Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch!

We went to our first pumpkin patch as a family! We stopped at McDonalds for breakfast to get our million dollar piece (it'll happen!) and then hit the road to Uesugi Farms!

It was super foggy and overcast when we left, but of course upon arriving to Morgan Hill it was almost 85 degrees and icky! Mister Man was all smiles and chatting up a storm the way there and was out like a light when we got there. I know they say never wake a sleeping baby, but I had to! Plus, look at this face. This was the face made when he saw a pumpkin. Priceless.


He was not overly thrilled with the heat but he was a complete angel! We walked around and looked at all the attractions and decided we were going to go on one hayride and Jesse was going to do the pumpkin blaster. It was kind of a no win situation going to this specific farm, on the weekends you get all the parents and families going, and on weekdays there are school buses full of children.

So. Many. Pre-Schoolers.

We held off on our hay ride until all two hundred bajillion kids had done it and made our way over to the pumpkin portion of the pumpkin patch. We found out all sorts of fun facts about pumpkins. Did you know the largest pumpkin pie ever made was 5 feet in diameter and baked for 6 hours? So much pie! And pumpkins can only grow in the same soil every three years? The things you learn at the pumpkin patch! Anyway, we wandered about the pumpkins and looked at a few hundred before I found one, it had personality! It was long, skinny and curvy in the middle. It was going to be a perfect carving pumpkin. But then I gave it up. Why? For a better pumpkin I can carve out and put my naked child in for cute pictures he will probably hate. Oh yes. These will be shown to all his girlfriends. All of them.

Jesse on the other hand is one of the pickiest pumpkin pickers. Ever. His pumpkin has to be a good carving pumpkin, has to have a stem, has to have the perfect cartoon pumpkin shape, can't be too yellow or have green. We're talking the worlds most perfect pumpkin. This is the face of a flustrated man looking for his pumpkin. He was not a happy camper,  he looked at almost every single pumpkin there. In the end he did find his perfect pumpkin:)

We got Noah a baby sized pumpkin. Or 4. One of them is carvable and the other 3 are those itty bitty ones the grocery store decorates with. He was digging it. If he was a little bigger, and it wasn't pure dirt and hay, I would have plopped him on the ground and let him stand on pumpkins. I also wanted to prop him up in our wheel barrow and take pictures, but it was too warm to risk sitting him in the metal tub and potentially burn his chubby little legs.

After all these fun shenanigans someone realized he was a hungry little monster. Jesse loaded the pumpkins into the car and I took feeding duty. After a full tummy and a mommy covered in spit up, we went off to the hayride. We found some shade and hay bales to sit on while we waited for our ride, to come take us on our enchanted tour ride.


So I'm just going to post pictures from our tour and let you imagine you're on it instead of giving you all the deets. That would be a crazy long post in itself!

 But first I'm going to show pictures of my over excited husband shooting pumpkins out of something that looked like it should have been on the top of a freakin tank!

 He shot the pumpkins towards a few bulls-eye targets, some jack-o-lantern targets, and a rusted old pick up truck. The thud of the pumpkin hitting the truck was absolutely amazing. It got giggles out of the baby even though he was more or less asleep.

 

Now for the

ENCHANTED HAY RIDE!

Holiday Bucket List

1. Make a gingerbread house

2. Make gingerbread men

3. Make peppermint bark

4. Go see Christmas lights

5. Go for a carriage ride

6. Make Christmas cookies

7. Get Noah's picture taken with Santa

8. Make ornaments

9. Cut down our first family Christmas tree

10. Put out cookies for Santa

11. Make family stockings

12. Watch Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and The Year Without a Santa Claus with popcorn and hot chocolate

13. Send out Christmas cards

14. Read Noah Christmas Tales

15. Make an advent calendar

4 months

The Monster is 4 whole months old! A thrid of a year! Wowsers.

Favorites

So this kid has done quite a bit of growing this month! He loves to stand up. All the time. As proud as I am to have a standing up baby, my arms get exhausted from helping him stand. Solution to this standing problem? The excersaucer. Such a genius invention! He's a big fan of standing up in his new toy and figured out last night that he can in fact play with the toys. Up until now we would make them make noise, but he can do it on his own now. Another thing that goes with the standing? Walking. Not real walking, but he will climb up you if you let him and he will walk a little across the floor holding onto our fingers.

I will say we are guilty of letting him watch TV. He loves to talk to Mickey Mouse and thinks the hotdog song is hilarious. He held his head up for an entire episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse until the end when he got excited for the song, flailed, and smacked his head into the floor. Not a pleasant reaction from that one. He also has a spiral rattle he loves. It started with him just looking at it and holding it, but now he grabs it, eats it and talks to it.

Not So Favorites
He's developed a new habit when we try to do something he doesn't want to do. He arches his back so we can't continue. Whether it's putting him in the bouncy chair, car seat, changing table or in his crib, he arches his back and fights us. It was cute the first time, but now he gives us a "haha" grin when he does it and it's just a pain in the ass.

Sleeping
So while he is still sleeping through the night, his catnaps have turned into legitimate hour+ naps. One afternoon it was a 3 hour nap. Amazing!

Places We've Been

We didn't go too many places this month since I went back to work and have been exhausted by the time the weekend comes. We did go to the farmers market one Sunday. He was a good little guy and had no freak outs, smiled at everyone and even got to see Kristine and Anna! He fell asleep about halfway through, and we went to the recycled bookstore where he unknowingly made a friend.
We also went to Auntie Banana's going away party where he played in the bounce house with Uncle Eric for a little while.

