Earlier today, I read this article by Rebecca Woolf on babycenter.com. It made me smile! Of course, there are WAAAAY more than 32 things that change when you have a baby, but this list of 32 is pretty good! (except for the "morning person" one. I may get up early, but I am still not a morning person!)
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Thirty-two things that change when you have a baby
"What changes when you have a baby? A better question may be: What doesn't change? Here, writer and mom Rebecca Woolf lists her most notable post-baby observations."
1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.
3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.
4. You respect your body ... finally.
5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.
7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.
8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.
9. Your heart breaks much more easily.
10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.
11. Every day is a surprise.
12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
14. You become a morning person.
15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
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(The article continues to list a number of responses from readers regarding how their children have changed their lives, read them here)
5 Months?! HOW THE HECK DID THAT HAPPEN?! I know that I will probably say this for every month for the rest of my life, but I just don't know how we have almost gone through half a year with little Noah. He is so big, and so happy, and so darn cute, I think my heart grows with every drooly toothless smile he sends my way. I see these 2 tiny two week old babies at group every week and have a hard time remembering Noah being that little. He is a whopping 14 lbs. 5 oz as of Tuesday and growing out of all his clothes! We are going to have to hit up all the bigger kids for those hand me downs soon! *hint, hint, wink, wink*
Noah continues to perfect the skills he is already practicing and starting to practice new skills every day. He is now getting his thumb in his mouth regularly and I think it is pretty cute when he sucks his thumb. My favorite though (which I have yet to catch on camera) is when he manages to get his thumb in his mouth and one or two fingers up his nose! :) sooo funny! He still gags him self on a daily basis, but not as frequently as before. He is also getting better at getting other things in his mouth...other meaning anything he can get his hands on...but getting toys into his mouth is something he is still working on. The toy often ends up on his nose, in his eye or on his chin. When it ends up in his mouth, he is quite proud.
Noah can't seem to keep his fingers out of his mouth. Not for 5 minutes, sometimes not even when he is nursing. He has this habbit of popping off when eating. He does it just to look at me, to give me a big ol' smile, or to look at something for a second before returning to his meal. But lately, when he pops off, he ends up sticking his hand in his mouth and trying to latch on again without removing his fingers!
Along with the fingers in his mouth comes the incessant drool. Someone turned the faucet on and that stuff just pours out of his mouth. He has also learned to play with it. Sometimes Noah gurgles his spit. Sometimes he purses his lips together and forces it out the middle. Other times, he has his hand in his mouth and forces bubbles out each side of his mouth. Regardless of how the drool comes out of his mouth, it ends up all over me and ALL over him. Especially when he decides that my chin is a great chew toy! Between the spit up and the drool Noah goes through AT LEAST 2 outfits a day (3 including his jammies) and it would be more but I refuse to change him every hour! I often change my clothes at least once after getting dressed too. Geeze!
His next favorite thing to get in his mouth, which he does with out fail each time, are his toes. Noah is soooo flexible! I can't beileve how high he can get those feet...he literally folds himself in half! When Noah has his diaper on, he can't quite get his toes up to his mouth, but that doesn't stop him from trying. You bet as soon as that diaper comes off though, those toes are in his mouth and I sometimes have to fight to get his diaper back on! In short, Noah plays with his toes every chance he gets, and really seems to enjoy it. Soooo, I joined him!
couldn't quite get my toes in my mouth though!
Noah has also developed quite a fascination with the cats. When one walks by, jumps up on a chair or runs up the stairs, Noah stops what he is doing a watches them intently. A smile spreads across his face and he usualy lets out a squeal. About 2 weeks ago, we managed to get Bashful up close, and between the screeches and drool, I was able to get Noah's little hand on the cat. He LOVED it. He opened and closed his hand as fast as he could and had a grin from ear to ear. He got soooo excited and started to jump up and down just before scaring the cat off. Not sure if it was the high pitched scream or the fist full of hair he ended up with that made Bashful run, but he is hesitant to come near Noah now! HA HA! Sneezy on the other hand could care less when Noah rips out some fur. Like any kid though, Noah is obsessed with the tails and today finnaly grabbed hold of one. I dont think I have ever seen him smile so big!
