Noah's News

Here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

*I learned how to wave on the Saturday of the UAB game on Sept. 13.

* We don't like when TN loses ball games!

* Mommy calls me “Grumplestiltskin” when I’m tired.

* I like to boogy down to the song “Low” by Flo Rida when Daddy holds me. Daddy sings silly songs!

* I'm crawling around everywhere and am getting pretty fast. I get good "workouts" in duirng my crawling and am known to work up a good sweat.

* I can pull up/stand up with a little help from Mommy and Daddy, and I like to scream at the top of my lungs when I finally make it on my feet...Daddy says I eat "loudmouth soup" sometimes!

*I like to play a game when leaving for school in the mornings – It’s called “arch my back when mommy tries to put me in my car seat so she can give me lots kisses and coax me into sitting down.” I give her a mischievous grin every time

*I got to meet Papa Dave when he and Gigi came to visit us over the UT/FL weekend to celebrate Gigi’s birthday. Aunt Alyssa made a triple chocolate cake that looked very yummy! I also got to meet their doggie Maggie and surprisingly enough Gabi was protective of me every time Maggie tried to sniff me.


*I’ve added another word to my vocabulary – “dah” - and love to babble

*I like to laugh at some of the highlights when I watch ESPN with Daddy.

*All of the clothes I’ve outgrown were put away in storage bins which made Mommy sad, but at least she and daddy get to go shopping for new clothes for me! I'm wearing 12 month size in most things and even 18 months size in a few outfits, when I want to go with my baggy look.

Here are a few more recent pictures:

Getting sleepy after bathtime:


Hanging out before UT/Florida game:


Visiting Uncle Drew and Cousin Tom's New Apartment:

Crawling

Noah is crawling all over the place now! It's so funny to watch, and his curiosity grows even more as she shuffles around on the floor. We really have to keep an eye on him! His favorite things to crawl toward so far are----(all "No-Nos" in our book!): the basket of pine cones in our den floor, the computer chair legs, and the baby monitor plug to the wall. He just laughs when you tell him no, so that's a good sign! ha!

We had a fun time this past weekend for the 1st UT home game. Noah stayed with his first non-family babysitter Taylor and had a great time while we went to the game. It was a lot of fun, but BRUTALLY HOT!! After the game, JenMommy, Andrew, Tom, and the Griffith gang came over to watch games and eat pizza.




This week is "Gator Hater" week in Knoxville! Go Vols!

7 Month Highlight Video and Fun Facts

7 Months Old Already!

Here are some current "fun facts" about Noah...

Diaper Size - Size 4 Pampers Cruisers
Favorite Food - Squash and Applesauce
Any words? - "Gah, gah, gah"
Current Favorite (silly) song - Noah's song (to the tune of "Elmo's Song")
Bed Time - 8:00 p.m.
Eye Color - Blue
Hair Color - Sandy Blonde

Funnest fact of all---right when I was writing this post, Noah started crawling from the den toward the kitchen. It took him a while, but he made it all the way to the kitchen! We think we'll be chasing him around VERY soon!

Now onto our feature film...

Catching Up

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Speaking on Noah's behalf, we're bummed out today about the Vols' loss last night against UCLA. Let's see, what else has been going on??....Well Noah has been battling a cold that he can't seem to kick all the way. He's coughing a little bit still, but the fever that he had late last week is gone, thank goodness. It's no fun when your child gets sick. His sleeping patterns have also been out of sorts lately, which has provided for some tiring nights of waking up in the middle of the night again. I think it started when he was stuffed up and congested and a new habit developed. His eating (solid foods) also got a little messed up b/c of his cold, so we're trying to get back on track. Speaking of "stuffed up"...he's also had 2 bouts with constipation in the past few weeks...which is no fun, although his red-faced grunting is a little funny. What's not so funny is when Noah decided to become "un-stopped up" in the car while we were out doing errands on Saturday. Picture it...it's not pretty (forgive the graphic description):

Lowe's parking lot
+ hot/humid weather
+ poop all over legs, car seat, clothes
+ poop (somehow) getting on Daddy's nose
= LOTS OF FUN!

We were cracking up the whole time, so at least we got a laugh out of it, as I'm sure the other people in the parking lot did. Good times!! :)

Noah is really on the verge of crawling and has started saying the "Guh, guh" sounds a lot, so maybe his first word is right around the corner. We're predicting "Gabi" b/c we say it all the time. I joke that his first words will be "hurry up Gabi" since I say that all the time when Noah and I take Gabi out for walks.

