Walking!

Noah is finally walking!! I mean real walking...as in he lets go and takes 4-5 steps at a time. Sometimes more! We've been going through this progession over the last month where he was getting more and more daring. He'd pull up and cruise around hanging on to things then he'd gauge his distance between things (like the couch and coffee table) and reach and take 1/2 step or maybe even 1 step between them without holding on. He'd stand alone for a few secs and we'd think he was about to take a few steps, then he'd drop back down and crawl. But finally, last night he did it! Mike was upstairs with him in his bedroom getting him ready for his bath. It was Friday so we'd been off together all day and had been trying to lure him with things like our cell phones, the remote control, etc to walk to us with no success. I'd been convinced he was going to walk before his first birthday, but we only had a week left and I was starting to think he wasn't going to make it. But I guess he finally just made up his mind! They weren't doing anything in particular, but Noah just all of a sudden let go of the foot rest for our glider and took 4-5 steps toward Mike and his bookshelf. And he's been doing it ever since! Little stinker-like everything else, he's just going to do things in his own time on his own terms. I'm already starting to worry about the teenage years!

Hooray for ear tubes!

Noah now has his ear tubes which we are praying will help keep him from continuing to get so many ear infections. His surgery was Feb 13th. All went well and he did great!

It was all quite minor (although you wouldn't think so from the medical bills that resulted). I think we were at the surgical center for all of about 3 hours. We had to wait about 2 hours during which we got checked in and paid, got checked out by the nurses, vitited with the doctor and anesthesiologist, had about a dozen people ask us the same questions over and over, were shown to a room to wait, and Noah put on a cute little baby size hospital gown. We hung out in our surgery waiting room for probably 45 min or an hour before they came to get him for his surgery. He tolerated this amazingly well considering he'd hadn't been able to eat that morning (can't have food in the tummy for general anesthesia) and we wouldn't let him crawl around on the floor (hospital floors are just plain gross and there's no way I was going to let him down on that floor!).

Waiting for surgery in his cute orange baby size hospital gown

Finally it was his turn. The nurse came to get him and of course he cried initially when she took him from us. Later, she said he stopped crying as soon as we were out of sight and was happy and calm until they put the mask on his face to give him the gas for anesthesia. I knew he would freak at this but luckily after a few quick breaths it puts you to sleep so he didn't have to be upset for long. The procedure litterally took less than 10 minutes and he was away from us for no more than 20 minutes.

He was so funny when they brought him back--all groggy and drunk acting. He seemed so disoriented and out of it. Poor boy. Luckily I was able nurse him right away while he slowly woke back up which helped keep him calm. Before we knew it we were all done and headed back home! Noah was still a little groggy and grumpy the rest of the morning, but by the time he got up from his nap later that afternoon he was back to himself again!

His ears have healed up fine and we can now get them wet again (we were having to put cotton balls in every night for bath time). And during the summer he can swim with no problems as long as he's in clean/chlorinated water (otherwise he just need ear plugs).

Actually, this last week he's had a bit of a cold which would have turned into a full blown ear infection before. He apparently already had some fluid start to build up but this time instead of sitting behind his ear drum and causing him lots of pain it just drained out of his ears. It looks gross, but it's not bothering him at all. We just use ear drops and go on about life. No visit to the doctor. No strong oral antibiotics that cause diarrhea and diaper rash. While we hope that the tubes keep him from getting infections at all, at least they can get the fluid out if it does start so that's better than nothing. So all in all, hooray for ear tubes!

Celebrating Grandmother

My Grandmother turned 95 this Sunday. The whole Tilton clan was in Angleton to celebrate with her this weekend. We had a surprise come and go party for her at my parent's house where other extended family members and various friends and neighbors could stop by and visit with her. It was really cool to see all the people that came out to see her and to know all the lives she's touched in her 95 years of life. We're just so blessed to have had her with us for this long and it brings me so much joy to know that she's been able to know her great grandson.

A few updates on Noah: The little stinker is so close to being able to walk but he just won't do it yet. He cruises around hanging on to anything and everything like crazy. He'll let go and stand independently for several seconds but then when he wants to move he drops down to crawl. We were hoping he'd perform for the family and start walking in honor of Grandmother's birthday this weekend, but no such luck. He did have fun chasing Kristi and Casey's dogs around again though.

