Happy Halloween!

Hayride and Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took Noah to Oakes Farm, outside of Knoxville, to go on a hayride and pick out some pumpkins. They have a couple of fun Corn Mazes there too, but we'll wait and do that another year. We had the best day! The weather was perfect and Noah loved seeing the corn fields and all the pumpkins. He just loves being outside and loves just observing things. When he's outside, the normally talkative, energetic and feisty Noah turns docile and serene when he's outside. He enjoyed the hayride for about the first 2 minutes, then he fell sound asleep, I guess from the tractor noise and all the bumping around.

On another note, we saw the biggest dog we've ever seen in our entire lives...a 270+ pound English mastiff! (I just found this pic of an English Mastiff on the web, it's not the exact same dog we saw yesterday). Huge would be an understatement! His name was "Sheriff" and his owners had 2 young girls who were walking him on a leash. He was just following them wherever they went...funny stuff.

Noah also has 2 teeth coming in, so his gums have been bothering him quite a bit the past week. He loves drinking out of our glasses at dinner (or anytime) and it's funny to hear his little teeth clanking against the glass when he drinks. What's his favorite thing to "chew" on to relieve the gum pain?? The tv stand of course!



Here are some pictures from our day at Oakes Farm:

8 Months Old Today!

Noah is 8 Months Old today! As I write this, I can't even believe it. It truly seems like he grows, learns, and expands his curiosity every single day. The joy that he gives Tyra and I can only be felt, and not explained...as with any parent/child relationship.

This past month, he has gone from trying so, so hard to crawl...to now motoring around the house, from room to room, with ease. His "Curious George" side has emerged, as he has enjoyed discovering Gabi's water bowl, waving and giving high-fives, and yesterday he pulled up and stood up on his own for the very first time by himself. He was standing up in his crib yesterday morning when we went in to get him up and last night (as seen in the video), he did it over and over again in his Pack 'N Play, which has come in handy again!

He's discovered a love for playing with wrapping paper and gift bags in the morning while Tyra gets ready for work, enjoys feeding himself Gerber "puffs," and has really loved all foods so far (except for some of the meat meals and green peas). He likes making a wet mess when he uses his sippy cup and his favorite words now are "Da-Da-Da-Da," "Be-be-be," and "gah-gah-gah." He's enjoying playing games with Mommy, like "chase" and he's started offering us his paci and trying to put it in our mouths, I guess mimicing how we give it to him. He loves to sit in his rocking chair and read, but often times, he finds eating the books to be more enjoyable than reading them.

Noah helped us celebrate two birthdays this month (Happy Birthday Gigi and Uncle Drew) and we discovered the BEST restaurant to take him to is Wasabi, a Japanese hibachi steakhouse. He loved all the cooking, loud sounds, and fires from the grill.

We're trying to get ready for some chilly weather and Noah's getting all stocked up on some stylish, warm clothes, size 18 months!! He's discovered a love for playing with his full-size basketball. He mimics me dribbling it and can even pass (i.e. "roll") the ball to me when I say "pass it to me." I have yet to break the news to him that his Haag height genes will likely hinder his future NBA Draft stock.

I'm sure there's a lot I'm leaving out from this month, but you get the idea...each day is a blessing and every second we spend with Noah is a gift from God.

Movin' On Up

Today is Noah's last 'official' day in the nursery room at PJCA. Starting Monday, he will move up to the "creepers" room, where the babies range from about 8 months to 1year or older. We have loved his teachers in the nursery class, and Tyra has especially bonded with them from going to see Noah every day on her lunch break.

Noah looking shocked that he has to move classes! (With teachers Kim and Alyssa)


Noah has been staying the creepers room almost exclusively for the past few weeks, since he's become much too mobile for the nursery room, but Monday, he'll be in there exclusively. One thing we've noticed so far, Noah's naps (quality and length) have improved since he started going in there, I think b/c they have a set "nap time" and he can see that the others are napping too, and b/c he's so worn out from playing with friends/toys and crawling around, that he seems to be ready to nap.

Video Snippets

Here are a few video snippets of the past few weeks. Noah is getting into lots of mischief, and it's so much fun to watch his curiosity grow each day. As you'll see in the videos, Gabi is enjoying playing with him more, and Noah has found a desire to want to play in Gabi's water bowl...or at least make a bee-line for it when he's crawling in the kitchen.



Noah likes for us (and Gabi) to "chase" him around the house.