Late as usual, here is Noelle’s 2 year update!  I am excited that after over a year of being without a computer, I finally got a new laptop.  I am planning on lots of updates (especially house updates) so stay tuned!

Noelle has definitely turned into a two year old!  She has lots of opinions and likes to share them.  Though she is mostly still her sweet self, she likes to unleash her two year old behavior without any notice.  Whether it be first thing in the morning when I try to bring her in bed for snuggle time (when she wants to go downstairs and eat) or trying to get her in her carseat when she wants to play, watch out, she will let you know how she feels!  Since she still isn’t talking much, this usually results in screaming and crying.  Ethan does try to console her, usually by singing loudly, so our house isn’t very quiet these days!

Noelle had a great, uneventful check up.  We were happy to tell Dr. Wheeler that she finally passed a hearing test.  We will have her eyes checked by the Ophthalmologist later this spring.  And her weight remained steady (24lbs) so we don’t have to worry about her weight gain anymore.  The only thing we really had to talk about was her speech.  She is still a bit delayed, but making progress.  As her preschool teacher says, she has a lot to say and is very confident about what she’s saying, it would just be nice to understand it!  She does say a lot of new words (upstairs, downstairs, eat, Mimi, Papa, Daisy (day day), Oma, coat, jacket, shoes, socks.  In addition, out of nowhere she knows all of her letters, so we think she is just on her own little timeline.  If she continues to have problems we will have First Steps evaluate her, but until then we will just let her do her thing.

In addition to two year old behavior, she also has two year old pickiness at mealtimes.  She has started refusing foods she liked in the past, or just refusing to eat.  She likes to spend meal time getting down from her chair, running around the house, then coming back for another bite.  She also likes to dramatically turn her head away from food you are offering her.  I will continue to call her my “good” eater of the two, and hope this is temporary!

Noelle and I started a mommy and me gymnastics class this January.  It is a bit of a struggle since she thinks she should have free reign of the whole gym, but she really likes the activities once I convince her those are her only options.  Her favorites are running (not jumping) down the long trampoline, swinging on the bar and rings, and stretching at the beginning of class.  I didn’t think she as going to be much of a dancer, but now she gets very excited when the music comes on.  She was very angry when I wouldn’t let her join a dance class in progress last week.  Maybe dance will be in her future!

In other news, a few months ago we took away Noelle’s “B” (pacifier) and she has been B-less ever since.  She also continues to love whatever her brother is doing, and loves trains, cars, and trucks.

Here are some pictures of our sweet girl.

Per usual, I am way behind on my updates, but I want to make sure I jot down a few things about my sweet little girl.  I can already feel myself forgetting her smallness.  I can barely remember Ethan at this age.

Noelle recently started preschool (1 day a week) and is doing wonderfully.  She is with 5 other kids her age.  So far, my goals have been accomplished.  One, I wanted her to get used to being away from me.  She now goes to her classroom without crying and is happy to be there!  She has wonderful, loving teachers that take her to music class and outside to play each week.  My second goal was for her to be around kids who are talking more (instead of having Ethan talk for her all the time) and whether it is working or just coincidence, her speech has really improved over the past few months.  She has started saying Mama, Dada, hat (ha), goggles (gaga) all done (ah da), and her new favorite, uh oh.  She will also stop what she’s doing when she sees a phone come out and say “cheeeeee.”  She will constantly have conversations in her own little language and tell us some big story, but we are glad she is saying a few words of English now!

Noelle is becoming a bit more picky when it comes to eating (apparently big brother is a bad influence).  She is still more adventurous than him, but her “almost two” personality is bringing out some drama.  She will refuse to eat things or “uh oh” them on the floor.  She can usually be tricked into trying new things and will then give an enthusiastic “emmmmmmmm!”

Noelle seems to be a bit of a tom boy.  She loves playing with cars and trains and all other big brother toys.  Her interest in dolls ends at poking them in the eyes and throwing them on the floor.  She loves driving cars around on the floor.  She loves being outside and playing on the playground.  She has some very impressive climbing skills.  She also loves playing with the iPad, and is quite the iPad master.  She can navigate it much more skillfully than any 21 month old should.  About the only time she will have an absolute meltdown is when I take it away from her or tell her she can’t play with it.  She is usually still determined and will try to snatch it when I’m not looking, and then bang on it in hopes that she can get it unlocked.  In fact, she just recently disabled it for an hour after so many failed attempts to unlock it!

Noelle still has such a happy, content personality.  I sometimes forget how easy and fun she is.  She is happy to be along for any adventure we go on, but she is also happy quietly playing in (or destroying) the play room.  We love the sweet little toddler she is turning into!

I can’t believe our little princess is now closer to 2 than 1!  She is growing up so fast and I can’t stand it.  She is starting to develop quite the personality. She continues to be a sweet little girl, but her growing up is bringing some new challenges!

Noelle weighed in at 21 lbs and 4 oz at her 18 month appointment. Though she still isn’t talking much, her pediatrician feels like it is no longer an issue of hearing (especially since she has tubes now) and that she will talk when she is ready. She does lots of things to prove she can hear and understand. And goodness knows her brother does enough talking for the both of them. She points at things she wants, repeats words when you ask her to, and will clap at the end of a song. She will also make associations that let us know she is processing communication. If I ask her if she wants to go outside and play, she will go get her shoes and bring them to me.  The few words she does say frequently are all done, down, done, and nay (which she says when she’s excited or she will say to Jason and I after we have been gone).  I’m sure when she’s ready she will start speaking in sentences!

Noelle has developed a bit of an attitude over the past few months. She is sweet about 90% of the time, but if she is mad she will let you know it. It happens so infrequently that we usually just laugh at her, but those times are becoming more apparent!  When she gets angry she usually displays it in one of three ways. 1) throwing herself on the floor  2) screaming 3) (our favorite) picking up the first object she finds and throwing it.  After about 10 seconds she is over it and back to herself.  It is so funny how different our two kids are.  I never remember this “phase” with Ethan.

A few other things of note with Noelle include that we think she will be left handed. Daddy is pretty excited about this one. She always eats with her left hand, picks up objects with her left hand, and scribbles with her left hand.  Noelle has also developed a love for books lately.  After her tubes, she seemed to finally become interested in books, and now she will happily sit on our lap and read several.  I remember Ethan would read anything and everything.  We would read for an hour sometimes.  Noelle has about 10 books she likes, and if you choose the wrong one, she will keep closing it until you give up.

Noelle is quite the climber.  Ethan never has been, and is just now getting brave enough to climb up the playground equipment by himself.  I find Noelle sitting on top of the table more often than I care to.  She is constantly trying to climb something and give me a heart attack.  She confidently climbs the playground equipment and goes down the slides by herself like it’s nothing.  She is still quite tough and doesn’t get too upset when she falls, which is a nice combination.  I am afraid she will end up as the first child with stitches!

Here are some pictures of our sweet girl, her growing hair, and all 9 of her teeth:

 

I am incredibly behind on my blogging.  I can blame my broken laptop, but I’ve also struggled to find the time!  I’m hoping to also get caught up on Ethan’s birthday party, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Noelle’s birthday party.  Oops!

Noelle continues to be such a sweet little angel.  Though she’s starting to develop her own opinions about things, and is starting to let it show when she disapproves of something, in general she is still such a happy, sweet little girl.  She is also a tiny little girl!  At her 1 year appointment (about 2 weeks after her birthday due to the snow storm) she weighed in at 17lbs 11oz (15%), 28.75 inches long (25%) and her head circumference was 45.4 (59%).  We discussed her 3rd audiology appointment that showed fluid on her ears, and her doctor agreed that we will wait until the summer and try again.  We’re hopeful that once she has a big window of health, and as she gets bigger, she will be able to drain all the fluid off her ears.  We also discussed a few things that she is not doing yet (clapping, waving, talking) but her doctor is not concerned.  She seems to be developing just fine, it’s just in her own little way!

Noelle has been walking very steadily since around 11 months.  She will sometimes walk so fast it’s like her feet are going faster than the rest of her body.  She is also very interested in climbing.  She is still fairly cautious and I haven’t caught her in any dangerous situations, but if she finds something to climb on she will do it!  She is constantly babbling and singing, but hasn’t said any “real” words yet.  She is always happy to be in the middle of whatever everyone else is doing.  She loves sitting with her brother and playing with his toys (or destroying whatever he is building).  Ethan does not, however, love this as much as she does and it is a constant battle to encourage him to be nice to his sister.

Noelle continues to eat just about anything.  Her favorites are pizza, quesadillas, bananas, PB&J, and anything mommy is eating.  Even though she still doesn’t have any teeth, she’s started to eat an even bigger variety.  I’m hopeful that her teeth will start coming in soon, since Ethan got his first tooth at 13 months.  I can definitely see several bottom teeth ready to come in!  Though Noelle is a good eater, she continues to hate her high chair.  She strains against the straps when she is buckled in, and crawls unto the table when she is not.  Needless to say, she spends most of her time buckled in!

Noelle continues to be a good sleeper.  She will occasionally have a few bad nights of sleep, but goes back to sleep fairly easy.  She is still taking two naps a day, but will sometimes fight her afternoon nap.  I remember the transition with Ethan from 2 to 1 nap being quite difficult.  I’m trying to follow her lead and let her nap when she seems tired.  I am looking forward to one  nap a day as it will give us some more flexibility in what we can do.

Here are some pictures of our sweet one year old!  She is such a blessing, and we are soaking up her baby-ness as long as we can!

 

I can’t believe that we only have a few months left until Noelle is one.  I would do anything to freeze time and keep her this age forever!  I love her sweet gummy grin, her laugh, and her general happy, content nature.

Noelle had a good 9 month (though several weeks late) appointment.  She weighs 16lbs 8oz (17%) and is 27.5 inches (31%).  Though she is still tiny she is holding steady around the 15% so we are happy!  She is just now fitting into 6-12 months clothes.  Other than discussing her recent eye surgery and need for another hearing test, it was pretty uneventful.  She took her shots like a champ and didn’t seem to have any side effects afterwards.

Noelle is still a great eater.  She is a very MESSY eater!  The amount of food I sweep off the floor under the table at the end of the day is ridiculous.  Some of her favorite food is quesadilla, risotto/rice, eggs and yogurt.  She still likes baby food pouches but I think she prefers food with texture.  The poor thing still doesn’t have any teeth so she is limited by that.  I don’t think it holds her back too much though.  It is so fun to feed her new things and watch her enjoy it.  She eats so much too – which is funny since she is so small.  She ate almost a whole quesadilla for dinner tonight.

Noelle is still sleeping well.  She does have her times where she gets off and has a rough night, but for the most part she sleeps all night.  She takes 2 good naps a day and most of the time goes right to sleep on her own without much fuss.  The times when she does wake up at night don’t bother me nearly as much as they did with Ethan.  I know before too long it won’t happen at all.

Noelle has started taking steps over the past few days, but still prefers crawling.  I’m sure once she gains a bit of confidence she will take off.  She mostly loves falling into my arms and giggling after taking steps!  She seems to have become a bit more cautious lately, though I think she is going to be much more of a climber than Ethan was.  It is funny to me how much attention she pays to details, like studying and touching a screw on her toy.  At night when she is getting ready for bed, she always crawls over to her door and very diligently tries to put her finger between the door and the jam to open it (even when it is latched).  I love to see her little brain working as she tries to figure things out.  Her “vocabulary” has really started to take off over the past few weeks and she is saying “dada” and “baba” frequently along with some other sounds.

Noelle has had a bit of separation anxiety lately.  She has started to cry when we drop her off at church (but quickly stops when we leave).  She will also try to come after me when I leave her with Jason (she almost knocked the baby gate down after I left).  She is a bit of a mama’s girl, which makes sense since she is never really away from me.  Ethan was always use to going to daycare a few days a week, but Noelle is with me all the time.  She does seem to do well with a baby sitter as long as she is home and her brother is with her.  Noelle is happy 90% of the time.  The only things she really doesn’t like is the carseat (or being restrained at all).  I try to keep our car trips to a minimum but some days she is just mad!

Noelle is such a sweet, happy girl.  She is always smiling.   She is always happy to be in the middle of whatever is going on, whether that is playing with her brothers Legos or “helping” unload the dishwasher.  She loves her big brother and endures his torture.  We love the way her nose crinkles when she is smiling really hard and the way she giggles.  I love that her hair is finally starting to grow and that she still has dark eyebrows and eye lashes.  I don’t think she’s going to end up being the blonde little girl I imagined, but I love that she looks more like her Daddy since Ethan looks so much like me.  She is such a little blessing!

 

Our sweet girl is 8 months old!  She is still such a peanut.  I weighed her a few weeks ago and she was 15 lbs 11oz.  She is still wearing 3-6 months clothes!  I have tried a few 6-12 month clothes on her and they are huge.  I am struggling to decide what size I need to buy her for the fall and winter.  I am guessing at this point she will be in 6-12 month through the winter.  I’m not use to having such a tiny baby!

Noelle continues to be a good eater.  She does prefer to be spoon fed instead of feeding herself.  She will eat just about anything and for the most part eats whatever we do.  New favorites are scrambled eggs, pasta, and anything sweet mommy will share with her!  I am so thankful that she doesn’t seem to have the texture aversions like Ethan did.  We still joke that she eats a bigger variety of food than Ethan.  She definitely doesn’t eat much but is always willing to try something new.  She is still nursing 4 times a day.  We are practicing with a sippy cup but she usually isn’t very interested in it.

Noelle is finally sleeping through the night more often than not.  She has been sick so often over the past few months and it has really interrupted her sleep at night.  She now sleeps from 7:30-6:30ish most nights and takes 2 naps a day.  Her naps are always unpredictable, anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours.  She is very flexible and doesn’t get too mad if her nap is late or short.  She still doesn’t nap well in the car, so we try to be home as often as possible for naps.

Noelle is crawling like a champ, pulling up on everything, trying to climb stairs, and trying to stand on her own.  We have caught her a few times after she had climbed up to the first step.  We have practiced walking and she is starting to take steps forward when I told on to her hands.  She will also pull up on something and try to let go briefly.  She is very strong and determined!  Very recently she has started “talking.”  Instead of just babbling she has started saying “da da da da.”  She has started to take an interest in books, and I’m hoping she will enjoy them as much as Ethan did as a baby.  She enjoys a variety of toys and likes to be in the middle of whatever her big brother is doing.

Noelle is still such a little sunshine.  She is almost always happy and loves to giggle ferociously.  She thinks her big brother is hilarious.  There are times where the two of them will play together so well and she will laugh hysterically at whatever he is doing.  The only thing she really doesn’t like is her car seat.  We just switched her to her convertible seat which isn’t quite as reclined, so we are hoping that will get better.  We are soaking up her sweet gummy smile (no teeth yet) and fuzzy head, as we know how quickly these next 4 months will go until she’s not a baby anymore!

 

 

A few months ago Noelle saw an Ophthalmologist because of her blocked tear duct.  We scheduled surgery at that time, hoping it would clear up on its own.  As the surgery date grew closer, not only did it not clear up but seemed to get worse.  If we missed a day of eye drops it was green and goopy, and even if it was clear it was constantly running.  A few days prior to her surgery she began to have a runny nose.  The day before her surgery Jason and I decided we would cancel it because she was still sick, but the surgery scheduler convinced me to keep the appointment and have the anesthesiologist check her out the day of.  The next available date for surgery was October 28th, and there was a good chance she would still be able to have the surgery done.  We decided at the last minute to keep the appointment.

Our morning didn’t start out the way I had planned!  Noelle woke up at 4:30 am and could not be comforted.  She usually sleeps all night long, but when she is sick she does not sleep well.  She couldn’t eat after midnight and was not happy about it!  She woke up the whole house (including my parents who were staying to watch Ethan).  We finally got her to calm down but then she was wide awake.  Ethan also announced “I’m awake!” and climbed out of bed around 5am.  We got her changed and ready to go, and she fell back asleep in her carseat before we left.

We got checked into the surgery center and got Noelle registered.  She woke up shortly before they took us back to pre-op.  She was quite happy and pleasant during this time.  The anesthesiologist said her lungs were clear and she should be just fine for surgery.  We waited a bit for everyone to get ready and then they carried her back.  We waited in the waiting room while they did her surgery.

Thankfully it only took about 15 minutes and Dr. Sprunger came out and told us she did just fine.  He said her duct was very blocked, and she would have went to Kindergarten with a blocked duct if we didn’t fix it.  A few minutes later we got to go back to recovery to get her, where the nurses were fighting over who got to hold her!  She was pretty mad but calmed down quickly when I was able to feed her.  After I fed her we changed her and headed back home.

