Growing by the Minute

We had our 4-month trip to the pediatrician the other day. Report is as follows:
Weight: 17 lbs., 7 1/2 oz, 90th percentile
Length: 26 3/4 in., 95th percentile
Head Circumference: 41 1/2 cm, 25th percentile
Conclusion: Still small head, but bigger than last time. Still growing quite (almost ridiculously) fast. Wearing 9 month clothes at 4 months...what kind of babies do they base these sizes on!?!

He got his shots. As expected, he did not appreciate being stuck. But, one day, he will appreciate being immunized and protected from various horrible diseases. Therefore, we press on. It didn't take him long to settle down and fall asleep in his stroller, indicating that he wasn't too incredibly traumatized.

Doctor was still a little concerned by the flat spot on his head. He still favors looking to the right and, as I had noticed one day in December, seems to have a slightly limited range of motion looking to the left. Doctor felt his neck muscles and confirmed that indeed, his muscles on the left side of his neck were less developed on the left and tighter on the right. She suggested we talk with the Physical Therapist to discuss exercises to help develop, strengthen and stretch the muscles. In the meantime, we keep him looking to the left as much as possible as he continues to favor the right. I have even started trying to get him to sleep on his left side some. Doctor suggested that we really want this to correct itself in the next 2 months or we may need to consider a "helmet" to help his head round out. Naturally, the earlier this problem is corrected, the better.

Happy New Year

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks and it is high time I record some of it. We headed back to PA for the holidays on December 17. It was a very long day. We stopped in Detroit before heading on to Philly. DS did very well for a majority of the day, but he did have trouble settling down and getting the rest he needed because of all the sound, people, etc. By the second flight, he was getting pretty cranky...and loud. I felt bad for the people around us that were trying to rest. We were THOSE people with the crying baby that everyone secretly (or not so secretly) despises. I suppose they all have gotten over it by now.

We had a very nice time visiting with lots of family and friends. We didn't get to see nearly everyone that we would have liked to meet up with, but I suppose that is to be expected for a 3 week whirlwind trip. The holidays actually helped, though, because of all the Christmas dinners and a New Years Eve party we went to...which were all great fun!...we got to hit larger groups of people all at one time.

DS enjoyed his first Christmas. He napped during some of the present opening...as was expected. However, he will certainly enjoy all of the toys and books he received.

Amidst our travels, DH and I both somehow found time to catch a stomach virus that was going around, which put us out of commission for a day or so, forcing us to cancel our plans in the interest of not spreading the horrible bug on to the next unsuspecting victim.

I also did a bit of business while in town...allowing at least some of my traveling expenses to become tax deductible. That is always a plus!

DH spent some time working on his lectures to prepare for the upcoming semester. He is looking forward to another challenging semester with a whole new batch of classes.

We also found the time to visit my former place of work to see some of the people I worked with and to allow them to meet Noah. He was a big hit! And, it was so refreshing to walk through the halls of the community again after being away nearly 6 months. All was the same...except the carpet that miraculously changed from blue to red at some point during my absence.

We also had various breakfast and lunch dates. How wonderful it is to catch up with old friends.

We traveled back home to our corner of the country Friday, January 4. I had a friend that informed me of the existence of a beautiful thing called Herbal Teething Tablets made by Hyland's. Now, Noah really is starting to do some teething, so it wasn't completely unwarranted, but our main reason for using them was to just help Noah relax on the plane in order to get us all (and the rest of the travelers on the plane) back sanely. The tablets have some chamomile and some other herbal stuff in them that just help babies to relax. Noah did very well for the first leg of our journey without any extra help, but again he had trouble relaxing enough to get the rest he really needed. So, as we headed out form Minneapolis to Portland, he began getting extra fussy again...that was when we decided to break out the teething tablets. He did indeed relax and sleep some. When he was awake, he just sat on our laps and chilled out most of the time...aside from a short time at the beginning of our descent when the pressure was quite obviously bothering his ears. After we had landed, we had several of the surrounding people comment on how great of a traveler he is. We just smiled and thanked them while being silently oh, so grateful for our beautiful herbal teething tablets!

Also, during our flight, as we headed into Portland, we grew a little concerned that we wouldn't be able to land due to the storm that was creating severely heavy crosswinds. But, our pilot pulled up and swung around to attempt a landing on a different runway and amidst heavy turbulence, was able to land the plane smoothly. He got an applause from a plane-full of relieved travelers once we were safe and sound on the ground as we taxied back to the terminal.

