Noah is 1 Month Old

Noah is one month old today. As we look back on the last month, we realize how much our lives have changed. Our lives revolve around this precious little guy whom we love more than we could have imagined. While we find ourselves physically tired due to the lack of sleep, we're happy. We enjoy holding and rocking our little man. We read to him and play with him. Though he hasn't said it aloud very often, Eric misses while he's away at work and the first thing he does when he arrives home is to greet Noah and give him a kiss on the cheek. Noah and I are still trying to work out a routine during our days. He's begun taking shorter naps in the morning with more awake time and longer naps during the afternoon followed by a three-hour doze in the early evening. We're still trying to get his nights and days turned back to normal. Noah's not sleeping as well as we wish he would, but we're hopeful this will continue to improve with time. After all, Noah is only one month old.

Noah and Mommy will start a new class on Monday. Regions is holding a class for new mom's and babies. We'll learn about milestones, how we can play together and other things good for newborns and new parents. We're looking forward to it.

We got Noah into daycare at Medtronic where Jen works. While it's very expensive. It will be worth it. We've heard great things about this daycare and with the daycare in Jen's work building Jen can visit Noah during the day. When he's a bit older, Noah and Mommy can have lunch together. It will be nice to have some extra time together, as the separation will be very difficult for mom.

Below are a number of recent photos of Noah. He's starting to look less like a newborn and more like an older baby.







He's still doing his Superman...

Baby's First Christmas

Noah had an exciting first Christmas. It started out with our Christmas Tree Picnic on Monday, followed by Christmas Eve at Grandma's on Wednesday, and Christmas Day festivities at the relatives' on Thursday.

Noah slept through most of the Christmas Tree Picnic but Mom, Dad and Grandma enjoyed a nice buffet of goodies and treats in front of the lit Christmas tree.

Christmas Eve was a different matter. Noah was awake from 2:30 in the afternoon until about 9:30 that night. He was doing pretty well at first. Both Great Grandmas were able to meet him and hold him. Of course, they were very excited about this new little addition to the family. We made it though a nice dinner and opened some of the presents before Noah started to have a melt down. The stimulation of being in a new environment and so many hours spent awake were taking their tole on Noah. He spent much of the evening crying. The only thing that seemed to console him was nursing. We had to skip the Christmas Eve service at church because Noah was too unhappy. He finally fell asleep about half way home from Grandma's house. Noah then slept for six hours straight. This was the longest he's ever slept. He had definitely tuckered himself out.

On Christmas Day, Noah did much better with all of the stimulation. Noah met the whole Beck clan and despite all the commotion and the noisy environment, he napped quietly for part of the day. We had a great lunch, played games, chatted and exchanged gifts. Noah enjoyed meeting his second cousins. They took turns holding him and bouncing him. It was a good day. Here's a photo of Noah with Great Grandma Beck.

The 28th of December, we packed up Noah and drove to Wisconsin for Christmas with the Williamson Family. It was a crouded house, but a lot of fun. Noah was able to meet his uncle after whom he received his middle name (Ian). The trip was successful without too much fussing by either Noah or his parents. After returning from Wisconsin, we headed down to Farmington to meet up with a bunch of friends. Noah met many of Eric's high school friends and his Godfather. Here are a couple of photos of Noah with his Godfather Matt.