5 months old!

Today is a big day for Noah, he's 5 months old today!

Things have been pretty eventful for us lately; I finally got a job at Britton Distributing as a receptionist/appointment setter. They sell Kirby vacuum and I spend most of my day calling people trying to make appointments for them to come clean a room of carpet and tell them about the product. It's no dream job but its great to finally be working, plus it's a job I can put on my resume to get better receptionist jobs in the future.

Noah has been doing really well with daycare and is really enjoying spending time playing and talking to all the other kids. He really likes his teacher too.

He's also really been enjoying trying new foods. He's not a big fan of green beans, but he loves peas, squash, and carrots and we're going to try sweet potatoes tomorrow, which I'm sure he'll love!

We went to the zoo Sunday and it was pretty fun, although Noah didn't really pay much attention to the animals, he just watched the people watching the animals. The coolest thing happened at the gorilla exhibit though, one of came right up to the glass, stood up on his two back feet and stopped right in front of Noah and put his hand on the glass. I was able to put my hands over his and compare our hands while he just stared at Noah sitting in his stroller. Noah was chewing his fingers at the time and after the gorilla looked at Noah for a little while he put his fingers in his mouth too. It was amazing!

20 Weeks

And 2 weeks later, I finally post!

We haven't really been very busy, mostly just snowed in. Unfortunately, snow and being stuck inside makes me extremely unmotivated to do ANYTHING, including something as simple as writing in a blog. Hopefully, as the sun is beginning to sneak into the sky and temperatures are finally rising above the teens, I will stop being so lazy!

I'm still on the job hunt, despite getting a job offer this morning. I haven't yet decided if I'll take it because I have a bad feeling about it, and I don't want to take a job that won't last and end up missing out on better opportunities. But it's hard to pass anything up simply because it's the closest I've got to a job since I started looking! It's at a hotel as a desk person, which I've always thought I"d like, but the manager who does scheduling was very upfront and said she doesn't do scheduling based on my availability, but hers. That might have worked for me over the summer, but I can't just work whenever, I have to work while the day care is open. Then she said she could have me work mornings during the week and I said that would be great. But then she kept asking about weekends, so I told her if I needed to I could probably get a babysitter most weekends. She jumped on that, but honestly, I don't want to burden my friends and family for babysitters EVERY weekend. When I said that, I kind of mean I could work if someone got sick, or called in, busy weekends (like derby), or just didn't show up. I didn't really want to include weekends in my availability. I have an interview Monday, so I might just hope that works out. I feel like working at the hotel is just going to be a constant struggle and argument with the schedule.

Noah has been going to daycare still, although not usually the whole day, just while I run errands, or go job hunting. He's really started getting used to it and enjoying it. He's napping really well there and he really enjoys watching the other babies and talking to them.

He had a bit of a cold and got over but it seems to have settled into his chest and so he's all rattly and coughs a lot to try and break it up, but can't get a deep enough cough. I feel awful for him even though he doesn't seem terribly uncomfortable. I'm taking him to the urgent care in a little bit after they get the referral from our pediatrician. I just want to check and be sure everything is okay.

Noah has gotten really good at holding and reaching out for his toys. His new favorite is a ball that he got from his great grandmother that's really easy to hold on to and make noise when you shake it. At his 4 month checkup he was 14 1/2 pounds exactly and 25 inches!! The pediatrician told me to keep him on the cereals and to go ahead and start foods. He's started on green beans and seems to like them, but he always makes an unsure expression the first couple of bites but keeps eating anyway.

I just looked at a calendar to see how many weeks old Noah is and realized he's almost 5 months old. Time just flies when you're having fun!

Noah's first Day of "School" -17 Weeks 2 days

Noah spent his first day in daycare today and his teacher said he did wonderfully! I am not too surprised since Noah is such a social guy, but when I came in everyone I saw would say "oh, Noah! He's SO cute and Smiles all the time!". I knew they were talking about the right baby when they said that! Noah really likes looking at all the babies, his teacher said she laid him and two girl babies down on the floor and he just looked at them and squealed for a while. She also told me that he's very mature for his age and she thought she had misunderstood how old he was. What mom doesn't like hearing that?

