Noah :: 16 Month Update

Dear Noah,

On Christmas Day you turned 16 months old! Since we've packed quite a bit into this holiday season, I thought it would only be fitting to take a few minutes to write to you about the latest happenings since my last letter. The past few months have included lots of "firsts" - your 1st haircut, 1st visit to the beach, 1st time in the snow, and 1st time visiting Santa Claus.

Before I tell you all about our Christmas, let's back up two months to Halloween. Even though this year was your second Halloween, this was your very 1st time going trick-or-treating, which made this year extra special! This year, you dressed up as an alligator, and much to our surprise, had a blast wearing your costume...even keeping your hood on! It was quite the rainy night, but between taking a ride in your wagon, and watching all of the neighborhood kids running around in their costumes, you didn't mind the rain one bit. We visited about 10 houses, and at the end of the night had your first taste of candy (a Reese peanut butter cup)!

Shortly after Halloween, we took you for your 1st haircut, which is always an exciting event for little boys. Okay, maybe not so exciting for you, but it was fun for Mommy and Daddy ;) You were a little unsure about all of it (especially the scissors!), but I'm happy to report there were no tears shed! In other news, there have been quite a few tears shed from lots and lots of teething. You've been quite the little teething machine the last few months, getting all 4 of your one-year molars, in addition to currently cutting two of your canine teeth, for a total of 14 teeth!

For Thanksgiving, we visited Daddy's side of the family in NY. We were lucky enough to get some mild weather during our visit, so we decided to take a drive out to Montauk Point (very end of Long Island), for your 1st visit to the beach, which was also your 1st time seeing the Atlantic Ocean. After our trip to NY, we headed home to start getting ready for Mommy's favorite time of year...Christmas :) 

After a month of decking the halls, lots of shopping, playing in the snow (your 1st time!), and a visit to the mall to see Santa Claus, it was finally time to celebrate Christmas in our house here in PA. We tend to travel quite a bit during the holidays, alternating trips to NC and NY for Thanksgiving and Christmas every other year, but this year, we decided to spend Christmas in our own house. We invited both sides of family to come stay with us for one big Christmas celebration. I loved waking up in our own house and watching you open your gifts under our family tree :) Santa (and your very generous grandparents!) was sure good to you this year...bringing you some pretty cool toys!

As we wrap up 2013, having watched you grow from a 4 month old baby who was just learning to sit up at the beginning of the year to a walking/talking toddler just 12 short months later, I am in awe of how very fast this year has gone by. Mommy and Daddy love you to the moon and back, and can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for our little family!

Until next time, here are some of my favorite snapshots from the past few months.

 

Having fun on the swing!

Happy Halloween!

1st haircut - before

A little unsure... 

After :)

1st time seeing the Atlantic Ocean (@ Montauk Point)

1st time in the snow!

1st time visiting Santa

Christmas card 2013

 Children's Museum fun!

Smiles :)

Merry Christmas :)

 Opening gifts on Christmas morning

 Having a ball on Christmas morning :)

(I love that you just climbed right up on this gift and flashed a big ole' smile)

SO excited for your Mickey Mouse ball pit!

Here are your latest stats:
Weight: 24 lbs, 7 oz. 
Height: 33" (93rd percentile!)  
Clothing Size: 18 months (size 4 diapers) 

I love you,

Mommy

DIY Toddler (or Baby) Reindeer Footprint Art

Winter is upon us here in Western PA. Since our outside play time is fairly limited now, I've made it my personal goal to set aside some time every day for arts & crafts with Noah. Some days we color with crayons, other days we finger paint, and when I'm feeling really ambitious, we attempt a Pinterest craft together. Notice I said attempt...craft time doesn't always go as planned with an active 14 month old ;) 

Since it was a rainy morning, and we didn't have much on our agenda, I decided to attempt one of those cute holiday footprint crafts, and this is what I came up with. 

I'm not the world's craftiest person (and I'm terrible at drawing), but this was relatively simple to complete. I picked up a thin canvas (under $4 for a 3-pack at Walmart), some paint brushes, and a pack of Crayola finger paint, and got to work. I was lucky that Noah let me paint his feet without a huge meltdown. After I got his footprints down, I let them dry completely before I painted on the antlers, facial features, and the red + green polka dots. After everything was dry, I finished it off with some Christmas ribbon (hot glued to the back) for hanging. I'm a HUGE sucker for anything Christmas, and I'm always looking for an excuse to buy more Christmas decor, so I thought why not try making my own starring my favorite toddler?!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. There were no tears, spills, or paint disasters, so I'd say this art project was a success! 

