this month has been so busy! my sweet little ones have both hit milestones this month and i continue to be amazed at how quickly they learn, adapt, and understand things.
sweet samantha is 6 months old this month. hard to believe we are already half-way to one year! i remember being so worried this time last year... worried about noah being able to adjust, about matt and i being able to "handle" another child, our work schedules, etc. little did we know what a sweet little blessing samantha would be to our family. she is the happiest baby i have ever met. unless she is hungry or tired she has a near constant grin on her face. she loves to laugh and especially loves her big brother. she has gotten so involved in what's going on around her these days that she is always finding something or someone to giggle at or with. she is now aware of lexi and spends a certain amount of time every day attempting to reach her so she can pet her. sam adores her big brother and thinks that most of his antics are hilarious, unless she gets hit with a toy that goes astray. at her 6 month check up she was still on the low side for weight (that's what i get for praying my kids would get their father's metabolism!) but was doing exceptionally well in the categories of height and head circumference. her developmental status was on-par with an 8 month old. she learned to sit this month and now sits confidently while playing with toys around her. i think she especially enjoys this new view of her surroundings because it gives her more opportunities to watch her big brother run around and play. she loves sitting in the exersaucer and she is doing great at eating solids, which she is currently doing from her bumbo chair. the high chair proved to be a bit too slick for her to sit in for extended periods of time, even though it reclined, and the bumbo helped her improve her core muscles enough to sit on her own.
noah is now my big two-year-old. it is so hard to believe that i've been a mom for 2 years; that it's been that long since we brought home our little 6 lbs, 4 oz surprised-us-at-36-weeks baby. we have learned so much since then, and enjoyed as much of it as we can possibly soak up. noah grows and changes so much these days that i feel like my attempts to record his progress in this blog are mostly feeble, but here it goes anyway:
he loves to speak. he has started constructing his own thoughts and sentences (instead of mimicking the ones we say to him). our conversations typically consist of him telling us about his toys, something outside, or something regarding meals. the other day i was making the bed and noah walked in the room and asked me, "mommy fold the bed?" i had to smile as i realized he was trying to apply his own knowledge and create a statement. (consequently, it shows that i am also much better about folding and putting away laundry than i am about making beds!). the kid loves to dance. he often requests that we turn on music so he can bop around the house. he continues to love watching movies including
cars, toy story (the original or either of the sequels)
, mulan, or
101 dalmatians. we try to limit his TV time as much as possible, but because of my crazy night schedule he gets to watch more often than i would like. he also likes to tell us what things aren't -- often when he is talking to us he will identify something incorrectly and we'll tell him, "no, that's not _____. it's ______." so recently noah has started his conversations with us in the same way,
"watch a movie, mommy?"
[while i'm inserting a DVD into the player] "yes, noah"
"not
cars mommy."
"no, not
cars."
"not
mulan mommy."
"no, not
mulan."
...... we do this for a few more movies, then ......
"toy story, mommy!!!"
"yes, noah, we are going to watch
toy story."
in other news, noah also sprouted his lower-right two-year molar this month. he appears to be getting the rest of them in as well, but he doesn't seem to be having big problems with their eruption, so thank goodness for that. and speaking of growth and development, noah's pediatrician appointment went well, also, if not with much of the same results as sammy's -- noah was lean for his age, but tall. his development was equivalent to a 3-year-old's, and we were encouraged to work on gross motor and psychosocial skills such as jumping, having him learn to dress and undress himself and washing his hands unassisted. noah is doing very well learning numbers and now "counts" things by saying "three, four, five" no matter how many objects :) we are also continuing to work on colors, which he does a better job identifying if you ask him to "show me the green car" vs. asking, "what color is that car, noah?" all-in-all, he's understanding and it's amazing to see him absorb it and apply his knowledge.
of course, the other big event this month was his actual birthday party, which gets it's own post. we had a great turnout and the kids enjoyed having both sets of grandparents here with us for a combined total of almost two weeks. two weeks of playtime? of course they loved it! we are super appreciative, also, because the extra hands make it easier for us and even gives matt and i a chance to go out at least once without the kiddos.
check my other posts to see the kids 6 month and 2 year pictures and the whole post about noah's birthday party.
more pictures here:
