Life Since Noah

My boys at Thanksgiving dinner.

I can't believe that Noah is one month old already! Time has gone by so fast, even faster than it felt when Joey was this little. My whole maternity leave has felt like one long weekend, what with not going to work. Dan's been back to work since the week after Noah was born, and we don't always have someone over visiting so frequently it is just me and the boys. I love saying that, "the boys". Plural because I have more than one, such a blessing! I don't get nearly as much done around the house as I did before, even while 40 weeks pregnant I still managed to do some things. The only chores that get done on any kind of a regular basis are laundry (for what should be obvious reasons) and dishes because we don't have that many place settings to begin with. Other than that, I'm lucky if I get to vacuum once a month. Luckily, Noah likes being worn and I can put him in the sling and actually not be stuck on the couch the entire time Dan is at work. Some days. Other days I am stuck on the couch with the exception of going to the bathroom or getting food for Joey.

I wouldn't have it any other way though. They're close enough in age that they will (hopefully) get along most of the time as they grow up. Joey is already a fantastic big brother, he tries to share his toys and likes to come over and "talk" to Noah. Joey has also been spotted attempting to give Noah fist bumps, so sweet! This isn't to say that Joey has been an absolute angel since we brought Noah home, he is still a toddler and just because we brought him a brother doesn't make him any less of a toddler. We still deal with crying fits on a daily basis, thankfully though they happen at home *most* of the time, but overall he is still a great kid (as if I could say anything else about my own child). Today I caught him spitting milk on the carpet (something that happens more frequently than I'd like to admit, we can't figure out why he does it) and took his milk cup away from him and told him for the millionth time not to do it. I couldn't get to the soggy milk carpet puddle right away, but before I could do anything, Joey comes over with a burp cloth and starts wiping the carpet himself! He got hugs and kisses and a high five from me for doing such a good job (he actually missed the puddle completely, but we hadn't even asked him to clean it up so the thought totally counts!). This wasn't the first incident of cleaning either, he's actually pretty helpful when it's something easy. The other day, he had pulled all of the wipes out of the case and they were all over the living room. While I was putting them back (seriously, they go on butts, they don't need to be sterile), Joey ran around and brought me each and every one to put back in the case, without me asking him to! He's also helped my grandmother sweep her patio, I may have to invest in toddler-size cleaning tools...

Noah is doing fabulously! He was 9lbs 12oz at his 1 month checkup, which is 2lbs 11oz above his birth weight! He's still wearing NB-sized clothes, though some of the 0-3mo stuff is starting to fit, 3mo is too big but probably not for much longer. He pretty much nurses and sleeps all day long, but his awake periods are getting longer and we've started to get hints of social smiles from him, but nothing caught on camera so far! I love love love gummy, baby smiles and it looks like Noah is going to have dimples like his brother and daddy *heart melting*. He's also a champion pooper like his brother, nearly every single diaper I change is a poopy one, good grief! It was several months before Joey switched to his every-few-days schedule, in the beginning it was just like this. I would like at least a few changes in a row to require only one wipe, that would be nice. I do have to say that Noah's diapers are considerably better in the smell department than Joey's are (thank you solid foods, /sarcasm). I keep meaning to pull out my cloth diapers and see if Noah fits them yet so we don't have to buy quite as many, since we're now buying for two kids. I get big boxes at BJ's where they're cheaper, but it's still pricey. I am thankful that we're not buying formula, both for financial reasons and health reasons. Joey only just recently had his first cold--the first time ever that he was sick! Going over a year without being sick once is pretty amazing and I'd like to keep that trend going with Noah and hoping to get through this cold/flu seasons without any more illnesses for Joey too.

Christmas is in a few days and I'm so excited! This is the first year that Joey will have some idea of what's going on. He doesn't really know who Santa is yet or what the deal with the presents is, but he loves seeing the decorations everywhere we go and he especially loves Christmas trees. Also pulling ornaments off the trees, we have to watch him with that. He likes opening presents, he still doesn't care so much about what's inside, he just looks for more paper to tear. Christmas morning will be fun :) Maybe next Christmas I'll have finished knitting stockings for ALL of us, I'm super slacking, only Dan and Joey have stockings right now. Even then, Joey's doesn't have his name on it yet and Dan doesn't know where his is. We're super on top of this haha. I'm almost done with gifts, just a few finishing touches on a couple and I'll be done. Yesterday we braved the crowd and the late bedtime and took both boys to a friend's "End of The World Party" (supposedly the world was going to end yesterday according to some ancient civilization's calendar) and we had a blast! Joey was exceptionally good about not pulling their ornaments off their tree and entertained himself by eating chips and climbing up and down their stairs. Noah slept almost the whole time, only woke up to eat once and I took that opportunity to change him as well. I loved getting out of the house and talking to other adults, it would have been nice to stay longer but we opted to head home prior to any major meltdowns from Joey (who was slightly upset to leave, but not as bad as he could have been had we waited longer). Our plan was mostly a success, Joey fell asleep in the car on the way home but woke up a bit later. I'll have to talk about our night time routine a little later, but Noah is asleep right now and I'd like to take advantage of that and knit with this awesome yarn Lyndsay loaned me to see if I like it :)