July 31st Professional stander

Noah is becoming quite a pro at standing. He pulls up on anything he can and he thinks it's so funny. James lowered his crib (at 3am last night because he wasn't home before Noah went to bed and when Noah woke up for a midnight binkie replacement he decided it would be much more fun to play the stand up/parent lay me back down again game until James adjusted his bed.)
Although frustrating while bleary eyed, its actually pretty funny and endearing. For some reason Noah really gets a kick out of being laid down after standing. He lays down with binkie and lovie, his eyes get heavy and he looks all comfy; but the minute you take your hand off of him he smiles around the binkie, flips over to his tummy super fast and laughs while he scrambles up to stand. He must have repeated that over 50 times between yesterday's nap failure and during the middle of the night last night. Stinker! But now that his crib is lowered, standing in his crib doesn't seem as much fun (aka dangerous) so hopefully that game will stop. Knock on wood.....

These pictures crack me up. Normally he doesn't have a problem pulling his feet in closer together but tonight he just stood there this way, with his little thighs shaking. I just love him so much.

July 30th Uh oh, time to

lower Noah's crib mattress!

Noah thought standing up in his crib was so much fun that he wouldn't take his afternoon nap today. Even though he was clearly tired, every time I left the room he would stand up and 'jump' and laugh. Thank goodness for our video monitor. We played a not so fun game of me laying him back down only for him to get right back up again the second I left for over an hour.
Today was also the first day he fell asleep in his high chair while eating dinner, go figure.

July 29th Noah the standing boy

We got this great baby gate today thanks to Craigslist. Its perfect because he is unable to climb up on it. We also got him a new toy (also used, from the awesome Tummies to Tots consignment store - we were there looking for gates). This standing piano can lock in place or be used as a walker. He LOVES to stand up. He lets me know when he wants my hand to come down back to the floor by giving his scared little "hauh uh hauh uh" but he can stand and play for 5-10 minutes at a time no problem. I placed lots of random soft stuff (pillows, a boppi, and a giant Elmo lol) around to help soften his falls, so hopefully that will help if he takes a tumble. Our tile floors sure do make me nervous!

July 28th We need a bigger baby gate!

Now that Noah is a super speedy swim crawler, I've been trying to prevent him from getting out of the family/play room. We already moved the couch weeks ago to block one entry into the kitchen, so that it takes twice as long for Noah to get to the dog food and water, but he's gotten so fast that he can now get there in less time than a quick bathroom trip.
The other way out of the family room is too big for our small wooden baby gate, so I tried to improvise by putting the ottoman in the way. It didn't exactly work - in fact, it made him more interested in climbing up on the ottoman.

July 27th Happy boy/crazy hair

How great is his crazy hair today?? If he was a girl I would love putting it into a Pebbles like pig tail! Too funny.

July 25th Watching TV with Dad

Noah enjoyed watching some of Toy Story 2 with James today. Apparently James enjoyed it too, I heard him laugh quiet a few times.

July 23rd spaghetti smiles

Noah likes making this lovely face lately. So silly!

AND today he fully pulled him self into the standing position by pulling up on the couch and James' shirt. Yikes! I worry about him falling on our tile floor.

July 22nd New discoveries

Wow this picture is dark, I didn't check my camera settings, whoops!
Noah has discovered a new fun "toy." He really enjoyed climbing up on the dishwasher door and smacking it. Kid loves percussion.

July 21st Hey now

It seems like Noah thinks that now that he is 11 months old he can try to stand up on things. Who knows, he may go from army crawling to walking and never crawl the 'right' way.

July 20th Noah is 11 months old!

I can't believe our little man is only one month away from being 1 years old! It feels so weird planning his birthday party, it feels like it was only a few months ago that we were throwing his One Month Meet the Baby BBQ. He is losing his baby face and looking more and more toddler like each day!


Progression pics:

July 19th Noah the BIG BROTHER!

Noah is very excited to announce that he is going to be a big brother! Baby brother or sister is expected February 16!

Today was a special and fun day. We went to the doctor and Noah got to see the baby on the screen and hear his/her heartbeat. I made this shirt so Noah can show how proud he is (apparently Babies R Us doesn't make "Big Brother" shirts small enough to fit an 11 month old, go figure). And he even got to spend quality time with Papa Ray and Linda while Mommy and Daddy went to a celebratory dinner.

Having two kiddos 18 months apart is going to be hard work, but it will be a wonderful and fun ride. Baby Collins the Sequel is very, very lucky to have Noah as a big brother.

July 18th Lovely new toy box

Papa Ray and Grandma Linda gave Noah a very special early birthday present, this beautiful toy box that matches our living room entertainment built in. It will be a long time before he can get toys out himself, but it sure helps de-clutter our living room in a stylish way! :)

July 17th New tooth

Noah's 4th tooth is sprouting, his upper left, and it is causing him some crankiness and pain. Poor little dude.

July 16th Smiley boy

July 15 Little climber

Noah also enjoys 'climbing' me anytime he has the chance. He's getting strong!

July 14th ladda ladda ladda la

Noah has been moving his tongue back and forth saying 'ladda ladda ladda la,' I think it is because he is getting a new tooth or two. I caught a little bit of it in this video, although he doesn't really make his silly noise. Such a cutie.

July 13th Pulling up

Noah has started to show the desire to pull up on things, yikes!


Side note: It is Papa Ray and Grandma Linda's 43rd wedding anniversary today! Happy Anniversary!

July 7th - 12th Camping!!!

Noah went camping for the first time, and he did great! I think he really enjoyed it. He loved having tons of family and friends there. Papa Ray and Grandma, Papa Jim and Nama Barb, Aunt Denise, Ray and Shelly, and ALL 4 of his cousins, which was another first! I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have, which is shocking. But here are a few from our first family camping trip:






View from the boat, looking back at the shore, you can really only see about a fifth of our cove. Such a great camp site.