4th of July

After a few weeks of non-stop partying, we planned on a mellow 4th of July celebration. Last year, I don't even think I knew the 4th of July happened, Noah was barely 2 weeks old and we were still settling in, so any celebration was more than we had last year. We had a few invites from friends, but wanted to stay out of the crowds and weren't sure Noah would like the fireworks, so we planed a BBQ at home with the family.

However, we did the opposite! Noah and I started the morning down in Boulder Creek with Lisa, Nathan & Jasper for the annual 4th of July Parade. We got a good spot down at the end with out too many people and used the police cars as a platform for Noah to stand on. Tee Hee Hee! Noah & Jasper looooved the parade. They were laughing and waving and moving their little heads a million miles and hour to see it all! We ran into Tarah, Chad and baby London half way through and we scavenged for candy the kids had missed! Super fun!



































Daddy stayed home for battle number 2 with the massive amounts of poison oak in our yard. Lets just say, he never fares well. Poison oak - 2, Jason - 0!! When we came home from the parade, I turned the corner and died laughing...this is what I saw in my front yard! LOL!









Jason was covered from head to toe, in 90 degree weather, with a frickin hedge trimmer marching around! Soooo funny. He said he got some weird looks from the neighbors too. Once I showed him the pics, he totally understood! Sadly, Jason still managed to get poison oak on his face and his arm, despite his best efforts to avoid it! Poor guy.

Later that night, Papa Ron, Uncle Nathan, Cousin Sierra, Uncle Damien, Auntie Chesna and Cousin Soren all came over. We ran around out on the deck, and battled with the babies as they continually went to my one tree on the deck and proceeded to throw the soil all over! Of course right!?! After dinner, we decided that we would brave the crowds and the noise and head down to Scotts Valley for a cup of coffee and the fireworks show.



We picked the lesser of two long lines, got some coffee at Pete's and made our way as close to the firework show as possible. Though Damien would have kept going all way to launch location, we stopped in the post office parking lot and settled in. Soren was doing laps around the lot and Noah was trying to figure out what was goin on. Then the first firework shot into the air nearly directly over our heads. Noah was paralyzed for the first 3 booms, and then flipped around and tried to crawl over my shoulders...or out of his skin. The kid was freaked out! Soren wasn't too happy either, so we snatched up our chairs and headed away from the noise.



























look how scared little Noah was...the fireworks had just started! hahaha! poor baby!




We made our way into a neighboring parking lot, though the booms from the fireworks were still vibrating in our chest and echoing in the various alleyes between buildings. Noah and Soren seemed to settle down though and we got to watch the end of the show. By the time we met back up with Nathan and Sierra the boys were smiling, laughing and playing with thier super cool flags from Auntie Chesna. Then some _______(enter name here) set off about 20-30 screaming bottle rockets 20 feet from us...Noah was trying to climb out of his skin all over again!

We had a fun 4th with our family and Noah was sleeping before we pulled out of the parking lot! The true measure of a good night!

The One Year Celebration

Our celebrations for Noah's first birthday seemed to start a week or so ahead of the actual day. Isn't that how every birthday is though?! Of course I ran around like crazy to get all the supplies, but we started the week off with a BBQ at our house with a bunch of friends, thanks to an impromptu visit from Mary! Good times, good food and Noah gobbled down a whole bunch of blueberries which started off his new found love of fruit!

Tuesday and Wednesday were full of cleaning and running around for last minute supplies and Thursday The Ellis 3 came into town! We met up downtown, did some window shopping and met up with Lauren and Gregg for dinner and Blue Moon at the good ol' 99 Bottles! We stayed up too late visiting, and got a slow start on Friday. We collected a bunch of bouncy balls for the party, (since Noah's 2 favorite things in the world are bouncy balls and balloons, it became our theme!), picked up food and threw another BBQ! Lauren, Gregg, and Auntie Jessica all came over and once again we had, good eats, good friends, and good times!

bath time!!

We also had a surprise visit from Cerissa and her Mama! (it was so good to see you and we still miss you!)