I mentioned that he squeals! I don't know where he got it, but he can hit some high notes! In between laughs and giggles, Noah will let out an insanely high pitched squeal or screech or whatever you wanna call it! It cracks me up. The only thing that can make him laugh or squeal somewhat consistently is pretending to bit is ribs while making a growling sound. He knows its coming and tenses up his little body and as he starts to laugh, if I'm not careful, he will reach down grab onto my hair. I swear he laughs harder and screams louder if when he pulls the hair out of my head. Silly Baby! Sometimes "Peek-A-Boo" works, sometimes a silly song will work, sometimes a stupid phrase will work. But with the exception of the tummy bites, what made him laugh today won't make Noah laugh tomorrow and you look like a fool when you attempt to do so! Watch! (and don't forget to turn off the music!)
A few things from the past....Noah still spits up like a freekin fountain. I have given up trying to look nice. As soon as I put on a cute outfit or style my hair Little Mr. spits up all over me and pulls my hair until it is frizzy. It's a good thing he is cute, not only does it make me forget about the spit up ALL OVER ME, but his dimpled smile and big blue eyes keep everyone looking at him instead of the wet spots all over my clothes! I asked the Dr. if there was a certain time when the spitting will stop, he replied, "Yes there is! SOMETIME!" THANKS A LOT DOC! Whatever...I do know that he won't go to college spitting up, so it is bound to stop sometime! :)
As for the rolling over business...he quit. Yep, just quit, went on strike and doesn't roll over anymore. When he is on his back, Noah will roll onto his side (with his hands and/or toes in his mouth) and babble, coo, and wiggle around, but no rolling over. When Noah is on his tummy, he will play with his toys, drool all over, and even stick his little butt up in the air and inch forward across the floor. But when he is done with his belly, he just whines and cries. No more rolling over despite all my encouragement. I give him a little nudge, to get the momentum going, and clap and cheer like crazy when he finishes the deal, but no sirey! Noah will pivot around, sometimes doing a full 360° , and he inch worms across the room, but he is on a rolling strike! I suppose it makes diaper changes easier and he isn't rolling off the couch, but I would like for him to do it again soon!
It seems that Noah has traded in his rolling over for SITTING UP! He is getting waaay better, but still topples over all the time. He uses his hands to help prop himself up, and is even able to use one hand to play with his toys, with the occasional "look mom no hands!" If he doesn't get too excited, he usually does pretty good! Noah also ends up folding himself in half during his sitting up practice. Initially when he lays flat, he starts to fuss. Then, he notices that his toes are right there, starts chewing on them, and all is well.
Last but not least, Noah has migrated from the kitchen sink to baths in the big tub upstairs. He isn't fitting perfectly in the bath seat, but is quite intrigued with all the water and the new toys! He usually leans forward and rests on the edge of the seat while reaching for his toys and occasionally splashing water everywhere! He doesn't last too long in the bath though. It is part of our bedtime routine (the 3 B's - bath, boob and bed we sometimes throw a book in there too) and he is often ready to pass out. Daddy is quick to swoop him up, and get him in his jammies! I think Noah has caught on to the routine by now and seems to wind down half way through the process.
Isn't he adorable?!
WOW! I have just written a frickin novel, Noah has been a busy guy this month! I have a feeling that we are only going to get busyier and that time is only going to move ever faster!
Again, I apologize for the INSANE delay with my blog posts lately...Noah has been increasingly demanding and needing a lot more of my attention lately and blogging (though I miss it terribly) has been put on the back burner!
So, back in the end of October, Sarah and Lily came down on a Friday night and spent the entire weekend with us! This was the first time they had been here in over a year! Lily is soooo big now, and it is so fun to play with her. She still calls Noah. "No No" and calls me, "tistoo!" and Jason sounded like two humming sounds put together, but she definitely knows who we all are! It makes me happy that she remembers us, even though our visits are few and far between!
