Seperation Anxiety

I know what your thinking.  Nope, I’m not talking about Noah.  It’s me.  Mommy is suffering from some serious seperation anxiety!    I am a stay-at-home mommy now…it’s what I do and what I love.  I can’t imagine doing anything else as important as this job I have now.  Needless to say I am the one usually with Noah except for the occasional daddy and Noah time out.  The longest we have left him is a couple hours with Gary’s parents while we had some dinner.  Until now. 

 

 Tomorrow we are going to the first Ohio State football game of the season!  WOOHOO! We are excited to get out there and have some Buckeye fun and spend some time together….but I have to admit I am a bit nervous (that is an understatement) about leaving Noah for such a long period of time.  Gary’s sister and her family are kind enough to come to our house to babysit Noah while we are at the game and I totally trust them and know he will be in fantastic hands…..but the seperation anxiety has set in.  Last night I even had a bad dream about leaving him and today I have been teary when talking about leaving him.  I know, I know, I know….how ridiculous.  I can hear my mom now saying "Aubre, you need to get away and have some adult time".  I can’t help it though.  Please tell me there are other mommies out there who are like me??

 

I think once we actually get out the door and away from the house I will be fine.  I think.  I know he will have fun with Aunt Dawn and Uncle John and his cousins.  I have prepared his lunch and it is in the fridge already.  I have checked and re-checked all our baby safety features to make sure the house is secure.  I have made sure the cell phone is plugged in and charged.  What can I say….I’m pathetic. 

 

I will end with this thought.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Gary for working so hard and allowing me to quit my job and be home with Noah.  All this trauma over a football game…can you imagine if I had to take him to daycare?    

14 Months…

  Our little man is 14 months old now and there have been a lot of changes going on in our household.  I was laying in bed with him last night thinking of all the exciting developmental changes Gary and I have noticed in the past month. 

 

  What is Noah doing at 14 months?

 

– Points to the sky when he hears an airplane or when mommy or daddy say "airplane"

– Knows where his nose is and can point to it.  He also knows his tummy, feet, eye and head….but doesn’t always point to the right part!

– Is getting much more interested in books and can sit still long enough for mommy or daddy to read several.  His favorite right now is "Good Morning Farm"

– Loves to brush his teeth (yay for that!).  When we say "do you want to brush your teeth" he comes into the bathroom, takes his paci out and opens his mouth really wide!

– Hates being dressed or having his diaper changed

– Loves taking his liquid vitamins!

– When he gets excited he does "happy feet" and stamps his feet quickly

– Trys to say "grandpa, grandma, mom, dada, dad, Daisy" and knows alot more words than he says. 

    I talk to him in sentances during the day and he reacts correctly to a lot o what I say.  It always amazes me!

– Loves loud trucks, motorcycles, and emergency vehicles

– Loves to push and ride in his fancy car

– Grabs our finger when he wants to show us something or take us somewhere to play

– Loves riding in his infant carseat (yep, he is still in the infant carseat since he is so small!)

– Loves going to the zoo and is now very interested in the animals and aquarium.

– Loves going to COSI Science Center and playing in the Kidszone.  He especially loves the water tables where he can splash to his heart’s content

– Is a VERY picky eater.  He doesn’t like much meat and tends to like something one day and not the next.  He is now drinking whole milk (YAY!) and loves it.  He still eats some puree’s that mommy makes (banana is a favorite). He loves yogurt.

– Is still co-sleeping with mommy and daddy….and we all still love it.  He is going to bed now around 8:30 and is doing so much better at sleeping alone so mommy and daddy can get a little time to ourselves.

– Still is taking 2 naps a day (WOOHOO!).  He loves when I lay down with him!

– Loves when mommy sings him songs before bed and throughout the day

– Is a big daddy’s boy these days and cry’s when daddy leaves for work

– Loves riding on the back of daddy’s bicycle in the big boy seat!

– Loves to be in the pool…..especially splashing!

– Is becoming very independent in his play

– Is very good at throwing various size balls!  Do we have a future baseball player on our hands?

– Loves ice cream and begs for it if mommy and daddy have it

– Is not afraid of dogs at all…..and loves to play on, around, under, and with his doggy sisters

– Babbles all the time!  He is a chatterbox and loves to tell us things….if only we could understand!

– Loves to go for walks with mommy and daddy and the dogs in his Ergo carrier

– Loves being outside and getting dirty….he can find the dirt pile, water puddle, or various other dirty substances instantly!

– Is walking like a champ and runs when he gets excited

– Is starting to wean off breastfeeding.  A bit sad for mommy but he seems ready.  He is down to only night feedings.

– Comes and lays his head on my lap when he’s tired

– Has 8 teeth now!

