The Bully

It's hard to believe someone so cute could be a little bully...but it's true. Sunday, we took Noah to our friend's house, the Hunters. They have 3 little ones: twin girls who will be two on Christmas and a little boy who is one month. They all had on these super cute little sweaters, so we put them in a chair to take a picture. The first thing Noah did when I sat him down was take Atley's lamb from her. Then Shelly put Canon down and Noah dropped the lamb and reaches over and pulls his paci out of his mouth. As you can see, Avery was very worried about it.

Avery, Canon, Noah, and Atley

Monday Noah had his 9 month check up. He weighs 19 pounds 8 ounces, which is only the 30th percentile. He's 29 7/8 inches long, the 95th percentile... Long and lean. He got a great report.

He's all over the place now. We're trying to teach him "No." He likes to spit when he's eating. We always tell him no. Last week, I was trying to change his diaper and he was trying to get away. So, I told him no. He immediately started spitting. He's associating, just not the way we want him to... He'll get it.

I gave him a few whole peas this week to eat. He mostly played with them. I put one in his mouth and he acted like I had just put dog poop in his mouth. He did eat a few.

Noah "eating" his peas

Noah in the bath

9 Months

Noah turned 9 months old on Tuesday. Can you believe it??? I certainly can't! I had the hardest time getting him to sit still for his picture. He kept trying to faceplant off the chair or to grab the camera. So, the picture isn't the best. But you can see all 4 of his teeth.

Deer season opened this past Saturday. The boys all got up at 4:30 so they could be on their stands by the time the sun came up. Monday morning, Greg got his deer. Over the past several years, Greg hasn't shot anything. So, we were very excited. It's a 9 point buck. Poppy even drove Noah and I out to see it. (Noah was interested in something else as you can see.)

Noah is all over the place! He's crawling...army style. He's getting pretty quick about it too. He likes to chase the cats. They LOVE that! They actually are really good with him. They usually just move when he gets close. Noah has managed to pull their hair. No bites yet. Noah loves to spit while he's eating. It's very frustrating. I need a bib when I feed him.

I've managed to loose the charger for the camera battery. I've look everywhere I can think to look for it. If anyone has any brilliant ideas feel free to share!

'Tis the Season!

I just love this time of year...fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas! They're all Noah's firsts! There is a radio station here playing nothing but Christmas music. Noah and I have been listening to it; it's our favorite! Starbucks has the Christmas cups and drinks, peppermint stick ice cream is back... What more could a girl ask for? Lower gas prices, perhaps! I'm in luck! It's down to $1.89. I can't remember the last time it was that low.

Noah got his second hair cut on Monday. He looks so handsome. The new hair cut and new teeth make him look so much older. It's a little sad. My baby is growing up. He did really good for his hair cut. We even had to wait about 15 minutes for someone else to finish up. He goes to the Hairy Elephant for his hair needs.

He's scooting more and more every day. Monday, I left him in his room playing for a little bit. I went back to check on him...only he wasn't in his room. He was in the office.

He loves to bang on the floor vents. They make a fun noise. Last night, he was scooting around in the sitting room while I was eating dinner. He was banging on the vent and the next thing I knew, he had the whole vent cover pulled out. I have no idea how he did that... I've come to the conclusion life as we know it is over. I knew it was coming, but it sort of snuck up on me...

He hasn't quite figured out that he can't always fit through spaces. Here he is trying to get between the chair and ottoman. It made him a little mad.

And here is he getting ready to have a bath. He LOVES his baths.

He has really great eyesight. He will find a teeny bit of lint on the floor and make a bee-line for it to push it around with his little finger. It's pretty funny.

Yesterday I was supposed to take a snack to Bible study. I made an Egg and Cheese Souffle. I got it all ready Monday night and baked it yesterday morning. Only it wouldn't bake. I did what any reasonable girl would do...I cried. Then I turned off the oven and got bagels and Bread Co. I was so disappointed. To top things off, it was closer to being done than I thought. I wanted to threw the dish and all in the trash because I was so upset.

He's been all out of whack because of daylight savings time. He's been waking up between 5 and 5:30 (before daylight savings time ended, he was waking up at 6 or 6:30). This morning, he woke up at 4:15. He was in there talking away and playing. So, I just left him thinking he'd eventually go back to sleep. It was dark and he had no toys to play with... He played for an hour. I couldn't believe it!

The Nursing Union Strike

A few months ago one of my good friends recommended this book called The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. It has lots of great information in it. It's a ratherly lengthy book, so I've just read bits and pieces. There is a section that talks about nursing strikes. When I first read it, I thought I'm so glad that hasn't happened to me. It seems I spoke too soon... Noah decided last Thursday he was going to strike. He's getting his 3rd and 4th teeth and was biting me. He didn't like my reaction, so he went on strike. The book says the strike usually lasts 2-4 days and makes suggestions as to things to try to end the strike. We tried everything!! I dipped myself in sugar, I tried the old bait and switch method, we dripped milk into his mouth with a medicine dropper. Nothing was working. I even woke him up in the middle of the night two nights in a row thinking he would be so tired and he would nurse. Still no luck. On the way home from church today, he was falling asleep in the car. I worked and worked to keep him awake until we got home. He made it without going to sleep, but he was super tired. I decided I'd just hang over his carseat and see if that would work. (Usually, when we get him out of the seat, it kind of wakes him up.) It worked!!! It was no easy task dangling over the carseat. It was hot and rather uncomfortable, but it worked!!! I kept trying to tell him it would be easier and faster for everyone if he'd just nurse! (You can't reason with an eight month old.)

The Lion Cub

Noah dressed up like a lion for Halloween. He was the cutest lion I've ever seen. Our inspiration was his lion Robeez. We even taught him how to roar. His cousin Aiden was a lion cub too. Aiden's mommy, Ashley, and I had no idea we were both going to have lion cubs.

The friendly pirate, the lion cub and Audrey Hepburn

Who knew lions could play the guitar?

Noah's cousin, Aiden