Blanky Boy

Noah has become semi-clingy to one of his (many) baby blankets over the past few weeks. Today, while playing in his room, he must have really wanted his blanky bad. Problem was, it was on the back side of his crib and he couldn't reach it by simply sticking his arm through the slats. So, he somehow managed to shimmy between the back side of the crib and the wall to reach his destination. Noah and Blanky were reunited at last!

The funniest part was right after Tyra text messaged me this picture, she sent me another text message to say that "Apparently he went back there to poop too!"

Ha ha! Getting his "privacy" during that time has become a recent trend too, but that's a completely different blog post.

To Add to the Baby Book...

First ear infection - Feb. 15, 2009!

Bummer!!

1 Year Video and Fun Facts

Or click here to view in larger screen ~ Noah's 1 year Video

Random Tidbits about Noah on his 1st Birthday:

Bed time ~ 7:45 p.m.

Wake-up time ~ Between 6:15 and 6:45 a.m.

Favorite Foods ~ Anything and everything, but especially Cheerios, spaghetti, fruit, cheese quesadillas, turkey/chicken sticks, and now, birthday cake!

Weight ~ 25 lbs (79th percentile) (as of 2/10)

Length ~ 29 1/2 inches (40th percentile) (as of 2/10)

Mode of Travel ~ Walking everywhere, unless he falls. Then he crawls to nearest stable object, stands up, and walks some more.

Getting mischievous ~ Bathroom toilet, toilet paper, Gabi's water bowl, stairs, pulling on the living room curtains, fireplace.

Current Obsessions ~ Elmo, Vaccums (toy or real), His basketball or any kind of ball, Light Fixtures, "Scaring" people, Daddy's guitar, giving kisses, watching the garage door go down.

Noah's Words of Wisdom ~ "Vacuum," "Light," "Da-Da," "Ma-Ma," "Paci (which comes out like "dada"), "Ahhhh-Choooo," "Uh-Oh," "Good Girl" (for Gabi) and he even told me "NO" the other day when I asked him to stop doing something. Oh boy!

TV Shows ~ Sesame Street/Elmo's World is all he pays attention to for more than 3 minutes

New Tricks ~ Drinking whole milk, no more bottles, Trying to pet Gabi without pulling her hair, goes to get Gabi's toy frog when we ask him to, learning new dance moves.

You Gotta Fight, For Your Right....To PAAAAAARTY!

Our Birthday Boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!!

Today is obviously a very special day and we're looking forward to celebrating Noah's 1st birthday at his party later this afternoon. He'll pig out on some cake, be the center of attention, and ham it up in front of family and friends.

It seems so crazy to imagine how fast this year has flown. But in a way it seems like so much has changed, that it's gone by slow too. Tyra and I have learned so much about life, each other, how to truly love someone more than you could imagine, and at times it takes your breath away to think what a special gift being a parent is.

God has blessed us with a little boy that has taught us how to "live, laugh, and love" more than ever before. Of course, babies aren't very independent, but sometimes I think we need him just as much as he needs us. I don't know what I would do without seeing his face light up every day when I come home from work, hear him crack up when we tickle him, or laugh about his current infatuation with Elmo, lights and vacuum cleaners. I mean, he's been a part of "us" for 1 year, but what did we ever do without him? I think that's one of the neatest things about being a parent. Yeah, there are diaper changes (GROSS ones!), sleepless nights, less free time, and sometimes it's so busy you feel like you can't get anything done without someone tugging on your leg wanting to play. But, being a Dad this past year has taught me more about life and about God's love for us than I ever expected.

Here's to a great year, and many, many more to come!
Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Dear Noah!
Happy Birthday to you!

(I hope to post his 1-year video sometime Monday or Tuesday, and I'll include some more 1-year fun facts)

First Haircut and Snow Pictures

Today was Noah's first haircut...and he exceeded our expectations. He LOVED it and was such a good boy sitting in the chair while Junior, my barber since my freshman year at UT, cut his hair. He enjoyed sitting in the seat because it has a steering wheel and loved talking to the rocking horse next to him. We saved some of his hair in an envelope and they gave us a certificate to put in his baby book. It was really fun to watch him, and his hair looked so sharp, all trimmed and styled!

Also, Here are some fun pictures from earlier this week of our little spaghetti eating snow man!

Karate Kid

First Visit To The Pet Store

Ouch!

Well, Noah ended his 11 month birthday with an unfortunate slip in the tub last night just before bedtime. He hit his upper lip/gum area on the side of the tub as we were getting ready to lift him out. His little face turned completely red and for a good 20 seconds, he did the "silent cry" before wailing out loud.

His mouth was bloody, so we rushed to get him a cold washcloth and Tylenol drops, but all he wanted was his paci. We took the paci in and out so we could wipe the blood from his mouth. He bled for a while longer, but with a lot of cuddling and some silly songs from Elmo, he finally started to settle down. It was AWFUL to watch, hear and experience. After getting him into PJs, we took Noah downstairs to sip on some ice water (his favorite!). Eric said this was the first of many to come probably, but we are just so thankful that he didn't lose a tooth or split his lip completely open! Praise be to God!

This morning he was perfectly fine and his mouth wasn't swollen at all. His top-gum on the inside of his mouth has a small red blister but it didn't seem to be bothering him.

11 Months Old!

(Click here to see the full sized video)

Noah is 11 months old today and doing all sorts of funny things. It was a fun-filled and busy 11th month...Christmas in Hendersonville was a lot of fun, as well as ringing in the New Year with him for the first time...even though none of us made it up past midnight!

Here are some 11-Month Fun Facts:
- Noah took his first steps by himself on Friday, January 2...he walked 3-4 steps three times in a row.

