I am having a difficult time believing that it has really been half of an entire year since I gave 
birth to Noah. No, it doesn't feel like yesterday, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like half a year!! When I think about a 6 month old baby, Noah is not what comes to mind. I suppose I just imagine them as "not babies" and I still see Noah as a little baby. But he isn't! Sure, people comment on how small he is, and it is true that he is on the smaller side of the spectrum when it comes to "averages", but he is waaaaay bigger than he was a month ago. He weighed in at 15 lbs. 3 oz, 26.5 " tall and his head is 17.3 inches around! He is waaaay bigger than a 4 month old and yet, he is still a baby, just not a itty bitty tiny weenie baby.
So, an update from last month's accomplishment of the "tri-pod" (sitting up supported by his hands), he is so beyond that! Noah sits up now, all by himself, no problem. Though he can't actually get himself into the sitting up position, if I sit him up, he will sit there and play unassisted for long stretches without falling over. I usually put some pillows behind him just in case he falls, which still happens, but it is
often an intentional movement. Sometimes he hits the floor a little harder then either of us would like, but he is easily consolable. When he goes down though, I am doing my best to not freak out and instead clap or simply wait to see what happens. It's funny how much of an effect my reaction has on how he interprets the situation! He is learning so much so fast,I can't even imagine absorbing all of it!
Noah's growth and change never cease to amaze me. In just 2 or 3 weeks
he went from a wobbly little tri-pod, to leaning forward, and sideways as far as he can go in order to grasp a toy. He then returns to sitting as he chews on, and slobbers all over the toy (or phone) he managed to pick up off the floor. Along with toys and cell phones, Noah has developed a fascination with my diaper bag! The other day, he
managed to grab a hold of it, tip it over and empty out half of it's content into his lap and all over the floor. His favorite appeared to be the nursing cover and the package of wipes....one smells of breast milk and the other made some loud crinkly noises, what more could a baby ask for!? His toys of course. When he actually found his toys, it was all over for the rest of the stuff, for at least 5 minutes or so! I can't believe just how busy this little guy is.As for the rolling over....he still isn't tumbling around the living room floor (or rolling off my bed
for that matter), but he IS CAPABLE of the task though, he just chooses to do so when I am not watching. After his naps lately, when he wakes up he will roll from his tummy onto his back and coo and babble and play with his toes for a little while before I swoop him up. If there is a toy that he really wants, Noah has rolled from his back to his tummy to get it. He usually does it while I'm in the other room and by the 
time I come in from the kitchen he is on this tummy gnawing away at the poor defenseless toy drowning in a mass of drool and I missed the whole thing!This has been a big month in terms of "new" so get comfy and keep reading on!
The biggest and most entertaining feat this month is the start of solid food! By solid, I mean rice
cereal mixed with breast milk into a thin tasteless soup! There really is nothing solid about it, but that's what it's called! He has been successfully eating for almost 2 weeks now and we are using the Super Baby Food book by Ruth Yarron as a guide! Thank You Sarah! The first night (December 20th) however, was anything but eating! He did open his mouth big and wide like he knew what to do, but most of the cereal came right back out, and then he would make a chewing motion with his mouth and smile 
that adorable toothless grin. I kept telling him, "you are doing it backwards silly...chew first, then push the food to the back!" He maybe swallowed a spoonful (a baby spoonful!) out of the whole bowl. What a mess! We were attempting this feat a little late, and it all ended with a fussy baby! The next night was much more successful, though the facial expressions, the mess and the late night fussies were the same!
