Noah

Ok. This is beyond pitiful. I haven't updated this blog in eight months?! Really? I choose not to explore any of the reasons why and just move forward. Except I smell poop. This could be one reason  why I don't write anymore. BRB!

Ok, lets start with the present and see if I can work my way back a little.

Noah:

Noah turned ONE on December 4. I don't know how THAT happened at all. At his well child visit he weighed in right at 17 lbs., and 29 inches long. He's a little guy. If you (general you :)--hello blog world :)) remember, Owen was only 16 lbs at a year, so we are not new to having little children. After discussing with his our Pediatrician some of his developmental milestones (or lack thereof), we decided that he needed to be evaluated by Indiana's "First Steps" program which provides therapy for kids that are behind...in whatever area they are behind...speech, physical/emotional development...etc. Noah is just a bit slow to reach milestones. He really didn't sit up until he was close to 7-8 months, and isn't pulling up yet, or standing. He has some extreme pickiness towards food...although in the last few weeks he has gotten better. I'm not really worried. He is social and plenty active...he scoots everywhere on his little booty instead of crawling. Its pretty cute! He claps, plays peek-a-boo, waves, loves books, loves his brothers, likes to take baths, interacts well, enjoys toys....he is just a little weak.
For record keeping, we nursed just a little shy of nine months when I decided that weaning him to bottles/formula just had to be done so I could start methotrexate for my RA. It was terribly heartbreaking for me because he wasn't ready, didn't want to, hated formula/bottles and knowing he was my last baby I would have much preferred to let him decide when he was done...but I was doing very poorly health-wise and it just had to be. Sad. Still thankful that I got to nurse him at all. Its something I will always treasure as a mother!
He spent about two months on formula and then we transitioned to whole milk a little early because he tolerated it better. Overall he has liked puree's better than table food ...but we definitely went through a period of time where I felt like he didn't want to eat much more than crackers and fruit puree's. At 13 months, he does better with food now. He likes grilled cheese sandwiches, green beans, peas, bananas, grapes, chicken and noodles, tortellini, soups, bread, spaghetti and most chicken. He drinks well from a sippy cup.
A few things I want to remember:

-He refused a pacifier his entire little life until I had to wean him from the breast....the only way I could soothe him during the time we were weaning was to give him a pacifier...so from 9 months until the present he has become a complete paci baby. So funny. He will become the first child I will have to take a pacifier AWAY from! (the other boys gave them up freely around 6-7 months!)
-He slept in a swing until really recently. I mean...REALLY recently. Ha. Like until Christmas. He will now sleep in his crib through the night without much of an issue, but for a looong time we were switching him back between crib and swing throughout the night to keep him happy. Its lucky for him that he is so small!
-He has beautiful red hair and people comment on it all the time.
-He is a true mix of both of his brothers: happy 1/2 of the time; grouchy the other 1/2. You can guess  which older boy was happy most of the time and which one was grouchy most of the time :)
-He was my only child to really not sleep through the night with any constancy until recently. He still sometimes wakes up but just needs his paci put back in to get him to go back to bed.
-As long as as he has his paci and blanket, he usually does fine in the church nursery and childcare at bible study. He also does well with babysitters (mostly).
-He is as sweet as pie and likes to snuggle up and rock before bed with Josh or I :)

Surely there are more things to record and I am forgetting something ....but that's the gist of it. Noah being part of our lives is completely normal now and we can't remember our lives before him really! Although, 3 children is my max! Couldn't possibly add one more to the mix! Thankful for what I have, thankful to be done! :)

Ok, Wesley and Owen update are next! :)