Pulling to Stand

Last night, I was getting Noah ready for his bath. I stripped him down to his diaper and put him in his crib so that I could go and run the bath. When I came back in, he was standing in the crib grinning at me. That's the first time I've seen him actually pull himself up into a standing position. We had just lowered his crib a couple weeks ago to the middle level. Now I'm not sure if we should put it all the way down. It did make me decide that it really was time for us to take his mobile off... that made me sad. Noah LOVED that mobile, but I guess it's a hazard now, since he could try to pull himself up by holding onto the mobile, and bring it crashing down on top of him.

Bad Hair Day

Noah and I had our swimming lesson this morning. I put a hat on him when we left the pool and his hair was still wet. Then, he fell asleep in the car (swimming really tires him out, so he took a long nap... still in the hat). It turned out to be a bad hair day.
Yesterday we had lunch with our friends Karen, John and Sean. Karen and I met when I was still on maternity leave. Sean is almost a month younger than Noah.

Who Needs Toys When You Have...

...a door stopper.

9 Month Statistics

Noah had his 9-month doctor's appointment today. He weighed 19 lbs 9.8 oz, which is about the 40th percentile. He's 29 inches tall, which is about the 75th percentile. I can't remember what his head circumference measurement was, but he is in the 60th percentile. He's healthy and right on track. Of course, he peed as soon as the doctor took off his diaper. He had the Hep B shot (I think the third and final one in the series) and the IPV (that's inactive polio vaccine-the third of four shots in the series). Not a fan of shots, he cried, but seemed fine a minute later.

Cats Beware

Now that Noah is crawling-- and he goes faster and farther every day-- Ole (pronounced Ollie) and Audrey, our two cats, are starting to get very afraid. Yesterday evening Noah and I were playing in his bedroom and Audrey came in. He took one look at her and started to chase her. Fortunately, she's faster than he is, but it's totally freaking her out that he can move and follow her. He's always trying to reach out to pet her whenever she comes within range. Ole is a little more aloof, so he tends to keep his distance. We are lucky that both cats are sweet as can be and we trust them with Noah.

Just a Video I Liked

Noah is nine months old

Noah turned nine months old today. He's really crawling now. The difference between last week and this is amazing. I think that the easiest stage of parenthood is between 6 and 9 months. That's the time when he sleeps better and is easy going, but isn't mobile yet. Now there's no stopping him. And, he's mostly interested in getting to the edge of the rug in the kitchen/family room so that he can try to put the fringe in his mouth or otherwise getting into trouble. Notice how he's heading for the edge of the stairs in this video.

Peek-a-Boo

Noah and I played peek-a-boo, which he finds very funny. Look at those teeth! He's definitely crawling now. He wants to munch on the fringe at the edge of the carpet, which is pretty gross. He keeps crawling over to it and I keep picking him up and putting him some place else.

Progress Crawling

Noah is almost crawling. When Shanti and Lauren were here, Shanti said what he's doing now fits her definition of crawling. He has taken a few "steps," but then seems to fall down on his tummy. Here is my attempt to catch him crawling on film. Of course, he didn't quite do it.

This weekend we had lunch on Saturday with my friend Mike, his wife and their two children- ages 2 years and 5 months. The cats are learning what it will be like when Noah can run after them. They aren't very happy about the future. Today (Sunday) we were supposed to have swimming class, but the instructor is sick so it was cancelled. Next week we won't have class either because of Easter. Noah was pretty tired and cranky anyway, so it's probably a good thing the class was cancelled. We are having lunch with Aunt Lisa and Uncle Myles this afternoon.

A New Friend

My friend Shanti and her daughter Lauren are in town this week and came to visit. Shanti and her husband moved to Arkansas a couple years ago so we don't get a chance to see each other often. I decided to take the day off from work so we could spend some time together and introduce Lauren and Noah. Lauren is about 8 months older than Noah. She already looks like such a little girl and not a baby.

A Budding Artist

Noah finger painted at school this week. Here is his artwork. I can't believe he's already old enough to finger paint! This is one of the reasons that I'm so glad he goes to daycare now. I think he gets more stimulation and exposure to new things there than he would get at home with just me or Darren.

Noah Goes Swimming

This Saturday Noah went to his friend Colin's house to celebrate Colin's 3rd birthday. Someday I'm sure they'll like playing with each other. For now, they will sit next to each other so I can take a picture. Colin is my friends Cat and Kevin's son.

On Sunday we had our first swimming lesson. My friend Colleen and her daughter Natalie are taking the class with us. Natalie is three days older than Noah. We met them when Noah and I went to a breastfeeding class at the hospital when he was only four days old.

Noah did a great job in the pool. He kicked and splashed and didn't seem overly afraid of the water, just a little wary. The idea isn't for the babies to learn how to swim, or get any skills really. It's just to get them used to and comfortable with going in the water, and to teach the parents how to hold them in the water.

Next week Darren will come so we can take pictures at the poolside (I can't be in the pool with Noah and behind the camera at the same time). The pictures I took in the locker room came out really blurry (frustration with the camera!!), but I'm posting some anyway. We'll have better pics next week.

I'm really excited about the Lee District rec center where we are taking the classes. The pool is enormous and the grounds look great for running around. There is a playground area (though I didn't see swings) and there is a merry-go-round and a train car. It'll be fun to take him there over the summer when he's able to walk.

Speaking of mobility, he's still not crawling but getting closer all the time and I know it's just going to happen suddenly. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth all the time. and he seems to be getting the idea of putting one leg in front of the other, but hasn't been able to coordinate that with moving his hands forward. So he's still mostly scooting backwards.

He Stands

Now, he can't get there on his own, but if you put him in a standing position, he's able to hold on and stay standing.

Noah Has a Party

Noah hosted a bunch of his friends today. We had a house full of babies-- Noah, Natalie, Sienna, Mia, Emma, Sean, Zach, Greydon, and Claire. Noah and I met all of these babies and their moms when I was on maternity leave and going to the Tuesday "moms" group at the hospital. It's been nice that we've been able to keep in touch, and so much fun to see the babies as they grow and change. Two of the girls are even crawling now! Noah will be there soon too. He's getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. Sometimes he scoots backwards, and I'm sure he'll be going forwards before we know it. Other than our party, the weekend was just OK. Noah is teething (or that's what I'm blaiming the bad mood on), so he's been crankier than he usually is. He seems in a better mood today than yesterday though.