Noah at 5 months - sweet, smiley, and sitting beautifully!

Noah continues to be an incredibly sweet and smiley baby.  At 5 months he weighs about 14.5 pounds and is ready to take on the world.  Again and again he is amazing us - not to brag, but this is my blog so I will! 

He is very far ahead on milestones.  After rolling over at 3 weeks, he began sitting up at 4 months.  At 5 months he is sitting up and holding himself up for 5+ minutes at a time.




Noah sitting up and playing with a toy.  Sam was playing with another toy in the playroom and as soon as he noticed Noah playing with this toy, he ran over and insisted on playing with it too - even though he hasn't touched this toy since he was about 10 months old.  I have a feeling that this will not be the last time I have to teach Sam to share toys with his younger brother! Ha!


He is incredibly strong and regularly tries to sit up while lying flat on his back.  We jokingly refer to it as his baby crunches - see below!



Noah & Uncle David smiling at each other at Burke Lake Park.  Noah's favorite thing to do is smile at people.  He loves studying faces and interacting with people - he is such a social little guy and will coo and laugh until he gets your attention!



Laughing and laughing with Pa!

However, his favorite person is his big brother Sam.  He loves to watch Sam clown around and is incredibly tolerant and patient with Sam's silly antics - like when Sam practices balancing plastic cups on Noah's head while they are in the bath (check out the video below)

He loves to play with big brother Sam!

Noah loves doing everything Sam does - like playing together at Little Gym!

 He enjoys singing songs with Sam - like this video, except when Sam smothers him in hugs (see the end of this one).

Noah copies everything Sam does - here they are driving a toy car together at the mall.












Sam is a wonderful big brother and after naptime, Noah sometimes visits Sam in his crib and Sam reads his books to Noah! They are so sweet together - here's a video of Sam reading his beloved Pooh story to Noah.
 

Noah is VERY interested in the food we eat and anxious to begin eating like his big brother Sam.  The other day Sam was eating pizza and left the crusts on the plate (yes we feed our child pizza, don't call the healthy food police on us!).  Noah reached out and grabbed the pizza crust and went to eat it (thankfully we stopped it before he got it to his mouth, but he is READY to eat!)

First sip of water from a real glass

First time trying baby food.  He likes sweet potato, but isn't such a fan of squash.

Mimi feeding Noah cereal

He is a rather messy eater and often gets food squished under his chin and in his baby neck rolls.  He is quite ticklish and laughs every time I attempt to clean the food off his neck. Check it out:

He is such a ham and even knows how to play peek-a-boo on his own! He takes a burp cloth and lifts it up over his face and when we say "Peek a boo" he pulls it down!  We finally managed to catch this on video - we are truly truly amazed by this!

He is still a phenomenal sleeper and regularly sleeps 8pm - 7am.  After him sleeping for 5 months in the swing because of his reflux, we decided to try out the crib again.  We tried it around 4 months and it didn't go so well, I was nervous but he did beautifully!  He is a very inconsistent napper.  Some days he naps for an hour in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoon.  Other days he naps 20 minutes, 2x/day and other days he refuses to nap more than 5 minutes 2x/day!


Here's a pic of him sleeping via our video monitor.  He loves to sleep with his arms folded behind his head, just like Sam and Brad.



He frequently falls asleep in the stroller, often with his hand clenched tightly around a toy - even if the toy is suspended up in the air above him (like this picture, where he is fast asleep!)

He LOVES music and calms very quickly when we turn on music.  This is a video of Noah and Brad from music class.

Noah recently discovered his feet! And they are delicious!

Yay feet!

 He is very verbal and has even started saying MAMA! He loves to screech and laugh - he has a lot of fun experimenting with the different sounds he can make with his voice. 

He is a pretty terrific little guy.  I think we'll keep him. 

Noah at 2 months

I'm a bit behind on posting this, but I want to document some of the exciting things Noah is doing during his second month. At his 2 month checkup he was 10 lb, 15.5 oz.

He is a very strong little guy and is completely holding his head up on his own.  I am SO glad to no longer be in the baby "blob" phase when the baby literally cannot do anything on his own.  It is much easier to carry a baby (and deal with a toddler at the same time) if the baby can hold his head up! 

Starting at 8 weeks old, he began sleeping 7-8 hours/night which is TERRIFIC! This makes for a very happy mama and a happy boy. Unfortunately the 7-8 hours/night don't always coincide with the the time I plan to sleep.  When he sleeps from 830pm - 430am, that's not so helpful!  But we're working on trying to get him into a 10pm-6am routine which is working out pretty decently.

We are very fortunate that he is a pretty easy baby.  8-9pm tends to be his bewitching hour and he just fusses during that hour for no real reason.  But other than that hour, he is a VERY happy little guy and love to smile at everyone.

He love to snuggle and cuddle.  One of the best ways to calm him when he's upset for no obvious reason is to walk around with him in the ergo (baby carrier).  Here's a pic of me carrying him in the ergo at the beach:

He has such terrific head and upper body control that we began using the fabulous bumbo chair which he LOVES.  Yes it is pink - and the same one that Sam used - from our best buddy London who kindly shares her pink bumbo with the Geller-Cheney boys.

