Ready for fall

Everyone is slowly getting back to normal at Sill Hill-Columbia!

A couple days after we found out about Noah's ear infection, he had a fever again. Noah and I went to get his antibiotic prescription filled. My leg had been hurting for a few days, so we ran up to the doctor's office while we were in the building. They were able to squeeze me in that day, and I'm glad they did! I found out I have a blood clot in my leg. We spent the day running back and forth between Dr. M's office and the hospital for tests. We got there around 11:30 a.m. and didn't get home until close to 6 p.m. I had to give myself shots for a few days, and I'll be on Warfarin (like Coumadin) for anywhere from a few weeks to about nine months - let's go with a few weeks! It's feeling OK now, and I'm going in every few days to a week for a blood test. So far, so good. It feels a little different today, but I'll ask about that when I go in tomorrow morning.

We left the next morning for Josh's wedding in Houston. We flew, so I am glad we had my leg checked out first! Noah did so well on the flight! We didn't know until we got through the last security spot in the airport that Noah also needed an infants' boarding pass. We had scoured the Web site and saw nothing, and no one else in the airport mentioned it. They were calling our names because they were holding the plane for us! So we didn't get to sit together. Oh, well. Noah apparently entertained all the people he and Dave sat near. He didn't get too fussy, and they let us take him to the cockpot when we landed! If you can ignore the odd, unflattering angle of me . . .


We had a pretty good time in Texas! We got to see Josh and Veronica's house and visit with people. The rehearsal dinner was really good - we had fajitas at a Mexican restaurant near their town. We went to Dad and Denise's house Saturday morning for a visit with them, Grandma and Grandpa, James and Kelly. Noah actually walked onto the grass (he had on tennis shoes), and he did OK until he fell and felt the grass with his hands! Then he started screaming and stiffened up while I moved him to the patio! I understand that the blades feel strange, but I've never seen anyone so incredibly terrified of the yard!

Dave was thrilled to get Five Guys for lunch that weekend. Mickey and Regina, Mom and Rusty, and Dave, Noah and I went for a quick bite before getting ready for the wedding. Noah hadn't been eating too well since he'd started the medicine. For some reason, though, he'd let Grandma Pat feed him. A couple French fries are better than nothing, I guess.


The wedding was so nice that afternoon! Veronica looked so pretty, and Josh looked nice, too! :) Noah and Dave, unfortunately, missed most of the wedding. Noah didn't get a good nap that day, and he was not into sitting still or quietly! After the wedding, there were tons of pictures. Can't wait to see how the rest turned out, but Kelly and I both got a few shots with my camera. The lighting was not the greatest where we were sitting, and the batteries were just about dead.



We managed to party at the reception for quite a while after dinner. Noah spent a good amount of time with Aunt Kelly and some of Josh's friends. He sat in the middle of the table and played with them. Brandon made him a rattle out of a bottle and some grapes, and he let Tad hold him and even laughed for him! He is usually pretty stingy with the laughs!

After the dancing started, it was getting pretty loud and late, so Mom and Rusty took us back to our hotel, so Noah could go to bed. They were so nice to take our stuff to and from Texas and to drive us all over while we were there. Mickey and Regina took us back to the airport the next day, and we were home to stay for a while!

The flight home was even better. We were able to sit together, and the third seat was empty, so Noah got to sit in the seat to play sometimes. Made traveling much easier!

Noah brought home an interesting souvenir from the trip - he came home with a full-body rash! We noticed it Saturday morning. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be itchy, and he didn't have a fever. We went to the doctor again that Monday, and his ear infection had gone away. So the doctor had us stop the antibiotic. The rash was already starting to go away, but it completely disappeared by Tuesday. We have no way of knowing what it was, but, again, it didn't seem to bother him, thank goodness!