Noah :: 14 Month Update

Dear Noah,

Today you are 14 months old! You've blossomed into quite the toddler since I last wrote to you, so I thought it would be fun to check in and let you know what you've been up to these last two months.

The biggest and most exciting milestone you've reached to date (in Mommy's opinion) is walking. Yep, that's right, you are officially a walker now! You took your first steps just 3 days after turning one, but it took you some time to get comfortable with it. While you love exploring your surroundings, it is very clear that you are a cautious little one. For a few solid weeks you held steady at about 3-4 steps at a time before you eventually felt comfortable walking across an entire room all by yourself. Now, you enjoy walking all.over.the.place and have made walking your official mode of transportation :) 

Since turning one, you've added quite a few new words to your vocabulary, including "uh oh", "puppy", "bubbles", "vroom", and "bowl". Oh, and just the other day you said "no no" back to Mommy right after I told you "no" for touching a power cord. This past month you've been a little on the quiet side while you've been perfecting your walking skills, but recently you've been picking back up with your vocabulary, which has Mommy and Daddy excited to really start communicating with you.

We've been having lots of fun lately with trips to the pumpkin patch, running around in the backyard, and playing in your new play room together. We've even started a weekly Mommy + me gymnastics class, which you absolutely love, especially now that you are walking. 45 minutes of non-stop walking, running, and climbing can really wear a little guy out ;) You seem to love every minute of it though!

While the past few months have been filled with lots of fun, Daddy had to have a pretty serious operation a few weeks ago, which had him in the hospital for 5 days. It was very hard for Daddy not to be able to see you during that time. Mommy also had to be away from you quite a bit while I visited Daddy in the hospital, but luckily, you had both of your grandmas here to take extra special care of you during the times we had to be away. Thankfully, Daddy is on the mend now and is recovering very, very well! 

We are very excited for Halloween next week (we have plans to take you trick-or-treating for the 1st time) and the upcoming holiday season!

Until next time, here are some of my favorite snapshots of you from the past two months. 

Enjoying some scrambled eggs + veggies

Playing in your water table on one of the last summer days of the year

You love your fire truck! 

Saturday morning shopping is exhausting! 

You love digging for toys + books in your toy bin 

Checking out your new playroom 

Annual visit to Soergels pumpkin patch (2012 & 2013) - we think you might have enjoyed your visit a bit more this year ;) 

Pumpkin picking on a gorgeous fall morning

Pumpkin picking is very serious business ;)

Running through the backyard

I love you,

Mommy

My Favorite Toddler Feeding Esssentials

Today I wanted to share my favorite toddler feeding essentials. I love chatting with other moms and hearing about what products have worked for their little ones. In fact, some of my most favorite items have come from recommendations from other moms. Here's a look at a few of my must-have toddler feeding products. 

First Years Take & Toss Sippy Cups: After nearly 3 months of trying a gazillion different brands of sippy cups out on the market, we found the Holy Grail of sippy cups...First Years Take & Toss spill-proof cups. These cups may be one of the cheapest sippy cups available today, but seriously, these things were the only cups Noah would drink from. Go figure! He got the hang of them on pretty much the first try at around 9 months, and they've been a staple in our house ever since.

Playtex Lil' Grippers Straw Cups: I just discovered these straw cups last week, and I am absolutely amazed at how leak-proof they are. Noah has been learning how to use a straw over the last month or two, and he's been getting quite good at it. However, he still has the habit of tipping the cup back as he drinks, regardless if he's drinking out of a straw or not. We're working on breaking that habit, but in the mean time, these straw cups are great for practicing his straw-sucking skills without a leaky mess.

Re-play Divided Plates: We just recently introduced a plate to Noah, and much to our surprise, he really enjoys eating off of a plate (as opposed to just his highchair tray). I had been searching for a divided plate and stumbled upon these during an Amazon search. I'm a big advocate for offering Noah a variety of food choices during meals, and I knew that these plates would allow me to do so. I love how durable they are, and I'm a sucker for bright colors, so these plates instantly won me over. 