Ok, ok, on with it! Saturday, Sarah, Lily, Noah and I went to get some coffee and meander through the farmers market over by my house. Noah was snoozin' away in the moby (like always) and Lily was hammin' it up. There was a man and woman playing music and singing and Lily decided to BUST A MOVE! It was sooo cute. Little Lil planted her feet a little more than shoulder width a part, held her hands in fists about waist level, kept her arms about 4 inches from her body, and shook her booty back and forth, back and forth all with the biggest grin I have ever seen. She had passer-byes stopped in their tracks, point and smiling, and saying, "look how cute!!!" When it was time to go, Lily went and put a dollar in the bucket and gave a celebrity wave before taking off like a drunken sailor pushing the stroller! (sadly I got no pictures of this...but Sarah did!! hint hint!!)
We made it home in time for Lily to crash out and Noah to continue sleeping. Sarah and I enjoyed the quiet time and spent it catching up and sharing stories of motherhood! But we couldn't spend all day chit chatting...we had to get ready for the concert!!! Not just any concert, we were going to The Bridge School Benefit! And we didn't go alone. My mom, Chris and Rose all came down too! It was a family affair! Like a herd of turtles, we managed to pack up all our stuff, get snacks, water, ear plugs and dinner together and head out to Shoreline Amphitheater! To our surprise, traffic wasn't as bad as I expected, but still more traffic than we wanted to sit in with little ones!
We got there only an hour later than we had planned (not bad for a group of 8), ate dinner and chatted through the first few bands. We met up with Matt and Justine and were settled in with full tummies and good drinks by the time Death Cab for Cutie was playing. Noah was loving it! He was checking out all the people, trying to snag some sushi from my plate and drooling everywhere! He smiling at our Tahoe visitors and getting all kinds of love from everyone! He didn't seem to mind the noise either (until later!).
Up next was Wilco, and Lily made friends with our neighbors. And by "friends," I mean she went and sat down in the empty chair that a man once occupied! The woman next to the empty chair turned around when Lil bumped her, and she laughed out loud when she found Lil there instead of her friend. Lily then engaged another group of neighbors before then seat owner returned and sat in the grass. Before we knew it, Lily was sitting in the man's lap and playing with his watch! So cute!
We finally got Lily back to our blanket and were more than ready to hear Sarah McLachlan and it was just in time for Noah to have a melt down. I tried, then Jason took him for a walk. Then I tried again, and finally Auntie Sarah came out (fresh and unfrazzeled) and was able to bounce the little man and calm him down! I think he was a bit overstimulated with all the people and all the noise! Shortly after he was calm though, I was able to get him to sleep, thanks Auntie Sarah! Though we missed the majority of Sarah McLachlan, we were just in time for Norah Jones. In true Noah fashion, he slept through the remainder of the concert, which left me free and clear to dance my little heart out with Rose and Sarah when the man of the night hit the stage!
"Who? WHO?" you ask! That would be, Mr.Jack Johnson! We love him! Love , Love, LOVE HIM! (Little side note...Rose used to listen to Jack Johnson with me when she was little, and to no surprise, she still likes him...I mean LOVES him...and I have been trying to take her to a show for about a year now and this was it!) And he opened the set with Better Together...our first dance song! We even got Rose to bounce a little bit...dancing though was out of the question! It was fabulous, and wonderful and great...despite the insanely drunk girls next to us, and the 2 groups of people behind us smoking pot incessantly the entire show!
Rose & Mom
Sarah & Rose
Sarah trying to get Rose to dance ...and she was not having it!
that's Jack waaay down there!
Lastly, my mom wanted to stay to see Neil Young (he put on the show every year and plays every year.) Rose, Sarah, Jason and I curled up on the blanket with the babies and covered our ears! After a few songs, Rose rolled over and shouted up to Mom, "We stayed for this?!" Though all the laughter, Mom replied, "I've seen enough, we can go!" Before she got out the last word we were all on our feet and packing up! (Sorry Neil!). Noah woke up on the way out, and I was able to nurse him while walking back to the car, and didn't flash anyone in the process!
(I actually wrote this post about 3 or 4 weeks ago and apparently NEVER published it. I was wondering why I got no comments... HA! mommy brain strikes again!)
The O'Connor's made the trip from CO to CA and back again! Though we would have been happier if the trip back to CO was delayed or even canceled. We sure do miss them very much! If you remember, the last time we saw an O'Connor (only Tina), I was about 19 weeks pregnant...and the last time I saw the O'Connor boys, they were just that...little boys...well, with the exception of Jimmy! But Jodi and Darien are teens now...it's CRAZY!
