2 months old and working on medallion status

Noah successfully earned his wings and is well on his way towards hitting delta platinum medallion status like his daddy. Ben and I were a little unsure of the best way to travel to Wilmington to visit his family, but in the end we decided a few days before the trip to fly because driving 7+ hours each way for a visit lasting less than 48 hours with a newborn seemed crazy, and if nothing else, the airport and airplane would be an adventure (right?!). I am happy to report that it turned into a good adventure and Noah was a model baby (as if we expected anything less).  We planned it so the flight there took off at naptime and the flight home was during breakfast.  Next time, I'd plan both to be during nap time and wouldn't take the 7am flight home, but that is more because I was up at 3:30am the day we came home while Noah pretty much stuck to his schedule with the exception of his morning nap.  He slept both ways (the flight there strapped into his Ergo carrier and the flight home in my arms, both of which worked well). 

I may have slightly really over-packed for Noah for the trip.  For two nights I brought 35 diapers, 9 outfits, 6 bibs and 10 burp cloths.  Next time, I'll bring fewer diapers (or buy them when we get there) and outfits but probably the same number of bibs and burp cloths because Noah is a messy eater and tends to spit up at each meal (this is in part because he is food aggressive and over eats).  To fit everything, we brought two carry-on sized suitcases and a big tote in addition to his car seat, car seat base, stroller and diaper bag, and Ben and I only took up about half a suitcase.  Doing this alone would've been nearly impossible, so I am glad Ben was with us for our first flight.  When we go alone, I think I'll invest in one big suitcase for all our stuff and roll that, the stroller and carry his big tote but no diaper bag.  Getting through security on my own will be hard because this time I just carried Noah and Ben dealt with our stuff.  Dis and re-assembling the stroller while holding Noah sounds rather hard...but I'll worry about that next time. 

The other thing I will not do again is travel when I'm still pumping every 3ish hours as this required me to pump at the airport.  Guess where?  Yes, the bathroom handicap stall.  I obviously would not have been able to do this without Ben to watch and feed Noah, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone because it is stressful and rather disgusting.

Nibby wanted to come before he realized Noah was coming

Excited to be at the airport and happy his outfit has airplanes on it

preparing for take off!

Our time in Wilmington was great too - Noah got to meet his great grandparents and lots of aunts and uncles, and his mommy and daddy were fed great food and had a few minutes alone while Noah was being loved on by the rest of the family.  We can't wait to go back and see everyone again.  Hopefully it will be this summer so we can take Noah to the beach too.

Great Aunt Nancy

Great Grandma Godwin

Great Grandpa Godwin

Mrs. McManus

Grandma Thompson

Great Grandma Thompson

Grandpa Thompson

Great Aunt Debbie

Great Aunt Kay and Uncle Mickie

In addition to meeting family, Noah got to meet Candice, Susan, Leni, Cam and Annabelle.  He was really excited for his first sleepover with Annabelle.  Both babies were on best behavior, and I can't wait for them to start playing with each other as they get older.  It was really fun spend time with Annabelle and see all the things she is doing and what we have to look forward to.  She is coming back this weekend, and Noah has already picked some toys he wants to share with her.

Annabelle was puttin the moves on Noah

Noah also went on another walk with Zara this past week and got to have lunch with his daddy.

The other big event of the past week was his 2 month doctor's appointment.  Noah weighed in at 10lb 1oz and measured 23in tall.  The doctor said everything looked great and to keep doing what we are doing.  I tried not to ask quite as many questions this time but failed miserably.  Apparently all the things I've been worried about like these little bumps on his head are completely normal and our baby is perfect (my words but that's what he implied).  Noah got to put off his shots a week due to his big trip, so we go back this week for those.  Fingers crossed that he doesn't get a fever.  The great news is that after the shots he can finally be around older kids!  He can't wait to play with his buddies Mads, Henry and Carson.

Highlights of the past week:
- riding on an airplane
- meeting the Thompson and Godwin sides of the family
- meeting Annabelle, Cam, Leni, Susan and Candice
- constantly smiling and babbling
- playing with his new piano play mat
- date with Zara

Here are some more pictures from the past week if you haven't had enough already...

Candice

'Sharing' his monkey rattle with George

Helping mommy with dinner



Noah is always willing to 'share' with Nibby too



2 months old!

my valentine

Ben is luckily off the hook for Valentine's day for a few years (forever if I have a say) because I have a new Valentine.

On Valentine's Day, Noah hit 8 weeks old.  We go to the doctor this week for his 2 month appointment, and I am eager to see how much he has grown over the past month.  He is definitely getting too long for most of his newborn clothes, so he has started to wear almost all 0-3 month clothing.  He is pumped about a new wardrobe and his mommy has been steadily adding to it (he now definitely has more clothes than his daddy). 