Neat Solutions Table Toppers: Call me a germaphobe, but I absolutely cringe at the thought of Noah eating directly off of a restaurant table top. Having worked at a restaurant during my highschool and college years, I have seen how the tables get "cleaned", and I am just not comfortable with it. I found these adorable Mickey Mouse table toppers as a great solution for Noah to eat off of when we're dining out at restaurants. They stick directly to the table on all four sides and are super easy to remove after you're finished eating.

Zoli Snack Stacker: Noah received this as a birthday gift last month, and it has been used multiple times already. I take this with me for picnics at the park or play dates at friends' houses when I need to carry his lunch with me. It's super convenient for carrying around everyday snacks, too.

What are some of your must-have baby/toddler feeding products?

Teething Remedies

I've been meaning to get back into blogging (other than Noah's monthly updates), and since Noah has recently become the proud new owner of 5 teeth, I thought I'd start off with some of our favorite teething remedies. These 5 new teeth came in all at once over the span of just about 3.5/4 weeks, so needless to say, teething has been the main topic of discussion in our household this past month. He's up to 8 teeth now, so I'm hoping we can get a little bit of a break before his one year molars come in.

First, let me start off by saying that Noah is a relatively "good" teether. Sure, he has his fussy days where it is clear that he is experiencing discomfort/pain from teething, and naturally, there are days that his naps are less than stellar...BUT I have been pretty (pleasantly) surprised that teething (for us) wasn't this horror story that I had heard so much about. I have to admit that many other moms I talked with scared.the.living.crap out of me when they would tell me horror stories of their little ones not sleeping for weeks straight, refusing meals, and warning me to expect miserable cycles of fussiness for days on end. I feel for those mamas who have a rough teething experience with their little ones. Teething is no doubt painful, but some babies get through the process more easily than others.  

While we still have 12 more teeth to go (boy, doesn't that sound daunting?!), there are definitely some teething remedies that have helped us get through those first signs of drool to those little pearly whites finally breaking through the gum line. 

Sophie, the Giraffe - Noah has been a fan of Sophie since he was 2-3 months old and could grasp a toy pretty easily. Sophie is everywhere these days, and it's pretty easy to see why, babies love her!

Nuby Bug-a-Loop Teether - We keep this teether with us at all times, and is usually our "go to" teething toy for car rides. 

Munchkin Mesh Feeder/Teether - My mother-in-law gave this to Noah in his Easter basket earlier this year, and it has been GREAT for Noah's teething pain. We typically fill it with crushed ice or frozen bananas and let Noah chew on it for a soothing "treat". He'll usually chew on it for a solid 15-20 minutes and it seems to really help for those fussy days when I can tell his teeth are really bothering him. Couple this with a little Sesame Street, and he is a happy camper ;)

Green Sprouts Apple Teether  - Noah also loves this teether since it offers a cooling sensation. While Noah will happily chew on it for several minutes, it does warm up to room temperature pretty quickly, so I can usually only get him to chew on it for 5-10 minutes max.

Hylands Teething Tablets - Thanks a TON to some of my good Mommy friends who recommended these to us. These homeopathic teething tablets are truly a lifesaver! I am fully convinced that they DO work for my little guy. I am pretty conservative when it comes to offering Noah medication, so I usually try teething tablets first (as opposed to Tylenol) for days when his teeth are really bugging him. I generally reserve teething tablets for his afternoon nap, as well as bedtime. 

What teething remedies work for your little one? I'd love to hear from other mamas about your favorite tips! 

Happy teething! :) 

 

Please note :: These teething tips are for reference only, and they are not intended to be substituted for advice from your child’s healthcare professional.

Noah :: One Year Update

Dear Noah,

This past weekend you turned ONE year old! Exactly one year ago you came into our lives as a  7 lb, 8 oz little baby, and today, you are a 22 lb soon-to-be-walking toddler who loves to explore his world. My oh my, how did an entire year fly by so fast?! I still don't think I've wrapped my head around the fact that you are ONE. That may take a few weeks to sink in.

