Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it’s late, but hey-only by a few days! We had SUCH a fun, relaxing 4 day weekend! Well other than Bama losing the ball game and a funeral we attended. Most importantly, we got to spend time with our little family of three! (Plus our best friends! That’s Uncle B in the picture below!)

Crying It Out is certainly a little secret from Heaven! After Noah’s bedtime routine, we lay him down and shut the door and within 20 seconds he has stopped crying and is asleep! Always! And if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he always puts himself back to sleep within a few minutes! AND on Sunday and Wednesday nights when we don’t get home until 7:30pm, we skip the bath (and sometimes the bottle if he has one at church) and follow the rest of the routine, and he still falls asleep in less than a minute! Praise Jesus!!

We also put up our Christmas tree and inside decorations over the weekend with a little help from our tiniest family member.

AND over the weekend, my car hit a big milestone!

Isn’t that so sad? I think so!

Anyway, (sorry this post is so random by the way!) at Noah’s 9 month check up last week, his doctor said that by his next check up at 1 year, he should be eating mostly table food and no more bottle. EEEK!!! So this is majorly stressing me out! I have let Noah have a sippy cup at snack time since he was about 7 months old. He plays with it but he can’t figure out how to make anything come out. This weekend at morning bottle time, we gave him his formula in the sippy cup and all but forced it in his mouth-holding him down and the cup in his mouth for 10 minutes while he screamed-until we both gave up and gave him his bottle. He will drink out of a regular cup though. And I bought a sippy cup today that has a straw on it so maybe he will like that.

And as far as table food goes, Noah is pretty picky and funny about textures. We’ve tried mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, Vienna Sausages, pizza, etc. and he HATES them all! Besides the normal baby table foods (Cheerio’s, puffs) I’ve only gotten him to eat rice, refried beans, sweet potato casserole, and just recently apple slices!

But he never eats enough of whatever I give him to fill him up. He always wants baby food, too. He’s going to go to Kindergarten eating baby food and drinking out of a bottle yall! What am I going to do!??!

CIO Night 3

Last night, we started Noah’s bedtime routine as usual around 6:30pm.

During Noah’s bottle, he was already getting heavy-eyed so I figured when would have an easy night. When Brad and I walked into Noah’s room and said, “Ok Noah. It’s time to go to sleep!” he immediately started crying. At least he’s getting into the routine though, right??

We laid him down and closed the door. I walked straight to our bedroom, turned the monitor on, and about 20 seconds later……he was sound asleep! I am not even kidding people! I swear I heard angels singing!

I didn’t know what to do with myself with all the free time I had! I cleaned the kitchen, the living room and did a few loads of laundry! Yeah!

BUT (you knew there was a but, didn’t you!) around midnight he woke up crying. This cry was different than the night before. It wasn’t a full out scream, but more of just a regular cry. I told myself to stay strong!! We decided to increase the time between visits from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. He still got more upset with each visit, but after 45 minutes, he finally fell back asleep!

He woke up again around 3am (or so I’m told!) and whimpered for a few minutes and fell back asleep.

This morning I was greeted with TONS of good morning sugar from my happy baby! He still loves me! YAY!

As far as Wednesday and Sunday nights go, I am going to take yalls advice and skip the bath and see how that goes. I am just SO thankful that crying it out worked so well for us!

9 month check up and CIO 1 & 2

Friday was Noah’s 9 month check up with his pediatrician!

We had SO much fun waiting (for over an hour) for the doctor to come in. We played with some toys, ate some Cheerio’s, screamed in the room to hear ourselves echo…

tore the paper to shreds…

played hide and seek…

and got three shots. :( It wasn’t so much fun after that! Noah weighed 22 lbs 11 oz, which is a few ounces less than he was when we were there the week before because of the stomach virus. He is in the 50th%ile for height, 75%ile for weight and 95%ile for head circumference. What can I say, he’s smart! :)

Crying It Out-Night 1!

Saturday, Brad and I were ready to sleep train. At 6:15pm, we started Noah’s bedtime routine…bath, bottle, book. As I was giving him his bath, I noticed that where he got his flu shot was swollen, red and had a knot under it. I freaked my freaked and did what I always do when that happens. Call the sister! She reminded me that the doctor always gives an information sheet to you when they give a shot to the baby. So I read the sheet and it said everything he was doing was normal. Phew! But I could tell Noah was having discomfort from it so we gave him some Tylenol to help.

Back to the bath! We finished up and started giving Noah his bottle. He was SO sleepy so we struggled with keeping him awake through his bottle. But we did and then we read him a chapter of the Bible. After we were through, Brad and I just looked at each other like, well-here we go! We both walked into Noah’s room with him, gave him BIG hugs and kisses and told him that we loved him and it was time to go to sleep. I gently laid him down while Daddy turned on his music. Noah immediately started crying while we walked out and closed the door behind us. We went to our bedroom and stared at the video monitor. He was crying but it was really more of a whimper. At the 10 minute mark, he was so close to being asleep that I decided that going to check on him would probably just wake him up more, so we didn’t. And after 11 minutes total, he was asleep!!!! [Insert Hallelujah Chorus] We couldn’t believe it was that easy! I’m certain the Tylenol played a big part, but still! He woke up three times in the middle of the night and whimpered for a few minutes and then fell back asleep. Score! We were so excited and decided that we should have started this a loooong time ago!