In addition to spending time growing, Noah continues to become more interactive.  He still doesn't know his hands are part of his body, but when he is under his play mat he constantly hits things and then babbles and smiles about it.   He isn't really into his other toys yet with the exception of a monkey rattle and a homemade toy.  Yes, that's right, homemade (!).  I tied some ivory and black fabric to a wooden spoon and he loves watching and batting at it when he is on his boppy lounger.  Ben made fun of the toy for a few weeks but has finally accepted that Noah loves it.  Noah is also really into Zebras (Zeebees as they are know in this house).  We have an enormous Noah's Ark print above his changing table, and he gets really happy when he is laying there looking at the Zeebees.  He also likes looking at a Zebra print he got as a gift from our friends Thad and Elisa that is hanging above his dresser.

I must admit that Noah's fussiness peaked around 7.5 weeks and not 6.  It wasn't too bad, but he definitely had a few days where he fussed more than normal, wouldn't sleep and wanted to be held.  We even canceled all our outings last week except a lunch with his pal Henry.  The fussiness may have been partly due to changing schedules and gassiness and seems to have ended (fingers crossed).  As of last Monday, he successfully moved up to the 8 week Mom's on Call schedule, which means he eats only 6 times a day and takes 4 naps.  He is gradually progressing towards sleeping through the night, so we'll drop to 5 feedings when that happens. 

Other highlights of the past week and a half were a trip to our favorite Thai place, Little Bangkok, and a weekend with lots of daddy and Noah time.  Noah also got invited to dinner at Heather and Garrett's this past Friday and did his bedtime routine outside his bedroom for the first time.  I'm happy to say he handled it well, which makes me less nervous for our trip to Wilmington next weekend where he'll be out of his crib for 2 nights.

Highlights of the past week:
- dropping a nap and feeding
- lunch and dinner dates
- more smiling
- lots of growing

One realization I had this past week is how similar Nibby and Noah are.   They both sleep 16+ hours a day, poop and pee inside the house, have a diaper/litter genie for their goods, are food aggressive, like mommy best, are easily amused by fabric and string on a stick, are dominant over George, love sleeping in a bassinette, love the boppy lounger and are constantly congested/sneezing.  I am hoping that once the Nibby recognizes that Noah is his long lost brother he will warm up to him even more.  Also since I feel like Nibby and George have been neglected since Noah was born I've made sure to post a few pictures of them.

Jealousy is a new emotion for George

Nibby wants his own boppy lounger

7 Weeks

Noah is 7 weeks old today.  The biggest change from last week is that he is definitely smiling, and it is the best thing I've ever seen.  Unfortunately it is almost impossible to capture on camera (kind of like giant squid (!)).  He is the happiest and most alert in the morning, so this is when  I see the most smiles, and it really makes the lack of sleep a little easier. Speaking of, we're still on the same schedule and trying to sleep from 9pm until at least 3am and then until 6:30 or 7am.  If I weren't still pumping 8x a day, then I'd be getting more sleep because I wouldn't have to wake up twice a night to pump.  I am planning to drop at least one of these when he starts sleeping through the night (or when I go back to work) even if it means formula.  I can't say I would be sad to never pump again, but alas, I am trying my best for as long as I can to keep up.

This past week Noah got to visit daddy at work and meet all his coworkers.  He slept through most of it thanks to the car ride over, so he really was on best behavior.   I will try to get him back awake one day, but it is hard (impossible) to drive anywhere and arrive with an awake Noah.  This isn't always a bad thing because when he is overtired, I can run an errand and know he'll get a little nap. 

Noah also made his first trip to the nail salon and "saw" his first Super Bowl.  Neither was very memorable to say the least, sorry Noah.  And, unfortunately the ladies at the nail salon forgot his manicure and he later scratched himself in the face due to his unkempt nails.  I learned my lesson quickly and filed his nails for the first time.  I'm too scared to clip them, but I will get there one day.

Noah is starting to make some friends too.  He went for a walk with his friend Zara at Piedmont Park this week and played with Madison and Henry last weekend.  Mads and Henry are big kids (16 months old), so I suspect he will learn a lot from both of them. 
He is also doing his best to win over the Nibby, who is slowly starting to accept that Noah isn't going anywhere.  The past few days Nibby has joined us on the bed to cuddle, which he hadn't done since before Noah was born. 

I am also happy to say that I haven't noticed any increased fussiness despite the warnings I received about the 6 week mark.  We had one evening with some excessive crying (of course a night daddy worked late), but that's it so far...

Highlights of the past week:
- smiling
- playing with friends
- Super Bowl party at the Millers'
- wearing a 0-3 month outfit that actually fit
- seeing daddy's office
- first nail filing

Here are just a few of the many pictures:

Still loving bath time

good morning daddy

favorite snooze spot (mommy's tummy)

braving the cold to walk his dog

snoozing rather than snacking

loves being swaddled