– Waves when you say "bye bye" or "hi"

-He has already had 2 haircuts with a third coming today!

-He loves playing the "1,2,3 game".  Mommy or daddy count  and then on "3" we tickle him or make funny faces.  He chuckles and gets excited.

-He has the most precious belly laugh that just makes you smile

-He has been drinking out of sippy cup all by himself for about 6 months

-Freaks out and cries like crazy when I go in the shower!  He thinks I disappear into the wall!

-Loves to snuggle and get hugs when he first wakes up

-Is pointing at everything he sees

-Loves the TV remote control

-Is very good at going up stairs….it is a challenge still to come down

 

Better than Starbucks? YES!

I don’t remember the last time I went to Borders Bookstore.  Today I was cleaning out my wallet and found a Borders giftcard that I had forgotten about!  So off I went with my giftcard in hand….oh me oh my what can I spend my whole $5 giftcard on at Borders?  COFFEE!  I found that Borders, much like Barnes and Noble, has a coffee shop inside their store.  BUT instead of Starbucks they had a Seattle’s Best Coffee shop.  I am a Starbucks Frappachino lover but thought I would give their frozen drinks a try.

 

ATTENTION STARBUCKS FRAPPACHINO LOVERS:  BORDERS DRINKS ARE TO DIE FOR!!!  I had a Chocolate Crunch frozen drink and I swear to you it was the best frozen drink I have ever had!  It had the consistency of the Frappachino but so much more flavor.  Simply fantastic.  It had tons of chocolate covered espresso beans blended up in the drink and was just so rich and full of flavor…..and gave a nice caffeine pep for the afternoon.   Yum Yum Yum.  You must get out and try one if you have a Borders nearby.  Let me know how you like it!  I promise you will be going out of your way to find a Borders in the future!

Zoo, Dogs, Biking, Playing with Mommy

  It was a busy afternoon and evening for Noah!  First we went to the zoo.  It was a bit of a drizzly day here in Ohio and as most of you know I LOVE the rain!!  So, we headed out to the zoo knowing it would be dead today and we could have the place to ourselves.  This was definitely the case…Noah had the run of the zoo! 

 

After getting home, he spent the afternoon playing with his dog sisters.  He is so funny with them lately.  He loves to "ride" Ebony…she is so very tolerant, and he gets a kick out of Daisy rolling on her back.  He also has started the "get mommy" game….he roars at me as he is running after me then throws his arms up and lands on me full force.  He of course giggles at himself and does it again!  A very fun game.

 

 I am home alone right now…..woohoo!  Daddy took Noah on a "guys" bike ride so mommy could have a little down time.  I have spent my free time blogging of course….and playing with my new facebook account (it is so addicting!).

 

Maybe he will be a jockey when he grows up?  Notice in the second picture that Ebony is sleeping through the "ride" fun.

 

This is supposed to be where the dog food bowls go.  Noah got himself in a pickle and couldn’t get out.

 

Daisy is so fun to play with!  Yes, he IS sticking his finger up his nose.  It’s a new trick.

 

I will get you mommy!

 

GOT YOU!

 

Away Noah goes with Daddy for a "just guys" bike ride!

 

After the Rain and Silly Stuff

  Yesterday it finally rained here in Ohio.  It has been a LONG time since we had rain and it was so exciting to see it falling outside.  Noah was tired of being inside most of the day and was ready to go play outside after the rain!

 

"Painting" with the rain water

 

His doggy sisters were watching him closely

 

He pushed his car all the way down the street….then got tired and needed a ride home!  You will notice some masking tape on the side door of the car….that is to keep the little guy inside the car!  He likes to open the door when he is being pushed around!

 

My beautiful sunflowers!  They are HUGE!  The one on the left is so heavy it can’t stand up on it’s own anymore.

 

My little angel napping yesterday.  Look at his new Gatlinburg T-shirt!

 

I was in the kitchen yesterday and didn’t hear Noah so I went to the living room to see what he was doing.  I found him like this….

 

Here are some silly faces from breakfast this morning!  Look at all those toofers!!

Co-sleeping Notes

We have been co-sleeping with Noah now for 14 months.  Although we didn’t plan on this sleeping arrangement in the beginning, I can’t imagine anything different now.  I was just laying with Noah for his nap thinking about all the things I love about co-sleeping….