Saturday kicked off bright and early for Noah and Jasper's first swim lesson! (more on that later, you wont wanna miss it!) Anyway, we rushed home, got Noah down for a nap, and Auntie Angelina had gotten all of our party stuff ready to go! (She really is an Angel!) Around 1:30ish we packed up and met up with Obachan, Grandpa Chris and Auntie Rose over at Grandpa Ron's house while Noah napped at the house with Daddy! We all immediately got to decorating and ran out of helium before we blew up all the balloons! Oh well!

Our first guests arrived just as we put the finishing touches on the decor, and it was party party party time! 29 adults and 12 kids made it to the party! THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING! Though we were still missing some of our cherrished friends and family, we missed you! We had a ball pit full of little balls, bouncy balls all over the yard, Uncle Nathan brought a bean bag game that was a hit. It was so fun to see all the kiddos playing, and laughing and having fun. And guess what, we BBQed (3rd BBQ of the week....woo hoo for summer time!!)

On top of all the happenings, I actually baked, and I baked good! I usually burn 3 out of 4 batches of cookies, cant remember ever baking a cake, though I have made one good batch of brownies! But this time, I made cup cakes, and I didn't burn a single one! Though I did make waaaaaaaaay too many! With the help of my Mom and Rose, we frosted ALL of them a beautiful blue and they were super tasty (we ate them for a week) ha ha ha! I also made Noah is verry own special cake. It took some creativity and some crafty crafty skills, but I managed to make a perfect ball for Noah demolish. He was a bit afraid of the gooey frosting, but once I cut it open, he was all about the cake!!!

Anyway, I spent most of the party trying to hide from Noah. Sounds weird I know, but if he saw me he would whine and fuss and just want me to hold him. There were 29 other people around who wanted to see him! Once he was playing and having fun with who ever had him, he forgot all about

me and had so so so so so much fun!

We got all kinds of great toys, clothes and books and Noah just loves his little cars! We stayed up way to late again, but we were having so much fun!! The next morning was Father's Day and we were up early again to celebrate...but that is another blog for another time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY NOAH!!!

my number one balloons quickly became the joke of the party....yeah, I get it!
















































(cake photos courtesy of Lisa....thanks girl!)
























he is still loving the cars he got, especially when daddy pushes him super fast all over the house.

one whole year as a happy little family!

NOAH JAMES IS ONE YEAR OLD!

I thought that it one was so far away, yet it has not only come, but it has passed. One whole year since Noah was born! One whole year since Jason and I became parents! One whole year? I am still trying to figure out just how it went by so so so so so so so fast.

Noah has and continues to amaze me every day. Be it a smile, a new sign, a silly game he makes up, changing the channel on the t.v., or ripping and tearing through the house, the kid makes my heart happy with all that he does (with a few exceptions of course!). I never could have imagined all that parenthood brings...the joys as well as the challenges. I have said it a million times, but I'll say it again...being a parent is the toughest job in the world, with the worst hours and the worst pay, but the best rewards...the rewards are THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD. A happy, "ma-ma" sputtered, a slimy kiss, the look of pride after he accomplishes a new feat, and uncontrollable giggle, or just simply that look between a mother and her baby, these rewards make the hard stuff not so hard, and can make a sleepless night forgotten (at least for a moment!). One year into this parenting game and we have all not only survived but we have thrived and grown leaps and bounds!

Noah, mommy and daddy love you so so so so so so so much. We are so happy you chose us for parents and can not imagine our world with out you in it. You amaze us each and every day and I only hope that we do the same for you. Our pride is immeasurable and our love is endless and we look forward to all that your future holds! xoxoxo

