Thanksgiving 2011

We shared Thanksgiving with our Ohio family at my grandparent's house this year. It was Noah's first year to enjoy the feast, and to make it even more special, he got to sit in my Grandpa Bunky's father's highchair which was made in the 1890's!

Right as the meal got underway, I accidentally cut Noah's finger with a butter knife while trying to cut a tomato. It bled a lot, and made for a bit of a stressful situation, but eventually things settled down and I could finish my meal.

Before dinner we all lounged in Tissy and Bunky's beautiful living room, looking at books and playing blocks with my cousin Ross.

Looking at photos with Bunky, Noah's great grandfather!

It's been a rough few days for Noah, what with three teeth coming in, getting cut by his mom, and falling at church yesterday and coming up with a split eyelid and black eye. But we're all doing well. Noah's such a trooper and is as happy and sweet as ever. We have so much to be thankful for, to list our blessings would take too long here so I'll just keep the list in my quiet heart and go to it when I need to.

A Couple More Halloween Pictures!

I thought I'd share a couple more Halloween pictures here before I post about Thanksgiving. Noah just had the best time walking the sidewalks and leading the pack.

Here is my little octopus wearing an Octopus Cap!

Picture wall in Noah's room.

I finally got to put up Noah's picture wall earlier this week. I painted the N today and added it and the clock this afternoon. After Noah watched me hammer in the nails, he went and got his own nail and tried to place it gently on the wall. It was so cute and fun to see him learning and trying new things.

I hope he likes his little gallery as much as I do!

Noah and the Apple

There's a whole lotta cuteness going on.

Lately...

We've been up to so much lately...

{Picture taken by our friend Nick Fancher}
You can click on the picture to see it larger.
We went apple picking last weekend. It was in the 70's and absolutely gorgeous. Noah couldn't have had a better time. Can you tell?

Gatsby ate a corn cob off of the table when our backs were turned a few weeks ago. He had to have it surgically removed which was the pits all around. All I have to say about it is thank God things cost less in Ohio than they do in California!

I caught a nasty stomach flu this week and was out of commission for a few days. As soon as I was just about done with being sick, it was Rudy's turn. We're both just now on the mend and crossing our fingers that Noah doesn't get it!

Noah turned one on September 23rd! More pictures and a video to come.

My lovely friend (and old next door neighbor), Jess, had a baby boy and named him Charlie! This is us at her baby shower. It was at a wine bistro and was a very fun and much needed mama's night off. I also wore bright fuchsia lipstick which is a big deal for me (dork, I know).

Now that Noah is walking full time, I try to take him and Gatsby for walks around the block pretty often if not every day. It was a bit drizzly two weeks ago, but we went anyway. I think he's just about too cute in his raincoat. Also, how cute is our front yard and street?! I feel so blessed to call this house our HOME!

Lastly, here is a view from our attic master bedroom at 7:30am. It is our very own back yard. Need I say more?

I'm watching two little boys who live down the street rake leaves in their yard. It's adorable. I LOVE fall.

Talkin' little man.

Here's one more cute video for good measure. I love how much he talks and plays while we are eating together, it makes my days so bright.

Three Very Cute Videos

We've been very busy over here at the Perkins household, but I wanted to share with you some videos of our hectic, but very beautiful life:

Noah took his first steps! The first few seconds are all you really need to see. These were his actual very first steps, caught on film, to the amazement of Rudy and I. He has since taken a few more, but is still cautious and usually chooses to crawl.

Our homegroup (through our church) had a cookout last Monday, and this is Noah in fine form flirting with our friend Cole.


This one is from our Clintonville neighborhood block party (*can you say "best place to live ever?" because I can*) where Noah rode a tricycle for the first time. Ok, held onto one while I pushed, but still, the little guy is only 11 months old!

Noah is 11 months old.

Yesterday Noah turned eleven months old. I cannot believe that in one short month he will be one! Where has the time gone? He is just the sweetest and busiest boy imaginable, and I feel so lucky to get to spend my days with him.

Here's what we did yesterday:

We went to the Columbus Museum of Art downtown. Admission is free for the rest of August, plus they are very kid friendly and even have a great playroom set up for small children. Needless to say we'll be going back very soon.

The museum was having an exhibition where they give viewers yards and yards of plastic fabric to take home and make something out of, then the viewer uploads photos of the finished work to flickr. Naturally I took home a roll! The fabric is in the bottom right of the photo above. I thought I would recover our seat cushions with it, and Noah helped me do a test run! I love how proud he looks holding his very own screwdriver.

In the evening I baked a spinach lasagna I had put together the day before. As shown by the pictures, Noah had just about as much fun eating it as possible. I'm pretty sure that more ended up in his lap than his belly.

Happy eleven months little Noah Benjamin. We love you!

My little Easter man.

My friend Michelle passed on this adorable jumper to Noah a few weeks ago. It is perfect for a little Easter outfit, but as the weather wasn't cooperating, I knew Noah couldn't wear it out yesterday. So I took pictures of him in it instead. It is much harder to get him to sit still for pictures now a days. He either wants to crawl, put something in his mouth, or crawl until he gets to something he can put in his mouth.

{Noah just got his first two teeth on the bottom, and loves to feel them with his lips}

{Have I mentioned that I can't get enough of his blue eyes?}

{Chewing on papa's finger}

Oh man. He's getting way too big, way too fast.

