Noah's 7 Month Update

Noah babes,

“Noah babes” is what Sophia has started calling you and it is so sweet. She is going to be such a good mommy some day. This month was fairly uneventful in terms of activities we did, but you’re still growing.

You can officially sit up on your own now and play more intentionally with your toys. Occasionally, you’ll fall backwards, but for the most part, you can hold yourself up. You are reaching for and grabbing everything in sight; you’re so curious.

January 29th, we moved your crib into Sophia’s room and the transition went so much better than we expected. So far, Sophia hasn’t climbed into your crib or disturbed you during the night. Ironically, you’re the one waking Sophia up. She has frequently said “Noah kept me awake.” I forgot how noisy babies are when they sleep, as I had gotten used to your noise. When you wake up early (before 6 AM), sometimes Sophia will start yelling for us to come because you’re crying. We give you the binky and Sophia goes back to bed. We are so proud of you both.

For some reason you’ve also been waking up around 4 or 5 every other day. It could be from teething or maybe you’re starting the 8 month regression a little bit early. You’re frequently waking Sophia up, so once I had to put you in the travel crib in the living room so the rest of us could sleep. When you go through sleep regressions it will be interesting to see how the room sharing goes.

Around February 10th we noticed you aggressively sucking on toys and your hands and were pretty sure this was you teething. Sure enough, on the 18th your very first bottom tooth popped through. We cannot wait to see what you will look like with itty bitty teeth.

You’re taking 3 (occasionally 4) naps per day and your first nap has been extended to 1.5-2 hours. It’s so nice having that chunk of time to either get important work tasks accomplished or to take a long nap myself. ;)

I’ve heard it said that when you have your first child, you realize how little time you have for yourself; when you have your second child, you realize how much time you actually did have for yourself with your first kid. I’m still trying to find the balance of being a mom, wife, and my own person.

When I was writing Sophia’s blog updates, they were usually done a few days before she hit the next month. With yours, I’m scrambling to compile all my words and photos a few days after you’ve hit the next month. Gone are the days with (seemingly) endless free time, but I’m very grateful that I get to use my time to steward you and Sophia.

We are starting to teach you some sign language: milk, eat, more, and sleep. All the necessities. ;) Occasionally, you’ll recognize the sign for milk and start breathing faster, which is what you do when I’m about to nurse you.

Eating solids has been going well. At the beginning, you preferred to eat from a spoon versus your hands, and you were actually able to bring the pre-loaded spoon to your mouth. Towards the end of the month you figured out how to use your hands better. You’ll dip your fingers in yogurt / soup and then suck on your fingers.

January 28th, we celebrated Sophia’s 3rd birthday with our friends by decorating cupcakes. It’s always so fun to have all of our friends in one place together. You loved all the attention you received. We also had a few different play dates this month (Daniel and Sebastian); went to a super bowl party; and played at the park when it wasn’t raining.

Mommy and Daddy’s cousin, Heidi, and her kids visited from the Seattle area and met you and Sophia for the first time. It was nice to catch up with our family.

Valentine’s Day we all dressed up in festive clothes. You and I volunteered at Sophia’s preschool party and all the little kids loved you. We also ate pizza for dinner with heart-shaped pepperoni. Sophia got lots of cute valentine’s and candy, but she doesn’t like when you take her cards. Dad and I were able to go to our church’s marriage intensive and have a few kid-free hours to spend together. It was so good!

It feels like forever ago that you were born but also like it was just yesterday. We are so very blessed to have you as a part of our family. You are such a light and joy to be around. Thank you for all the love you’ve brought to our family. God knew we needed you.

Love,

Mom and Dad