Ok, now for some updates...I suppose I will start with Noah's one year well baby check up. Ummm, he is still a little guy, and with no complaints from me (my bad back appreciates it!). Noah weighed in at a whopping 17 lbs. 2 oz, a mere 9 oz gain from his 16 lbs. 9 oz at his9 month check-up. He was below the 5 percentile then, and now he is not even on the chart! The ped said there is a little concern, but that Noah is hitting all the milestones and looks just fine. I am not worried at all. Noah measured 29.5 inches long (about 50th percentile) and his head is still a big one, 46.3 cm (above the 95th percentile!). Most of the visit Noah was totally freaked out (unless no one else was in the room), he was showing stranger anxiety 100% and was really pissed during the exam. Our ped, whom I have still have mixed feelings about, spent the majority of the visit dumping useless, and obvious information, most of which was too late in terms of "what to expect" (i.e. climbing things, opening cupboards, child proofing, you should buy him a helmet, blah blah blah), and we ended the visit with just one shot that Noah took like a champ. We have decided to forego some of the vaccinations for a myriad of reasons including the fact that Merck has discontinued their individual doses of the MMR, but other than that, we have kept pretty well to our modified schedule that we adopted from "The Vaccine Book. Making The Right Decisions For Your Child" by Dr. Sears, (a great resource on the vaccine debate...read it!) and though I am still a little uneasy with the whole thing, we haven't had any obvious reactions despite the momentary cry in the doctor's office.

Now for the fun stuff, the beginning of the month was marked by Noah pushing his "walker" around the living room on his knees or up on his feet if we helped by slowing down the toy. The next day, the kid was getting up behind the walker all by himself and cruising around the living room like a mad man! He prefers though, to kneel down on the front side of the walker and push it backwards, smacking his knees one at a time as he makes his way across the room, making as much noise as possible! He has been cruisin' around all the furniture and attempting to climb nearly everything, and honing his ability to walk while holding onto only one hand! Then it happened!

Just 3 days after Noah's first birthday, Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009, Noah James took his first unassisted steps! I was sitting on the couch and he was standing up against the foot stool a few feet away. I said, "come here bud," expecting him to drop to his knees and scurry over to me like he
always does. Instead, my little man turned towards me with a big smile on his face and with his little arms stretched high over his head, he slowly took 4 or 5 steps right to me! I was so surprised and so so proud! Noah seemed a bit shocked by my reaction, he acted like what he did was totally normal. But my excitement and pride was infectious and Noah was grinning from ear to ear in no time. We spent the next 10 minutes or so trying to walk again, and he did a few more times, but it became a big game and he was too excited to focus. Noah showed off for daddy when he got home with a very controlled 7 steps or so. He continues to practice everyday, though up until yesterday it was only when Jason or I encouraged it.

Yesterday, July 8th, when Noah didn't know I was watching, I saw him walk all the way across the living room with out a crash! He left the support of the couch, across the rug and onto the wood floor, then up onto his foam play mat and directly to the t.v., where he proceeded to turn the volume up to 78 before crawling away in a big hurry! Today, Noah has actually been choosing to walk anytime he pulls himself up to standing. Some attempts are strong and sturdy, others resemble a drunken sailor. But weather it's 4 steps or 20, my little baby is well on his way to being a walking toddler! Ahhhh....keep me in your happy thoughts! ;)

Along with being a walkin' fool, Noah is also a signing fool! I love it. It is so fun to encourage him and so great when he communicates what he wants and what he sees. Noah is currently using 10 signs consistently:

• all done/all finished
• more
• eat
• cat
• bird
• fish
• dog
• please
• bath
• ball

He also has a few others that he does sporadically (baby, milk), and a few that I can't seem to figure out. Though he is only signing a dozen or so signs, he understands sooooo much. I talk to him all day and about everything we are doing, and though he likes to ignore me sometimes, I can pretty much tell Noah where we are going or what to do and he will lead the way or go get the desired item. I know every parent will say so about their own kiddos, but little Noah is a smarty smarty pants!

Noah also loves music, loves to dance and despite my awful singing voice, he loves it when I sing. He has always loved "If Your Happy and You Know It," and always loves to clap along, but he has recently started responding to the second verse of "stomp your feet!" "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," seems to be his recent favorite. As soon as I start singing, he starts putting his little fingers together and twisting his hands to mimic my itsy-bitsy spider. He also does the hand motions for the "down came the rain" verse. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" also illicit some hand motions, but we are currently working on "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!" Noah can get the "Head" part, but just really enjoys watching Jason and I make fools out of ourselves!

video



The last song choice was promted by Noah's ability to point to his own body parts when asked. His favorite to point out is his belly, probably because Jason and I usually respond by tickling it! However, he also knows where his head, ears, toes and tounge are. The best part of it is the pride on his face after he points and then starts clapping!