After that, we all started getting better! We had a wonderful weekend! Friday night was our regular pizza night. Saturday morning we ran errands and cleaned the house. Brandi and Jason came over for taco soup that night. We had a good time visiting, and Noah had so much fun playing with them! Dave started lunging Noah toward Brandi, and she would scream back at him. He laughed and laughed and laughed! He would chuckle, then he'd do the laugh where he couldn't breathe! He started making a growling noise when he'd get close to her, and he's still doing that when he "charges" at us! He's so funny!

Sunday we went to church and spent the rest of the afternoon at home. That evening we went to Tonanzio's for Mickey's surprise 70th birthday party!


Mickey was sure surprised! Dinner was good, and we all enjoyed visiting with family. We got to hear some of Virg's and Mickey's stories about growing up, which is always fun!


Gene and Judy were there, and Andi and Maya happened to be with them. Noah really enjoyed watching Maya and Kaylor running around and trying to hang out with them!


They're just too fast for him!


It was a surprise to see Maya there, and we all agreed it's more fun to see Noah and Maya in person than on the Internet! But we take what we can get, I guess!


It's been a nice, normal week so far! A lot of kids at daycare have been very sick this week. Noah seems to have avoided it. There were only three kids there today! Carol's own son came home sick from school this morning! She's been working hard to disinfect the daycare area, and I thank her for that! She's closed the rest of the week for a trip she takes each October, so it will be nice for the germs to clear out before he goes back.


Dave and Noah are going to Dover tomorrow morning. Noah's going to spend the next couple days with Grandma Norita while Dave and I do some work at the house. The new furnace and water heater were installed a few weeks ago, and we need to clean the house. Dave (and maybe Grandpa Rusty) is going to start winterizing the house.

Sure wish it would be just a little bit warmer for just a few more days! Oh, well! Sweater weather is good, too.

Our travels

We have all had a wild couple weeks! Noah went to visit his grandmas and grandpa (and Aunt Kelly) for a week. We got his car seat set up with Grandma Pat, then dropped Noah off with Grandma Norita. Dave and I took off for dinner in KC with Luke and Alissa at Stroud's! Dave usually says he eats three meals' worth of calories in one meal there!

We left the next morning for Maui! This was part of Dave's prize as one of Socket's Employees of the Year - so proud of him and so grateful he wanted to share his prizes with us! We get to pick out a swingset for Noah, and Socket people are going to help us install it. We just have to settle on a set and choose the one flat spot of our yard to place it.

Back to Maui . . . we arrived there in the mid-afternoon, and the weather was beautiful - about 85 every day. We spent most mornings and late afternoons at the beach, meaning I only got slightly sunburnt! No handprints on my back this time, though!

We were there for our fifth anniversary. After visiting the beach and discovering our favorite lunch spot (Aloha Mixed Plate), we decided to drive around a little bit. Hmm. By the time we saw the first "Road Narrows" sign, it was too late to turn around. We spent the next two hours on a road barely wider than the car we were driving! The road was a series of hairpin turns through the mountains. One side of the road was rock, and the other side felt like a drop into the ocean! Dave kept saying not to look down! I think we went about 10 the entire time; however, as we neared the end, we encountered several locals flying down the road at 50! Occasionally, there was enough room to pull over to let them pass, but it was still pretty hair-raising!


Sunday we went to a Maui crafts fair. It was fun to wander around the booths and tents, checking out the stuff locals had made. There were some really pretty jade pieces, clothes and photographs. We left with a couple cute tote bags for Grandmas, a $5 necklace and handmade soaps. The woman who sold the soap was fun! She's a great saleslady!

One morning we took off on the road to Hana. This is one of the big "to-dos" on tourists' lists. We decided we would go earlier to beat some of the traffic, as our guidebook mentioned several times that traffic backs up on the road. Dave decided we needed to leave by 5:30. Tracy is not usually a happy person at 5:30 a.m.


