Busy Baby

I am just continually amazed at the things Noah is doing. Crawling, sitting, pulling up, and now climbing! This kids just does not slow down. I thoroughly enjoy the baby stage while they are immobile because I can leave them in their seat/swing, play mat, or wherever and they STAY there. But Noah is already proving to give me a run for my money.

He does play by himself for a long time; I'll credit him that. But it's the fact that he doesn't stay with his toys. I will put him in the play room with his toys and attempt to accomplish something only to check on him a few minutes later and have to search for him. Hah! He's such a curious baby and I love watching him explore. I can almost see the wheels turning in his mind as he discovers new things.

After only a month of crawling and a week of pulling up, he has now quickly graduated to climbing! Anything low enough that is elevated, he will scale it and is doing it with ease. I was in the kitchen the other day washing dishes and loading the dishwasher when he crawled over and stood at the door and grabbed a spoon from the silverware tray. He was busy playing with it on the floor (toy of year I tell ya) so I ran to the bathroom real quick. I came back to witness him on the dishwasher door elbow deep digging for more silverware. So what does this mom of the year do first? Grab the camera of course!

Weekend Rewind

Gabe was released from work early on Friday and arrived at home just in time as I was getting ready to pick up Alena from school. He quickly changed and we decided to surprise the kids with a trip to the pumpkin patch. We were planning on going the next day but figured it would be less crowded this way. And we were right! We were the only ones there and had a great time!

They had a petting zoo with ducks, TONS of chickens, rabbits, and a few goats. There was a HUGELY pregnant goat (pictured below) that was due any day with twins!

The chickens even took the bread from your hands but there were a couple that were quite ruthless. They started pecking at Gabe's clothes when he wasn't fast enough.

There was a great little ride for the kids to take around the farm. Noah hung out in the wagon and practiced his newest trick... pulling up!

This crazy kid just will not slow down.

The kids enjoyed a dusty romp through the hay maze and then spent some time looking for juuuust the right pumpkin. The selection wasn't that great since it's so close to Halloween and most of the pumpkins have been picked over already but they managed to find some suitable ones.

And I managed to get some super cute photos of the kids!

Saturday, we went with Gabe as he donated blood and Alena stood by him the whole time watching with great curiosity. We headed home to quickly have dinner and get ready to go on post where they were having a free Halloween event. They had Halloween movies playing, food, games and activities for the kids, a haunted hayride, and a haunted house.

We had originally planned on going for the haunted hayride but there was a 3+ hour wait. Uhhh, no thanks! So Gabe took Alena and Christian through the haunted house. I stood at the exit with Noah waiting for them and as more people came out, I got more nervous. I saw a few kids come out crying though most people came out scared but talking excitedly about it. Christian isn't one to get squeamish (he loves anything zombie related), but I know Alena gets scared fairly easy.

So I waited... and made sure to snap the looks on their faces as they came out. The kids were scared. Although, later, Christian told us he was just joking with us. Riiiight.

Their pumpkin crafts with matching faces.

 We enjoyed some of the kids activities before deciding we were not going to wait another two hours for the hayride. So we went to Best Buy where we bought too many some Halloween movies, came home, popped popcorn, made hot chocolate, and enjoyed the Addams Family. The kids stayed up WAY past their bedtime but sometimes that's OK. :)

Upon waking on Sunday, there was almost zero motivation to do anything. I made a weak attempt to convince everyone to get dressed for church but got nowhere with that. Alena ended up sleeping in until almost 9:30 which is unheard of around here! She promptly declared it to be pajama day and it was. We lazed around watching movie after movie, hardly moving from the couch but for food and bathroom breaks. Nice.

Gabe later realized that with his weight loss he needed new pants for his upcoming business trip the next day. I switched into jeans really quick but couldn't convince Gabe to change. I may have pretended not to know him. So yes, we were those people who walked into Target with pajama pants on. :)

Another busy fall weekend in the books.

Noah - 6 Months

*Please excuse my long absence of blogging. I kept meaning to get posts up but just never got around to it. It happens.