Noah's sense of humor has exploded this last month. He is quite a silly little boy! He loves to play peek-a-boo (usually when we are changing his diaper). He covers his little eyes and waits for what seems like forever, and when he forcefully pulls his hands off his eyes he shouts, "BA!" and starts over agian. Though, I continually try to get him to say "Boo," Noah preffers the "BA" route! He also ducks down behind furniture or toys and pops up with a huge grin waiting for us to say, "Boo!"

Noah also loves to be tickled and get raspberries on his belly! He will let you know when he is ready by throwing himself down on the floor, rolling onto his back, sticking his feet in the air, giggles incessantly all while looking at you. It's irresistible! You cant help but crawl over to him and tickle and giggle and give raspberries and roll around with him. But, even more funny is when Noah is the one giving raspberries!

That's right! Noah gives the best raspberries in town. But so far, he only gives them to me. Though the other day, we were able to get him to give one to Jason. I think he is afraid of all the hair! Ha Ha! Anyway, any chance he gets, Noah will smash his little face onto my belly, blow like crazy, and make the loudest farting sounds ever. When he is out of breath, Noah pops up with a big slobbery smile, laughs, gets more air and starts all over again. He did it for like 5 minutes straight the other night. Seriously, the funniest thing ever!

video


The not so funny gift that has come with Noah's first year, is the revealing of his 100% boy-ness. Yep, aggression! These days Noah is all about using force. He wants to throw, hit, kick, stomp on and otherwise beat up whatever gets in his path, including my face. We have had some not so great moments after he full out socked me in the face. It is so so so hard to scold him when that little lip sticks out. This aggression paired with his curiosity though has led to some big messes.

There has been quite a few, but the best/worst one was when he managed to sneak over to our water crock and smack the spigot repeatedly, which resulted in a flood of water in the kitchen! He knew good and well that he was not supposed to play with it...when he heard me coming, the little guy dropped to his knees and took of crawling in the opposite direction faster than I have ever seen him crawl. While I was cleaning up, Noah returned to the scene and proceeded to dump out more water. I swiped his hand and in a stern voice told him "no" and in return Noah smacked me in the face. It was so lame, and he thought it was so funny! AHHHHH, toddlerhood!! In general though Noah's agression is taken out on his toys and the water in the bath tub. I watch, from a distance, with an amazement that he has so much energy and wonder when I will need ear plugs and curious as to just how long this will last.

Lastly, and said with hesitation, Noah is starting to sleep longer and longer periods. We actually had a night with a 6 hour stretch! Though, on average we are getting 4 hour stretches, which means only waking up twice at night AND he is typically sleeping until 9 am! I credit the sleeping in to the fabulous black out curtains we put in our room!!! So, knock on wood, and keep your fingers crossed for us. I am actually starting to believe that a full 8 hours of sleep might, MIGHT, be in my future!

I will post his birthday celebrations sometime this weekendish!













making messes is one of Noah's favorite things to do...be it the dvd's or his lunch, the kid knows how to get it done!














ummm, NOAH EATS FRUIT, actually he devours it!
and looooves blueberries!

he has also been taking his pants off....and throwing them over the gate!

the neighbor girls come by to visit Noah and he looooves it!
He always shows off for them!

and this is something he taught himself all on his own and luckily he has since forgotten just how funny it was!

Noah is 11 Months Old!

This month has been an exciting one! Noah has grown leaps and bounds and is looking/acting more and more like a toddler than a baby! Exciting and so up and down. It has also been a bit trying with yet another tooth, his first illness and continued sleep issues! But lets start with the fun stuff!

