called "Josh and the Big Wall." He absolutely loves it! He has the video and songs memorized. It is so cute!

Something else that Joshua does is quietly go into his room and pull all his clothes out of his drawers and make a pile of them he can throw over his head like leaves. This is also a favorite nap time distraction. I don't always catch him in the act because he'll put his clothes up, squashed into 2 drawers. However, come bedtime it is apparent the order has been destroyed. It almost makes me want to quit folding his clothes.Aunt Celeste, Joshua, Aunt Elaine, and NoahTouchdown!

Aunts Celeste and Elaine visit

Noah, Aunt Elaine, Joshua, and Aunt Celeste
Aunts Celeste and Elaine (Aunt 'Lest and 'Lane) came for a visit this weekend. It was the first time Elaine got to meet Noah so that was extra special. We went to McGuire's Friday night which is always fun. Then on Sunday we went to the beach. Here are a few pictures of everyone taken during the Alabama - Arkansas game. This game was a real nail-biter. Noah proved he can sleep through just about anything. I'll post pictures from our trip to the beach soon. We all had a great time. Thanks for visiting! Come back soon!

Happy one month bday Noah

Noah is one month old! I can hardly believe it. He is a delightful baby. He can really hold his head up and turn it. He has a round face - our little chunky monkey. He is solidly wearing size 3month clothes. He enjoys wakeful, fussy time every night between 10PM - 2AM, which makes mommy so sleepy! His eyes look like they are turning brown. I weighed him and he was 11 lbs even. It was hard to get his length because he was a wiggle worm. I think we measured 22 1/2 which is probably not right since he was 23 in last time we measured him.Joshua is also doing great though he has a new trick. He waits until mommy is busy, i.e. feeding Noah, changing Noah's diaper, taking a shower, etc. and then strips down and runs naked through the house shouting "I take it off! I take it off!" I had to completely redress him, including diapers, 3 times the other day. It is pretty funny. He struggles with taking his shirt off so sometimes he keeps that on. I have to go now because my little nudist has just streaked past me holding his diaper...

I see the moon!

Part of Joshua's bedtime routine now is to go outside and look for the moon. His face absolutely lights up when he finds it and he'll point and say "I see the moon!" Matt is teaching him to say:
I see the moon.
The moon sees me.
God bless the moon.
And God bless me.
Another new trick of Joshua's is to pull off his pants and diaper and streak through the house shouting "I take it off! I take it off!" He prefers to do this when I am nursing Noah or otherwise occupied and unable to immediately dress him. He's awfully cute, though I hope he keeps this to his family only and doesn't start flashing friends and extended family.Big Brother - Little Brother

Shhhhhh!

I came home from the grocery store to find all my boys piled onto the recliner. Happily 2 out of 3 were asleep! (This was awesome because Joshua has been resisting his afternoon nap lately.) Daddy had to cheer softly for the first part of the Alabama at Duke football game.

3 weeks old/ Thanks Grandma!

Life has been going by quickly! I can't believe Noah is 3 weeks old! In the last week Noah has continued to grow. He coos, looks around, and tries to hold his head up. He continues to take aim and pee on everyone who changes him, especially in the middle of the night. He's a big eater and usually demands to be fed every 2-1/2 - 3 hours. He's had his days and nights mixed up earlier this week. Hopefully he'll figure it out soon as mommy is especially tired! One of his eyes was goopy at his 2 week checkup and Noah was prescribed an antibiotic ointment. His eye is finally better and I'm sure he's got to feel better too. In other news, Noah no longer likes to be swaddled - which surprised me because Joshua loved to be swaddled for many weeks. Also, following his 2 week appointment, he graduated to the size 1 diapers. Way to go Noah! Just slow down a little - you're getting big too fast for your mommy and daddy!

Something that has surprised me the most about having a new baby is how much bigger it makes my first baby seem. I remember shortly before Noah was born, worrying that perhaps we put Joshua is a big boy bed too soon because "he's just a baby," and while he'll always be my baby, he seems more solid than before. I see him with new eyes that are surprised at how well he jumps, kicks, throws, runs, and is interested in helping out. He's often quick to correct me if I say "There's my big boy..." he'll reply, "No, I'm a baby!" To which I'll snuggle him and tell him yes he is my baby boy. Now if only we could get him to sleep in his bed all night instead of coming to get daddy in the wee hours....Roll Tide!!
Grandma has been in town the last two weeks helping Mommy keep track of her two little boys. We took Joshua to get a haircut over the weekend. The lady was very patient with him and as a result, it looks really good. She gave him a sucker to eat while she was cutting which was helpful, but all his falling hair stuck to his face and he looked like he had a beard when it was all done. Also on Saturday the boys watched Alabama beat Penn St., 24-3. Daddy was at the game and had a great time. We sent pictures and texted all night.

