Noah's Atlanta girlfriends had better watch out because he was quite the ladies man this past weekend in Charlotte. He got to meet Sally (Kent and Annie's 8 month old), Avery (Casey and Tim's 4 month old) and see Annabelle again.
Avery (left) and Annabelle (right)
Annabelle was really into Noah's paci
Sally
He also got to meet Ford (Heather's 2 year old) and spend time with a lot of mommy's friends. It was a very fun weekend for the whole family. Definitely different than previous, pre-baby visits since we couldn't leave the house as much and were all up by 7am but we still managed to have a great time (i.e. drank plenty of wine, ate yummy food and did a lot of talking). The trip was Noah's longest car ride yet and he handled it like a champ, as if I expected anything different. He is getting to the point where he doesn't nap as well in his car seat, but he napped some and was pretty content the rest of the drive (even through his diaper "malfunction", which resulted in an outfit change and serious washing of the car seat padding).
Ford, Noah and Annabelle
The weekend before we went to Charlotte, Noah and I went to Chapel Hill to see Grandma and Grandpa and 30 of their friends (literally). He also got to meet his cousins, Sarah and Thomas, who will make great babysitters soon, and a few of mommy's friends. This was our first time flying without Ben, and it was just as easy as I thought it would be. He was great on the plane and at this point we're pretty good at getting through security on our own.
I also celebrated my first mother's day on Sunday. Noah wrote me a very special card and tried to be on best behavior. His grandparents also sent me flowers and cards, so I felt very special.
Over the past few weeks, Noah seems to have gone through a growth spurt. He looks a lot bigger and is flying through clothes. He continues to be smiley and happy all the time. Unfortunately for him though, he has definitely outgrown the basinet attachment on his pack n play, which is his absolute favorite place to sleep. We are working hard on napping in the crib, but for some reason he hates it even though he sleeps well at night. He is also getting close to being ready to be unswaddled, and I dread the first few nights without it because he absolutely loves the swaddle. It instantly calms him down, so I have a feeling we'll spend a few nights battling sleep.
We decided last night to try rice cereal for the first time, and I am not sure Noah knew what to think. He didn't hate it but didn't seem to love it either. I may try again tonight and then wait a few weeks if he isn't into it yet.
Highlights of the last few weeks:
- Meeting Avery, Sally, Ford, Thomas, Sarah and Rory (a friend in Atlanta who is 2 months old) and seeing Annabelle again
- Laughing
- Using the tub like a big boy
- Seeing Grandma Bea and Grandpa Art and all their friends (and mommy's friends)
- Trying rice cereal
- Celebrating Mother's Day (ok, a highlight for me)
Noah is officially a sommelier in training. He got his first taste of Napa at the young age of 4 months and loved it (parents of the year? I think so). Ben and I talked repeatedly about going over the last few years and just never found time, so we decided we might as well go while Noah is so young and easy to travel with. I was really nervous about the 5 hours flights and time change but shouldn't have been because, like everything else, Noah handled them like a champ. We got so many complements on his behavior on the plane - he was happy when he was awake and slept a lot of the time. When we got there we pretended like the time change didn't happen, which meant I was waking up at 3:30am. The benefit was that wine tasting at 9am seemed totally appropriate along with our 5pm dinners.
Before we went I did a lot of research and found several family friendly vineyards as well as an excellent nanny service. We took Noah to a few tastings and had a nanny 2 afternoons/evenings so we could do some tastings on our own and have a nice dinner. We couldn't have been happier with our nanny, who was a female Hispanic version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. We also loved a lot of the wineries we visited. A few of our favorites were Elkhorn, ZD, Frank Family, Rombauer, Frog's Leap, Neyers and Artesa.
Elk Horn
Cuvaison
Silver Oak
Neyers
Frog's Leap
Noah had the privilege of seeing Jake and Jocelin again and meeting our friend Leigh, who lives in San Francisco. Jake and Jocelin joined us in Napa Friday night, and Saturday afternoon we all went to San Francisco for dinner with Leigh at Burma Superstar, which was amazing. Speaking of food, Napa did not disappoint. Granted we were starving by the time we got to dinner, but still, we were impressed by Bottega, Farmstead, Boon Fly and Bouchon.
Boon Fly Cafe
Artesa
Cuvaison
Things at home have been great too. Noah got to have a play date a few weeks ago with Henry and Mads while the parents enjoyed some wine. He also loves his nanny, Delaney, and I love having him here so I can see him when I take a break from work. Unfortunately work has been incredibly busy, so I haven't gotten to spend as much time with him as I'd like, but I am hoping things calm down over the next few weeks. Noah and Delaney started a music class, lap sit story time at the library and a gymboree class. He apparently loves them all - he is the youngest one in the music class and it sounds like the bigger kids like having him there. I am hoping I can take him sometimes if I can sneak away from work for an hour because they sound like the most fun things ever.
Noah's nanny, Delaney
I could go on and on about the amazing things he is doing but figure pictures and videos (!) are more entertaining.
Highlights of the last few weeks: - Wine tasting (for mommy) - Seeing Jake, Jocelin and Leigh - Jumping and playing in the exersaucer - Sitting in the Bumbo - Laughing - Rolling over