Noah has reached a big milestone and has began to reach out for things. He had been holding his keys for a few weeks but I'd never seen him really reaching out for anything, I always had to put them against the back of his hand. Yesterday, I walked back into the living room and Noah was sitting in his excersaucer holding his monster rattle Yeska got him for Christmas. I was so excited that I distracted him and he dropped it! Later on last night he continued to reach for things, his keys, the rattle, some other little toys, I am very proud of him, although I know this means he'll be grabbing at everything soon ad my hands will be VERY full! It's still exciting, just means I need to go ahead and finish child proofing our house!

My first official day of work went pretty well. The morning went by pretty quickly, but then after I ate lunch, I got very very sleepy and started to miss Noah. I was really ready to get off at 5!

Noah will be four months old this Wednesday which is pretty exciting! I'm going to try to move up his doctors appointment to Saturday so I can ask them about baby food. Noah is eating so much formula, it seems like he's ready.

So, Happy early 4 months to Noah!

16 weeks 4 days

Noah is talking and grabbing all of the toys on his new favorite thing, his excersaucer! We got it for $15 which is a steal, and I'm so glad we did because he LOVES it! It has made things easier for me, because I can sit him in it while I cook and he's content and safe.

Noah started rice this week and he also loves that! When I'm feeding him he can't get enough and when I start to put the spoon in his mouth, he helps and shoves it in as fast as he can. Sometimes, I'm pretty sure he's going to gag himself with it, but he hasn't done it yet!

I'm still job hunting, and honestly I haven't gotten very far. I'm hoping I'll get some interviews or something pretty soon, just so I don't feel hopeless! The staffing agency hasn't found me a job yet, but they told me to call again next week to check in.

Noah did great spending the night with Brad and Roxy, he slept the whole night and was pretty cheerful his entire stay. It was nice sleeping and not having to wonder if he was about to wake up too!

Noah is still teething, but still no teeth! He will put anything that gets near his mouth in it and he is starting to master the skill of putting his keys in his mouth to chew on them.

I think we're going to join Beargrass Christian Church this Sunday and hopefully get Noah baptized sometime fairly soon after that. We both really like this church and all of the family and children activities they offer. They also have a great nursery which doesn't hurt!

I took on the task of going through Noah's dresser and closet to get all of the clothes he's outgrown out of the way once and for all, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, he's now got three 10 gallon totes FULL of outgrown clothes....he's only 3 months old! I hope we don't continue at this rate and have SIX totes when he's 6 months old! I haven't decided if I want to keep storing the clothes or give them away/consign them. I'm sure at moving time I'll be ready to decide.

Will try to write again soon!

3 1/2 months

Well, I've been slacking. It's been over two weeks since I've updated, and in baby world, 2 weeks is a lot!! Now for the excuses: I've been busy, VERY tired, and was without Internet for a little over a week.

Rudy finally got his truck back so we have two cars again, which anyone who talked to me all summer, knows this is something I've been waiting to happen for a long time! Since we have two cars, and I'm usually stir-crazy and broke, I've decided to get a job. After weeks of sending my resume online to anyone I saw looking for someone, all I'd really accomplished was getting tons of scam emails in return, one interview for a sales job (I'd really prefer to avoid sales), and wasting a TON of time. So, last week I dropped Noah off at my moms house and headed to staffing agencies to drop off my resume and see what I could do to get some assistance finding a job. One place was basically no help at all and said they'd call me at some point (which they haven't). The other place though made an appointment with me on Tuesday, so I went in, filled out some paperwork, and took some skills test on a computer over basic math, grammar, spelling, MS Word and Excel and typing. I did pretty well (even on math!) and they said they'd get me a job within about two weeks.

Knowing I was getting a job soon, I knew that meant I needed to start looking at childcare. I'd called a few places a few weeks ago ad looked up any opinions/rants online to narrow down the million day cares down to 3. The first one I went to had a big sign outside that said "New management!" which made me pretty uncomfortable because to me, that means something must have been wrong before, and without all new employees, it could happen again. I also don't like the idea of sending my child someplace where they're still new to the whole idea themselves! I don't want anyone figuring it all out with Noah as their test subject! It also cost almost $50 more a week than others I was looking at. The second one I visited is the one he will be going to. I liked all the teachers I met and that there were two infant rooms with less babies than the state allows. Everything was clean, and well maintained and the teachers had all been on staff for 10+ years, which gives me a good feeling about the kind of place it is. There was nothing wrong with the third place really, I just didn't get a good vibe from it.