So we get to the little town the book recommends for breakfast. The restaurant wouldn't open for about another hour. So we stopped at a gas station and got gross pre-packaged cinnamon rolls. Most of the stops the book recommended were closed, including several of the state parks. We finally found one that was unlocked. The only living things we could see were the chickens wandering around the parking lot!


By then, it was funny instead of horribly annoying! So we continued on. We stopped at a waterfall right off the highway, and we visited a black-sand beach a little farther off the highway.


We tried to find the "hamlet" mentioned on our map; there was supposedly an historic church to see. Instead, we saw signs that literally told us we weren't welcome there! They said something like, "If you don't live here, you don't belong here." So we left! We got to Hana around 8:30 and found somewhere for a real breakfast. We drove around Hana for a few minutes and decided it was not for us! We turned back around and made it back to Lahaina in time for lunch!

Dave took a surf lesson one morning. He didn't get up very easily due to it being his first time and not being used to using those muscles. The guy who took the lesson with him, Andy from Switzerland, did great and got up several times! I had a massage that afternoon, which was also nice! I thought I was getting a massage on the beach, but I think I got hurried through because I was the last appointment of the day. Oh, well!

We went to a luau the last night we were there. We saw the Old Lahaina Luau; it was such a colorful show!


The dinner was yummy, and we liked all the people at our table. Terry's wife (whose name we didn't get) had just turned 50 the week before. We had celebrated our fifth anniversary the Saturday before. John and his wife (whose name we also didn't catch) were married in August and were on their honeymoon, and Pauleen and Dave were on a 50th wedding anniversary trip given to them by their children. They were so funny. They were from California and decided one day to get married. They drove to Carson City, NV, without thinking about needing witnesses. So the people at the courthouse took them to the bar across the street. The fry cook was the maid of honor, and a bar patron was the best man!

We were so glad to spend some time together, talking, swimming and eating. And while we did talk mostly about Noah, we were grateful for the time to talk about whatever we wanted (not things like who would pick up milk, how much the gas bill is, all the normal everyday stuff). We also took a three-hour nap one day! That almost never happens!

That said, we were looking forward to getting home to Noah! Big surprise. It sounds like he was looking forward to us getting home! Grandmas Pat and Norita took Noah and Kaylor to the pumpkin patch. Apparently, Noah was blabbing to Kaylor in the back seat, and she told Grandma Pat she didn't know what he was saying. Grandma Pat didn't either! Sounds like they all had a good time, though!

Then he got to see Aunt Sandy and Uncle Ronnie over the weekend. Ronnie set up a tractor and gave Noah a ride! New toys are fun!

We got back from Maui Saturday morning and headed straight for Noah! He just smiled and smiled! He kept going back and forth between us. He must have been worn out from all the fun, though. We went out for lunch with Norita, Ronnie and Sandy to the Mexican restaurant in Lexington. Noah fell asleep on the way and slept about 45 minutes while we were there, even with all the loud music.

Then we had a surprise visit with Uncle Josh! He showed up at Mom's door Saturday morning; he was in town for a bachelor party with his friends and came over for a visit. It was so nice (and unexpected) to see him! Noah kept picking up leaves off the deck and handing them to Josh. Great gift!


We also paid a visit to Cree Mee on our way out of town. We had to - they closed for the season on Sunday! Noah enjoyed sharing our flurries, but he also liked watching the traffic on Main Street!


We didn't do too much the rest of the weekend or yesterday. Noah has taken to shooting his arm out and leaning his head down to his shoulder, almost like he's sighting down his arm! No idea why this started; I think he's trying to tell us he wants to go in a particular direction or that he wants something in that direction. Strange!

We also had to run to the doctor's office this afternoon. Carol called to say Noah had a temperature of 102.5. Thankfully, another doctor at our clinic could see us, so we found out Noah has an ear infection. She prescribed an antibiotic, but if his temperature goes down overnight, we don't have to fill it. He seemed to be feeling much better after a round of Tylenol. He'd been pretty cranky the past few days, but we thought it was because he was getting back into the routine of things. Sounds like it was probably that and the ear ache! Poor little guy!