 

 – when he snuggles up to me and holds my arm to fall asleep

 

– when I wake up at night to see him snuggled with his daddy

 

– when Gary and I wake to him smiling and chattering

 

– when I sing to him and his eyes get so heavy he can’t hold them open

 

-feeling his sweet little hand on my back

 

-hanging out in bed in the morning with him and reading his "Morning Farm" book

 

– feeling his warm little feet in the winter on my legs

 

– when he lays his head right next to my head to go to sleep

 

-when he sings his special songs as he’s going to sleep

 

-I love to run my hand through his beautiful blond hair while he is sleeping

 

– I love to watch him sleep.  His sweet face is so peaceful and precious

 

– I love having him between Gary and I and knowing that he is feeling so secure and loved

 

– I love his sweet baby smell and how it fills our bedroom after he’s had a bath

Just Too Cute

I have some cute pictures from the last couple days of my little man.  He is getting so independent these days!  He loves to go around and play with his toys and tools and especially loves to play with his sisters!  Take a look….

 

My little helper loves to vaccuum!

 

Playing in his tool box!

 

My sweetie playing with his favorite Daisy doggie

 

 

OUCH!  The picture looks worse than the actual event.  If you look close you can see the chair caught on the window sill preventing a big OUCHIE for Noah.  Thank you to Noah’s guardian angel!  He ended up being just fine!

 

Playing with Grandma and Grandpa before they left to go home

Cleaning and more cleaning!

We spent the day today cleaning Dawn and John’s new house.  Gary’s parents arrived in town from Gatlinburg today and were there to help too.  With everyone working most of the day today we finally finished cleaning the house and it is ready for the movers to get stuff in tomorrow!  YAY!  It is such an awesome house full of unique accents.  Grandpa spent the afternoon entertaining Noah so that Gary and I could focus on heavy duty cleaning (Thank You Grandpa!).  Noah even with a little bit of the cleaning! 

 

Before I get to the pictures of the cleaning today….look at my beautiful sunflowers in our front yard.  I planted them as just itty bitty seeds!

 

Look at my big helper!

 

Cleaning Dawn and John’s House today

 

More cleaning!

Happy to be Home

  We are happy to he home!  We got home yesterday afternoon…a little bit earlier than we had anticipated but it was nice to have time to get stuff done.  Noah rode the entire trip (7 hours) with hardly a peep!  He slept most of the way and was just sooooo good for mommy and daddy on the long car ride.  It was nice to get home and get of the car and stretch our legs AND see our doggies!!  The dogs were so happy to see us and especially happy to see their little brother!  Noah was also thrilled to see his doggie sisters and spent nearly 2 hours just running around the house hugging them, petting them. chasing them, and just enjoying his house and toys.  It was really cute.

 

We spent today at Dawn and John’s new house!  They drove straight through the night to arrive home early early early this morning.  They are moving into their new house in the next couple days so we spent the afternoon helping them clean the new house.  Noah and daddy took a nice walk so mommy could roll up her sleeves and get some serious cleaning done.  Gary’s parents will arrive tomorrow and we all will be back over at the new house helping to get it spic-n-span for the move in Monday.  We are so very excited for them and this big move.  The house is fantastic…full of lots of charm and unique features.  I will take some pictures tomorrow.

 

Noah is sleeping.  Poor baby has a bit of a cold and is stuffy.  We think it might be from the chilly mountain water.  Hopefully it won’t get worse.

 

 

Clingman’s Dome, Old Time Pics, Family Dinner

 We started out our day with a drive through the Smokies to Clingman’s Dome.  This is a fairly quick hike on a paved path to the top of the mountain (a  half mile 330 foot ascent from the parking lot) to a viewing tower.   Marge, Ron, Gary, Noah and I (The Swartz family went on a much harder hike) started our climb to the top where the viewing tower was and quickly mentioned to eachother that we were amazed at how steep the climb was!  Gary was pushing a sleeping Noah in his stroller and it was quite a job getting the stroller up the mountain.  We made our way to the top and Noah woke up and wanted to walk the rest of the way up to the tower all by himself! 

 

On our way into the park:

 

Clingman’s Dome.  This is the tower at the top of the mountain after hiking up the steep .5 mile incline:

 

Walking up to the tower.  You can see in the last picture how windy it was…look at little Noah’s almost blowing away!  It was a chilly 61 degrees at the tower.

 

A beautiful view from the tower.  You can see in the second picture that we were above the tree tops!

 

  We all went to a local old time photo shop in Gatlinburg.  It was fun dressing up!!  Sorry for the bad picture but I had to take a picture of the photo they gave us.

(Back: Gary, Emily, Alan, Dawn, John.   Front: Noah, Aubre, Marge, Ron)

 

We all had dinner together at a local BBQ restaurant.  Noah was having so much fun playing with the menu that he forgot about the cracker in his mouth!

 

We all walked around Gatlinburg after dinner.  We visited a build-a-bear workshop where Emily had a bear made….Noah and Daddy enjoyed the trick mirror!

 

"Life is like a box of chocolates…."