Now, here we are, back in Oregon with lots of stuff piled around waiting to be put away. And I am once again out of commission with another bug that I have come to find out is Strep. That explains the horrible sore throat I'd been experiencing. What a way to start a brand new year.

Noah is getting caught up on Pacific Time again and is back to his 10 hour nights and 7:30 wake-up time and his happy and content self during the day. Hooray for being well-rested!!

We are looking forward to our next trip to PA in May for my brother's wedding...not so much looking forward to the actual traveling, but definitely looking forward to the family, friends, festivities, and fun!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Well, we got our tree out...yes, it is a fake tree, but it looks quite pretty with all of our special ornaments. One of our traditions is to buy an ornament when we go on vacation, so when we decorate the tree each year we can remember all the places we've been and all the fun we had. After debating with myself about weather or not to put up the tree this year since we will be away visiting family and friends in PA for most of the holiday season, I decided there was no point in even having a tree if we didn't put it up once per year, so here it is in all its glory!

And to celebrate the season that is now upon us, DH's university held a Campus Candlelight Ceremony the other evening with wagon rides, refreshments, and caroling fun. One particular station had reindeer antlers to decorate. DS didn't know what hit him; although, he was quite a hit all bundled up with his antlers on. He also had his first experience sitting on Santa's lap. I decided that all the fun this year is more for us as parents since Noah won't remember these days...but boy, is it fun to get pictures for him to look back at when he is older. I can just hear him now, "Oh, Mom...what were you thinking? That's so embarrassing." :)

Thanksgiving Weekend Photo Gallary

First is a matter of business: If anyone would like to automatically receive each new blog entry by email, please let me know (by leaving me a comment...click where it says "0 comments" at the end of this entry...and let me know what email address you would like me to use...FYI, it will not be posted on the blog for everyone to see for your security). DH keeps teaching me new things that these programs can do...It adds wrinkles to my brain. (PS. Wrinkles in your brain is a good thing...the more wrinkles you have in your brain, the smarter you are...DH has many, many wrinkles...and he just takes the time to putz around with it to figure it all out. ;)

Second order of business: Happy Thanksgiving!!
We spent the evening with some friends of ours that moved here this summer from Idaho. Since we were both family-less for the holiday, we got together for our own big turkey dinner. We had a lot of fun hanging out and playing some games. They have two children ages 1 and 3. DH and I kept thinking, "Pretty soon, Noah will be running around and making us laugh like this." It was quite fun. Noah got to wear his precious Thanksgiving outfit sent from his dear Aunt Susan.

Every person needs a happy-little-naked-baby picture of themselves in the bath tub to look back on...This one is "family-friendly". DS thoroughly enjoyed kicking and splashing in the bath tub this morning.

Amidst their jealously of our constant attention being saved for DS, poor Ollie and Beau have begun to console each other--when they aren't fighting over their bone, that is. They are not particularly enjoying the cold rain, but that is just something they will have to get used to.

I have been working hard at compiling all of our contact information for everyone that we know. Instead of having some information listed in one place, other info in another place, and many other peoples' contact info on pieces of scrap paper lying here and there, we decided to organize our lives a bit better using Google. (I really am liking the way Google has provided all kinds of tools to organize my life...and it is all free.) It has been a tedious process. At times, I felt like pulling my hair out...But, I think we are almost done. We may be asking some of you for some of your contact info. Just because we ask doesn't mean we don't already have it. It just means we can't find it right now. :)

And a couple smiley Noah pics for fun...

With Pleasure, I Introduce To You: Dr. DH

The day has (finally) arrived. This week, DH's thesis was submitted to the library, which was the final step for his PhD. After celebrating the almost completion by taking part in the commencement ceremony, he still had some work to do. On August 1, he defended the thesis by presenting to a defense committee of professors who were experts in his field. Then, there were some finishing touches to work through. And finally, the printing, binding, and submission of the final draft.

Today, we celebrate!

Yea, Rah, Hockey!

There was a cheer we used to do on my high school hockey team that ended with "Yea, Rah, Hockey!" but I forget the rest of it... Some of you may remember that I was a cheerleader in 5th grade--we cheered for the midget football teams...not something I announce very often. That was before I found a REAL sport where you actually have to run and stuff!

