The 7th Month - Nobody's Toes are Safe

Noelle's 7th month has been exciting as we watch her grow physically, mentally, and emotionally. She has a fairly regular sleep schedule: Sleep from around 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., followed by a morning nap around 9:00, and an afternoon nap around 1:30.

She's begun making all sorts of new noises. "Da da," "Buh-buh," and other sounds that will eventually turn into words that mean something to her. When she's excited, she has an excited squeal that ... well ... how can I explain it?

Ever listen to Van Halen back when David Lee Roth was the lead singer? He had that scream/squeal sound that he made in some of his songs, an intake of air that sounded almost like he had a bad case of asthma. Let's just say that's pretty much the same sound Noelle makes. It's a little shocking when you first hear it - I thought she was choking! But it's her "happy squeal."


She now eats 3 solid meals a day and still takes her bottle. All the books I've read told me to expect her formula intake to drop off now that she's eating solid foods. This has NOT been the case with Noelle. She still takes in the same amount of formula and eats solids with gusto. Her favorite foods are, believe it or not, vegetables. She loves peas and sweet potatoes. She's also become a fan of some of the baby food mixtures, such as sweet potatoes and turkey. She also is trying to master feeding herself using the "pincher grasp." She eats the Gerber cereal puffs well enough, although she's still fine-tuning her coordination.

But the funniest part is her locomotion. Noelle crawled at 6 months and 1 week, and she sat by herself 3 days later - a little backwards from most children. But this is a baby with places to go. She began pulling herself up at 6 months and 3 weeks, and she's now making brave attempts to stand on her own - which usually end with her landing on her bum 2 seconds later.

Noelle still loves her jolly jumper and her walker best of all, though. She uses her walker to cruise through our kitchen and dining room areas, and she's become frighteningly adept at manuevering around. And because she follows you whever you go, open-toed shoes are an invitation for injury in our household. She'll run right over your toes!


And so I give you "Noelle's Mad Walker Skills."

Here are a few more pictures from the past month.

Our baby has fine tastes. She already likes lobster!

Noelle at a birthday party. One of the children in her playgroup had her birthday party at a horse stable and petting zoo.

She doesn't appear to be too into the goat. Can't say I blame her.





Hanging out at another friend's first birthday party. I'm telling you, this kid isn't even a year old yet, and she already has a bigger social life than her parents.

And here we have Noelle's favorite game - playing in the clean laundry. Daddy dumps the load of clean laundry on top of her, and she squeals with excitement as she tries to dig her way out.

We can't wait to see what her 8th month is going to bring!

Six Months!

At the end of July, Noelle reached a baby milestone - the 6th month. In honor of the occasion, we had our friends Edgar and Tracey take some family pictures for us. Edgar has one of those awesome cameras and a natural artistic gift for photography, and Tracey is great at making babies smile. Maybe that's because she'll be having one of her own in late January!

Congratulations, Edgar and Tracey, on your soon-to-be parenthood! And thank you for taking this wonderful picture of our family!

I'm going to shamelessly put in a plug for Edgar here, as he is starting his own photography company. Go to www. exposuresoul.com for more information. As you can see, he does some great work. You'll be seeing more of Noelle's pictures from him soon!

The Beginning - of Crawling, Sitting, and Eating

This is one of the neatest times for a baby - right at the start of six months. It's the beginning of so many neat things - crawling, sitting, and eating. Noelle is trying all three, although with varying levels of success!


Food

We introduced solids to Noelle shorty after the 4-month point. Once we'd mastered rice cereal we moved on to the more fun foods - green peas, carrots, and in the case of the picture below, sweet potatoes. We've been lucky, as so far Noelle has not shown any food allergies. And she loves all foods - yes, even green peas.

Of course, the hardest part of our battle of the wills. Noelle is convinced that she should be feeding herself!



Sitting

Noelle hasn't shown the same passion for sitting as she has for eating and crawling. Oh, she'll sit up for a few seconds, but she quickly topples over. Honestly, I think she wants to go places. Crawling is of interest because it can take her places. Sitting ... not so much.
Nevertheless, I was able to snap this shot of her while she balanced herself in her boppy pillow.



Crawling

Noelle is trying desperately to crawl! The legs are making progress, but she hasn't quite figured out how to make the hands work. But that's not stopping her from trying!

Noelle Giggles

There's nothing in the world cooler than hearing your child laugh for the first time.

On one recent afternoon, I was at my parents' home with Noelle. On her porta-crib, my mother had attached a little stuffed pink poodle on a string. When you pulled the poodle, it made a little jiggling noise as it climbed back up the string.

My mom said, "Hey, Noelle ... watch this."

She pulled the poodle and it vibrated and jiggled back up the string. And for the first time, Noelle laughed.

I caught my breath. I've heard her kind of laugh before - it's a breathy sound. It's almost like she knows what laughter is, but she's still working on it.

This was the first REAL laugh I'd heard. An outright, full laugh.

So we grabbed the pink poodle and headed into their gameroom to see if we could make Noelle laugh again. My dad brought his camera to record our game. What follows is one of the greatest things I've experienced so far as a new mom - our baby's first real laughter. Click on the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13583247@N04/3602180292/

Noelle's Newest Toy

Somehow or another, I missed out on the "Jolly Jumper" toy as a baby. You know what I'm talking about - those little chairs that hang from the door frame on a big spring and bungie cord, allowing the baby to bounce up and down. I remember watching my nephew bounce in one several years ago, and I thought they were just the coolest thing. If I'd had one as a child, I'm sure I would have never gotten out of it.

Come to think of it, if they made one for adults, I would never get out of it. But I digress ...

Our friend Gwen was the wonderful soul who gave Noelle her Jolly Jumper. And just as we suspected, Noelle loves it!

So I give you "Bouncing Noelle."

Noelle Goes North

On May 21st, Will and I took Noelle on her first flight. We headed to Syracuse, New York to visit Will's parents, then headed to Albany for a few days of rest and relaxation. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

The Flight to Buffalo

Luckily, Noelle loved flying - just like her dad. For the most part, she did great on all three legs into Buffalo. While she got a little "gassy" during the descent into Baltimore, once we got a burp out of her, she was back to her happy self.

The gratuitous shot with dad in the cockpit.




Another shot in the cockpit - this time with mommy and daddy!



Visiting Gramma

Noelle loved spending time with Gramma! Gramma lost no time in giving Noelle her bottle and getting in some good bonding time.





Noelle got plenty of hugs and love from Gramma! Gramma also gave her some wonderful books, since Noelle loves to be read to.




Visiting Grandpa

Noelle got to meet her Grandpa for the first time.



Noelle loved the fresh air on her Grandpa's farm - she slept like a rock every night. And there were tons of new fun things to see, like Grandpa's big red tractor.


And the beautiful lilacs.



And for the first time, Mommy and Daddy were actually able to catch Noelle smiling on camera! When Noelle gives a big smile, her ears actually pull down. This has led to one of our nicknames for her - Gizmo.


Gramma and Grandpa, thank you for a wonderful time! We'll be back soon!

Daddy's Girl

I've come to the conclusion that Noelle is completely, hopelessly, wonderfully ... a daddy's girl. There are few times when she's more content then when she's sitting in daddy's lap.



Noelle usually wakes around 5:00 in the morning for her first feeding of the day. If Will has the day off, he'll bring her into bed with us after her feeding, and she'll happily sleep another few hours snuggled up beside one of us. If I have to leave for work, then she's right next to dad in bed, snoozing away.

The hardest thing in the world is to leave this beautiful sight to go to work:




When I took this picture, I wanted so badly to crawl back in bed with them!