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?

Our October (so far) in Review...

It's been kind of boring around here lately, which I attribute to all the rain we've had during October. UGH... Last week Noah had a few days where he wasn't feeling good, Thursday he woke up from his nap with a 101 fever and went to bed at like, 6:30 after I dosed him with Tylenol to try to bring the fever down. I checked him throughout the night and it remained in the 100.5 - 100.7. Friday he seemed fine, so I decided against taking him to the doctor and risking catching someone else's yucky germs. Friday night, he was up every 3 hours (I forgot how ROUGH that is), SaturDAY he seemed okay, but then Saturday night was the same as Friday night. He began coughing and seemed congested. We stayed home from church on Sunday and I took him in Monday morning. And the doctor told me that everything was clear (ears, nose, chest...everything checked out fine). So I paid $30 to be told to just used Tylenol as needed; that's always fun to hear, especially when you KNOW you're child isn't feeling good. But I guess I should be grateful that it wasn't something bad. Anyways, by Monday night, he was back to his normal self and sleeping through the night (THANK GOODNESS). But then I got a cold/sinus infection, then my mom, and now Jamie.

For AWHILE, I've been debating finding a new home for my two dogs, Charley and Sofie. I've had Charley 5 years and Sofie for 4 years and these two were my babies before Noah. People always told me that once Noah got here, my feelings for my dogs would change and I responding with "NO WAY will that happen." However, having a 2 1/2 year old that still isn't walking and talking, and taking care of 2 small inside dogs can get very overwhelming. I found that I rarely gave them attention anymore and that they caused me more frustration than joy. It would have been easier if Jamie played with them and gave them attention but as he says, they were MY dogs, not his, so he didn't (he likes big dogs, not little dogs). And it simply wasn't fair to them. I actually found them a home about 6 months ago, but I backed out (even though it was a GREAT family), I was bawling my eyes out and couldn't go through with it. This past Monday, my mom called me because a lady she worked with wanted my dogs. I hadn't really been actively looking for a home for them but I had mentioned to my mom that it was something I needed to do. This family has 2 children (a boy and a girl) so each child would get their own dog. I knew I needed to do it because I wanted Charley and Sofie to stay together and that it would be really hard to find a good family willing to take 2 dogs. So I gave them away to their new home on Tuesday evening. I was ok as long as I kept myself occupied, but needless to say, I didn't sleep well at all Tuesday night. I pretty much cried myself to sleep. My mom got a report from their new mom and they are doing great and getting SO MUCH attention from the 2 kids so at least they are really happy. I miss them but I know I did what was best for me and for them. It is nice not having to take them out to go to the bathroom every few hours but its weird that I'm not a dog owner for the first time in about 15 years.

Phi Mu Alumni Lunch

This is to all the Phi Mu alums that are not on facebook... UNA's Homecoming is Saturday, Oct. 3 with the parade at 11 on Court Street. At 12 noon, we are all getting together for lunch at Rosie's to catch up with one another. We would love for you all to come! Also, we are tailgating before the game. We will have a Phi Mu table under the HUGE Alumni tent (look for pink balloons). Hope to see you there!