Noah was in SUCH a good mood all day Sunday!

Crying It Out-Night 2

Sundays are always going to be a problem for us. Church starts at 6pm and we don’t get out until 7pm. That’s right in the middle of Noah’s bedtime routine. So I’m not quite sure what we are going to do to fix that situation because neither of us is willing to miss church on Sunday night.

We rushed home after church and started Noah’s bedtime routine around 7:15pm. He wasn’t all that tired. In fact, he was talking and wanting to eat the book while I was reading it to him! We laid him down and he cried for 18 minutes. Still pretty good!

BUT he woke up at 2:40am. And instead of whimpering, he screamed. I thought for sure the neighbors were going to call DHR. Brad and I alternated turns going in and checking on Noah every 10 minutes. After 40 minutes, we were making NO progress. And going into the room would only make Noah 10 times more upset. I was scared he would lose his little voice. So at 45 minutes, I caved and put him in the bed with us. My heart just couldn’t take it anymore. Bad, bad Mommy, I know!! It’s just so hard. And Noah slept SO hard once he got in bed with us. Just look at that bed head!

And I’m sure it didn’t help that we threw off his routine anyway. But tonight I WILL do better. I promise!

(And THANK YALL so much for all the advice! I greatly appreciate every bit! If you have more, PLEASE send it my way! And just as an fyi-Noah is a thumb sucker. He was never one to suck a paci.)

Sleep Training

We have not been having good nights at our house lately. For the past month or two, if Brad and I had a hard time getting Noah to go to sleep, we would just put him in the bed with us. He almost instantly starts snoozing and when you are exhausted, it’s just SO much easier. As I’ve said before, I swore my kids would never sleep in the bed with me! And it wouldn’t be that bad if (1) we didn’t have 4 people in our bed-that’s Brad, me, Noah and Bella! (2) Noah wouldn’t wake up when our alarm clocks went off and (3) Noah didn’t have to be cuddled in order to sleep!

To get Noah to sleep, we have always rocked him and sang to him. Usually he will fall asleep in about 20 minutes. We then tip-toe into his room (where his music is already playing) and ever-so-carefully lay him down in his crib and then PRAY he doesn’t wake up. He might wake up once, sometimes twice and you have to start the process all over again.

Nowadays, we walk into his room (he will be dead asleep with his mouth open), lean over his crib to lay him down and the screaming begins!!! Or if we are lucky, he stays asleep then but wakes up at midnight. We rock/sing for 20-30 minutes, try to lay him down, and the screaming starts again. I can’t even remember the last time we slept through the night. Brad has been so good about getting up with Noah, but it’s starting to take a toll on him BIG time! Not to mention that Noah is SO big now that I can barely stand on my tip-toes and carefully lower him into his crib without hitting his hand/foot on the crib and waking him up! AH! Sucks being 5 foot tall sometimes!

ANYWAY, I say all that to say this. We have decided to try sleep training. I never really thought about it until I read Karen’s blog last week. Then I asked several friends about it and they ALL said it worked for them! So I’ve been researching the Cry It Out method like crazy. We have decided to start sleep training on Saturday….Noah will get his 9 month shots on Friday and I don’t want that to interfere. We are going to follow the 3 b’s….bath, bottle, book routine and set his bedtime at 7:30pm. And as of right now, I’m thinking of only checking on him every 10 minutes (maybe 5 if I can’t wait that long!).

So I need advice! Anything you’ve got, I’m all ears!

And because no post is complete without a picture…

Stomach Bug 2010

One word to describe it….exhausting!

Ok, let me start from the beginning. Last Saturday, we woke up listening to Noah playing in his crib. A few minutes later, I went in to get him and he had an explosive diaper. It had soaked through his pajamas and was all over his crib sheet and blanket.

He NEVER poops at night. EVER. I didn’t think much of it at the time. We got dressed and headed to Birmingham to the Christmas Village! It was fuh-reezing outside and we had a long walk from where we parked so we bundled up our bundle of joy and headed to shop!

We bought some SUPER cute stuff and while we were there, fighting the crowd, Noah decided that he would start holding his bottle! (And yes, his bottle says “Reece” on the side…hand-me-downs from Auntay!)

Afterwards, we ate lunch and then headed back home. Noah was acting perfectly normal, maybe a little on the cranky side, but hey-he’s my child-he gets it honestly.

We played in the living room floor for a while and then we moved to the recliner. Noah was sitting in my lap, facing me, playing with a toy when all of a sudden……Niagara Falls comes out of his mouth! Within 2 seconds, he did it again. Brad and I ran with Noah to the bathroom and on the way there, he threw up AGAIN!!!!!! I have never seen so much liquid come out of a baby before. We both just kind of stood there for a minute looking at each other like “What the crap are we supposed to do??”

