The leaning tower of Noah

Our Thanksgiving in pictures

A glutton for volleyball

Leave it to us to find a volleyball match to go to over Thanksgiving.  The original plan had been to go to the Michigan State/Indiana match on Saturday night until Josh discovered that Michigan was playing Penn State at the same time.  Ann Arbor is only about an hour from my parents and Josh is a huge Penn State fan.  Penn State also happened to be ranked number one in the country so we knew we would see some good volleyball.

Noah fell asleep in the car and managed to sleep through most of the match to the amazement of those around us.  I reminded everyone of how much time I spent at LOUD volleyball matches while I was pregnant... Noah probably felt like he was back in the womb!  Anyway, I took this short video to document the outing... sorry it is sideways, I forget that I can't rotate the video after I take it.   

Giving Thanks for Family...Part II

My visiting family members left Michigan on Saturday but Josh and I decided to stay until Monday. This gave my mom some additional time to love on Noah -- she hadn't seen him in person since he was about 3 weeks old.
We were also able to accompany my parents to the tree farm to pick out their Christmas tree.  My dad had told me that there was a reindeer at the farm and I thought it would make a great picture for our Christmas card to have me, Josh, and Noah with the reindeer.  The sedate, antler-less reindeer you see in the picture below was not exactly what I had imagined and it was simply too cold to take Noah out of his car seat.  Oh well.

 

Giving Thanks for Family...Part I

We ventured to my (Deb's) parents for Thanksgiving... Noah's longest road trip yet!  It is about an 8-hour drive without a baby and more like 9.5-hours with one!  The drive was complicated by rain and eventually snow... we finally made it to Okemos, Michigan around 1:00am on Thanksgiving day.

My brother was there with two of his boys, Stuart and Sam, as well as my aunt, uncle, and cousins David and Will. Definitely a full house.  It was so good to see everyone and introduce them to Noah.

Josh had fun playing Mario Kart with my cousins and our nephews.

In spite of Noah's penchant for fussiness, David took the opportunity to hold 2nd cousin.  Noah cooperated and enjoyed hanging out on his lap.  

A puzzle is always a family Thanksgiving tradition... here my mom, dad, brother and uncle work diligently to find spots for the remaining pieces while my aunt reads in the background.

Boxing Day

I am still learning how to use the video feature on my digital camera and how to upload video to the blog and our gallery... here is a first attempt.  I have been trying to get Noah to bat at objects as this is supposed to aid in developing his eye-hand coordination.  This turned into a mini boxing session the other day with his overhead gym...

On a roll...

One day last week Noah quietly rolled from his stomach to his back!  He hasn't repeated the feat since then, but I think it is only a matter of time.  His newest trick is to roll from his back on to his side... he did this last night and then again during his afternoon nap today when I snapped this picture.  I put him down on his back with both arms swaddled at his side -- as you can tell, he managed to get one of his arms out and twisted on to his side.  This is actually a great position for him to sleep in as we are trying to correct the flat spot he has developed on the right side/back of his head!

Oh Mylanta!

Noah is officially a candidate for gastro-esophageal reflux disorder (GERD)... just like his momma.  We visited the pediatrician on Tuesday and were told that his antics during feeding time and his spitting up are classic symptoms of reflux issues.  So, for the next 3-5 days, we are testing this theory by giving him a miniature dose of Mylanta before his feedings... the idea being that the Mylanta will coat any sores in his esophagus making the eating experience more pleasant for all involved.  If he shows improvement, then he will likely be put on meds like Nexium or Zantac to control the acid production in his stomach.  

Ironically, visiting the doctor to talk about Noah's fussiness during feeding resulted in the discovery of a new problem... torticollis or wry neck.  What I thought was Noah's cute tendency to tilt his head when he looks at me turns out to be a fairly serious issue... with no real explanation of cause (Dr. Baer implied it had something to do with his position in the womb or possibly his delivery).  So in addition to coating his sweet little throat with a chalky substance (that he takes like a champ), we have to exercise his neck 3 times a day (which he hates passionately).  

Parenthood is CRAZY!

Feeding frustrations

Around the same time that Noah got his cold, he developed a very frustrating feeding habit.

For those of you who don't know... I gave breastfeeding the old college try but, unfortunately, I did not produce enough milk to satisfy Noah's appetite. I tried everything to improve my milk supply, to no avail. So, for the last month, we have been solely formula feeding. All bottle, all the time.

That being said, Noah has become enemies with his bottle over the last week or so. He starts out sucking like a champ but often pulls away from it after only a couple of ounces crying like a banshee. Or he starts turning his head from side to side like a wrestling alligator. Many have suggested that it could be a result of his congestion... when you can't breathe through your nose, it is difficult to suck out of a bottle. I thought it might be because he was frustrated with how slowly the formula was coming out of the hole, so I tried the next level of nipple. Nothing has really solved the problem yet. Interestingly, he doesn't seem to get hungry more often in spite of the fact that he is eating significantly less than before he got his cold.

These are the things that make me wish babies came with an instruction manual...

Tricks not treats...

With Noah not even 3 months old yet, we did not have big plans for Halloween. I couldn't bring myself to spend money on a costume that no one would really see him in ... we usually have a grand total of 2 trick-or-treaters and I thought Noah was a little young for the Harvest Party at church. I had planned, however, to take him up to see the skits/raps that Josh's volleyball team was performing that afternoon and to go to dinner with team. My mom had sent an adorable giraffe outfit that resembled a costume that Noah was going to wear...

Turns out that Halloween had more tricks that treats in store for us... Noah developed a cough the day before and early in the morning of Halloween he got very sick. After a call to the pediatrician's exchange and a trip to Walgreens at 2am, all settled back down in the Lauer house. But Noah and I were too exhausted the next day to make it up to UMSL. The closest he got to dressing up was to put on this cute sleeper that one of Josh's club players gave us... if you can't read the front, it says, "I want my Mummy."

As a side note, when I returned from Walgreens at 2am (Josh stayed with the baby), I saw something interesting. I pulled into the driveway and saw a gigantic owl perched on the peak of our roof. I could only see its silhouette, but it was pretty amazing. As I walked up to the front door, it swooped down across the yard to the opposite side of the street. It's wingspan was impressive. Just a little eerie the morning of Halloween!

Does it get any cuter?