We can't believe Noah will turn 7 months old this coming Sunday...we'll get the video up soon after that. Until then, please pray for sleep-filled, restful nights for Noah (and us)and for Noah's cold to go bye-bye.

Here are a few pictures and comments from the past few weeks:
Guitar lessons with Cousin Thomas


With JenMommy, Momette, and meeting great-Aunt Susan for the first time:


Noah and his football strolling around Opryland Hotel


Noah with Aunt Holly, and cousins Aidan and Dylan


Cuddling with Uncle Lakon


Kisses from Aunt Alyssa


Meeting my new friend Emery


Hangin' with my new friend Ella Blaire at AOPi's Bid Day


Doing laundry with Mommy


Let's Play Gabi!


Look at all this orange!


Ready for a win against UCLA! (The team didn't get the memo!)

Peaches!

Noah tried peaches yesterday. He ate them all up, but his face says it all...

6 Month Stats

Noah had his 6 month checkup today. Everything went well and Noah enjoyed the doctor visit except for his 3 shots and getting his finger pricked. His favorite thing to do is to make noise with the crinkly paper sheet on the doctor's table, then tear it up in little pieces and try to eat it. Here are his stats as of today:

Weight - 20 lbs, 13 oz. (92nd percentile)
Length - 26.7 inches (56th percentile)

Driver's Ed

I now know for certain that we picked the right place to send Noah for day care. What other school offers driver's education at such a young age?



One of Noah's teachers took this video on her cell phone and text messaged it to Tyra. Pretty funny. He doesn't have a car/steering wheel toy like this at home, but I guess he's somehow been spying on us while we drive.

6 Months Old Today

It's hard for us to believe how fast these 6 months have flown. Noah is such an amazing gift from God, and he keeps finding new ways to melt our hearts every day. Seeing him grow and learn with each new day is one of the most awesome blessings we could ever imagine. This was a very fun and busy month, and Noah got to see lots of family and meet new friends. Hope you enjoy these video highlights...

Sweet Potatoes: It's a Love/Hate Relationship

Noah got his first bite of sweet potatoes on Sunday. He likes them so far and eats them up, but the faces he makes are priceless.

New Things

Noah is able to sit up by himself now. I think he started doing it consistently a few days ago, about two weeks shy of his 6-month birthday. He seems to be very proud of his new found independence on the floor.






For the past several days, Noah has also discovered that he loves sticking out his tongue and has spent a lot of time channeling his Michael Jordan-esque tongue wagging.

Catching Up

Mommy and Daddy have been slacking on the blog posts lately, so I took it upon myself to post some recent pictures...Love, Noah

Celebrating Aunt Alyssa's birthday with Mommy, Gigi, & great-Aunt Susie


I need some Jimmy Buffett music!


Playing with my new friend Jacob


great-Aunt Amy babysat me while Mom and Dad went to dinner at Fleming's. We had fun!


great-Uncle Charles teaching me "Touchdown Tennessee"

Noah's Friend Haley

There is a sweet little girl in Noah’s class that needs to be lifted up in prayer. Her name is Haley. She was born on Feb. 5 (just two days before Noah). She has Down Syndrome and had heart surgery this past Tuesday to repair a valve. Her surgery went beautifully, but she developed an infection yesterday and almost died. She is now stable, but still fighting for her life.

Noah’s lead nursery teacher visited Haley’s family after work yesterday and stayed at the hospital until 11 pm. Haley’s parents have been calling P&J all week to keep everyone updated. P&J’s director, Jenny, took a basket of goodies to the family this morning.

Since Noah is just 2 minutes from my office, I am privileged to get to spend my lunch break nursing him everyday. I’ve gotten to know Haley and she is such a remarkable baby. Please pray for Haley’s body to heal and for her parents to feel God’s arms wrapped around them and their precious little girl. Although we praise God everyday for Noah’s life, it’s times like these that take your breath away as a parent. We are so thankful for Noah’s health and hope he and Haley will get to hang out again VERY soon.

Cover Boy!

Congrats to Noah on being the cover athlete for the new NCAA Football '09 video game, which hits store shelves tomorrow. As you can see, he's intense and intimidating!

Just a good story for the day

I came across this story today and just wanted to pass it along. No matter if you're a fan of John Mayer (Tyra and I are) or his music, this is a heartwarming story about how a simple act of kindness gave this little boy, Issac, a memory he will never forget. It's just really, really cool to read stories like this!

I'll post the links in the order that I read them:

1. John Mayer's Blog ~ "Meet Issac"

2. Issac Foundation's Blog Read the stories "More Ups and Downs on Our Journey" dated July 6, 2008 (read the bottom of the post)...then read "Life Lessons from John Mayer," dated July 8, 2008.