So we're staying home tomorrow; they have to be fever-free for 24 hours before they can go back to daycare. We leave early Friday morning to fly to Texas for Josh and Veronica's wedding. Wish us luck taking the little man on the plane! Should be interesting!

Same ol' stuff

I think we can say Noah is a walker now! Well, definitely a toddler! He walks most of the time, but he notices when he falls that sometimes it's just easier to crawl! He still enjoys walking around outside, but he hates the grass for some reason. He will NOT walk in the grass. If you start to lift him over to the grass, his legs hike up higher and higher until his ankles are near his ears! Not sure what that's all about!

He and Dave were both sick last week, so they went to the doctor. Noah just had a cold, but we found out he weighs 19 pounds 10 ounces! We're getting closer to a new car seat! It will be so nice to not have to drag his infant seat around anymore!

We had some people over for a bbq last weekend and had such a good time with old and new friends. There were two younger babies here, so Noah got to show them the ropes. He had a bath before company came - Dave and I usually end up at least as wet as Noah does!




He's discovered Dave's guitar in the guest room, and he's actually not bad at it! He likes strumming it and hoping we're as impressed with his musical abilities as he is.



Nothing too exciting this week. We had our pizza night and a walk tonight, then we went to feed Brandi and Jason's cat. Oh, but then Dave let Noah play with his iphone when we got home! What fun! He has the "need more cowbell" and light saber applications. Basically, when you shake or move the phone, it plays a cowbell noise, or you can "fight" with your light saber. While you can't hear the squeals or see Noah bopping up and down, he was pretty thrilled about this new gadget. The toys these kids have today!


Tomorrow we're going to go out for breakfast (Dave's idea) and get Noah's hair cut (my idea). Then we're going to the White Stone for dinner to see Mickey and Regina. Should be an eventful but nice weekend!

Fair amount of fun

Noah is figuring out how to walk! We think he's known for some time and is just now "sharing" this feat with us. He had been taking three or four steps here or there, but he took off across the store when I got a new phone the other night. Since then he's getting more and more confident and is up to walking across a room on his own! So proud of him!

He's wearing shoes more often, but it's taking some getting used to. He steps out of his shoes sometimes, and then he can pull his socks right off! He seems pretty excited about the red Chucks, though! Especially with his camo shirt and overalls - quite a look, right?!


He's also eating real food entirely. Dave and I are learning to tone down some of our favorite dishes, so Noah can have them, too. We don't think he's quite up to our level in terms of seasonings! So we had fish sticks and green beans for lunch today, and we all had taco soup for dinner. Noah's got a bit of a cold, and something warm for dinner seemed just the thing. Naturally, he didn't want much of it. He hasn't been eating too much the past few days, since he's been a little sick.

That didn't stop us from going to Street Fair this weekend. First Noah spent Saturday morning with Grandma Norita; sounds like he had a great time playing there! We had my 10-year reunion this year. Reunions in Concordia don't seem like a huge deal, though, because so many people show up at the fair every year; you get to catch up at least once a year.

Noah and cousin Jack were quite the hits! They're both such blond, cute boys!


Right after we took our picture for the paper and Sheila got a pinhole picture, they announced a tornado had been spotted near Higginsville and "strongly recommended" people leave the gardens. So we headed for Ye Olde Country Store and visited Grandma Pat for a while! The tornado never showed, and the fair was up and running within about 15 minutes, so we took Noah for his first carnival ride! He and I chose the bunny on the carousel - woo hoo! It was near the front gate when the ride started, so pictures could easily be taken.

Noah really seemed to enjoy it, despite the lack of smile on most of the pictures taken! He let go of the pole as soon as the ride started and held his hands in guard position, but he would randomly turn to look at me during the ride and smile! I think it was a hit, and we can't wait until next year when he is tall enough for other rides.