Your two-way communication skills have continued to develop these last few months, which is very exciting! One of the more obvious milestones you've reached this past month is your ability to point to things. You started off pointing at your sippy cup whenever you wanted a drink of water, and now you love to point at whatever you happen to want/see that interests you. It seems fitting that yesterday in Target, on your 1st official full day as a toddler, you pointed to a box of Cheerios you saw on the shelf, and then proceeded to have a mini meltdown when you realized you weren't getting any Cheerios at that exact moment ;) Meltdowns aside, it's a lot of fun watching you express your wants with gestures. Besides pointing, you clap on command (or whenever you are happy or excited), give kisses to Mommy & Daddy, and you absolutely LOVE to give toys (and other objects) to others, including puppy. 

You still enjoy many of the same things I've mentioned in the previous few months, especially bath time, reading stories + turning the pages in books, clapping, climbing up the stairs, hiding in the curtains and playing peek-a-boo, playing with puppy, pushing your push toys around the house, and walks in your stroller. This past month you've developed a love for a few new things, too. You love Sesame Street, Elmo (he's your new cuddle partner during naps), brushing your teeth, drinking from a straw, and learning to feed yourself with a spoon. Your favorite foods are clearly still cheese, eggs, and yogurt.

Some of your not so favorite things include diaper changes, getting dressed, having your nose/face wiped, and you especially dislike it when Mommy tries to open your mouth to take a peek at those little teeth of yours!

Oh, and speaking of teeth, you cut another tooth today actually! You are up to 4 teeth now with 3 more on the way very soon, one of which is cutting through as we speak. 

Before we get to your big birthday celebration, Mommy just wants to say how very proud I am of you for making the switch to whole milk such a breeze! The week before your birthday we cut out your final two daytime bottles, including your morning bottle, and you barely even noticed they were gone. You now drink milk (and water) exclusively out of a sippy cup like a big boy. As of yesterday we officially said goodbye to all of your bottles! Hooray!

Okay, now for the party fun! We celebrated your 1st birthday with a circus themed backyard party with family and friends. Many of the people who played a big part of your 1st year of life were there with us to celebrate your big day. Since Mommy plans weddings & events for a living, it was a lot of fun for me to plan this special day for you. I chose a circus theme because the circus is lively and fun, and I think those two words describe you perfectly. For the decor we had a tent with hanging paper lanterns, a popcorn machine, a "sweet shoppe" with lots of goodies, balloons, and popcorn containers filled with various toys and treats for your friends to take home. Naturally, we also had a smash cake for you, which has recently become a very popular tradition during a 1st birthday bash. You were a tad cautious with the cake at first, but once you tasted the icing, you seemed to have fun playing with it. I know you likely won't remember your 1st birthday party, but I hope you are able to look back on the photos that we captured from that day to know how truly loved you are.

As I wrap up this letter, I wanted to explain the importance of these monthly letters to you. When you were still in Mommy's tummy I knew I wanted to make it a priority to sit down and write to you each month. Time flies by so quickly as we all get older, and we so often forget many of the little things that happen along the way. These letters allow me to document each month in detail. Even though this is the last monthly letter documenting your babyhood, I still plan to write to you every few months to check in. I hope you will love looking back and seeing how much you changed in just a matter of 12 short months.

Welcome to toddlerhood my sweet boy! Mommy and Daddy are SO excited to see what the toddler years have in store for you.

Until next time, here are some of my favorite snapshots from your twelfth month. 

Playing with puppy

The aftermath of using a spoon by yourself ;)

 

Turning into a little boy

Daddy snuck this photo of us, and I think it's one of my faves

Dinner on the patio 

1st time playing in the sand box

1st balloon!

Playing with Haley

Making a wish <3

 You're ONE! :)

Playgroup pals 

 Family photo

Your 1st bike!

Having fun with Mommy on your birthday!

"Official" one year photo! 

 

Here are your 12 month stats:

Weight: 22 lbs, 4 oz.
Height: 31"
Clothing Size: 12 months (still in size 3 diapers during the day, but transitioning to size 4 at night)

I love you,

Mommy

Noah :: 11 Month Update

Dear Noah,

Today you are 11 months old! Every time I sit down and write to you I think to myself how amazingly fast these days, weeks, and months are flying by. Didn't I just write your 10 month letter last week?! That's certainly what it feels like anyways. We packed quite a bit into this month and I can't wait to tell you all about our month together. But before I forget, after nearly 3.5 months with no new teeth, you finally cut your 3rd tooth last weekend! I have a feeling a few more are on their way soon, too. 

