WATCH NOBLE GROW • MONTH EIGHT

SIX MONTHS OF SIBLINGS

 

WATCH NOBLE GROW • MONTH SEVEN

11.10.2015

seven months old

18.5 lb.

eating • all kinds of stuff and loving it!

sleeping • like a baby, which means not at all

wearing • nine month clothes and size 4 diapers

milestones • 10/18 - dedication at Desperation Church • 10/24 - Pienhardt Farm Day • 10/31 - first Halloween as a ninja turtle • we keep saying your teething, but still no teeth • grabbing at everything we have • rolling rolling rolling - we're starting to more of a desire to move in you • pretty good at sitting up now, but we still put you in the bumbo seat when we can't watch you closely • it's like all the color has just drained out of your hair - you're basically blonde now • making more varied sounds - your favorite lately is 'da da da...'

ev at seven months • noble at six months

WATCH NOBLE GROW • MONTH SIX

10.10.2015

six months old

eating • everything in sight + reach - you LOVE food and have now tasted avocado, sweet potatoes, applesauce, banana, peas, raspberries + watermelon

sleeping • terribly, but it comes with the age, I believe

wearing • six month sizes - we just took them out of storage and they're snug, so we'll be getting out nine month clothes soon

milestones • 10/01 - first trip to the county fair • 10/08 - first swing at sportsman lake park • 10/10 - first oktoberfest + taste of german chocolate cake to celebrate your half birthday • using your hands well, but you throw an absolute fit any time you can't hold onto something that interests you • speaking of things that interest you - the distracted nursing has begun • you LOVE your sister and anything she does, except when she takes a toy out of your hands - you aren't afraid to let the whole world know when you're mad • you started fighting sleep by simply yelling - not angrily, more like a constant noise to keep yourself awake

I wrote this months ago and have been carrying around a tattered piece of paper full of the scribbles that make up this letter for months now. While the difficulties I wrote about have almost passed, it was still important to me to put this here. A few nights a month, I stay up way too late for someone with two kids to look after, to work on turning this digital version of our story into a physical version. Even when I get months behind and even if no one else cares to read it, I like to sit and catch up on my stories about babies and hard times and love because someday these words will be bound in a book that my kids will pull down off of our bookshelves to reminisce and bond over. Our life has been hard and it isn't all that I dreamed about at times, but it's our story and it makes my stomach do flips when I think about being the keeper of our family's stories for years to come.

Dear Noble,

Our life has been a whirlwind since you joined us and for that, I feel an indescribable amount of guilt. The feeling of babyhood slipping through my fingers is a familiar one, but this is harder than that. Our life is so hectic each day, so tense. I carry around this heavy burden of knowing that you deserve more than this. I long for the same kind of start to life I gave your sister - days with a slow, rhythmic quality, a calm space with room for you to play, roll, crawl, a normal schedule with a celebration to top the day off (the joyous occasion of Papa coming home and a meal enjoyed together), bike rides down sun speckled streets, uninterrupted naps, hikes through the beauty of the high desert with you perched behind me in the frame pack, hearing you wake from far away and the anticipation of walking down the hallway to lift you up and reunite. Our days are full, but of what I'm not sure, nothing that feels as though it matters, nothing soul-building, nothing memory-making. When I fall into bed and the rest of the family have all found their places for the night, all I want is to wake you up and enjoy a quiet moment together. I want to rock you in our rocking chair and watch your eyes flutter and finally close as you succumb to the heaviness of sleep. There is so much that isn't possible for us right now. It's feels like we've been cheated out of our time together. I miss you without having been away from you. I worry that all this stress and tension that fills our days will form you in some irepareable way, so I pray for your resilience often. I think of our home building timeline in terms of how old you will be when we finish. It seems like a race for our bond and our sanctuary. Regardless of all of this, I am finding so much joy in being your Mama and watching you grow. You have a magical spirit.

ev at six months • noble at five months

WATCH NOBLE GROW • MONTH FIVE

08.14.2015

eighteen weeks old

08.21.2015

nineteen weeks old

 

08.28.2015

twenty weeks old

09.04.2015

twenty-one weeks old 

09.11.2015

five months old

eating • all the time, as you always have + you had your first taste of solids

sleeping • same as always - decent, but not through the night

wearing • size 3 diapers + 6 month clothes that are a bit snug

milestones • 08/26 - first taste of solid food (avocado) • 08/27 - kicked the hanging toys on your play gym for the first time • 09/02 - first time staying in the nursery at church • you love looking at your hands + being propped up to sit

ev at five months • noble at four months

WATCH NOBLE GROW • MONTH FOUR

07.17.2015

fourteen weeks old

07.24.2015

fifteen weeks old 

07.31.2015

sixteen weeks old

08.07.2015

four months old

eating • more often and you seem interested in our table food - i've let you have a few licks of things here and there, but we're holding off on solids until six months
sleeping • you're fighting a nap as I write this - the world is getting too interesting!
wearing • size 3 diapers like I predicted last month - size 6 month clothes fit you just right
milestones • 07/21 - kicked the toys on your play gym for the first time • learned how to sleep unswaddled • chuckled for the first time at the caterpillar toy hanging above your carseat • started teething