Noah and Rudy

I LOVE these guys.
Is it just me, or is Noah all of a sudden a little man?!

Noah and the skate park.

This post could also be called, "Columbus skips spring and dives right into summer". It was hot and humid yesterday, so we packed up the family and went to the skate park. Here's the story in photos:

We...

...basked in the sun.

...hung out with Gatsby.

...watched dad skateboard.

...went for a walk around the park.

...sat around with no pants on (Okay, only Noah did this one).

...and after a little snack...

...fell asleep on the way home.

Spring? Is that you?

Last weekend it was nice out so we went to the skate park. Noah is working on his building blocks of crawling, and can push himself up quite well now.

We also reached a milestone last week! Noah now sits up in his very own highchair. This has proved to be useful for Rudy and I when it comes to eating meals. We can pull him close to the table and he's content to watch us and play with a toy or two.

My little Noah bird.

Gratuitous pictures of our little almost 5 month old. He's such a little charmer and smiles at all the girls he meets.

Ice Storm 2011.

Two nights ago our world turned into a giant ice skating rink. The side walks and roads all have almost an inch of ice covering them. Bushes, trees and sign posts are all frozen over in a display like I've never seen before.

I borrowed these photos from my friend Becky's blog, found here. I took a couple of the ice, but she captured it so beautifully.

Last night we foolishly drove out of town to some friend's house for dinner. We slid around a bit on the ice, but made it safely. We thought we might have to stay the night there because of the ice, but because Gatsby was stuck at home alone, we decided to travel back, very very slowly. Luckily by the time we left all of the roads had been salted heavily and we made it home more easily than we had even hoped.

We didn't know, however, if we would have power when we got home. Just before we left our friend's, their power had gone out. All of the ice on the lines do not make for a good thing. When we got home, our lights were still on and our house was nice and warm. It stayed on for the rest of the night and is still working. I'm thanking God for that, and sending out the message to all our friends in Columbus that we've got a warm place for them to come should they need it.

In other news, Noah slept the best he's ever slept last night. He was down from 11:30pm-5:15am then again from 5:30am-9:50am. Holy cow, I feel like a new woman and am jetting around the house being more productive than I have been in weeks.

Cute photo dump.

Our little man is four months old now, and we're just so in love.

Thoughts on parenting.

I want to start out this post by saying that I didn't sleep very much last night. Noah will be four months old in three days (!) and is still waking very regularly throughout the night. On good nights it's maybe twice. On nights like last night, however, it's five. Each time requiring swinging and bouncing that conjure up images from bad 80's workout videos.

Before Noah was born I read the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. The advice in the book has proved to be very helpful, especially the swaddling and white noise. Unfortunately though, my little man has gotten used to being rocked to sleep, only while the person doing the rocking is standing...and it's getting tiring. My body hurts and so does Rudy's. It's time for a change.

As with everything in parenting so far, (and with our home-birth), I've found that it's all about taking in as much information as you can and then picking and choosing what works for you and your baby. I can't subscribe whole heartedly one person's method of parenting as much as I couldn't choose just one "Birthing Style". I'm sure that even if I do get down my own method of parenting with Noah, it will be completely out the window with our next child. So when I mention the names of books or parenting styles, which may have some up in arms, just know that I'm not endorsing one way or another but rather trying to find the right fit for us in this moment.

When Noah was tiny and new, attachment parenting was very right for us. I picked him up when he cried and nursed on demand. He has thrived in this environment. He is in the 90th percentile with weight gain and has remained very healthy. The problem is that I really don't know how often I should be feeding him, and furthermore how much time spent entertaining himself is appropriate. I surely don't think that he needs to eat every two hours throughout the night, but feed him I do! Foolish mommy, I say to myself, foolish! But when it's three in the morning and you share walls with two neighbors, (who probably hate us by now), you'll do anything to keep that baby quiet and sleeping.

..Insert need for schedule here..

When Noah was born, my aunt gave me the book My First 300 Babies. This short text is all about putting your baby on a strict schedule from the start, including wake times spent alone even if baby is crying. Now this goes against all of my gut feelings, but Ms. Hendrick does have a point in saying that this is the only aerobic exercise that a baby will have, and thus will improve sleeping habits. I don't think, however, that I could endure hearing Noah's cries for 30 min, let alone an hour and a half. I do think that with or without "alone time", implementing a daily schedule would really help our whole situation, and now that Noah is older and better at entertaining himself happily it makes complete sense. See? Best of both worlds. Or that's what we hope for.

In conclusion, today I tried letting Noah cry in his crib for five minutes before his usual nap time. And man was he wailing. After those gut wrenching minutes, I picked him up and quietly walked around the room, minus the bouncing etc. He continued to cry for a couple more minutes, even though I was cuddling him close. I really can't feel badly when I'm nurturing my baby and he continues to cry. I used to go into a frantic state to get him to be quiet, but I don't think this does either of us any good. After just a few moments of screaming in my arms, he quieted down, and just before he drifted off to sleep I put him down again in his crib. Do you know what happened? He went to sleep. On his own. And has been asleep for two hours.

Thank. You. Lord.

Two cute things.

A bear I made for our friend's baby, Max.

Noah and his Uncle Cody.