Baby's First...

...Haircut!
Before pics:

He started off strong:

A little wary of the lady, but doing okay...

Until she actually started touching him...then we had to pull out all the stops. Music and Cheerios.

Then he did much better...

Now we have a handsome, clean-cut boy! 

13 Months!

I don't have fun monthly stickers for Noah's onesies anymore. But we'll mark the day anyway. :)

Noah and I took another trip to Lebanon this weekend. Matthew's 1st birthday was last week so we went to celebrate with him. Daniel is in San Diego so he didn't get to join us.

Updates...let's see...we got a physical therapy appointment scheduled. But then I cancelled it. :) In the state of Missouri, a child has to demonstrate greater than 50% delay in an area to qualify for therapy. Well, we knew he wouldn't qualify but we had hoped the therapist could give us some tips at the evaluation. But in the 3 weeks it took to get it all scheduled, Noah had a spurt. He started cruising with just one hand, bending down to pick up toys, and walking just holding one hand. He also finally got himself into sitting! At first it was just observed in his crib (maybe I mentioned this last week...) but now he's doing it consistently. We find him sitting or standing up in his crib all the time now! Then I had an interesting conversation at daycare last week...
Caretaker: How is Noah doing with walking at home?
Me: Oh, fine. He's cruising and walking just holding one hand...why? What's wrong?
Caretaker: Oh, nothing!
Me: He took steps, didn't he?!
Caretaker: No! Huh-uh! No!
But I knew he did. She finally confessed that he took two steps on his own this week. So exciting, but it was his first "first" that I missed, so I was a little sad. But so proud of our little guy! So far it hasn't been repeated, but we know it will be quick in coming!

Noah starts a new daycare tomorrow. We have absolutely loved the daycare where he goes now, but he has been on a waitlist for the daycare at my hospital. It will be more convenient and the caretakers all have degrees in child development. We had our orientation meeting last week and aren't completely convinced that we will love it, but we weren't convinced we would love the last one. We will just have to give it a chance and see what happens. I have a few worries (don't I always??)...for one, they only give the little guys one nap for about an hour and a half in the afternoons. Noah would still take 3 naps a day if we would let him, so I'm concerned that we will have an ultra grumpy baby on our hands in the evenings. Not great timing with Daniel gone all this week! They also take naps on cots, which will be a new thing for our little guy. Send up some prayers if you think of us this week! Transitions are always tricky.

The feeding is going a little better on some days. Noah still doesn't love eating solid food fruits and vegetables. We asked the pediatrician about restarting the reflux medicine, but he didn't think that was necessary (bummer--that would have been an easy fix). But tonight he did eat pieces of grapes and blueberries cut into fourths and some chopped broccoli. It's hit or miss, and I tend to get really frustrated on the miss days, but I was so excited on today's hit day! :)

Enjoy our latest pictures!

Click here for all of Noah's one year pictures. It should take you to Walgreens, and then you can order prints if you want. Thanks to Melanie Cole for taking them!

Hmmm...what's for dinner? 

Whatever it was, it was delicious! 

Noah tries really hard to figure out how to make the bike move. His legs just aren't quite long enough, but he loves it! 

Thanks for the birthday present, Grandma and Grandpa Sampson!

Crackers taste even better on Grandma's lap! 

Eating cupcakes at Matthew's birthday party. We had one that looked like Cookie Monster! It was adorable. And delicious. Noah got a cute dimple-filled grin after each bite. 

Noah and Matthew playing with Matthew's new train. This toy was definitely a favorite! 

Trying to share, but sizing each other up. 

Once they decided it was safe to share, they took turns pushing each other around the fellowship hall. There was plenty of room, and they both liked riding and pushing so it was fun for them, and it was adorable to watch. Noah wasn't too patient when we had to pause to change directions, but other than that they had a great time! 

Happy Birthday, Matthew! Thanks for letting us celebrate with you!

Sneak Peaks

Of Noah's one year photo shoot. More to come soon, we hope!

In the meantime, we've been battling Noah's 4th (I think--I've lost track...) illness since starting daycare. So Daniel stayed home with Noah again Friday (Daniel's getting really good at taking care of that sweet boy when he's sick!) and we're hoping he's cleared up enough to go to daycare again tomorrow.
We are celebrating new milestones this week. Noah finally got himself up to sitting! It's only been in his crib so far, and we've only caught it via video monitor, but it's a start!!
We also got to spend some time with my group of close girlfriends from high school last night, which was so fun. 10 years later and we still enjoy each other's company--I did anyway! Hopefully one of them will send me a photo soon...since I didn't take any. Oops.