What Noah Has Been Up To...

In addition to getting his hair cut off :( :( :(, Noah has been keeping busy this month:

1.  Trying rice cereal.

At first, the excitement of eating something solid tricked him into thinking he liked rice cereal (hence the look of glee), but then he realized that it is incredibly bland and boring (hence the look of disgust).  He's never willing to eat more than a bite or two.  We are going to try some other foods soon.  Any suggestions?

2.  Sitting up on his own.

This is his newest trick.  I think it is so cute to see him sitting on his own, wobbling a little and bending forward to maintain balance.  He especially loves sitting in front of a mirror and admiring himself. :)

3. Preparing for his first Christmas

Noah loved staring at the little Christmas tree in our apartment in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

4.  Going for runs with his mom.

For some insane reason, I signed up to run a half marathon in March.  I am in the worst shape of my life, but I am doing my best to get ready for the race, and I figure I can walk a lot of it if I need to.  Every day, I bundle Noah up (see the socks on his hands?), and we go for a jog.  During the first training run that we took together, I couldn't figure out why Noah was smiling and laughing so much. I eventually realized that he thought it was funny that I was panting and gasping for air.  He thought I was playing with him.  I kept saying to him, "Mommy's gonna die, Noah.  Mommy's gonna die."  He just laughed.

I must admit, seeing his cute little smiling face does make the runs much more enjoyable.  It's fun to get some fresh air together every day.


5.  Hanging out with his favorite cousin, Callum

We've been staying at my dad's house this week (all of the family is in town, and we don't want to miss out on the action!), and Noah has loved hanging out with Callum.  They are so cute together.

6.  Smiling and laughing and being an angel for his mother

I haven't admitted on this blog just how difficult Noah was for the first 4.5 months of his life.  I have mentioned his fussiness a few times, but I tried not to dwell on it because I didn't want anyone to think I wasn't grateful for him.  But he was HARD.  So hard.  He had colic and cried and fussed all day long.  I was exhausted and discouraged, and there were several times that I held my bawling baby and just bawled myself.  I wondered how people possibly have more than one child.  My friends kept telling me that the colic would end any day, but it was hard to believe in the midst of it.  Thank goodness my family was nearby to help me and to give me breaks, and many thanks to the friends who called and checked on me and offered so much good advice about how to soothe him.

I am grateful to report that about two weeks ago, my baby woke up happy...and he hasn't looked back.  For the most part, he has become a very content baby, and it is heaven.  HEAVEN.  He was worth every second of the crying.  I want to squeeze his happy little face every day.

Life is good.  Ryan and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary last night, and as we talked about the year that has passed, we couldn't believe how much has changed in our little family.  I think 2012 is going to seem like a very dull year compared to 2011!  We are grateful and happy.