A small taste of what its like with 2 kids...

Tonight, we had the pleasure of getting to babysit Noah's little 2 1/2 week old cousin, Eastlon. It was his parent's (Jamie's brother Chris and his wife Stacey) 4 year anniversary so they went to dinner and left E with us... and we LOVED IT! I was very curious as to how Noah would handle his mommy holding another baby, but he didn't seem to mind, in fact, he was completely fascinated with Eastlon. He wanted to sit right beside me while I gave E his bottle and he kept rubbing his cheek against E's head... it was precious. He gave him several kisses on the head, as well. When I laid Eastlon in the floor to change him, Noah was right there beside me watching. When we put him in the bouncy seat, Noah crawled over to him to sit beside him.... He literally couldn't get enough!

It's so funny how just 5 short months made such a difference in his personality because this past summer, I kept Noah's other cousin, Madelyn, and Noah didn't like me holding her. He just seemed really upset by her being at our house. But Madelyn was a little older (around 4 months) and she did some crying, which in turn, upset Noah quite a bit (remember?... sympathy cryer). Fortunately, Eastlon only wimpered like once for a second, which didn't faze Noah. I think my little boy is going to be such a GREAT big brother whenever the time comes. He such a loving and sweet little boy and tonight just reaffirmed that!

And for the record, Jamie and I handled two kids just fine. It was pretty easy, however, we only had Eastlon for a couple hours, but still ... do-able. Of course, I'm sure if they were BOTH mine and I was going on next to NO sleep, after spending all day at home with 2 kids, while Jamie was at work, then I would be singing a MUCH different tune!

A Halloween To Remember!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween...we sure did! The United Cerebal Palsy Center (where Noah gets his Early Intervention therapy) held its First Annual "Life Without Limits" 1/2 Marathon on Saturday morning and my bf Kellie (click her name to view her blog entry on the 1/2 marathon) ran it in honor of Noah. I had intended on taking Noah up there to watch Kellie cross the finish line, but he decided to nap instead. So Chenequa and I got up there around 10 to be there for her big finale. Talk about emotional!!! I was so overwhelmed with gratitude watching the hundreds of runners cross that finish line in honor and support of all the special needs kids in our area. It truly was amazing! One of the most special moments was watching a little boy with Down Syndrome run across the finish line while holding hands with two of the runners. WOW. Kellie did GREAT and finished right under 3 hours... pretty awesome for her first 1/2 marathon, especially considering that she had only trained for the first 6 miles.

Then around 2:45, we got a call from Jamie's mother, that our sister-in-law, Stacey was in labor and at the hospital!!! So needless to say, our trick or treating plans got rearranged. :) We weren't sure how fast her labor was going so we dressed Noah in his costume (just in case we had time to go trick or treating before the baby was born) and headed to the hospital. On our way there, we got another call that they decided to do an emergency C-section because Stacey was having some complications. Once we get there, she was already sedated and in the OR. It was pretty scary there for a little bit because we weren't being given very much information. Thankfully, the baby was delivered perfectly healthy and Stacey is doing GREAT. James 'Eastlon' Brink was born at 4:21pm on 10/31/09, weighing in at 6lbs 8oz and 19 1/2" long... pretty good size considering he came 2 1/2 weeks early! We waited for awhile hoping to be able to see her after her surgery, however, they kept her in Recovery for several hours, so we took Noah to my grandmothers to collect his Halloween loot. After that, Noah was spent, so Jamie took him home and put him to bed and I went back to the hospital to meet little Eastlon and check on Stacey. Here are some pictures from the day...



Noah in his costume at the hospital, waiting to meet his new cousin


Sweet little Eastlon

Just a-Cruisin'

When I said in my last post that it was like Noah was getting stronger by the day, I wasn't joking! I can't believe he is already doing this after he just began (consistently) pulling up to stand a few days ago, but today he CRUISED the furniture!!! He stood up by holding on to the recliner and cruised over to me on the couch. I'm shocked... seriously! This kid didn't sit up until he was 15 mo. old, crawled at 27 mo. old (a full year after he sat up), and now he's just taking off! WOO HOO!!! It's crazy!! But I can't say I blame... he's sat on his booty for 2 years because he wasn't strong enough to move so I understand his urgency to get going. :) And I must say, I am sooooo ready for him to begin walking. It's hard on momma to carry a 32 lb. load around all day, plus I have scoliosis, so the combination of the two equals major back pain for me. I'm still trying to convince Jamie that this is reason enough for me to get twice monthly massages... ha, as you can imagine, I'm not getting very far on that one!

Standing Tall

As of this week, Noah began pulling himself up to standing on his own consistently. He just crawls over to wherever (couch, recliner, coffee table, etc) and just pops right up. Everytime, I make a big deal out of it (because it is!) and I start clapping and saying, "YEAAAA NOAH!!!" and he gets the HUGEST grin on his face... makes him so happy! Also, he and Jamie have a fun new little trick they do. Noah will lay flat on his back on the floor and Jamie grabs him by his ankles and lifts him up (so that he's hanging upside down), Noah will arc his back and kind of flip over so that he's walking on his hands with Jamie holding his ankles still (like doing a handstand or the wheelbarrel). Noah thinks it's hysterical... he wants to do it over and over.

This kid is getting into everything and I truly love it. It doesn't bother or annoy me in the slightest, I think it's great. However, I do have to tell him, "No" alot (which he just looks up at me with a grin). Last week, he broke a floor lamp (that had a glass globe around it). Noah pulled up on it and it came crashing down, with the glass globe hitting the mantle, shattering into thousands of pieces. Of course, I should've known better and put it where he couldn't get to it. On Friday, he was crawling under the kitchen table and stood up by holding onto the chair, and he bumped his head on the under side of the table and was stuck! I was able to get a picture of him... I thought it was so funny! It's literally like he's getting stronger every day.

HELP!!!

I need advice from other mom's out there... Noah is a tad-bit sensitive (maybe that's a bit of an understatement). I think it's adorable that my little boy is sensitive to others feelings and I'm thankful because that's not a quality that you can just teach your child. He's affectionate and sweet, but also into all the typical boy things such as balls, trains, (watching sports on tv...)etc. I can't wait until he's talking and we are able to truly see his little personality. I really think he's going to be a sweet kid. But I'm getting off the subject... my dilemma. Noah is a sympathetic cryer... he cries almost everytime another child cries in his presence! It doesn't matter if we are at home with company or out in public somewhere, if he hears a child cry, ol' waterworks starts up. Even if the other child squeals, he'll think its a cry and start up. I don't know how to break him of this. I thought that by having him around other kids (babies that cry) will help him overcome it but it's not helping. Has any other mother ever had a child do this and HOW or WHEN did they overcome it?