- He is starting to mimick us more...like saying "Uh Oh" if something falls and "Ah Choooo" to mimick a sneeze.

- Noah has developed a love for Elmo and loves watching "Sesame Street/Elmo's World" for just a few minutes each day. The "Elmo Live" doll he got for Christmas sure has come in handy to keep him occupied while changing his diaper and getting him dressed...he'd started to become a real wiggle worm!!

- He loves using push toys and walkers to walk around the house and over the past few weeks finally learned how to pick up the walker to change directions...he used to get so frustrated when he'd run into the couch or wall and the walker wouldn't move anymore, but now he can pick it up, change directions, and keep on moving.

- He weighs about 26 pounds, we estimate...and we're VERY excited about moving him to a forward facing car seat next month. He gets very bored riding in the car looking backwards these days.

- All the new toys he got for Christmas have been awesome and he loves playing with his mini-vacuum cleaner, red wagon sports coupe, new walkers, and 3-in-1 sports station.

- He's eating a lot of "people food" now and less and less "baby food." His favorites so far are green beans, spaghetti, fruit, waffles, pancakes, pizza crust (a great way to buy Mom and Dad a few minutes to eat our own dinners), carrots, and...well he really likes just about anything we give him. This is a blessing!

It's hard to believe he will be 1 year old just 1 month from today!

Noah's First Christmas

Well, we're back in Knoxville, and Noah's first Christmas is in the books. What a great time we had. We spent Dec. 21-27 in Hendersonville, and Noah had a fun time seeing so many family and friends on our trip. He also loved getting lots and lots and LOTS of new toys and goodies to play with...and watching us try to fit everything back in the car for the drive home!

There are way too many pictures to post, but you can see many of them right here:
2008 Christmas Pictures

It was great to see so many loved ones while we were in town...Tyra and I even got to go on a date night too, which was lots of fun!

Noah's New Friend Ernie

On December 1st, we were introduced to a new addition to the family, Ernie The Elf. Ernie is the official Haag Family "Elf on the Shelf," one of Santa's little helpers that lives with us throughout each Christmas season. During the day, Ernie sits still and silent in the same spot in the house...but at night, Ernie magically flies back to the North Pole to tell Santa if Noah has been a good boy. Ernie then returns to our house by morning, and plops himself in a different location in the house.

It's a fun family tradition and is a funny and good story to read to your kids, and we highly recommend it.

Noah has become fascinated with Ernie and his mysterious relocation around the house. Each morning when we go downstairs we say "Where's Ernie?" and Noah looks around puzzled. Then we walk around until we find him and Noah just grins from ear to ear when we discover the new place he's ended up. One day this week, we found him on the kitchen counter with hot chocolate mix in his hands, so we figured he was cold and/or thirsty when he returned from the North Pole.

Anyway, much to Noah's chagrin, he's not allowed to touch Ernie (per the book's rules) or he'll lose his magic. This frustrates Noah to no end, but he really enjoys trying to find him each day and has even started trying to say "Ernie"...although it comes out more like "Innie."

It's been a lot of fun to start new Christmas traditions this year with Noah, and seeing his curiosity at the tree, lights, and presents is funny. Speaking of curious babies and Christmas decorations, I saw a hilarious picture the other day that some friends of ours posted. They set up their Christmas tree INSIDE their Pack 'N Play so their little daughter couldn't get into any mishcief. PURE GENIUS!!

It's Laundry Day!

10 Months Old!!

November Pics

Here are just a few pics from a fun November:

Happy Thanksgiving and Mommy's Play

Noah is so excited about his first Thanksgiving that he woke up today at 3:30 am (on the day before Thanksgiving)! Yay!
Also, Tyra's is playing the part of Mary in "It's A Wonderful Life" at a local church here in Knoxville. This is a funny picture of Noah and Tyra with her hair curlers in, which she has to do for her part in the play. He thought they were funny!

Like Father/Like Son

Noah has started his early Playstation training! So far, so good! Ha!

9 Months Old!

Happy 9 month birthday Noah! I told Tyra that I think this 9 months has gone by so much faster than the 9 months of pregnancy. Noah is growing, learning, and always finding new ways to melt our hearts with his frequent kisses and funny grunts and laughs.

This month, he got his first 2 bottom teeth, started clapping on his own, and has become very fond playing with a full-size basketball and little baseballs in his room (seen in the video). He goes in for his doctor visit next week, but based on our scale at home, he's 25 lbs. even. A hoss! He's slimmed down some in the past month or two, especially in his legs, since he started standing and crawling, and sometimes even works up a good sweat during one of his "workouts." Much to Tyra's chagrin, Noah hasn't said "Ma-ma" yet, but is very fond of rubbing it in her face by saying "Da-Da" all the time. :)

His favorite foods are oatmeal w/ bananas, yogurt, puffs & Cheerios, sliced pears, and he likes most of the Gerber baby foods.

He's loving his new "creepers" class at school and his daily schedule is wonderfully structured. This has carried over great at home too, especially his napping. He's always been quite the "cat-napper" since he was born, but is now taking two 90-minute or longer naps per day.

Here's a look at "A Day in the Life of a 'Creeper'"
Regular naps at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Water play
Puppet shows
Circle time with songs and stories
Snack time with practice drinking from a cup
Hands-on art projects like coloring with crayons and finger-painting
Free play...Noah loves to use this time to practice walking with a push toy
Outside time (weather permitting)

Noah experienced his first Halloween party at school last week and was assigned to bring yoBaby yogurtfor his friends. He is spoiled by his teachers who give him lots of love and always tell us how happy and sweet Noah is. They even had superlatives for all the kids, and Noah got "Best Smile."

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: