More

Noah has become quite the communicator! He signs the word "more" quite a bit (that's what he's signing in the above photo). "More" can mean many different things: give me more, I like what I'm eating and I'm so happy that I'll be getting more soon, I want that, let's do that again, that was fun, I'm happy... and many more meanings. When he signs "more," it always seems to make sense in the context of the situation.

The other way that Noah communicates is the point and grunt method. The point and grunt can also mean many things: I want that, there's the microwave/vacuum/remote control/computer/insert electronic device here, let's go outside, I hear something over there, I see a car, here comes Emma... It can sometimes be time consuming and confusing to figure out what every point and grunt means, but it does always mean something. We're trying to teach Noah more specific signs so he can start to communicate more specifically, since he has so much to say!

Speaking of saying things, Noah's newest word is "uh oh." He is so cute when he says it! Just he words "uh oh" can also mean a lot of different things: Something fell down, something is on the floor, something scary just happened, I want mom and dad's attention...

Here's a few more pictures of Noah thoroughly enjoying his dinner.

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a happy Easter! We had a wonderful day, and we especially enjoyed having a delicious Easter lunch with the Sutek family. Noah was excited to find a basket from the Easter Bunny - how did the bunny know that Noah loves Puffs? Matt surprised Laura by waking up early to make milk egg toast, a Christiansen family tradition. Here's a few more pictures from our weekend.

Road Trip!

We just returned from a road trip to visit Grandma Marilyn in Atlanta. It's a four hour drive, and Noah did pretty well in the car. We drove down on Friday night, and Noah slept about three hours of the drive. On the way home this afternoon, Noah took about a half hour nap, but then played, sucked on his toes, watched the cars and trucks, and periodically complained about being confined in his car seat. We tried to keep him entertained with some of his favorite toys - empty water bottles, a toy remote control, Lulu the singing spider, and (as a last resort) our cell phones.

Noah had fun exploring Grandma Marilyn's house and playing with is new Bob the Builder laptop computer. He even had his first lunch at a Neiman Marcus restaurant! He slept in his pack and play, and we were relieved that he slept through the night and took long naps. Here's some more pictures from our trip.

What a Beautiful Day!

The weather has been beautiful here in North Carolina, and we have been enjoying every minute of it! Noah has been playing in our backyard, and he thought it was great when he sat outside at the patio table for lunch. Here's a few more pictures. As you can see, Noah is busy teething! He either has one or two fingers in his mouth, or his tongue is sticking out at all times!

Fun With Daddy

Noah has discovered how much fun it is to sit behind the wheel of a car! He loves looking at and touching all the levers and buttons. Here's some more pictures of Noah having fun with Daddy.

Noah the Explorer

Just call him "Noah the Explorer." He's always on the move in search of something new. Noah is now crawling on his hands and knees, which is very cute to watch, because he still crawls in a little bit of slow motion. He does revert back to his "army man" crawl when he gets tired or wants to get somewhere quickly. Favorite areas to explore around the house are: kitchen cabinets, dishwasher, windows, stair gates, the laundry room, and the woodworking of our kitchen table. He has lots of baby toys, but currently prefers the much more fun and important job of getting to know his house. Here's some more pictures.

Goodbye Pacis

In the past two weeks, Noah has decided that he is finished with his pacis. His decision has taken us by surprise because he has been a heavy paci user since the day he came home from the hospital. He started out with newborn pacis, and we would buy a new pack or two every time we were at Target. No matter how many we had, we could never find one when we needed it! We had stashes in the nursery, kitchen, car and diaper bag. Sometimes just the sight of a paci was enough to get Noah to stop crying, provided that it was put in his mouth within a second or two. After Noah turned six months old, we threw away all the newborn pacis and bought the "big boy" ones. At that point, we started to wonder how we were ever going to break him of the habit, he had become so dependent. We had tried to limit the pacis to naps and bedtime, but Noah would frequently find one around the house when he was playing and pop it in his mouth.

After our trip to Florida, Noah started to put the paci in his mouth and bite it a few times before taking it out and throwing it on the ground. We thought that was odd. We were surprised when his disinterest continued, and he would bat the paci away whenever we tried to give it to him. We tried dipping the paci in juice, but that didn't work. We tried sneaking it in his mouth when he was crying, but that didn't work. Then if finally dawned on us that Noah was serious - he didn't want his beloved paci anymore!! We got lucky! Our 9 1/2 old had weaned himself! Our theory is that the pacis didn't feel right once his upper teeth came in.

Look At My Teeth!

Noah's upper incisors are really coming in! They haven't quite pushed through far enough to see when he smiles, so we had to tickle Noah upside down in order to get a picture. The teething continues as his fourth incisor is just about to cut through the gums, and he's been feeling his lower gums a lot lately, so there must be some activity there too!