Noah has gotten very used to the concept of babbling and does it all the time and now slips in squeals when he really wants to get something across, is excited or just really wants someone's attention. He also enjoys playing and looking at his hands very much. He seems fascinated with them and ours now too, I think he's comparing them. The BIG news is that Noah has doubled his birth weight and is now 14lbs!

Noah had his first big trip on the 16th when we traveled to McKenzie for my Grandaddy Creasy's (Noah's great grandaddy) 80th birthday. It started as a very eventful ride since we had to take a detour before we even got out of Louisville because a wreck caused 65S to be closed completely. We got off at the Snyder and took 31W to get back to 65 and ran over a deer carcass. The deer apparently messed up the radiator, so we had to get my moms car towed back to their house and start our trip all over in my smaller car 3 hours later than we planned on leaving. Once we got back on the road, the trip went pretty well. We made excellent timing and showed up to the party only 30 minutes late. Everyone loved seeing Noah and he got to meet his 2nd cousin Aurora who's 8 months old.

Brad and Roxy will be watching Noah Saturday night and keeping him overnight. This is sort of a big deal for me, but I know Noah will be in good hands. We're going to a birthday party and they thought it'd be better to leave him overnight then come pick him up late, so I will just pick him up Sunday morning before church. Will definitely update on how that goes, I don't really think Noah will mind at all, but I'll miss him!

3 months old!!

Today we hit a big milestone- Noah is 3 months old! It's so hard to believe even though I knew it was coming.

To celebrate the big day, I'll review all of the milestones he's already hit! Parenting.com lists these milestones that most babies hit between birth to the end of their third month, so he's a little ahead on some of them. I left out the ones he hasn't yet achieved.

Moves head from side to side, Prefers the human face to other shapes, Brings hands to face, Has strong reflex movements, Responds to loud sounds, Blinks at bright lights, Smiles, Tracks objects with his eyes, Makes noises other than crying- will repeat vowel noises, such as "ah" or "ooh", Raises head and chest when put on tummy, Lifts head up 45 degrees, Kicks and straightens legs when on back, Open and shuts hands, Pushes down with legs when placed on a hard surface, Reaches for dangling objects, Recognizes familiar objects and people, even at a distance, Brings both hands together, and holds head up with control.

Hard to believe that a mere 3 months ago he slept nearly all the time, couldn't hold his head up and barely responded to people at all. He's growing so fast!

Noah stopped breastfeeding at almost exactly 2 months, but has had no trouble adjusting to his formula only diet.

I can't wait to see how much Noah will achieve within the next three months!

I start online classes tomorrow, which I'm very excite for. I know I will feel so much more productive knowing I'm working towards my degree. It's broken up in small modules too which you can complete on your own timing, as long as you finish the entire module within a month. I think most people finish a little more quickly. I signed up for 5 modules, which makes up one 3 hour class.

Stay tuned for more updates soon!

12 weeks 2 days

GREAT news!

Noah has been sleeping in his crib for all of his naps and every night for the last 3 nights :) Today, I even put him in there so I could run to the bathroom while I was in the middle of putting him to sleep. He was sleepy, but still awake, so I figured I'd have to start the whole process over. Nope, he fell asleep on his own! I'm so glad he's getting the hang of this!

Unfortunately, Noah is also showing signs of teething! He's got the copious amounts of clear drool, swollen gums, and can't seem to get enough of chewing on my finger! He's complained some, but either it doesn't hurt terribly, or he's a trooper! He's too young for any of the gels or drops because he's not even 3 months yet, and they're all for 4 months and older.

Noah loved having people over for New Years. I'm not sure I've ever seen a more social baby than him! Of course, I don't think it hurts that everyone who's ever met him thinks he's adorable!

I've began looking for a job since being at home all the time makes me crazy and it would be nice to have extra money. So far, I haven't gotten much reply from all the resumes I've sent out, but hopefully that will pick up. I'm still hoping to start taking classes again this semester too, but I haven't gotten all the paperwork finalized yet...I forgot what a pain all of that could be...it will be worth it though i suppose.