Learning to count

Noah, counting coins as he's putting them in his piggy bank:

"...seeeeven, eeeeight, niiiine, ten!, fourteeen, nineteen, twentyeleven, twelve, four, sixteen...Daddy, what comes after sixteen?"

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen, twenty, eight..."

Not fooled

I was playing with Noah at the park, and chasing him around the playground (which he loves) and pretending I was a Halloween monster.

He stopped and looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "You not a monster, Daddy, you Daddy!"

So I ate the rest of his candy.

Mastitis

So I came down with mastitis this morning. This is the first time I've had it with E. Not fun. Mr. busy is too distracted to nurse well when there is a lot going on. Apparantly afraid he'll miss something. Charlie was here yesterday and we were on the go all day.

Anyway, because of said mastitis I dug out the breastpump after E nursed. I never pump and so Noah was curious about what it was. It was so funny. I told him it was a pump to get my milk out. He said in the most hilarious way "Don't put it on me!". It was so funny!

Then he said "That probably is COOL!" It was so cute! I told him "Yes Noah actually it is cool. God made our bodies to make the perfect milk for our babies to grow strong and healthy. And all mommy's have it for free. It IS really cool!" I'm glad he gets that at three.

What is not cool, is having mastitis on Halloween and staying in bed with a fever, chills and aches while Paul took the kiddos trick or treating in Brookside sans mama :(

Face painting

It all started out innocently enough with the kids painting

Not sure whose idea this was to attack Paul
I'm glad Paul is a fun and laid back kind of dad
But, he did manage to get Noah a little too :)

Hudson & Addison got cleaned up by their dad before I got a chance to snap their pics.

Oink

Noah is recovering from possible H1N1. We aren't entirely sure. He only ran high fevers for 2 days. And a low grade one for half another day. Usually with the H1N1 it lasts longer and we are surprised if it was H1N1 Elliot would have escaped it. But, so far he's only had a runny nose (which actually started before Noah got sick). Noah had a croupy cough for 2 days, but now it's a productive cough and he's congested. And just not 100%. He's sleeping on the couch right now. Thank God!

Our pediatrician only has limited quantities of the nasal mist vaccine now for H1N1. They are only giving it to pregnant moms, healthcare workers so far. But, soon hopefully they'll get more in. And some for babies too (babies can't have the nasal mist; it's a live virus). Since we aren't sure Noah had it, we definately plan on vax'ing him just in case. And of course Elliot, who I would be most concerned with if he caught it being so small. Us too, if we can get it.

This pig fever stuff is for the birds. Er, I mean pigs.

ETA -
Here is a great article about the H1N1 vaccine. A lot of moms seem to be scared of getting a "brand new vaccine", but it really is the same as the seasonal flu shot. Good read.

http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/

We were getting close to the bakery

We were at the grocery store today (getting pretty close to the bakery where they usually have free cookie samples) and Noah suddenly told me. "Mommy, I like your head, eyes and teeth!"

Elliot Henry is 9 months old!

I can't believe it, either. He's growing up entirely too fast! 9 months is a pretty fun age. Some of my favorite things about this age:

• He is so active and into e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g! I love hearing the thump thump of him crawling so fast across the floor. Even though it's a tiring stage, it's so fun to see him fascinated with such simple things and watch him explore.


• He is so happy to just play independently much of the time. Especially in the mornings when Noah is still in bed, and he has free reign over all the toys. He tears up the room and it is a total disaster before Noah even wakes up.


• He is such a happy baby. All you have to do is look at him and he just smiles SO big and sometimes even laughs. Just out of joy to see us. I love him so much!


• He also loves music. I promise to videotape him "dancing" this week and post it. He sits down and if any music starts he does this little rock thing. HYSTERICAL! If he's fussy all I have to do is start singing and he will stop.


• He loves his big brother. Even though Noah pesters him about 50% of the time and loves on him the other 50%, Elliot just loves his big bro.


• He is laid back. He is happy to go on a stroller ride. Be worn. Crawl around and play. Ride in his carseat. Be held by anyone.


• He's a great eater. He eats anything I give him. Even spinach. And broccoli. Still working on table foods though and mostly eating purreed babyfood.


• He is the cutest baby in the whole world. Seriously.

I have come to the conclusion the reason he isn't sleeping through the night and naps inconsistently, is because it is just too much pressure to be the world's most perfect baby. That's a lot to take on for a 9 month old.

Weight: 21lbs 11 oz (50-75%)

Height: 28 1/4" (25-50%)

Head: 46 1/2 cm (75-90%)

Loving my new double stroller

I pushed Noah to use his stroller as long as I could. Finally at a year and a half I decided to embrace the fact he prefers to be active and we let him walk. Even at that young age, he'd actually walk with us on our walks to Brookside crossing major intersections holding our hands. Granted he had to stop and point to the birds and leaves and it wasn't that good of exercise for us, but he loved exploring. By the time he was two, he was riding a tricycle. Before he was three he was riding a bike. So the thought of getting a double stroller, wasn't something I planned on doing.

Recently though, Noah thinks it's kind of fun to ride sometimes. He would ride in the footrest of our jogging stroller when I was pushing Ed. I decided to embrace this newfound willingness to ride and use it to my advantage. Paul got me a double jogger and I love it! It is nice to just go fast sometimes and not have to make a big production at looking both ways for cars at each intersection. Sometimes I just want the exercise for myself.

Both boys fell asleep today when we were out walking Wally. If only it hadn't been at 6pm and I could have let them sleep and enjoyed some quiet time...... :)

No more baby baths

This is a FUN milestone! Elliot is now big/old/strong enough to ditch the baby bath and take baths with Noah. Elliot loves it so much more. Now he can play and splash and move around. It's tiring though because he wants to pull himself up and stand, so we are constantly making him sit back down.

I wasn't sure how Noah would feel about having a much shallower bath, since we let him have a lot of water normally, but he likes playing with E too, and he's been really good about sharing his bath toys. We've gradually been able to push Elliot's bedtime later so we can do our bath/bedtime routines with both boys together. It's so much nicer!

Jello. A lesson in patience.

Noah pulled out a box of Jello from the pantry this morning, so I told him he could help me cook it.

Waiting for Jello to set is very hard for a 3 year old boy. Very hard.