He also went to his first football game at Westmont. He was pretty good the whole time, but got cranky towards the end when he got tired. He was a hit with a lot of Jesse's friends parents and old teachers. Although he wasn't too sure what to think of the cheerleaders loud music, he liked watching their bright red pom poms.

Doctor Visits
We had quite a few of these this last month! We found out he has yet another ear infection so they put him on amoxicillan and ear drops. We find out about a week later that he has some type of issue with it and he was throwing up his entire bottle. We took him back in and the doctor said it was now an ear infection AND a ruptured ear drum. What happened was the infection built up so much pressure the ear drum couldn't handle it anymore and went pop. He's still on his ear drops and is going back to the doctor next week for a follow up.

Milestones
So I know he found his voice already, but he just discovered how much it can change and what he can do with his voice. The giggles and screams are just too cute, until they reach insane pitches and I have to cover my ears.
If we kiss his cheeks, he opens his mouth, turns his head and gives us his version of kisses back<3
We have a roller! It's only belly to back right now, but he's definitely rolling :)

3 Months

It's been a quarter of a year with out little man!!

Favorites
What does Noah like you may ask? We think he likes the color green. Whenever we go somewhere and there's green his eyes zoom in on it. Our doctors office has a huge underwater mural and he loves the seaweed. Never mind the pink, yellow and blue fish, he wants that green seaweed! 
He's also a big fan of the Bumbo. He sits in it while we eat dinner. We plop him in the center of the table like a centerpiece and he sits and talks to us while we eat. Great conversation piece;)

His Whales

He also has taken a shine to his whale washcloth and an extremely thin burp-cloth that used to be mine. We call it his burpee. His burpee seems to keep him happy and he'll cover his face and act all kinds of silly with it. His whales are his favorite washcloth in and out of the bathtub, when it's time to take him out he takes it with. 


Not So Favorites
He's developed a habit of SCREAMING when he needs a diaper change. It could be right after he pees, or half an hour, but when he decides it needs to be done he lets us know.
He's starting to have stranger danger issues. It's not too bad yet, but he gets nervous and eventually freaks out.

When he gets sleepy he doesn't want to be held or stay in his bouncy chair, he wants to lay down. And be alone. He does not want any human contact whatsoever. I'm hoping this lasts throughout the toddler years and he will stay out of our bed!










Eating and Sleeping
He's been doing a lot of both. He catnaps during the day and eats every 3 hours. Not a whole lot has changed in this department.



Places We've Been
We went to the fair, which was quite fun. He seemed to enjoy most of it and was super chatty the rest of the day. He even experienced sunscreen for the first time. He was surprisingly okay with sunscreen although he isn't a huge fan of lotion. Odd.
He also made it to SFO and back peacefully. Not only did he make it to the airport and back, he lasted through an In n Out pit stop. He did not like the paper hats however.

Doctor Visits
He didn't have a well baby check up, but we did have to go to the doctor for some pooping problems and his first ear infection. This ear infection is killing us. It's been 3 weeks since he had it, but his ear still seems to be bothering him a bit.

Milestones
He found his voice. We love talking to him and having him talk back. He feels empowered to talk on his changing table and we'll leave him on it after we change him for 20 minutes because he just sits there and talks to himself.
On top of finding his voice he also found his hands. If he doesn't have a binky in his mouth, his hands are there. He also finds it necessary to guide one hand into his mouth with the other.
He also is responding to things we show him. He recognizes his bottle every now and then, he recognizes his burpee and he got really excited when Kira showed him her Brobee(more green!)
His morning smiles. I ask him for morning smiles right when he wakes up and we get big old grins:D

He's growing like a weed and I cannot wait to start off the holidays with him!

Blankies

Noah Patrick loves his blankies!

Well really he has discovered he has hands and he loves holding things.

When he's in his bouncy chair he loves to hold his teething ring toy that hangs in front of his face, although today he branched out and grabbed for the ones off to the sides.

He also loves his whales. His whales have been a life saver at the doctor and after bath time. His whales are a whale washcloth he loves to hold and suck/chew. Really he'll take any washcloth but the first one he did this with was a whale one, and we keep the whales out because it's the most colorful to look at.

Today he discovered he has a few blankies hanging over the edge of his Pack N Play. He originally started playing with the burp cloth I was using to clean up his endless drool, then he grabbed a green one and started loving it. He was rubbing it all over his face and had a jolly old time. Then I blew his mind and gave him another blanket for his other hand. Kid was in heaven! He was going nuts, fist pumping away blankets flying around.

Going Back to Work.

It sucks.

Last night was so bad, when I slept it was restless, but I was awake and cuddled him most of the night. I didn't want morning to come and let him go.

Even though today was only a training day, it was still horrible. Dropping him off left me in tears. I didn't want to go, I just wanted to stay and love the little man all day.

On the upside he had a good day with Auntie Trinity and his cousin Kira:)

Kira showed him her Brobee and made him go "Oooooh!"

They chillaxed on the couch and watched T.V.

He gave big smiles.

He even gave big poops and toots!

And of course, he wasn't a morning fuss-butt like he normally is.

<3

Watching TeeVee!

Oooooh Brobee!