By the third night, Noah ate a full tablespoon of cereal with out spilling a drop! The "3rd times a charm" cliche held true for the next new food as well....avocado! Ohhh man! The first time he ate avocado was hysterical! He gagedand made awful noises and instead of swallowing he let the avo mix with his drool and drooled it right out onto the tray! Again, I think he actually swallowed
only a spoonful, maybe 2. The next day, same story! Day three, after telling my "Noah and the Avocado" story to everyone, he finally had an anticipating audience (Justine and Lisa), but he failed to deliver! Noah ate every bite as if avocado was just the same as his rice cereal. Though I was happy to see him actually swallow the avo, I was bummed that they didn't get to see (and hear) Noah's antics!So, my least favorite part about starting solids...Noah's poop is starting to change :( It's not
stinky yet, but it definitely is not the yellow seedy breast milk baby poo anymore! I'll spare the details, but needless to say, I am not looking forward to the diapers in my near future! I have quite enjoyed the non-stinkiy, non-formed, not so poo, poo diapers over the last 6 months!As for the spitting up...he quit! For 2 whole days! RIGHT! I don't think he will ever stop spitting-up all over me! I suppose it has
lessened a bit, but not enough for me to be excited or to not worry about my clothes. If anything, the spit-up has gotten a bit nastier...think about it...avocado and rice cereal?! YUMMM!Noah has also started drinking water. He loves to take "sips" out of my glass. This usually results in
quite a mess, at least one coughing spell, some laughs from me and daddy and a ton on backwash left in my glass! It's pretty cute and I do enjoy watching him stick his little tongue in the glass and under it trying to figure out how this whole "cup" thing works! I think a sippy cup is in his near future!Noah has officially learned how to laugh, and laugh he does! He laughs at me, his dad, the cats, even his toys. The other day while I was in the kitchen, Noah was sitting on
his blanket with some books and toys and from the other room, I could hear him babble and coo and then bust out laughing. This went on 2 or 3 times before I peeked around the corner to see him talking to one of the baby pictures in his book and spontaneously closing his eyes, pulling his hands to his mouth and giggling out 
loud before smaking his hands down to his sides and talking all over again!Along with the laughing has come this basful and kind of coy thing he does. He is still a big flirt and now after making eye contact and luring in daddy, some passer-by or even me, Noah will give a huge grin, a little giggle and then bury his head into my shoulder and grab onto me with both hands. He sometimes even lets out a pretty good squeel while he is hiding! He will sit back
up, and re-engage whom ever he is playing with and as soon as he gets a smile going, the bashful face bury starts all over again! It's his own little game!Another, "game" that we now play is sign language! We have been signing to him for about 3 weeks now and Noah sure thinks it is funny. Every time I sign to him, he gets a big grin and watches the sign intently before flailing his arms around and giggling. We are trying to use the signs each and every time we are doing an activity and have consistently been using the signs for;
milk for nursing, change (diapers that is), eat for solid foods, finished, bath, cat, mom and dad. It is a learning process for us as well as Noah, but so far, I think he is recognizing milk and change. Hmmm, weird, the two things he does at least every 2-3 hours if not more! Before Noah nurses and when he takes a break mid way through, I will sign "milk" to him. H e usually responds with a big toothless grin and leans 
back with his mouth open ready to latch on and nurse. I hope hope hope he picks up the signs and that Jason and I continue to expand our signing vocabulary so that we can communicate with Noah long before he speaks! So far, so good! (We are reading, Baby Signs and Baby Minds and The Everything Baby Sign Language Book. We are also watching, Baby Einstein My First Signs and the PBS series Signing Time though this one seems a bit too advanced right now.)Though he hasn't signed back yet, and won't for a while, Noah has developed a habbit. Sadly, it is a bad habbit of "poppin off" while he is
nursing. It is cute the first time, but by the 15th time it is pretty obnoxious and both of us are usually a bit soggy! He is so busy taking in everything he can, it seems that he doesn't want to take time out of "active observation" to sit back and nurse. I have grown to love that Noah is a 10 minute nurser, but now with my slow let down and his antics, we can spend up to 40 minutes before he has a full meal! Sometimes I get very frustrated, which turns into a power struggle that Noah usually wins. So, I am working on letting go of that and hoping that this is just a phase. Though, in public, the "pop off" is a bit awkward.
I only really use the cover for "other" people. Especially now that Noah wants to play with it. I end up spending more time trying to keep the darn thing on and keep Noah from smothering himself with it, then I do sitting back and enjoying feeding my baby! Last week, while traveling to Tahoe solo, this pop-off nursing cover struggle resulted in a 60 something little old man getting flashed and a table at Starbucks
getting sprayed with milk! :) I found the whole event quite amusing! But that poor old guy looked traumatized! To say the least, I hope Noah will soon realize that he isn't missing anything while he nurses, and that he could be done in 10 min. if he would just eat and not play!I suppose last on the list this month is Noah's discovery of his
penis. Yep, it has officially happened, and he can't get enough of it. Last week we were up in Tahoe and during our nightly bath, I was continually offering Noah toys and he wasn't reaching out for them. He was just sitting there! I figured it was because we were out of his element, and in a new place. After a few minutes though, I finally looked over his shoulder and he had both hands down there and was not letting go for any stupid bath toy! :) I was cracking up! He finally let go with one hand and half heatedly played with Lily's super cool bath toys, but he has found his toy and there is no stopping him when that diaper comes off! HA HA! Boys!
Noah peed on Daddy...and he thought it was pretty funny!
"Noah and the Avocado!"
hows that for good timing?
*Though I wrote this blog on his actual half birthday, I haven't gotten around to adding pictures, editing and posting for a few weeks....he is already doing more and more. I can't believe how fast he is changing! I love having this record to look back on and to compare! In just 10 days, he has added a new food (sweet potatoes that he LOVES (only 2 tries this time) and he is rolling over, and he has developed a little bit of a temper! Still obsessed with his penis and attempting to make single syllabyl sounds! :) ok, that's it! I have to leave something for next month!!!