This past month it seems like you've turned into a little boy almost overnight. You are drinking from your sippy cup like a champ now and you are even learning to use a straw, too! You also decided that you were ready to say goodbye to baby food making the switch over to 3 full meals (plus a snack or two) of "big boy" food! At the moment, your favorite foods are cheese, eggs, and yogurt. Your typical menu on any given day usually looks like this:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, waffles, pancakes, toast, or yogurt (it varies, but you usually have a combo of 2 of these foods)

Lunch: Cheese (usually cheese cubes or a quesadilla), sweet potato, black beans, left-overs from dinner the night before, or sometimes Mommy shares her lunch with you if it's something that you like (and isn't too spicy...Mommy loves her hot sauce!). 

Snack: Yogurt or fruit pouch 

Dinner: You usually just eat what Mommy and Daddy have for dinner. Your favorite meal that we cook right now is tacos. We make you a little taco bar with ground beef, cheese, tortilla, black beans, and a little lettuce. You gobble it right up! 

Oh, and speaking of turning into a little boy, Mommy forgot to mention to you last month that you've started crawling up the stairs. You can climb the entire staircase in less than 30 seconds! You love climbing the stairs, especially when Daddy cheers you on from the top. You continue to cruise everywhere, but this month you've also started standing on your own without holding on to anything for a solid 10 seconds at a time! It's actually kind of entertaining, because once you realize you are standing all by yourself, you usually start laughing as you sit back down. Maybe you are just so impressed with yourself that your laughter knocks you back down? ;) Much of your attention this month has been related to standing and cruising. You are also becoming quite fast while walking with your push toys. I'm sure it won't be very long before you take those first steps!

This month we took a day trip to the Cleveland Zoo to celebrate your first 4th of July. We were originally planning on taking you up to Lake Erie to play at the beach, but since the weather forecast looked like rain, we decided to take a chance on the zoo instead. While I'm sure the beach would have been a blast, we were SO glad we ended up visiting the zoo. The Pittsburgh Zoo is much closer to home, but we haven't had the best luck with seeing many of the animals during our visits there this summer. At the Cleveland Zoo you were able to see so many more animals...some of them really close up, too! We ate lunch right next to the lions and you even got to see Mommy feed a giraffe! Pretty cool, huh? The rain held off and we had a fantastic day together!  

We also took another day trip this month to Idlewild, an amusement park for kids. You are still a bit too young to really appreciate the park, or ride most of the rides, but we still had a fun day regardless. You did, however, get to ride the choo-choo train and the carousel (2x!). You were a little unsure about the carousel, but you loved riding the train. We also got to play at the water park with you, which you absolutely LOVED. You had a blast splashing in the baby pool and playing with all of the sprayers. You were actually quite brave for being just a little guy with lots of older kids running around. Mommy and Daddy were pretty impressed with how fearless you seemed around the water. 

Last month, I wrote about many of your current favorite things (and not so favorite things). You actually still like/dislike most of the things I mentioned from last month, but there are a few more things to add to that list for this month. One of your new favorite things to do is to give toys to us. It's still somewhat spontaneous, but you will hand things over when we ask if you feel like it ;) We've caught you trying to give your toys to the puppy, too, which absolutely melts our hearts! Sharing with others is so, so important, and Daddy and I hope that you will grow into a very giving little boy. 

Well, kiddo, it looks like you're waking up from your nap as we speak (we're off to story time today), so on that note, I'll wrap things up and just say I love you. 

Until next time, here are some of my favorite snapshots from your eleventh month. 

It's fun to clap! :)

This face melts my heart <3

4th of July at the Cleveland Zoo

You, Daddy & the polar bear

(and the battle of keeping the hat on)

Bubbles in the pool

Riding the carousel at Idlewild

Playing at Idlewild

Water park fun!

Busy days make for tired babies

Monkey'ing around :)

Taunting the dog ;)

Fun afternoon at the park with friends

Mommy's grocery shopping buddy

Standing on your own!

(finally standing long enough to snap a pic)

 Happy guy :)

No official height/weight stats this month, but we did take a quick weight check using our home scale, and you weigh about 21 lbs. Still in 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

I love you,

Mommy