Jason picked up the gang at the airport on the 14th and we had a huge dinner. I was elated to see them but a bit frazzeled. I slept only a few hours the night before, had both babies, all day long, then ran to the car wash and the grocery store before cooking dinner and catching up. I looked like I had been through a tornado, but it didnt matter!
Anyway, they walked in the door bearing gifts...for Noah of course. Darien sat down with Noahnator and read to him for nearly 20 minutes. SOOOOO CUTE! Noah was totally into it and still loves the books and the toys! Thanks :) While the boys played video games, we cracked a bottle of wine and busted out the cribbage board! Just like old times! And just like old times, I was winning untill the last 15-20 points when Jason and Jimmy round the corner and frickin win! JERKS! The night was full of jokes, laughter, memories, gloating and whole ration of heckling!
We spent the whole week hanging out with them and Jason took Friday off so we could go to the beach! Noah FINALLY got to go to the ocean! Each attempt we have made, it was WAY too windy and we ended up walking around down town instead. Not this time! Noah had his own personal chair dug into the sand, stuck his toes in the sand and even put his feets in the frigid Pacific Ocean! It was freezing, but he didn't seem to mind it! After the beach, we made our way back to the hotel pool which was considerably warmer (and it had a bar!). After a nice swim and a dip in the hot tub, we called it a night!
on the balcony Noah's view!
my two favorite boys in the whole world!
walking in the sand for the first time!
the wet sand was cold...
but not as cold as the water itself....he didn't seem to mind though!
and he still wanted to play in the sand but it was cold, so we ended up in the pool!
Saturday was a BIG day. Tina spent months planning a surprise birthday party for Jimmy's big 4-0! She did a hell of a job, well, except for the surprise part. Jimmy knew something was going on, but he had NO IDEA that there was going to be 60 people there! Tina managed to get most of Jimmy's old friends together at the Hula Island Grill for a delicious dinner and a big surprise! Noah didn't do so well with the noise level, but I was lucky enough that he slept while I ate dinner! After they kicked us out, we ended up going to Grammy and Grandpa's for a bonfire and to hear all the stories about Jimmy (and Damien, and Nathan, and Eric, and Shawn, and Chris, and Jason, and.......) Jimmy was grinning from ear to ear all night long and deserved every bit of it.
It was soooo nice to see all of you and we cant wait years, or even more than 6 months to visit again!
I wish I was about to write a quick blog about the annoying teenage kids in the neighborhood or even the cute little old men who live around the corner. Unfortunately, I am not. I am writing about what you think I'm writing about...yes, the New Kids On The Block.
Back in the day, when The New Kids On The Block were really popular, and I was about 7 years old, I LOVED NKOTB! Not something I brag about too often, but I guess it is time to admit it. I had the t-shirts, the tapes (not CD's), sleeping bag, comforters, pillow cases and sheets. My sister did too....sorry Sarah, your going down with me! And so did Jennifer, Kelsey and a million other little girls! The other thing we all had....tickets to our first concert ever! Yep, my first concert was the New Kids On The Block in Reno, NV February 22, 1991.
There was a whole group of us...I can remember Jennifer, Kelsey, Sarah and I, but the photo shows 3 others that I don't remember! I can remember screaming as loud as I could for as long as I could. I can remember being sooooo far away from the stage that they looked like little action figures. We had seats up against the back wall of the Lawlor Events Center...we were in the LAST row as high up as you can get and yet we still held up signs that said, "I love Jordan" and "I love Jonathan." I remember cannons on stage shooting out confetti, and we were so far away it didn't even come close to us. I can remember Sarah passing out at the concert! HA HA! and I remember all of us cramming into one hotel room and all of us way too excited to sleep. We got yelled at, alot, and in the end, I remember my glow necklace bursting inside my sleepingbag and fearing that I was going to go blind! :)
Anyway, as most of you know, their popularity was short lived and they soon disappeared, along with all of my NKOTB paraphernalia. What most of you probably don't know is that the New Kids are making a comeback and are currently on tour. Last May, at my baby shower, I reunited with Jennifer and she told me that the New Kids were on tour again and going to be playing here in San Jose just blocks from my house. WHAT?!! SERIOUSLY?! So, for old time sake, we purchased nose bleed section tickets, rocked some old school t-shirts Jenn bought off the internet, and sang along to, "The Right Stuff!"