He had a great time in Angelton and even did well in the car both there and back. When we got back to Austin late Saturday night we got him out of the car seat and he felt warm. Sure enough he had a 101 fever. Must be the ears again. Grrr. Then the poor baby woke up with a 103.5 fever Sunday morning. He was just miserable!! Thankfully we had a "just in case" prescription for more antibiotics from the ENT last week which we were able to fill. Now, if there was any doubt in our minds that it's time to do something to help his ears, that doubt is gone. Hey doc, can you put his tubes in tomorrow??

Grandmother and her birthday cake

With her two sisters, Mattie and Georgie. Grandmother is the oldest of the three of them. The whole family (minus Noah who was napping. Thomas had to leave early so we couldn't wait for Noah to get up)The Grandkids Now Great Grandmother gets time with her Great Grandson! Mike's Dad came down from The Woodlands for the party The guys. Yes, the one making the face is my wonderful husband! Trying to get Noah to walk. He got close, but still wouldn't quite do it without holding on.

Noah's poor little ears

Noah has had some rough times with ear infections over the last few months. To be specific, he's had 6 rounds of antibiotics for ear infections (either separate occasions or infections that wouldn't clear up and came back as soon as we stopped the original antibiotics) in the last 4 months. His little ears just won't drain the fluid and each time we get him cleared up, the infection just returns. This last time he even needed to get 2 rounds of Rocephin injections which was so not fun.

So, we got to visit the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor yesterday and next week Noah will be getting ear tubes! Even after the Rocephin injections his ears weren't much better. And they tested his hearing and it's just slightly decreased due to the presence of all the fluid. We know it's the right thing to do. Because he has to be completely still for the procedure they'll use some gas for general anesthesia and he'll be asleep for the entire 5 minute procedure. I'm not excited about it, but again we know it's what he needs right now.

This is just another one of those examples with your children that no matter how hard you try, there are just some things you can't control. I've looked at lots of things about preventing ear infections or doing things to decrease your risk for ear infections, and really he doesn't have any risk factors. Breastfeed-yep, still doing it. Don't smoke around him-nope don't do that. Don't put him to bed with a bottle-never have. Large day care centers-well, he's in a home day care with only 2-3 other children so that shouldn't be a big risk factor. Like everything else in his body, he's just got stubborn ears that won't let the fluid drain. Anatomically, this should change as he gets older. Till then, hopefully the tubes will help.

Double Digits!

That's right-double digits! As in Noah has hit double digits in months of age. Ok, I know it's kind of corny, but as a mom it's pretty crazy to realize we're quickly approaching the one year mark with him!

Our big 10 month old!

This has been kind of an eventful month or so--both in terms of things we've had going on, but also in terms of Noah learning new things. It seems like everyday there is something new or different with him.
--He has a few words now: Mama (which he rarely says), Dada (which he says all the time!), Dog, and Uh-oh. He's also learned to make the "more" sign for when he wants more food.
--He's got some more teeth-8 total now. The front four on both the top and bottom.
--He seems to be more and more opinionated all the time-especially when it comes to food. Most days all he wants to eat is yogurt and cheerios. We've hit the picky eater toddler phase a bit early I think.
--For a while now he's been able to nod his head up and down for "yes" which is really cute. Well, now he's learned to shake it back and forth for "no". His favorite time to do this is when he's eating which is also accompanied by waving his arms back and forth in front of his face. If this wasn't so frustrating it would be really funny. He does definitely know what "no" means. And if I sternly tell him "No, sir!" for something, he usually stops, looks at me and then shakes his head no back at me. Pretty cute.
--He is really on the move and man is he fast! Whether it's crawling or cruising (walking holding on to something) he can get whereever he wants to go. He pulls up and cruises on just about anything and is starting to let go and stand for a few seconds at a time. I'm excited (and a little fearful) that walking will be happening sooner rather than later!

Crawling up the stairs (maracas in hand!)

Cruising around the coffee table

He really likes opening and closing doors and has figured out how to stand at the edge of his crib and get the door to his bedroom open. Even with it shut all the way he was able to get it open--finally I discovered he was yanking on things hanging on the back of the door which would eventually loosen the door to where he could get it open. Little stinker.

Standing at the end of his crib after he's pulled the door open and looking down the hallway to see if anyone is coming for him yet.