I suppose the most exciting of all the excitement is that Noah has started signing! He signs "all finished" after his meals...and usually the entire time we are changing a diaper! He holds both hands up in the air and waves his hands around. Our clapping and woo-hooing usually promotes a big ol' grin and clapping! He is starting to sign "more" but looks more like a clap most of the time. It is coupled with pointing at whatever it is he wants more of so we usually distinguish between "more" and a clap! He also has started waving, and does it with such enthusiasm it puts a smile on everyone's face. Often times, he starts waving as soon as his eyes pop open from a nap, sooo funny to see him all delirious and waving like a mad man!

Along with the signs, Noah responds to, "How big is Noah?" by reaching both hands straight up in the air above his head as high as he can reach...and of course finishes with incessant clapping...monkey see, monkey do!! Our other favorite trick is his response to, "If..." as in the first word to the song, "If your happy and you know it, clap your hands!" All we have to say is, "If" in a sing song voice and the kid starts clapping like crazy. I love it, and probably do it way too often, but hey...I'm the Mom and that's what I do!!

Noah has also been giving out kisses! More so to himself than anyone else, but when you do get a kiss, bet your a*# it is open mouth and wet as ever! Baby kisses are the best. We have a book, Mirror Me! A Mirror Board Book by Baby Einstein that was handed down from Lily and Sarah. When Lil was little, Sarah would read her the book and with each mirror, Sarah would tell Lily, "Kiss the Baby" and Lily would proceed to stick out her tongue and kiss her reflection. Well, I have been reading the book to Noah since he was born and initiated the same suggestions to Noah. Sure enough, Noah will kiss that baby each and every time...and any other mirror or any other baby on command! Love It!!

Though, smoochin other babies and swiping sippy cups got us our first illness. I must say though, at 11 months, with no illness, I think we did pretty good. The Friday after Noah turned 11 months, he was super fussy all morning. When I gave up on feeding him breakfast and got him out of his high chair the kid was burning up. I fought with him to get an under arm temp and came up with 101. something. I managed to get him down for a nap and called the doctor who didn't seem too concerned. After 20 minutes he woke up screaming and registered underarm around 102, so we packed it up and went to the doc. Noah had no other symptoms and the doctor suggested the possibility of Roseola, but there was no way to diagnose it until the virus had run its course...aka the fever breaks in 3-4 days and a rash shows up. So I was sent home with a Tylenol schedule and told to watch for any more symptoms.

Well, ove the next 4 days Jason and I saw no other symptoms and battled with INSANE fevers, crying, lethargy, clingyness and general stress. Even with Tylenol and Motrin alternated every 3 hours, Noah's fever reached 105.5. To say it was INSANE is an understatement. The poor guy didn't want to eat, play, sleep, or do anything other than lay on me. There were brief moments of humaness when his fever got down to 101-102, but they were short lived and followed by clingy crying madness. By Monday afternoon his temp dropped below 100 and never came back, but we were greeted the next morning by an INSANE rash all over his face and head. It spread to his trunk and thighs over the next day or 2 and disappeared. Luckily it didn't seem to bother him, but man was it ugly. Looked like the measles and if I wasn't expecting it, I would have freaked out! So, we got Roseola and I must say I am grateful that the fever wasn't paired with vomiting or ear infections...the fever was all I could handle!

Just before he got sick, Noah started cutting his first bottom tooth...yeah, on top of the fever, he had a swollen gum and was gnawing away like crazy on his hands. And the drool was ever flowing! It took about 2.5 weeks to cut through and is still pretty low, but it is out, and MAN IS IT SHARP!

Noah has developed quite an obsession with balloons this month as well. We went to a few birthday parties and the ENTIRE time, Noah pointed at the balloons and said, "ahhh bbbbb." (think pressing your lips together and making the b sound). We brought a mylar balloon home from Lisa's party (Happy Birthday Lisa...again!) and Noah drug it around the house for 2 weeks. No matter what he was doing or playing with, he had that balloon tightly in his grasp. 2 weeks later, we went to Soren's birthday party and it started all over again...only this time we ended up with 3 or 4 balloons in the end, and you could barely see the t.v. through our living room! They are all since gone, but our weekly trip to the grocery store Noah goes bonkers again, and the super cool folks at Ben Lomond Market always tie a new balloon to his wrist at the check out stand! Lucky Baby!

