7 months old!

A little update on our 7 month old...I can't believe only 5 months until he is ONE! 

Noah has two more teeth coming in...the two next to where his front teeth would be. He sure is going to look funny when those come in with his front top teeth missing!

He still sucks at sleeping.  Cry it out does NOT work for high needs babies.  However, we still let him cry for 20 minutes when we put him down at night and he sure is persistent! He still eats 1-2 times during the night. I just can't listen to those cries when I know he is hungry. Noah only naps in people's arms or being bounced in the carrier. 

Noah is trying soooo hard to crawl but just can't figure it out.  He gets to all fours for a minute but then flops to his belly!

Noah also pulls himself to stand on whatever he can.  

We finally had one nice day since fall (before more snow and cold) and we learned Noah loves to be outside (as long as it's not in a stroller) as well as swinging!

We love our little stubborn,sleepless baby boy!

Smiles!

Besides the lack of sleep, when Noah is happy, he is SO happy...and that's what helps us get through those long, sleepless days/nights.  Here are some recent photos:

The never ending sleep issue

A few posts go, I mentioned that we may start Cry It Out when Noah is 9-12 months.  Well that thought changed once we returned from Arizona last week.  Noah was up at least 8-10 times per night in Arizona and when we came home.  (This has been going on since the end of November)  Nick's and my relationship was slowing dwindling away with each sleepless night and Noah was getting barely any sleep with all the wake ups and nonexistent naps.  I started to worry about all the issues Noah could have down the road if this no sleep thing continued so we decided we needed to try letting him cry when he went down to sleep and for the multiple wake ups.  

When the doctors suggested letting him cry at 3 months, I was outraged.  I still think that is too young.  Noah is now 6.5 months and Nick and I feel it's still too young to let him cry but we have exhausted all options.  He slept on me for the past 3 months most of the night but he was still waking every 30-60 minutes and wouldn't go back to sleep unless he was bounced on the exercise ball.  

We decided to cut everything cold turkey and put him in his playpen awake (after his night time bottle) with no swaddle or bouncing to sleep. (I still do feed him once or twice throughout the night even though the doctors can say we can cut that out...we won't cut the night feedings out until a year old.)  The first night (and every one since then) was awful.  As you know, Noah is a very high needs child with extreme stubbornness.  I really don't think Cry It Out will work for him but we have decided to give it two full weeks and see what happens.  We won't do this for naps...we will continue to hold him/bounce him on the exercise ball....it is hard enough listening to the cries at night...I can't bear the thought of multiple times per day/night.  

Nick and I aren't proud of our decision to try this but like I said, we have tried everything and Noah just can't sleep unless he is bounced and bouncing all night is not a feasible option.

Since Noah gets so upset while crying, he has learned to roll over and sit up on his own in the playpen...which makes getting him to sleep even more difficult!  However, when he does sleep, he sleeps on his tummy which he has never done before!

On his hands and knees...another new trick

Notice the sound level...and Noah sitting up

Our little scooter

Noah is definitely trying to move.  He scoots on his bottom and wants to crawl but can't quite figure out the movements.  He is also trying to pull himself up when he is by a chair or bookshelf.  Here are a few short video clips!:

Noah scooting

Noah attempting to grab objects

Trying to stand

Noah at 6 months

In some ways the past 6 months have flown by, but I think Nick and I agree most of these months have dragged on.  The lack of sleep and chaotic schedules and a baby who can't relax have taken a toll on us.  

Thank goodness Noah is so happy when he is in a good mood...that sure helps the days feel complete.  

Noah at six months loves:

babbling in the morning

scooting on his butt

reaching for toys/phones/cords/etc

playing in his walker & exersaucer

stuffed animals & real animals

people watching

being held

His six month appointment went well.  We switched to my family doctor instead of a pediatrician and are so much happier.  Our family doctor is wonderful and actually listens to us.  We are keeping Noah on Previcid for now for his reflux but haven't given it to him the past few days just to see what happens.  Our doctor wants us to work on having Noah practice rolling over since he still hasn't.  Nick and I don't care at all that he hasn't...we agree all babies develop differently and he will roll over eventually but the doctors would like him rolling over by 7 months...don't think that's going to happen!  Noah's sleep (lack there of) is still an issue but after a few attempts of letting him cry, we decided we will try cry it out at 9-12 months because his reflux gets much worse when we let him cry for too long.  Naps are nonexistent unless we bounce Noah or he falls asleep with a bottle and even then, they only last around 30 minutes.  It is so frustrating. Any time anyone offers me advice about sleep, spoiling Noah, etc...I am going to refer them to googling "high needs babies" and maybe they can see that these type of kids don't sleep well for naps or at night!  God must believe we can survive on no sleep so we are trusting His plan for now! 

Noah playing at the nanny's house!

Auntie Sari babysat Noah over her break!

AZ trip March 2014

We survived Noah's first trip!  We flew to Phoenix, which was an almost 3 hour flight then drove 2 hours to Nick's parents.  Noah did well on the flight; he cried loudly for 5 minutes (it felt like an hour) then fell asleep when Nick gave him a bottle.  Noah still hates the car seat so he screamed for almost 2 hours in the car.  I sure hope he outgrows that one day but all my high need baby support sites don't give me much hope; seems like a lot of these "high need" babies hate the car.

The weather was such an improvement from home!  We tried to get Noah outside as much as possible.  We tried swimming but he went hysterical...it was a bit too cold! Noah likes his bath water pretty warm so the cooler temp was a shock to him!  

The flight back was uneventful.  Noah got a little fussy and bored being confined but we survived.  I told Nick we won't be traveling with Noah again until he can sit long enough to watch a movie or two on the flight!

Noah & daddy pre-flight

Here we go!

Too cold to swim so just hanging out

Noah hanging out in the Ergo

our fav hat :)

mmm...bananas!

Noah meeting his future girlfriend

Family photos!