Grandma went home today and we were sad to see her go and yet ready to practice being a family of four. Joshua spent the evening knocking on the guest room door saying "Knock, knock. Hello. Grandpa?" (He knows mom's name is Grandma, but he likes to get a rise out of us by calling her Grandpa.) This is usually followed by a "Where's Grandpa? Oh, Grandma went home." Fortunately she is always just a phone call away - and Joshua loves talking/singing on the phone! Thanks Mom/Grandma! We love you!I love this picture because it looks like Barney is crashing the party. Also because it features both Noah and "Baby Noah" - Joshua's doll he named after his brother.

Noah's 2 week checkup

Noah and Dr. Hensley
Noah met his pediatrician today for his 2 week checkup. The wait was pretty long which is really unusual. As a result, Noah was hungry and screamed the whole time or as the doctor put it "he has a great cry...." I also want to take a moment to brag on how well behaved Joshua was the whole time. Grandma was kind enough to read books over and over to him while he snacked on goldfish. Now back to Noah, he is doing really well.

Here are his stats:
Weight - 9lbs 10oz; 74th percentile
Height - 23in; 98th percentile
Head circum - 37cm

The doctor was impressed with his weight gain. It's also noteworthy to mention that there was a med student observing and towards the end of the checkup, the doctor was asking me if I thought Noah was recognizing faces and sounds. As if on cue, Noah, whose head was on my shoulder looking behind me, picked up his head, turned it 90deg and looked at the med student. She exclaimed "Did you see that? He just picked up his head and looked at me!" The doc said "Well he's not supposed to be doing that yet." But that's Noah, my strong little boy!

Since Noah was the last patient before lunch, the doctor invited me to stay in the room and nurse my screaming boy which I thought was really nice. It made for a much easier exit. Afterwards Mommy, Grandma, and the boys went to Tuscan Oven for lunch which is always yummy. It was a great first outing!In other Noah news, his cord fell off early Sunday morning which was cool. Joshua's had to be taken off which creeped me out so a natural falling off was great. Noah has 3 tiny Epstein's pearls on the roof of his mouth, which don't do anything and will disappear shortly. He seems to have a lot of awake time during the day. So far he has slept okay at night. Our biggest battle is getting him to latch on correctly and nurse from both sides. He prefers my right to the left which is driving me crazy. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it and he's definitely not starving! I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but my baby boy has the pinkest skin! And when he starts screaming he goes from pink to hot pink in seconds. I've no doubt he will grow into quite the fair skinned little boy. Noah's first outing

Noah's 1st Game / Roll Tide

Here are some pics of Joshua and Noah before Alabama's season opener against San Jose St. Alabama won which continued Joshua's undefeated regular season streak and started Noah's. Roll Tide!! It is also noteworthy to mention that Noah is wearing the same top that Grandottie made for Joshua 2 years ago.

Brothers

Joshua has been very interested/ excited about his baby brother - well most of the time. They both seem to be adjusting really well. I'm so proud of Joshua. He enjoys asking to hold his brother, though once he has him, he usually only wants him for about 30 seconds. He likes saying "Hi Noah! Hi Noah! Hi Noah!" He also likes pointing at his eyes (still working on not poking Noah in the eyes) and his nose. I do have a few funny comments Joshua has made regarding his brother.First, Noah was crying a few days ago and Mommy was unsuccessfully trying to soothe him when Joshua walked up to him and shook a finger and said "That's enough." All I could think was "if only it were that easy!"
Second is a conversation between father and son:
Joshua - Mommy's the best!
Daddy - What about Daddy? Is he the best?
Joshua - Daddy's the best!
Daddy - What about Joshua?
Joshua - Joshua's the best!
Daddy - What about Noah? Is he the best?
Joshua - um, no.

Both boys are beautiful and so good-natured. Matt and I feel blessed to have the privilege of raising such wonderful boys.