Tummy time is not his favorite activity, but we work hard to make sure he has tummy time every day.  He has reflux which is not fun and makes it challenging to do tummy time and prevent him from spitting up everything he ate.  This gorgeous Noah blanket seems to make tummy time more bearable for him.

We have also introduced Noah to one of Sam's favorite tummy time toys - the rolling monkey (see below).  My dad gave this to Sam and he loved it.  If the baby hits the monkey, it rolls and plays an incredibly annoying song.  This toy drives me bonkers, but the boys seem to love it.  I'm not posting a video of it, I will save you the annoyance.

Noah recently visited Brad in his office while I had a dentist appointment down the street.  He was a big hit and everyone loved meeting him!  Brad's boss said that Noah should come visit more often!  Noah was very helpful in lobbying Congress.

 

 Sam continues to adore his brother and wants to include him in everything.  Sam loves to cook at the kitchen island and is ecstatic that Noah can now sit on the bumbo on the counter and "help" him cook! 

Noah is warming up to Sam. Sometimes I can feel his body tense when he hears Sam charging in the room.  I can't blame him for feeling nervous when Sam approaches.  We closely monitor Sam's interactions with Noah because he likes to harass Noah and smothers him in hugs and kisses.  Sam is very sweet with him but sometimes a "gentle" hug turns into more of a squeeze and we do our best to encourage Sam's love for his brother while protecting Noah.

Here's a picture of Sam playing with Noah on his playmat.

Noah loves to talk and coo.  Just like Sam (and us), he is very social and communicative.  When I'm nursing him, I cannot even look at his face because once he makes eye contact with me he stops eating and starts smiling and cooing.  It is very sweet and melts my heart, but I have to continually remind him that it is time to EAT and not TALK.  Here is a very sweet video of him talking and cooing away. He loves to say ooooh, gaaah, yaaaa, and aaaah.  If I stick out my tongue at him, he can stick his tongue out in response to me.  He has started laughing, most frequently when he hears Sam laughing (which is pretty much all the time). 

I try hard not to compare Sam and Noah's infancies - but they are so similar and yet so different. Neither one really cares much about a pacifier or being swaddled. Both have reflux and sleep in a swing for the first few months. However, Noah is doing things so much earlier than Sam - because Sam was a premie so we had to correct for his age. But both boys are pretty easygoing babies which is such a blessing. I don't have to pump with Noah, he is a terrific breastfeeder - in fact he loves to eat and could eat for an hour/feeding - but he doesn't self regulate very well and often over-eats which then leads to spitting up and then he is hungry again and it becomes a downward spiral. 

The biggest difference is the pooping.  Sam pooped about 5-10 times/day for the first 18 months of his life.  He still goes at least 3-4x/day!  Noah poops 1-2x PER WEEK!  It is completely freaking me out!  The first time he went 4 days without pooping, I brought him to the pediatrician because I was really worried.  The doctor assured me that he was fine and some breastfed babies only poop 1x/week.  Even still by day 5 of "no pooping" each week I begin to worry and check his diaper constantly.  I'm still not adjusting to this "no pooping" thing very well - although it does make for very easy diaper changes!

Anyway, enough about pooping - back to the more important things - like how incredible sweet he is. My new nickname for Noah is "sweet boy." He has started to play with rattles and enjoys batting at things on his playmat. He loves the bath and splashing in the water.  He recently went into the pool for the first time!

Noah and Mimi

 But his favorite activity is smiling and cooing! 

 After he spits up on me or pees on me, he always has a big goofy grin on his face and seems very pleased with his talents and accomplishment!

Although some days are certainly challenging, I try hard to cherish every day with my sweet boy - because I know that the baby stage goes by so quickly.  He is beginning to outgrow many of the newborn clothes and is mostly in 0-3 or 3 month clothes now and as I pack away the newborn outfits, I feel a wave of sadness at the passage of time and prepare myself for the next chapter in the exciting book of Life with Noah!

Week 1 of Diet - Lost 8 pounds!

I am proud to say that this past week I began a new diet and exercise routine and after 7 days I have have lost ....drum roll please....EIGHT POUNDS! I am VERY excited about this accomplishment and I know that this is just the beginning of my weight loss journey. 

Losing weight is probably the hardest challenge of my life and I've battled it pretty much since I graduated from college.

Friends, I need help with my weight loss journey.  Encouragement and support from my circle of friends and online community mean so much to me.  Sometimes I feel like giving up - and it is very helpful to have people pushing me to keep going. 

**LOCAL FRIENDS*** - any time you are going for a walk or a jog, let me know and I'd love to join you!  I used to meet up with friends to go eat at a restaurant.  Now, I'd much more prefer to do something active and your motivation and support means so much to me.  I have many wonderful friends in my life, but could use some more friends to push me to meet my weight loss goals.  I want to give a big shout out to my friend Alicia who is helping me train for a 5k and 10k race - she truly pushes me in a wonderful way and encourages me to keep going when I'm ready to quit. 