Well, I say we can't wait, but really we can. A little bit of Street Fair goes a long way! It was fun catching up with people I don't get to see very often, but it gets tiring, too.

Kelly had taken Noah home after the carousel ride because it was still pretty drizzly, and we were getting cold, too. After dinner with Norita and dessert with Mom, Dave and I decided we were ready to go home. Noah was sounding pretty sick, and we didn't want to get sick, too, sitting out in the cold. It was nice to get home and sleep in our own beds.

Noah seems much better today; he is much less grumpy and has only a slightly runny nose. We spent most of the day playing on the floor, but Noah also likes watching Dave mow the yard; he stands on tip-toes near the window watching his dad go back and forth! Today he took to shouting, "Da Da Da" whenever he saw Dave going by. Unfortunately, Dave had his headphones on and didn't hear him!


Other than that, we're excited about counting down the days til we leave for Hawaii. I mean, we're excited about counting down the days til Noah gets to spend a whole week with grandmas!

No Labor Today

We have had a wonderful, relaxing weekend! We intended to get some work done around our house, but we never made it that far! So the windows will be washed another weekend.

Nothing terribly exciting this past week . . . except Noah is taking several steps at a time without falling down! He'll walk about four or five steps before falling forward. However, we've noticed he'll walk a little farther when he doesn't realize we're watching him. Makes us wonder if he walks all over at daycare and is fooling us - it's been known to happen once or twice!

We bought him another pair of shoes this weekend, but he's still not sure what to make of them. They're the same size as his Chucks but seem to fit a little better. He still lifts his feet really high to take steps, like he's afraid he'll trip over them!

We went to the park this morning for a few minutes. It was already very muggy at 9 this morning, and there were three little boys there who seemed to want us to be step-in parents for them, though their own mom and dad were a few feet away playing tennis! They wanted us to push them on the swings, help them with notes for their report on bees and other things we didn't really feel like doing when we had Noah to chase.

Noah has a favorite new trick. He manages to take his pants off while sleeping! We've just been turning the air off at night instead of trying to get him dressed again.


We have a short week ahead of us before we head home for the Fair! Should be fun taking Noah on a few rides. We'll see how it goes, anyway!

Chucks

Just coming off another jam-packed weekend! Friday night was pizza night at home, as usual. Dave made us breakfast Saturday morning, and we took for Concordia and Lexington for the rest of the weekend. Had a good visit with Grandma Pat and climbed her stairs before we went to visit Grandpa Rusty for a few minutes.

Then we headed to Lexington for lunch at Riley's with Grandma Norita. Noah ended up spending the night with her, while we did some cleaning at the house. Dave and I went to the drive-in at Independence. We try to get there about once a year or so for something a little different. We went to see "Tropic Thunder," hoping it would be a funny Ben Stiller movie. It was not. I was done before he held up a dead man's head - after that I shut my eyes and tried to sleep off this summer cold. I think Dave was grateful when he noticed me trying to sleep, so we could leave!

We were home by lunchtime yesterday and spent the afternoon playing with Noah and trying on his new shoes! He wasn't with us when we bought them, but we couldn't help it! Unfortunately, they don't yet fit him, so we'll have to take him shopping one night this week to fit him for shoes. And just wait for him to grow into his new Chuck Taylors!

Do you see what I see?

I guess we should be thankful we made it seven months without this happening!


Somehow Noah managed to snap the side of his glasses in half today at daycare! Luckily the eye institute is next door to where I work, so I can run them in tomorrow and, hopefully, get them repaired.

Although we've known for a while, we definitely have a climber on our hands! Noah tries to climb up our legs, onto the furniture, wherever. Dave caught Noah climbing onto the shelf of a table next to our desk. Such a little monkey!

Camo Man

Noah has had his picture taken more times today! One of our neighbors is a photographer and came over this morning to take some pictures of Noah for us. Can't wait to see how they turned out!