As far as sleep goes, we aren't so lucky. We have had a few good nights...a 4 or 5 hours stretch and only 2 wakings, but they are few and far between. On average, Noah will sleep 2-3 hours before waking up and needing to be rocked back to sleep. On average, it takes 20 minutes to get him back to sleep....so that is 1-2 hour and 40 minutes of sleep for mom. LAME! And of course there are the times where he only sleeps 20 minutes and takes and hour and half to get back to sleep. By 4 am I am usually beat and just bring him into bed with us and we toss and turn together till he decides to wake up for the day. Needless to say, I'm f'n tired and desperate for a change. I have a few books I'm filtering through and hope to do some, NO CRY sleep training soon. Wish me luck!

Lastly, Noah is eating like a little piggy! He wants what we eat...and for the most part we give it to him! Makes for some entertaining meals and some funny pictures! Though, we cant seem to figure out where he puts it all. The little guy is not gaining much weight these days, despite his ability to sit and eat for nearly an hour at each meal! Yes, and hour, feeding our little monkey is a time consuming event....and a messy one at that!




















We had lots of fun adventures this month...Children's Discovery Museum, Beach Days, Mothers Day, and a few from last month to share too, but Im gonna save them for their own blogs....

Tactile OVERLOAD!

*how sad is it that this post was actually dated on March 28th, 2009...written and no photos! It seems that we have been a busy bunch of people! Between the move, Noah's escalating need for attention, and our busy social schedule I have let my blogs all live inside my head!

So while this one is long winded, and the next two Noah updates will be too, I will be posting some photo intensive updates to recap our lost months!!*

Back in March, Noah and I made a trip to the beach with Lisa and Jasper Pants. We took a few trips from the car to the sand to lug our massive amounts of stuff, fed the babies and got comfy on out blankets. A little while into our adventure, Noah crawled over to the beach chair at the edge of out blanket and pulled himself up. Suddenly, he was crying all crazy and I ran over thinking he pinched his finger or something, and he was standing in the sand with one foot straight up in the air. I assumed the sand was too hot, so I snatched him up and dusted off his feet. We decided to head down to the water and as I headed down the beach I turned around to encourage Noah to follow. He crawled towards me and as soon as his hand hit the sand, he reeled backwards freaking out and wouldn't leave the blanket. Then I realized, THE KID IS TERRIFIED OF SAND! We went down to the compact sand and it was the same story, tears, lifting up his feet, shaking his hands and an outright refusal to have anything to do with the beach and its sand! (Back in January, he loved the sand, so this was a shock) Though it was sad, it was frickin' hilarious to watch the little guy freak out!











































why mommy?!
why?!





distracted by the hat for a minute!







































Super tired...and time to go!


The next day we went to the park and met up with Lisa and Jasper again, as well as Auntie Chesna and Soren. We found a cool place in the shade, had some snacks and low and behold, Noah revealed yet another fear...GRASS! It was the same story as the beach, Noah was stuck on the blanket and terrified that I was out in the big bad grass. Being the mean mommy that I am, I plucked Noah off his safe zone and plopped him down in the nasty grass and laughed at his antics. We also discovered that day that Noah was becoming quite the climber. Seriously, he stepped up on the wheel of Soren's stroller and pulled up on it! Balancing on one foot! The kid was crazy!



















and UP he climbs


































the first freak-out



















mean mommy thought it was funny!






A few weeks after Noah's grass meltdown, we went to San Francisco for Jason's big "go live" day at work...and Auntie Justine helped ease Noah's grass fears at the Palace of Fine Arts. Our fun in the grass was followed by a yummy dinner, a sleepless night in an itsy bitsy hotel room and Noah's new found love of bath tubs and toilet paper!

he REALLY wanted in the tub!

and he did empty the ENTIRE toilet paper roll....
and loved every minute of it!

So, over the last few months we have been easing Noah into the textures of the Great Outdoors! He is getting better, more so in the sand department, but needs time to warm up each time he encounters it! He can attack bugs with no hesitation, but sand and grass are just a bit too much...go figure!