They sure are having a great time up there on stage again. The entire HP Pavilion was PACKED with women in their mid to late 20's or 30's and they were all screaming just as loud as they did nearly 20 years ago. (you can see all them in the picture to the right) There were times when the crowd was soooo loud you could not hear the off key singing blaring out of the speakers. They busted out the same dance moves they did in the 80's and 90's, they had skanky back up dancers, a lip synced video with one of the Pussy Cat Dolls, and a guest spot by Lady Ga Ga.
I was thoroughly entertained and sang along with the old songs I loved years ago, but I have to say, this should be their last tour. Be it the generally bad vocals, AWFUL choreography, cheesy outfits, or Donnie's Fat Head...I don't think that in another 20 years I will be sitting in the nose bleed seats to see even older men trying to be 20 years old again! I would like to say that it will be their last tour, but after seeing the fans that night at the show, I do believe that there are LOTS of women still in love with those guys!
I had a blast with Jenn, and had a blast at the concert, and hope that the Old Men On The Block enjoy themselves as they tour around, sing, dance, and make ladies scream like crazy people!
back in 1990 (this is a whole medley of songs)
"The Right Stuff" 2008 (sorry for the shotty camera work...I took it on my camera)
Yesterday, we elected Barack Obama as the 44th President of The United States of America!
I know these videos are "get out the vote" videos, but they are powerful and still something worth sharing! will.i.am put these together with a slew of celebrities and did quite a good job if you ask me!
Though this is a little late for those of you on the east coast, I hope that you have all gone out today and cast your vote. If you haven't, THERE IS STILL TIME ON THE WEST COAST! Noah and I went out to exercise our right early this morning, and though they wouldn't give him a ballot, he did manage to get the pen out of my hand mark up my notes in the voting booth! Even though Noah couldn't cast a ballot, he made sure his voice was heard. It echoed in the American Legion Hall we were voting, in and he practiced talking the entire time we were in there!! So, they gave him a sticker too!!!! I will leave you with a quote from an email I got from my dear friend at Logorrhea is My Problem...
"I believe strongly that the future of our country lies in the choices we make for our leaders. Different people have different values & ideals and by voting we bring these values to a higher level and allow them to shape our country. Although some will be overjoyed tomorrow while others are dejected, we can come together as a nation and know that we made our voice heard for that one moment."
Cutest Costume (age 2 and under) Funniest Costume Best Photo
and now for the Halloween Story!
Sooooo, we started our Halloween bright and early with the arrival of Jasper Pants around 7 am! Luckily the boys were able to fall back to sleep and let me get another hour of MUCH NEEDED sleep! Noah and Jasper alternated nap time and awake time through out the day and neither had any colossal meltdowns. With both boys in such a good mood, we had a little photo shoot in "First Halloween" outfits courtesy of Lisa!
How CUTE are these two babies!?
Jasper was all done by the time we got the hats on!
When Jason got home from work, we packed up both the boys (and ALL of their stuff!) and headed over to Santa Cruz to hand out candy at Grandpa Long's cabinet shop (The Long Cabinet Shop...sorry no web site...HINT HINT). We met up with Uncle Nathan, Cousin Sierra, Grammy and Grandpa! Lisa picked up Jasper Pants about 30 minutes after we got there and just before it started to rain!
The drizzel only lasted for a little bit and we were off for the first round of trick-or-treating! Yes, I said first round...Sierra, Nathan, Grammy, Noah and I hit up a few of the Felton shops before dinner and when Jesse, Rachel & Ileanna finally showed up we went out for round two. Sadly, many of the shops had closed already and the only ones left all had CREEPY costumes on, and the rain came back with a fury!
In true Noah fashion, he passed out, and by 8:30 Jason and Noah were both ready to call it quits. So we packed up all our stuff again and headed back home!
Jason, Krystal & "Sleepy Head" We had a great Halloween, and look forward to the next one when Noah will be walking and talking!
Trick-Or-Treating in the rain!
Creepy guy at New Leaf Market
"Grandpa" Jesse telling Noah about "when he was a young lad!"
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I look forward hearing from you!
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5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
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