We ran a few errands after that, and we spent the rest of the day playing with Noah and working. Noah has lots of camo, and he sported a T-shirt and his hat after we changed out of photo clothes. He loves wearing his little hat; when it falls off, he tries so hard to figure out how to get it back on!


I made the mistake of leaving the guest room door open, so Noah showed off his climbing skills there. I particularly like Elmo peeking out of the side of Noah's diaper!


As I've mentioned before, Dave and Noah are a little more rambunctious than Noah and I are! They fly, swing and run all over. But they certainly have fun doing it!




Noah's getting to be such a big little guy! He is trying to figure out how to walk. He'll take a few steps between us or between one of us and the furniture. He can say "Ma ma," "Dat-dy" and "uh oh." I don't think he realized who "Ma ma" and "Dat-dy" are, but we'll take it!

He's eating more big people food lately, too. He particularly loves grapes and yogurt! He usually eats at least a little bit of what the bigger kids eat at daycare, and he tries what Dave and I have for dinner. This morning we all had pancakes for breakfast!

I had to go in to work for a few hours today, and Dave left Noah in the living room for a minute. When he got back, he found Noah had moved the rocking chair from its usual spot next to the basket of blankets.

See what I mean?

We finally uploaded the pictures of Noah with his lawnmower walker from last weekend. He just looks so pleased to learn something new!


We were all busy again this week - nothing new, I guess. Dave and Noah spent some quality time while I had a girls' nite with Cat, Brandi and Hilary.


We had a quiet Friday night at home, then we took off Saturday morning to celebrate Gavin's birthday at the lake - he turned 4! Noah got to "swim" in the lake for a few minutes. We got him an infant life jacket that had a float under his head, so his head never went under. He didn't seem to feel one way or another about being in the water!

We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa K's after we left the Lockes. They live just around the corner from Desi's parents' house at the lake. Noah had a great time crawling all around the floor there. He could make a lap around the kitchen table into the living room. From there we went for dinner with Grandpa Rusty, Grandma Pat and Kaylor! Had a wonderful time hanging out with everyone and having dinner. Noah even got to take a bath there - he was filthy! Noah recently discovered the stairs at Grandma Pat's, and he thought he needed to show us over and over again how easily he can go up the staircase! He really does well on them, except his sweatpants were a little big, and they would catch on his feet! Unfortunately, I think we asked too much out of him, and he cried all the way home to Columbia! He went right to bed after a bottle, though!

Today we went absolutely nowhere! Kind of nice to ignore the heat and stay inside all day. And ready for another week!

Sunday afternoon

We're having a wonderful, warm weekend! Friday night was girls' nite, so Dave and Noah spent the evening playing. Saturday morning we dropped my car off for an inspection, then ran to the Farmer's Market and to Ernie's for breakfast. Noah shared Dave's pancakes, hash browns and eggs - think he'll be a great breakfast eater!

Grandma Norita came down around lunchtime, and they played all day! Noah has been walking along with us, holding onto our hands or legs, but he learned to walk behind his walker toys this weekend! He looked so proud of himself, and we are so proud of him! It's not going to be long now!

We've noticed all along he's quite the climber. The latest trick is to crawl through his tent, get behind it and climb into his toy basket to pull things out! Kind of glad we don't have stairs!


He figured out several weeks ago that he can take the bowls out of the kitchen cabinet, but he also figured out he can take the pots and pans out this morning! He's the normal little kid who loves banging on things, whether it's pots and pans or tables or whatever he can get his hands on!


He's trying so hard to fight a nap right now, but he won the battle yesterday, so Dave and I are determined to win a round yet this weekend!

We've had a busy week! Noah had his first haircut earlier this week! My friend Liz is a stylist in Columbia and offered to give Noah a haircut at our house. It took about 15 or 20 minutes, both Mom and Dad holding Noah and pudding!


He was very interested in what Liz was doing, but we finally got it all cut!


