Under the Weather...

Miss Noelle is a little under the weather today.  She's got a runny nose and a little fever.  She must have felt left out when her cool cousin Sabrina had a cold, so she got one too.

It's not so much fun.


Besides the cold Noelle has had a good week.  Yesterday we had a friend over to play.  He's just a few months older than Noelle and they played with toys while us moms chatted.  They did pretty good until each of them hit their head against something--then they were both grumpy.


Noelle really wants to stand.  She has gotten herself to standing by herself a few times.  She's working on it every day.  She is sitting up like nobody's business now.  


She loves getting into cupboards now.  Noelle particularly likes pulling out the collapsible strainer and clinking the pots around.  I tried to be sneaky and put a spoon in one of the cupboards with cleaning stuff (until I got the safety latches on), but she didn't like that one bit.  She wanted to see what was inside.  So cleaning products have moved to a safer location and boring things are now under the sink (but Noelle still checks once or twice a day in that cupboards, just in case something cool appears).  

Also, thanks to a tip online and some hand sanitizer my couch is good as new!  It came off surprisingly easy, so that's nice to know if (when) it happens again.

Masterpiece

Here is Noelle's first 100% done by herself artwork.

Too bad it's on the couch! Ha.  (Anyone recommend any microfiber cleaners?)

Here's the culprit herself, trying to look cute and innocent :)  

I would never draw on the couch mom...

Alphabet Soup

Today Noelle and I were playing with her foam ABC's (have I mentioned Aunt Lesa picks out fun Christmas gifts?) and goofing off.  She had fun looking at and munching on the letters.

Noelle has sat up a few more times in the last few days (twice today), I think she's getting the hang of it.  She almost pulled herself to standing tonight (what?!).  Corey has been diligently trying to teach Noelle "share".  It's cute.  We usually give it right back to her, but she's starting to pick up on things.  We are trying to teach her "high five" too, but that needs some work.


Noelle's eyes are still as blue as ever.

11 Months

Eleven?!!

Didn't I just post about Noelle being 10 months a few days ago?

Anyway, this cutie is now a single month away from her first birthday.  Corey and I can hardly believe it's been a whole year already since our lives completely changed (for the better, of course).  I can't wait to have a little party for her and have her open a few small gifts.  I'm sure she'll like the wrapping paper best, but it is still fun to pick out a few things.

Some Eleventh Month Facts:

• Noelle has 8 teeth and we don't see any end in sight to teething.  We think there's at a few more on the way.  
• Noelle is able to stand mostly by herself when she has something to lean against (we keep a hand close by as she is still a little tipsy).  She loves to play on the coffee table, as well she loves to stand on the couch and peak over the back side.  It's so interesting behind the couch.
• Just this past week Noelle has sat up twice by herself.  Time to adjust the crib!
• Noelle likes fruit best, followed by crackers and apple juice.
• Noelle is exploring more, she likes to scoot into the kitchen and find interesting things like the bag of potatoes or the oven mitts.  She hasn't gotten into drawers yet, but I'm sure that will change very soon.
• Noelle does not like to be on the air vent when the air conditioning is on.

Energy

Our little Noelle is full of energy.

Noelle can get particularly energetic in her high chair.  Sometimes because she's grumpy and sometimes because she's happy.  I was able to catch a clip of her being generally goofy while Corey was playing his guitar.  She's kicking and waving and chatting with her tongue out.  

A few weeks back we noticed she had bruises on her shins and wondered how she got them.  We figured it out--she kicks the high chair (when she's kicking really fast).  I wonder if they sell baby shin guards...

Ticklish

We've recently found a cute little girl to be ticklish.  

Here's a little video of her giggling while Corey tickles her...we love that laugh!  

Ho Finito!

Translation, "I've Finished!"

Please don't go back to see when I posted that I was starting work on Noelle's quilt binding.  I don't want to know.


Overall I think the quilt turned out nice.  I wanted to make a fun little blanket that Noelle wouldn't think it was too "baby" when she was 3 or 4 years old, and hopefully will like for much longer.

I'm going to give it to her for her birthday (shh, don't tell ok?), but she probably won't use it much until next winter.  Maybe I will put it on her "big girl" bed (when does one get a "big girl" bed anyway?  18 months, 2 years old?  I should figure that out).

Noelle is still having fun getting into whatever she can find.  She sometimes gets herself into a pickle because when she's scooting around she is exactly the right height to get under the coffee table, but if she pushes up on her elbows she is too tall and will bonk her head on the overhang if she tries to get out.  Tricky coffee tables.

Bribery

Bribery doesn't get you far in life, but it may get you two crooked pig tails.

Really I just let Noelle play with her toothbrush, but she still didn't want me to play with her hair.  She kept swatting away my hand.  

Noelle was giving me lots of cute smiles as I kept repeating "Haw haw haw, I'm a donkey in the straw".  It's a line from this book (I Can Fly) that I bought used online a bit ago.  She finds that line particularly funny.  It's a cute book, I recommend it.

Fun Fun

We haven't been up to a whole lot down here recently.  Just hanging out at home having fun.

Noelle has been practicing sticking out her tongue.  I still need to catch a picture of this, it's pretty cute.

Remember this little four toothed smile...it won't be there long!  She has at least two (one on top one on bottom) that are making their way through.  I'm thinking she'll have 8 teeth by her birthday.

The bumper in Noelle's crib might be totally hashed by the time she's done with it.  She squishes it down to look at the door when she wants to get out, and sometimes she has fun hanging a foot or two off the side.

We still swaddle Noelle for naps and bedtime.  We're pretty sure she likes getting wrapped up, but if she isn't sleepy she likes to kick it off.

I know you are all waiting on pins and needles wanting to know what I've bought at a thrift store lately.  Wait no longer!  

I found a nice necklace stand with a cute little birdy on top, a cool lamp for our room that I found out lights up from the inside too, and I had been wanting to make Noelle a little photo album book and I found one (still in the package) for $1.  Nice.  Bonus, this one is a squishy book that lets her chew and crumple the pages as much as she wants and I won't find pieces of paper or plastic in her mouth.  It's seriously one of her favorite toys now.  She loves looking at and eating your faces.

Also, half for fun, half for cheapness I decided to try making my own cleaner.  I made a anti-bacterial cleaner and an all purpose cleaner.  Way easy and I've barely used any of the ingredients (=I won't run out for a really long time).  I still need to buy some nice smelling essential oil (I'm thinking lemon or grapefruit) for the all purpose cleaner, because I like those smells.  And, because I'm nerdy I decided to make a label too, heh.

N.O.

Among other things Noelle is learning the meaning of the word "no".


No you can't eat the lamp cord.
No you can't eat the TV cord.
No you can't eat the phone cord.


I'm sensing a trend here.


No you can't eat the computer modem.
No you can't eat dad's laptop.
No you can't eat the webcam.


(I think this little girl is going to love technology. Always and forever...that won't make sense to some of you and that's ok.)


...But, you can be cute and give us lots of big smiles anytime you want.

(Look at those teeth!)