I was soaked from my shoulders to my toes so Noah and I just stripped down right there and climbed into the bathtub together.  He thought that was pretty funny. And after he threw up, he acted normal again.

After our bath, I immediately called my sister and freaked my freak! She told me to CHILL OUT and give him some Pedialyte. So we did for the rest of the day. Noah slept.

Sunday morning rolls around and since Noah had acted fine since he threw up, we figured that he must have eaten something that didn’t agree with him and we figured he would be ok to go to church. He did great and we went to our usual Sunday lunch spot. I could tell he didn’t have much of an appetite while we were eating. He bonked his head on the table and started crying. I tried to console him without picking him up but he just wouldn’t stop crying. So I got him out of his highchair and he still kept crying-very unusual. So I stood up to walk outside. I walked maybe two steps when….dum dum dummmmmmm…..Niagara Falls Part 2! Twice this time-in the middle of the restaurant! We hurried home, called my sister, freaked out again and decided he couldn’t go to school the following day.

Meanwhile, I also learned that 5 out of the 7 kids in his preschool class had the same thing! I figured there was no use in going to the doctor unless he ran a high fever or got dehydrated or threw up again. So we waited.

Monday morning (is this post long or what!!) we laid around the house. Don’t you love the bed-head?

Around 9am, I got a call from the hubs. He was coming home from work because he now had the bug. Soooo I got to take care of TWO babies! :) Daddy even mustered up the strength to install our cabinet safety latches, with a little help from his buddy!

Noah had no symptoms Monday except for being extremely cranky and clingy. So Tuesday I sent him to school. And Brad back to work. Noah did great Tuesday and Wednesday at school. At church that night, he threw up AGAIN!! That’s when I decided that he was going to the doctor first thing this morning!

He weighed 22 lb 14 oz! The doctor said that it’s taking him a little longer to get over this stomach virus because he’s never really been sick before and doesn’t have any immunity toward it. So she suggested that we switch him to the most freakin expensive formula I’ve ever seen-Similac Alimentum- for a week or two to give his stomach a little break and a chance to fight this virus.

Noah has been staying with his Gammy today and since he’s not contagious, he’s going to school tomorrow (as long as I think he’s up to it). From what I hear from Noah’s teacher, the virus seems to be making all the sick babies relapse. :(

Hopefully, we’ve seen the last of that yucky virus and my sweet little boy will feel better soon!

Happy 9 months Noah!

I apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures. It’s very difficult to make a 9 month old little boy sit still for any length of time!

This month’s stats are…..

• Still wearing size 3 Pampers Cruisers
• Wearing 12 month clothing, but he can still fit in to some 9 month outfits (barely!)
• We go to the doctor next Friday so I’ll update his weight then!

• He is the fastest crawler ever! If he sees his Mommy or Daddy across the room, he zooms to us in about 2 seconds!
• He is an expert at pulling up now and will let go for a few seconds, until he realizes what he’s doing! I think he will be walking by the end of the year for sure!

• We have started a bad habit (which I swore I would NEVER do!!) by letting Noah sleep in the bed with us if he doesn’t feel good or if he just won’t go to sleep. Brad is very good about rocking him and putting him back in his crib. I, on the other hand, am LAZY and just pick him up and toss him in bed with us. Plus, I like to cuddle! BUT I am trying to get better!
• He now has SIX teeth! Four on top and two on bottom! He bit me for the first time Monday….

• He understands what NO! means now and 99% of the time if we tell him NO! he will stop in his tracks and look at us like What??
• Lately, (probably because he’s been sick with the Stomach Bug 2010…more on that later!) he has been waking up 1-2 times a night-no fun!
• Eating 1 jar of baby food for breakfast, 2 jars at lunch and 2 jars for dinner, 8 oz bottles in between meals and one before bed, plus lots of snacks!

• Favorite snacks include Gerber’s Little Crunchies, preferably Veggie Dip flavored, Cherrio’s, Fruit Loops, Yogurt Melts…..he also realllllly loves rice, and will eat refried beans, hot dogs, french fries, mashed potatoes, we eat really healthy at the McMichael house, can’t you tell??
• He can 100% feed himself snacks and such. We just got some new sippy cups to practice with and I think he may be getting the hang of it!

• Bedtime is a little later these days, usually around 7:30pm, and he wakes up around 6:30am (when I wake him up to go to school) but on the weekends he usually sleeps until 7:30am
• Still two naps a day most days, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. But some days he just takes a loooong 4 hour morning nap
• Eczema is a BUTT! The more I try to make it go away, the more it shows up!!! GRRRRRR!!

• Can say “Dada” on command and says “good” only when he wants to
• He LOVES school. LOVES! And now he smiles and gets excited when I pick him up from school!
• He DOES actually smile I promise! It’s so hard to get a picture of him smiling! Mostly because he smiles while he’s bouncing or on the move and then he gets completely out of focus on my camera!

We have endured our very first stomach bug this past weekend. That post is coming soon!

Noah, we love you so so much! You are our special gift and we treasure the time we get to spend time with you and watch you grow and explore. You mean so much to us and we are so proud to be your parents!