I am determined that this time I'm going to lose the weight and keep it off.  No more yo-yo-ing.  When Brad and I got married in 2004, I lost 35 pounds before our wedding.  Unfortunately I gained all of the weight back during the stresses of law school and then the bar exam (aka summer of hell).  Then after Sam was born in 2009, I was determined to lose the baby weight (which I did)..and then lost another 30 pounds after that!  Here's a picture of me in the summer of 2010 at my lowest weight

Here's one of my favorite pictures of me at the very beginning of my pregnancy with Noah at a pretty healthy weight. 

I had hoped to only gain a minimal amount of weight during my pregnancy with Noah and I did very well exercising and eating healthy during my first 2 trimesters.  However, being put on bedrest for the entire 3rd trimester meant that I wasn't allowed to exercise.  I was home all day long and began to eat badly.  I gained more weight than I wanted and now I am paying the consequences.

HOWEVER - I am back on track and just completed week 1 of my new diet.  I'm doing the South Beach Diet and the first 2 weeks are considered "Phase 1" that allows you to eat lean proteins, low-fat dairy, and tons of veggies - but no fruit or starches.  It's pretty tough, but I've found that the SB Phase 1 is the fastest way for me to lose weight.  I've tried Weight Watchers and find that WW works better for me to maintain at a certain weight - but SB gives me more of the instant gratification of losing weight immediately.  If I'm going to eat crazy healthy and exercise - I want to see the results NOW!

So, I'm super proud to announce that after week 1, I have lost EIGHT pounds!  I feel like I'm on the Biggest Loser!  In fact, part of my exercise routine includes using an exercise video from the Bigest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels.  Her "30 Day Shred" video is awesome and totally kicks my butt!

I've also drastically changed my diet.  Brad has eaten more green leafy vegetables this past week than he has in the past year! :)

Here are some of my favorite new dishes, mostly from the South Beach Diet. If you click on them, it will take you to the link for the recipes.

Baked kale chips are surprisingly good! I was very hesitant about trying this one, but I've been pleasantly surprised!  Brad even eats them (this is quite a feat considering that Brad considers ketchup, a slice of tomato, and a slice of lettuce on his burger to be 3 separate servings of vegetables!).  I changed the recipe slightly and used PAM spray rather than regular olive oil to cut more calories.

Chicken Curry with Eggplant & Spinach was absolutely amazing! This is one of my new favorite dishes - dieting or not!  I used red curry paste instead of green curry and cooked the whole thing longer than it called for.  It was FANTASTIC! I realized that for years, I've cooked curry dishes in the entirely wrong way - this recipe truly taught me to cook curry correctly.  I simmered it for much longer than the recipe calls for (because I had to put the boys to bed in the middle of my cooking extravaganza but I think it actually thickened up the sauce with the extra cooking time).  I also doubled the amount of curry paste because I like spicy food.

Grilled Sesame Salmon was pretty decent, the sauce was thicker than I expected but I would try it again.  Not sure this is my favorite salmon recipe though, I'm still looking for good bold fish recipes.

Ribollita Vegetable Soup has been my main staple this week, I've eaten it about 1x/day.  A wonderful friend made ribollita soup for me after Noah was born and I LOVED it!  I used her recipe but found this recipe from Iron Chef Mario Batali which is pretty similar.  However, the vegetables I used were slightly different - I used zuchini, yellow summer squash, onions, tomatoes, and white navy beans.  This is a great meal to re-heat for meals throughout the week, especially lunch when I get sick of salads.

I will share more of my favorite South Beach Diet recipes and creations as I continue with my weight loss journey.  If any of you have favorite healthy recipes that are chock full of veggies, please share! Thanks in advance for your support and encouragement!

Returning to the Wonderful World of Blogging

After a 2+ year hiatus from my blog, I have decided to start blogging again. Those of you who enjoy (or stalk or make fun of) my facebook status updates about life with an infant -- get ready, because here comes a whole lot more!

I have recently spent a lot of time contemplating over how much I have changed in the 10+ months since Sam was born and concluded that a blog would be a helpful place for me to share my thoughts and connect with others who may be experiencing a similar time of transformation.

As I look back over my earlier blog entries (my volunteer trip to post-Katrina New Orleans in 2006, my 6 country post-bar trip in 2007), I'm amazed how different my life is now. What I would give to sleep in again!

As much as I miss some parts of my pre-mommy life (being able to leave the house without spending 30 minutes preparing and packing a zillion things) - I am continually surprised by how much I enjoy being a mom and how much I am totally in love with Sam. Sure, there are days when it's tough - who could possibly enjoy scrubbing a tub full of baby poop (especially for people like me who are "challenged" in the cleaning arena"). But, he is so much more fun, interactive, engaging, and exciting than I ever imagined.

I hope that this blog will become a great outlet for me to record the important happenings in the life of Sam and the Geller-Cheney household...especially since I have mostly neglected my "must write things down in the baby book" responsibility (despite my parents' reminders).

I welcome comments, thoughts, insight, and stories in the blog - so feel free to contribute and participate!

Happy blogging!