A little update and video of smiles...

Hello readers. It has been a while since a post, so here I am on a Sunday afternoon watching the Panthers game and decided to add a quick one.
Noah is super cool and he is growing. He weighs 9 lbs. now, possibly a bit more and he is perfectly healthy! That is a blessing indeed. He also smiles. A lot. And I love that. It is hard not to take pictures of every smile he shows us. Even harder is catching it on video. I am attaching a quick video of just that.
I will try to do a better job of keeping this updated. Beth decided to open a facebook page, so the chances of her ever logging into this blog are slim to none, so it is up to me. But hey, it is fun to chronicle Noah, his smiles, his family, and basically his young life in general...
And speaking of family, we have seen a lot lately, which has been fantastic. Matt and Amy were here last week with Nyah (almost 4 years old), and then this week Bethany and Eric were here with their 2 kids, Elijah (2 years old) and James (4 months old).
So, stay tuned for some pictures and videos of the last few weeks as baby cousins met each other for the first time.

How to tell when Noah is hungry...and aunt Joy

It does not take a genius to know when Noah is hungry. It is typically every 3 hours, give or take, or when he starts crying to the point where he almost forgets to breathe.
However, sometimes it is fun to pretend that we don't know, and that is when he shows us by trying to latch onto anything. It makes for some funny times, especially when he goes at Joy's face, like this video...it won't capture all of it, but you can get the idea. He bobs back and forth and usually smashes his nose a few times.
so, if you are ever holding him, and he starts doing this, just let Beth know.



In addition, it is time to give some props to aunt Joy. Joy, Beth's youngest sister moved in with us shortly before Noah was born. She has been an amazing help cleaning, making us laugh, asking us to watch The Office, which gets everyone in a great mood, and being super helpful with Noah. When Beth returns to work, she will continue to be here and take care of Noah while we are gone throughout the day...So far it has been better than advertised, and we love having her here, and miss her when she is gone. We are so thankful that we don't have to put Noah in childcare...we visited some scary places. Anyway, she is like a 2nd mom, and she has been fantastic, so yeah, thanks, Joy.

Almost a Month

Baby Noah is almost a month old now, and we have a first to document. Today, for the first time, Noah spent his "wakey time" in his bouncer and actually played! He was reaching out with both hands, touching the toys, and studying himself in the mirror. He was quite engaged for about 15 minutes until, of course, sleep overcame him.

Beth

Favorite time of day....

I had to return to work this past Wednesday after receiving 2 weeks off for Noah being born. Going back to work was super hard, and I realized that one of the things I miss most is how Noah wakes up in the morning. I put him on the table to change his diaper and he just kind of lays there, almost like he knows food is only a few minutes away, and is perfectly content with that. So this morning I decided to video my favorite time of the day....

Catch up - cousins, belly buttons, and more...

It has been a few days since our last post, so I thought I would jot a little bit down on a Sunday night before going to bed.
This weekend Beth's brother Mark, his wife Joy, and their 8 month old Devric (babyahlman.blogspot.com) came for a short visit. We had a good time, although we sat around a lot because a certain someone in our house could not turn off the Ryder Cup. Ok, it was me. Incidentally, if any of you reading this saw the Ryder Cup, you will know that is was some of the best golf seen this year (along with the US Open showdown between Tiger and Rocco). The level of play was as high as I have seen and the atmosphere seemed to be electric. The US finally got the cup back from the Europeans, and after this one, I cannot wait for the next one 2 years from now. It was a fantastic event and the US team rocked it.

Back to babies. So, Devric met his little cousin Noah for the first time this weekend. I think he liked him...I cannot believe how much Dev has grown. As always, it was great having Mark, Joy, and Dev here, and hopefully soon we can hit up Charleston to visit them.




Ahm, let's see, Noah's belly button-umbilical scab thingy fell off today. Not newsworthy, but I posted it anyway.
Not a lot has happened really. I think we are all a bit tired of being in the house, but Noah continues to bless us and he gets cooler and cooler and prettier everyday. I love that little guy. He definitely loves his mom. I think he knows she is the one who gets him food every few hours. Anyway, I love my wife and my son. And I love how he looks when she holds him, like he knows he is in the safest place in the entire universe.
It is going to be very hard to leave them and return to work on Wednesday.


Well, that should do it for now. Not a lot of substance, but good to post a few new things I suppose.
Hurricanes training camp has started. That means hockey season is upon us. Noah is certainly going to love the Canes!
Today is my dad's birthday. That means 6 years ago on this day I asked Beth to marry me (it also means he is a year older). She agreed to my question, and now look at us. We have a little Noah, and he is fantastic.

Smiles...

Noah definitely smiles. I may have mentioned before that I have been told babies this young don't really know how to smile. Maybe they don't "know" how to smile, and don't know what they are smiling at, or that it is even called a "smile", but they definitely smile, and Noah definitely is flashing more and more smiles, and I have been wanting to catch one, and I finally did just a few minutes ago. There is a delay from when the camera actually takes the picture, so I missed the perfect moment, but this is close enough for me.
I will call it Noah's first smile actually caught in a photo, and I had to post it.
peace
pauly

My guys

This is my first post since Noah came. Paul has done a wonderful job of keeping you all informed during Noah's first week, and thankfully so. As many of you mothers know, the first week is full of highs and lows, which are pretty overwhelming and all-consuming. It's precious, quiet moments like the one pictured here that remind me there will be rest. . . . I snuck up on Paul and Noah during a late afternoon nap and felt the moment was too precious not to share.
So, these are my guys. My love for the both of them abounds. I really cannot express in words how proud I am of my husband. His love and support for baby Noah and his tired mama have been incredible. We are so blessed.

Beth