You're four months old. We're now in that comfortable stage of babyhood where we just chug along at each day and are effortlessly together. You've become my appendage. You smile at the rain, hate it when any one touches or tickles your feet, and 'talk' to yourself for hours each day. You love kids and give them big, gummy smiles when they approach you, but Evie is your favorite. You are full of joy and we're glad you're ours.

ev at four months • noble at three months

WATCH NOBLE GROW • MONTH THREE

06.12.2015

nine weeks old

06.19.2015

ten weeks old

06.26.2015

eleven weeks old

07.03.2015

twelve weeks old

07.10.2015

three months old

eating • is your favorite thing to do

sleeping • pretty well - you're usually down by 7 PM and wake to feed around 3-4 AM, waking for the day around 7-8

wearing • 0-3 month clothes, but I really should have packed them away by now and brought out the 3-6 months • size 2 diapers fit just right, but at the rate you’re growing, you’ll be in size 3 next month

milestones • 06/18 - slept through the night for the 1st time • 06.21 - reached for the bottom toys on your play gym • 06.29 - your 1st road trip (to Alabama) • 07.06 - noticed your feet for the first time • celebrated your 1st fourth of July

NOBLE! I’m in disbelief. I feel giddy in love when I think about you. I never believed in love at first sight. I thought that love grew and became more complex over time, and it does, but in this case, I was wrong. I fell in love with you the moment I held you. I can’t get enough of you. When someone offers me a break and asks me what I want to do with that time my answer is always, ‘Just hold Noble and take the time to really look at him.’ Joy bubbles up inside of me when I’m able to spend time being still with you. You are generous with your smiles this month and attached to your pacifier, but even more attached to your right hand. You ball it up into a fist and can keep yourself entertained for an hour or more, just sucking away at it. It has posed a challenge with its ability to escape the swaddle. We’re probably going to start teaching you how to sleep without being swaddled this week. Your smile started out as a crooked grin and has now grown into a full blown, bright as the sun smile. The kind that causes you so much excitement, you have to straighten your legs out and let out a shriek. You’ve become so vocal, coos accompany your wiggles and grunts come out with each stretch. Your ability to voice your opinion has grown right along with this. Faces are no longer quite as fascinating - more often you enjoy sitting in our laps, turned out towards the world, watching. As far as I can tell, you’re a homebody. Your facial expressions when we leave the house lead me to believe you are merely tolerating this. You would always rather be at home snuggled into someone’s arms enjoying the air conditioning. This made our first road trip a challenge, but you still did better than I had expected.  You enjoy your sister and often smile when she walks into the room or when you hear her laugh, but you also aren’t afraid to voice your opinion when she’s being too loud. You like to eat your meals in peace and quiet, but those are two words that just aren’t a part of her plans most days. Three months has been a hard milestone to face because it feels like a final goodbye to the newborn phase. You are a full blown baby now.

noble at two months • ev at three months

WATCH NOBLE GROW • MONTH TWO

 

05.17.2015

five weeks old

05.22.2015

six weeks old

hiking at Fourth of July Canyon

05.29.2015

seven weeks old

06.01 • 12 lbs 1.5 oz

06.06.2015

two months old

eating • a bit less often than last month, but still every three hours or so

sleeping • pretty well at night, but no consistent feeding schedule yet - you usually wake up twice + you're still fussy from 5-7/8 at night

wearing • 0-3 month onesies are snug, especially with a cloth diaper, but we're still trying to shove you in them - same with size 1 diapers. I think you'll have moved into 3-6 month clothes and size two diapers by next month.

milestones • taking a pacifier now, but you aren't a huge fan + turning your head to follow us around the room + 'talking' to us with coos + smiling more often, especially during diaper changes + holding your head up really well

Your eyes are still blue and I marvel at them every day. I'm unsure whether they'll stay blue or turn green like Papa's. No one in my family or Papa's family has blue eyes (except for Papa's pawpaw), so I never thought I'd have a blue eyed baby. I thought your hair would have started falling out by now like your sister's did, but no signs of that. You had so much hair to begin with that you don't even have a bald spot on the back of your head yet. You seem more comfortable laying alone now and are so patient with us. It takes a lot for you to truly cry. You're becoming much more interested in Ev now. She likes to play with you like she would a baby doll by putting blankets on you, 'shushing' you to sleep, giving you a pacifier, putting a bib on you, etc. Your relationship with each other right now is basically she is obsessed with you and you tolerate her. I let her bond with you in the ways she wants to a certain extent, but I often have to stop her and ask her to get out of your face or give you a break. You still give her quite a bit of coos and smiles each day. Like she did, you love to look around and I think you'll love learning. When you're fussy and nothing else can soothe you, walking you through the house with one hand under your butt and one under your head in a way that allows you to look around freely always helps. I feel like we've all settled into each other pretty well and your Papa and I aren't in survival mode anymore on most days. Watching you grow is bringing so much joy to our home.

noble at one month • evie at two months