Anyway, I left DS with DH Saturday morning and ventured into Portland to make some new friends. I arrived at the designated artificial turf field, which was covered with little football players. Apparently, they had a final game on Sunday and were getting in one last practice. So, we found a grass soccer field close by that would do for the day. (P.S. Grass fields in Portland--not a good idea...especially during the rainy season.) We were slipping and sliding all over the muddy field. Friday night when I went to bed it had been pouring down rain, but I awoke Saturday morning to a beautiful sunny day and we were determined to make the most of it.

I might have mentioned before that this team that I found is made up of a bunch of people who moved here from the east coast and places outside of the US since people of Oregon don't seem to know that there is a sport called Field Hockey. "What's That??" Also, P.S., in other countries, Field Hockey is also a men's sport. The US is the only country where it is really considered to be a women's sport. So, I got to play with a couple guys from Bangladesh, a girl who played in the UK, a couple that I think was from Puerto Rico, some others guys and girls that I'm not sure where they are from, and a girl from Cortland. (That would be SUNY Cortand, the team we faced in the 2001 NCAA Field Hockey National Championship. For those of you who don't know, we lost the game 1-0, coming in 2nd in the nation for NCAA Division 3 Field Hockey. I still crinkle my nose and growl when I think of Cortland...Grrr.) But, she was very nice and I am not bitter. She graduated 2 years before I did, so I never actually played against her.

Anyway, it was an exciting time of hockey. I still hurt 3 days later...the pain should be all gone just in time to do it all again this Saturday!!! Yea, Rah, Hockey!!!

Exhilerating Excursions

My mother came to town for a few days. I like to believe she came to visit me, but let's face it, Noah was the real reason she made the journey out here. :) It was an eventful few days. DH and I were able to get out for a hiking date...something we haven't been able to do since we got here. Grandma was happy for the chance to babysit. On Monday, we spent all day cleaning my house and making some food for the company we were expecting in the evening. For those of you who don't know, I am getting started with a home based business as an Arbonne Consultant. It is a really great company with really awesome Swiss-formulated pure skin care products. Seriously, it is the best stuff I have ever tried...and I've tried a lot of stuff. So, we had a fun Arbonne party that night. On Tuesday, we headed to the coast...and what a day we had!

First of all, Oregon is just beautiful everywhere! We started out heading toward a town called Tillamook on a winding mountainous road through the Coastal Range. We made one stop along the way so DS could eat, pulling off at one of the few random spots that had enough space for a car off the road. (Much of the road had no guard rail with a severe cliff-drop-off directly beside my car...Don't get too close!) When I got out of the car to be able to walk around to encourage Noah to burp...and boy, did he have a big one!...we realized there was a trail leading back into the woods to the origin of the refreshing sound of a creek flowing through the wooded mountains. After just a few minutes of exploring, we got back in the car and headed on our way. It was a long drive over the mountains due to the seemingly endless winding road that didn't even get enough traffic to blow the leaves to the side. What a pretty drive it was. When we got to Tillamook, we stopped for a quick lunch before heading to my mom's new friend's house--who she met on the airplane on the way here from Pennsylvania. This lady has a daughter who had a baby 2 weeks ago and she was coming out to visit her and help with the baby. This daughter of hers is my age, so she invited us over to meet her. After that quick stop, we headed down the road referred to as Three Capes Drive. This is a road that runs along the coast from a town called Pacific City (one of the most beautiful Oregon beaches) north past three different capes. We stopped for multiple photo-ops to attempt to catch the experience on camera. Pictures just don't do it justice. After watching the sun set over the Pacific at our last stop, we dropped my mom's friend off back at her house and headed home. On the way home, we took a faster, straighter route back so we could avoid the windy mountain road in the pitch black night. As we drove along, chatting away, suddenly there was a deer directly in front of my car. With a quick swerve, I avoided hitting it head-on, but it bounced off the side of my car with a loud thud. I was so sure I would have a big old dent to show DH when I got home. After pulling off and catching my breath, we decided to continue down the road and find a place that wasn't completely dark to inspect the damages. When we found light, there was no dent in sight--not even a scratch. Miracles do happen...there is no way I could have hit that deer like I did without leaving a mark--on the car, that is. I'm pretty sure that if I had inspected the deer like I inspected the car, we would not have found similar results. I never realized deer hunting could be so easy! We finally returned home exhausted and still in disbelief.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one week, we woke up on Wednesday and decided to finally go through and organize the rest of the boxes and stuff piled in the garage that we really hadn't touched much since the big move. Now, I can back into the garage without worrying as much about hitting stuff. I seem to have trouble backing straight.

Thursday morning, we headed to the airport so my mom could meet the plane. Today, I crashed...on the couch, that is...