Carry The Fight!

I think I'll start showing this video to Noah twice daily until the season opener at UCLA (Monday, Sept. 1, 8 pm EDT, ABC). This video rocks! Only 54 more days's till IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!

5 Month Highlights

To see more pictures from this month, click.....right.....HERE!

5 Months Old Today!

Noah turned 5 months old today. It's so hard to believe how fast the time has flown. He has changed so much over the course of this month that looking back on pictures and videos from earlier in the month, it makes me wonder, "was that really THIS month?"
Noah is learning new things everyday and it's such a gift and blessing to see his curiosity grow more and more. Here are a few fun-facts about Noah's 5th month:

- He started sleeping primarily on his stomach at bedtime. This started when he had a stuffy nose and he just naturally started rolling over during the night. Most of the time, now, he'll roll right over when we put him down for bed and sleep all night like that. He never stays in one place though and he often does doughnuts in his crib...we never know which end of the bed he'll wake up on! Also, for any of you with young babies, Tyra and I highly recommend this and this for colds and stuffy noses!! Works like a charm and smells good too!

- He now eats rice cereal twice a day (morning and afternoon) and seems to really like it. It gets a little messy, but who cares. His, poops, have become...shall we say...a little stinkier! Whoa!!!!!

- He is fascinated with Gabi and enjoys watching her walk around, play with her toys, and wag her tail.

- He plays peek-a-boo with himself and us. He likes using his burp-cloth to "hide," then pull it down so we can see him.

- He laughs a lot at our silly songs and faces.

- He wakes up almost every morning at about 6:30 talking to himself in his crib, then gives us a huge smile when he sees us...one of the best moments in life!

- He has started to hold his own bottle, though he still needs a little help to tilt it up all the way.

-Has patented what his teachers at PJCA call his "old man face." Some examples--->



- Noah loves being around other kids. He cracks up when they act silly around him.

- As you'll see in his 5 month video, he is trying really hard to crawl, but he's not quite there yet.

- Favorite toys this month: Octi the purple octypus, black and white "crunchy-sounding ball, monkey rattle, blue dog that plays music.

Fouth of July Weekend

We had a fun and relaxing Fourth of July weekend. It spoils us to get an extra weekend day with Noah, and makes heading back to the office on Monday even tougher. Here are some pictures from the weekend, as well as a few others we've taken over the past few weeks.

Chillin out in my swimming pool


They made these t-shirts at school for the kids...we love all the crafts they make!


Happy Birthday Grand-Don!


Noah and JenMommy at Pancake Pantry in Nashville


Noah playing with cousins Leah and Benjamin

The Forrest Spence Fund

Our good friends, Brittany and David Spence have created the Forrest Spence Fund in memory of their son Forrest, who passed away on November 4, 2007.

The first annual Forrest Spence 5K race is being held in Memphis on Saturday, September 6, four days before what would have been Forrest's first birthday. There is an opportunity for people who cannot make it to Memphis for the race to be a "GHOST RUNNER" in the race to show your support for the Forrest Spence Fund, which benefits the Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis. I hope you will all consider joining Tyra, Noah, and I on being "GHOST RUNNERS" in the race.

Here is some more information on the Forrest Spence Fund, and please visit the website for more stories, photos, and information on the race.

Goals of the Forrest Spence Fund

The Fund supplies a convenience basket for families with babies in the PICU who are facing an extended stay. Comfort items in the baskets include the following:

A handmade blanket
A roll of quarters for vending machines
Magazines
Lotion
Hand sanitizer
A stuffed animal
Children's books
A journal
The book "Praying the Scriptures for Your Child"
Chapstick
Baby socks
Baby hat
Notecards
A card to decorate for the baby's bed
Snacks and water

The Fund also provides for stocking the PICU wish list with items such as:

Crib mobiles
CD players
CDs
Books
Blankets
Socks
Hats
Teethers
Crib mirrors
Sound machines
Night lights
Bubbles
Stuffed animals
Goodies and treats for the PICU staff

Last year, more than 1600 children and their families were cared for in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center. With each child, there came a story. It is these stories - stories of courage, love, fear, uncertainty, healing, joy and sadness - that explain the impact that Le Bonheur and its staff can have on a child, a family, even a community and a kingdom.

Eatin' From a Spoon

On Saturday, we let Noah try his first few bites of rice cereal. Not surprisingly, he LOVED it! He got the hang of eating from a spoon almost instantly, and didn't even make much of a mess and he slurped the cereal from the spoon. It was fun to watch!