Little Bean turned one on December 21st. It was a very eventful day. It started off with us finding out Noah is going to be a big brother and ended up in St. Cloud with Annie in labor with the twins. However, all action ceased at midnight with no twins. Noah had a great day with his awesome giraffe cake, presents, and lots of friends.
Noah gives a whole new meaning to cake eater! We celebrated Noah's 1st birthday on the December 13th in CO. The Thomas', McCallisters, Helland, Pa Helland, and Grandma Helland all joined us in celebrating. Noah had his own cake and thoroughly enjoyed it. Look at our little savage go.
Today I took Noah to the orthopedic surgeon here in Colorado Springs. She looked at Noah's legs and was concerned about the bowing. The doctor discussed the different types of things that could be going on with his legs and asked me if she could do an xray to figure it out. So we did. The xray was awesome. The number one concern she had was growth plate issues which would probably be corrected with surgery or other invasive options. The xrays show absolutely no growth plate issues. The results are that the bowing should resolve itself and she is very happy he is not walking yet. The only remaining concern are his ankles and feet and how they turn inward so he walks on his feet. The doctor thinks that this could resolve itself because its not a growth plate issue either. However, it is possible that we will have to retrain his feet. She gave us the option of retraining them now with special shoes with a bar between them...think Forrest Gump! or waiting to see what nature does and come back in six months and then if things are not better retrain. We decided to wait. There really is no harm in waiting.
It's snowing....still. It has been snowing for the last 12+ hours and they are saying we could have up to two feet. Nice that the forecast said "light flurries". We had decided to finish putting up the Christmas lights. Obviously we were not able to get the yard decorations in but we did manage to finish the lights on the house despite the blowing snow and frigid cold. What a damper! We decided since it was Noah's first Colorado snow that we should dress him up and see how he liked it. So we bundled him up and threw him in. Within 10 seconds he was face down in the existing 6 inches and began to scream. I tried to take pictures but the camera was on the wrong setting so they turned our blurry but you can still see some of his displeasure!
One more month. One more month and Noah will be a year. We have been busy planning two Birthday parties, one here and one in MN. And then there is Christmas. So much to do and so little time. It seems to be a perpetual problem here. But, somehow along the way we are managing to appreciate and enjoy the small things.
Here are Noah's Stats
Weight: 21 pounds 11.5 ounces
Height: 32 inches
Translation: BIG BOY
Some things that Noah is enjoying
- Crawling through and under everything, even when he doesn't fit
- Pushing buttons
- Having temper tantrums with screaming and throwing himself on the floor
- Food of all kinds, except eggs...he manages to throw them up
- Playing with the dogs and chasing them
- Cars and trucks
- Babbling and talking
- Swimming
- Feed himself with a spoon
- Kissing mom and dad
- Talking on his cell phone (wonder where he gets that)
- Playing air guitar to music
- Reading books the Noah way
- Escaping to the stairs when no one is looking and the gate is undone
We went to Aspen for a couple of hockey games Jenni was playing in. On the way up we stopped and spent the night in Breck with our friends Sheri and Grant. It was too short of a weekend and Jenni's team lost pretty good, but we still had fun. The hotel we stayed in was brand new. By that we mean they had to put together the beds before we could check in and so we got to be the first to sleep in the beds. Noah enjoyed his time and had fun playing with Jenni's hockey stick.
Noah was able to celebrate his first Halloween. At first he was going to be a giraffe but his mom was too cheap to buy the costume and decided to try to find one on Craigslist. Then last week, realizing she was running out of time she went to find one. All the giraffes were sold out so she settled on a cow. So Noah was a cow for his first Halloween and a cute one at that. He dressed up and went to Old Colorado City where he met up with Kate and her family. We went trick or treating and then went to the park for some fun pictures. Then we came home and handed out candy. There were so many kids with costumes it was fun. We sat on the porch in the rockers with wine in hand and greeted all the kids. Noah only lasted until 7 when he passed out from the day's acitivities.
Our Awards:
Today Jenni set a record. On Tuesday evening she was sworn in. Today at around 12 she was served with her first lawsuit (less than 48 hours later). A defendant is not really happy with her and decided to sue her personally. The office has set her up with a lawyer and she believes it should be resolved.
It is official, today Jenni was sworn in as a Colorado Attorney. Greg, Brian, and Noah all attended the ceremony at the Pioneer's Museaum in Colorado Springs. The ceremony was in an old historical courtroom and was a sight to see. Congrats Jen!
More Buds....
The elusive "monkey face"
"I am NOT going to open my mouth so you can take a picture"
Loving to be Naked
I'm a Big Boy with my cup