Wednesday night was an "un-birthday" party at my work. Noah was a hit! He particularly liked one of my new co-workers who also has glasses. Noah was the cheerleader for those of us playing Cookie Monster Bingo! He kept shouting out after letters were called out and clapping randomly.

Last night Noah met his Krahenbuhl grandparents. They were visiting from Texas and came over for dinner last night. Noah had a great time playing with them and the toys they brought. Unfortunately, though, he found the weak spots in some of them, so we spent the night pulling little pieces of plastic out of his mouth!


No big plans this weekend. We're looking forward to a walk after dinner, laundry and a trip to the Farmer's Market tomorrow morning.

Saturday morning

We love weekends at home! Last night we ran a few errands. By the time we got home, it was time for Noah to go to bed. Dave and I had homemade pizza, the standard at our house on Friday nights, and read for a while.

This morning, we got up and had breakfast. Then we ran a couple more errands and visited the Farmers' Market. Such a fun place to go. We got the ingredients for a great dinner for Monday night when Liz (an old friend) comes over to cut Noah's hair. His first haircut!

At any rate, it was almost nap time by the time we headed home. Noah took a little rest in the car!


Then we fed him and put him down. It took almost two hours before he finally fell asleep! No idea what was going on there, but all is quiet now!

He's realized in the last few weeks that he can take all the stuff he finds inside the kitchen cabinets out. Lucky us!

Birthday man!

Noah is now one! He seems to have grown up over night! Well, maybe not yet, but he does seem so much bigger all of a sudden.

We spent a couple days getting ready for the party. Rusty and Dave got the awning off the back of the house and put up a new screen door. I think it looks so nice and will make such a difference in the bug level! Grandpa Pat and I took Noah and Kaylor "shopping." I ran into the store while she sat in the car with the sleeping kids. Except Noah woke up as soon as I ran in! Then Kaylor woke up while she ran in! Oh, well. Every little bit of sleep seems to help.

Friday night we had dinner with Norita, Steve, Cheryl, Joe, Chyree, Joe, Kelly and Bri. Had a good time playing outside - Noah liked Bri's tree swing, which was a relief as that is one of the things we got him for his birthday!

Saturday we finished up a few things around the house. The first thing we had to do was mark Noah on the pantry door at the house. Norita and Bob recorded Dave's height on the door while he was growing up. Noah joined the door on his birthday!


Noah also tried to help us. He thought Dave especially needed him while he was working in the bathroom.


Brandi and Jason got there a little early to help us finish getting ready. Aunt Brandi helped by changing Noah's clothes for me! It's getting to be more and more of a struggle, but I was impressed with her baby-changing skills!



We had quite the crowd at the party. Several family members, friends and neighbors came out to celebrate with us. Noah did pretty well. He was pretty clingy with me and Dave, but he did hang out with grandparents for a little while. We only had to take a couple little breaks from everyone!


He also got an amazing haul of new stuff, including books, food and many, many toys. We've spent the past few days playing with so many fun things! He especially likes his Mickey Mouse fire truck and a new walker. He also likes to eat his new plastic ball!


He didn't eat too much of the tissue paper while we opened gifts! We also had 30 people watching to tell us if he tried! He definitely did not know what to make of everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him!


Noah did not care much for cake! He dipped his mouth into it and crawled away! He must be my and Dave's kid, if he didn't want to get too messy with the cake!




After all that fun, it was so nice to get home and have some quiet for a while. Not nice to go back to work, but nice to come home!

This morning was Noah's one-year check-up. He is doing very well! The doctor said he looks and seems great, and his ear infection is gone. We can start trying real milk and table food. He is 29 1/2 inches long and weighs 18 pounds 12 ounces. She said he is obviously a skinny guy, but he is strong and seems healthy. He may just be that way!

He also got shots this morning; they get a little easier each time. This time he finished up his Hib and started his MMR and chicken pox vaccinations. And now we're done with those until December!