Catching up on all the latest happenings

Well, I've been a terrible poster--Noah went swimming, had a great time; he got his first tooth, is getting another; and he is eating his way through tomato-based foods.

I'll start with the swimming--my friend Lori, her husband David and their two kids, Zane and Haley, invited us to their campsite about a ton of weekends ago. We went, had a fabulous lunch, a fabulous time, and enjoyed their fabulous company. We just sat & talked, enjoyed the day, wandered down to the petting zoo (Noah thought the food on the ground was much more interesting than the animals themselves), and eventually found our way to the pool. It was Noah's first time in a real, live swimming pool. He's got his own pool at our house (looked great on the box, but in reality, the inflatable palm trees that are supposed to keep the canopy/water sprinkler effect aloft don't really do such a great job of standing up...they are much better leaners) and one at Grandma & Grandpa's (which he greatly enjoys crawling in & out of, much more so than actually sitting in it & playing in the water--which is why the pool is fully inflated & kept dry so that Noah can play with it IN the house, throwing his toys into said pool, crawling in, throwing his toys out of the pool....and so on), but this was his first real adult pool.

The water was a bit chilly...but we got used to it pretty quickly, and since Noah didn't turn blue immediately, we figured he was enjoying himself. We did lots of turns in the water, but nothing where he went under the water--but he did do lots of splashing. He had a great time, and I'm sure we'll be doing the pool thing again soon. And I must say, I love the pictures, where it appears as though my son is as big as I am. Some of that is due to perspective, but honestly, some of it is due to the fact that we've got a big-headed, tall little boy!


(This photo courtesy of Haley!)


(Noah and Lori. I'm not sure which one is happier!)

Which brings me to my next subject--Noah has his first tooth! No, it's not one of the top center teeth, or even one of the bottom center teeth--which are supposed to come in first, before all other teeth. No, it is his right canine, I do believe. And, soon to be emerging is his left canine. I am so afraid that we're going to have to get baby partials! And, get this--canines are usually the last teeth to emerge (well, except for the 2nd molars....but still)! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that our son is going about this tooth eruption thing backwards. We'll keep you posted on further dentition as they (hopefully) emerge. I've tried to get a picture of the tooth; Mom & Dad still haven't seen it, but sometimes if you can get him laughing hard enough, and get the right angle, you can see that pearly white. And there's no missing it when he bites down on your finger, either.

Which segues into my next topic--he's eating his way through most everything that's tomato-based. Rigatoni at Grandma & Grandpa's. Meatloaf (which has as it's base liquid sloppy joe sauce--and it's darn good, too!). Pizza (that was his Daddy's doing). Chicken Parmigiana. I know this doesn't sound very baby-friendly (and may explain our need to stock up on prunes--I won't bore you with those details!), but he's supposed to be eating adult food now, and I guess that it just shows y'all how much we love our tomato-based foods. We have been enjoying Mom & Dad's bumper crop of 'maters, too--Patrick has made a couple of batches of fresh tomato sauces (for spaghetti), and it's darn good. Never makes as much as we think it will, though. We'll have our cast-iron skillet nearly overflowing with cut up tomatoes, thinking we'll be freezing it, canning it, eating on it for weeks...and when all is said & done, it's enough for him & I, and barely enough for a couple normal-sized portions (which we shared with Mom & Dad, who, honestly, I think were bummed there wasn't more, too).

Noah did have a small stomach bug this past Friday; I had it on Thursday (but didn't know it at the time--just thought that something I ate didn't agree with me), and noticed on Friday that Noah had a low-grade fever. I didn't take his temperature--he just felt a little warm. But since I knew that he was getting another tooth, figured it was part of the teething, and dropped him off at Mom & Dad's to go to work for a few hours. Mom called me about 1/2 hour later, saying he was hot, lethargic and just not drinking anything. So, I rushed over with my thermometer, took his temperature the fun way, and he had a temp of 103. So, we called the doctor's office and were soon on our way (I had to leave a message, but Mom pointed out that if we're on our way, that saves a little bit of time. Wise woman.). Right when we pulled into the parking lot, Noah projectile vomited. A LOT. I know that their stomachs aren't very big, but it sure seems like they're not that small, either, when you have the contents in liquid form all over the back of your car! I won't bore you with the details, but the doctor proclaimed him to have a stomach bug that should be gone in 24-48 hours. And I'd like to extend a special, heartfelt thank you to Mom, who bravely went back to the car while we waited in the nice waiting room--and cleaned up most of the puke. You went above and beyond. Thank you!

But we did get his weight--21 lbs (post-vomit; not sure if that makes a difference). Seems like he's dropped a bit, but has grown upwards--from our measuring, he's about 31 inches tall.

True to the doc's word, Noah was feeling much better the next morning (15 hours of sleep must have helped, to)--although not 100%, as he projectile vomited (directly on and at Patrick) some of the milk he'd just gulped down. Patrick was well-versed in cleaning up, though, as he had the distinct honor of cleaning out the remainder of the back of the car the day before.

He's back to his old self today, and we're glad for it. It just breaks our heart when he's not his feisty, cup-throwing self.

Enjoy the pictures!


(Mmm. Tastes like chicken. Needs catsup.)


(If I don't make eye contact, the Turtle won't know what's coming...)


(Yum!)