Weight - 17.4 lbs

Height - 26.5 in

Appearance -You got your third tooth on Sunday, October 13. It is on the upper left side and will be the one next to your front teeth. Your hair is just crazy. Very light and fluffy and turning blond.

Eating - You nurse every 2-3 hours. If you are not screaming hungry and we are in public, you are so easily distracted! We finally let you try a couple of people foods and you LOVED them. It was all very random so you would get a bite or two and then not have anything else for a few days. You did enjoy bananas the most.

Sleeping - The same as before. You sleep from around 8 or 9pm - 7am usually waking up once, sometimes twice to eat. Naps are sporadic and are usually short cat naps. Mommy would like to get you on a schedule or at least longer naps but with being in and out of the house all day, it's so hard. BUT, even with only short naps you are always happy so I don't mind very much.

Sizes - I am squeezing you into the last of your size 2 diapers and will buy size 3 next time. You wear 6 month clothes and even a few larger sizes.

Nothing is safe anymore, not even the fridge!

  
Milestones - Crawling and sitting!!! If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. You didn't even do the normal sitting then hands and knees to rocking. You just took off and sat yourself up! You started out doing a funny bunny hop with your legs where you would literally "hop" them underneath you. And now you bear crawl. You learned that your knees are slippery and your toes get better traction so you crawl on just your hands and feet most of the time.

Getting your third tooth.

You have also accumulated quite a few bumps and bruises already! Learning to crawl on hardwood floor is tough for a little guy.

Doing your funky bear crawl.

 Likes - crawling and getting anything in your reach, tasting any food you're allowed, taking a bath, chewing on everything, watching Alena and Christian play, people watching
Dislikes - getting stuck or falling while trying to crawl, when you have a dirty diaper, waiting to eat, being put down when you are tired (you like to be held or nursed to sleep)

Noah, how can you be halfway to year already?!? You are just so amazing and I think we hit the baby jackpot with you. Alena and Christian are quite smitten with you and love to hold you whenever they get a chance. You are so incredibly happy and easy to please. We love you so much and can't wait to see what you do this next month!

Vacation - Water Fun in Ohio

Some day I will be done with these vacation posts, promise. Really.

Here are my favorite photos from a fun day we spent with a slip and slide and cousins.

I am LOVING this action shot!

Friday Funny

If this doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.

Here's Noah cracking up over a happy meal toy.

Weekend Rewind

Last weekend we participated as vendors in our local Fun Fest/carnival. We were there as part of our new at home business with Body by Vi. It was a three day event and to say we were tired by the end would be a gross understatement. It was fun though as we took the last day off to do activities as a family. Most people were there for the free activities instead of walking through the vendor section anyway.

We first headed to the rides. Gabe and the kids had wristbands that allowed them to ride as many rides as they wanted. Noah and I just chilled out in the grass while we waited for them to finish.

I am so in love with that face!

Wild man hair!

Not sure what I'm going for here... something serious?

I nursed Noah sans cover which is big for me. Not that I'm embarrassed about doing it, I just don't like flashing everyone when Noah gets distracted and has to have a look around before continuing on.

Every time we go to that carnival (our town does it twice a year) the kids are always begging us to let them do the rock climbing wall. This time we let them because it was free so if they only got two feet off the ground and chickened out, it wasn't a big loss. Christian was super excited to go and kept saying he was going to go all the way to the top and ring the buzzer they put up there. Alena became nervous and tried to tell us she wasn't doing it. We told her no, she has been asking to do it and she's going to get up there and at least try.

And you know what? They did awesome! We waited in line for a good 30 min watching probably 10 or so kids go and only two made it to the top and they looked to be about twice Alena and Christian's age and size. Christian got stuck about a third of the way up but would not give up. He made it past that trouble spot and just kept going and going... all the way to the top! Alena did the first half of it using just her arms and was one hand hold away from the top before falling. If the wall would not have jutted out, she would have easily made it to the top but she was soooo close.

Getting strapped in.

You can see her just using her arms here.

Christian getting stuck and Alena easily making her way up.

One hand hold away...

Alena slips and Christian continues on.

Ringing the buzzer at the top!

It was another good weekend. Christian told me Sunday was an awesome day and that was all I needed to hear. :)

How was your weekend?