The rest of the day she was a little extra sleepy and fussy.  Her nose has been bleeding a bit (a normal side effect), but otherwise is doing great.  Her eye already looks better and is not goopy or watery at all.  It is nice to see immediate results!  She has a stent that will stay in place for 6 months and then be removed.  We are glad this is behind us and that everything went well!

As a neglectful 2nd time mom, I never got around to a 5 month update!  Our little lady has changed a lot in the past 2 months.  We can’t believe she is half a year old.  She is such a sweet little girl and always makes us smile!  She is growing and changing like crazy.  Every week she is more active!  I better get this posted before she starts crawling.

Noelle is still a little peanut.  We had her weight checked at 5 months and she was 13lbs 4oz, which kept her in the 15th%.  At her 6 month appointment she weighed 14lbs 5oz, which is the 16th%.  She also barely managed to double her birth weight (7lbs 2oz).  She actually measured the same length she did at her 4 month appointment (24.25 inches) which they believe was an error.  She definitely seems to be getting longer.  Her head circumference was 42.2 cm (49th%).  Overall she is a healthy little girl.  We did see the Ophthalmologist recently, and he recommended putting a stent in her blocked tear duct in a few months if it hasn’t cleared up yet.  We are also being referred to an ENT since she continues to have fluid on her ears (but thankfully no actual ear infection).  We are glad that these minor annoying issues aren’t a big deal and she is healthy!  Noelle is still wearing 3-6 months clothes and I think she will be there for at least another month.  Unfortunately, I bought her a whole wardrobe of 6-9 month clothing at the end of last summer.  Hopefully we she will be able to wear them later this summer and this fall over long sleeve shirts and leggings!

Noelle has started on solid food over the past week and seems to really enjoy it.  She has had rice cereal, bananas, pears, sweet potatoes, and yogurt so far.  After the initial terrible faces at the new tastes, she enjoys meal time most of the time.  She will eagerly open her little mouth for each bite.  She is also “eating” mum mums (really just smashing them to pieces on the table, but she likes to pick them up and put them in her mouth).  She is still nursing well.  She does get very distracted, especially by her big brother.  Preparing meals and feeding two children has been a challenge!  Definitely keeping me busy.

Noelle continues to sleep well.  Over the past week she has started sleeping all night long!  Except that means she is up for the day around 5:30am.  She goes to bed between 7 and 8, so it really is a long stretch of sleep.  If she does wake up it is just once, usually around 3 or 4, then she will go back to sleep until 6 or 7.  Thankfully, Jason gets up with her early so I can get a little more sleep.  After 6+ months of not getting a full night of sleep, I am officially TIRED.  We are looking forward to her sleeping all night and catching up on sleep (though we know it will happen eventually).  We remind ourselves that she is a MUCH better sleeper than Ethan ever was, and we feel blessed.  Noelle is still taking 3 naps most days, but they are pretty inconsistent and vary in length.  I think before too long she will be taking 2 (hopefully long) naps a day.  Thankfully, her inconsistently makes her very flexible so we can fit her naps into our day.

Noelle is an active little thing!  She seems to be excelling in gross motor skills, unlike her brother.  We joke that she probably won’t say her first word until she is 2, as Ethan started talking very early and has an impressive vocabulary.  She started sitting up on her own shortly before her 6 month birthday.  She can now go from her belly to sitting up on her own, and back to her belly very gracefully.  She also gets up on her hands and knees and rocks.  She sometimes gets up on her hands and feet.  She can move quite a bit and cover a lot of ground.  She is really trying to crawl and I think she might be soon!  I think it is easier for her to move around since she is so tiny and has less chub to move!  She is very squirmy and it is hard to hold her because she won’t stop moving.

Noelle is starting to get a good covering of fuzz on her head.  It is a mix of dark and light, but I think she might end up being blonde.  Her eyebrows and still quite dark though, so who knows.  I have a feeling she won’t need a haircut for a while!  She doesn’t seem to have any obvious signs of teething, so she might get her teeth late just like Ethan.

Ethan still loves his sister.  He is so sweet with her and baby talks her.  I think his unconditional love will start to fade now that she can grab his toys.  We are working on sharing, but he does not like it when Noelle picks up something he is playing with.  I do enjoy watching them play together.  Noelle is still fascinated by her big brother and her face lights up when she seems him.