He's really has some favorite toys now. Grandma and Granddad got him these cool magnet letters for the refrigerator for Christmas. The letters also fit into a little machine that makes the sound of the letters when you put them inside it and will sing the ABC's if you push a button. He LOVES to stand at the refrigerator and play with this and has actually figured out how to put the letters inside now. He also loves animals (real and stuffed) and his favorites are doggies. He's still carrying around the two stuffed doggies a lot of the time. He's starting to enjoy looking at books more and more-especially the touch and feel kind and one's with animals in them. Oh and of course he loves anything with lights and sounds.

Unfortunately despite all the fun things, he's also been sick a lot lately. He had a cold that turned into croup with some wheezing and another ear infection a couple weeks ago. Thankfully he was a "happy wheezer" meaning that even though he was wheezing, he wasn't in any distress and was actually breathing fine. We did one nebulizer treatment in the after hours clinic (where we visited my friend and PNP Pat!) which didn't even help so instead he just got a few doses of oral steroids which seemed to do the trick. It was hilarious watching him with the neb treatment. He of course wanted nothing to do with the mask on his face, so we just took it off and let the mist blow on his face. Well, he kept trying to put his mouth on the chamber end piece of the tubing and stick his tongue in it (it looked like he was trying to make out with the thing!). Pat has been a nurse and worked with kids for over 20 years and said she's never seen a kid try to stick his tongue into the chamber before! Just leave it to Noah and he'll come up with something new!

Thankfully the wheezing resolved pretty quickly, but I wish I could say the same for his ears. This was his 4th ear infection since October and it still hasn't fully resolved. I think we're headed to the ENT soon. Poor Noah. I'll defintely be happy when we're out of cold season! He's even had a bit of a fever off and on again the last day or two. We go tomorrow for a follow up to check on his ears. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are better, but I'm not holding my breath. Stay tuned...I'm sure we'll have updates soon!

Point of Grace Grand Opening

Point of Grace had our dedication service for our new ministry facility on Jan. 11th and then followed with a huge Grand Opening event for the community on Jan. 24th. At the Grand Opening we had real snow! (Ok, real as in it was real ice but not real in the sense that it came from a machine and not the sky.) There were also multiple bounce houses/obstacle course type things, movies and music, and lots of hot chocolate and homemade soup. Leading up to the actual weekend the weather had been pretty warm and I was worried about how our "Winter Festival" was going to do if it was 75 degrees outside. No worries...a cold front blew in that weekend and I think it barely got out of the 30's that day!

It was a huge success! The building was packed all day and despite the cold, people had fun playing outside. Here are some numbers from the day:

--700 bowls of soup were served
--60 crock pots of soup were supplied
--45 gallons of hot chocolate were made and consumed
--500-700 estimated guests in our building
--Over 100 volunteers serving the whole day and over 40 volunteers stuck around to the very
end to clean up
Wow!! If you're interested, check us out online at www.pointofgracechurch.org.

It was great to have the support of my family there with us for the weekend too! Grandma and Granddad had fun with Noah and Aunt Kristi and Uncle Thomas came up for part of the weekend too.

Front of new PoG building. This faces 130 Toll Road

Noah's not sure what to think of the snow.

Delton Weiser, our Pastor and my Dad

Noah and Grandma Noah and the girls

Noah likes being up high!It's even more fun when there is hair to pull! Thanks Aunt Kristi!!
Noah and Uncle Thomas

If you look,you can tell Noah is holding two stuffed doggies. He loves doggies these days and this weekend starting carrying these two doggies with him everywhere. It's so cute!

Christmas with the Tiltons

After celebrating Christmas here in Austin, we headed to Angletong on New Year's Eve to spend a few days celebrating with the Tilton clan. We spent a quiet New Year's just hanging with my parents and playing games at home (Noah slept through his first New Year's Eve countdown). We were able to spend some good time just hanging with the family over the next few days and of course had another round of opening presents. Noah had fun actually playing with the new toys this time. The maracas that Aunt Kristi gave him were definitely one of his favorites!

These maracas are the best!

I love this tiger!

Funny faces with Granddad

Noah's other favorite thing this trip was playing with Kristi and Casey's dogs. Kristi has a border collie, Nobs, who is super hyper so all we really got to do with him was throw the ball outside. But Casey's dog, Sam, is a pug and is really laid back so Noah got to pet him and chase him around inside. He actually says something that sounds like dog now too (his first real word other than dada and mama) and basically just loves all doggies!

We were nerds and played some Settlers of Catan as well as Forty Two (dominoes) and Spades (cards). The ladies also went shopping and got Kristi's wedding dress which was so fun. Of course you don't get to see those pictures till the wedding day though!!