A Merry Christmas

One Month Micah

Too Tired to Eat

Noah and Micah - best friends!

One Month Old

Micah turned one month old yesterday. He continues to eat very well and often - about every two hours during the day and every three to four hours at night. For the last few weeks he's been a pretty grumpy guy. If he's awake and not eating, he is usually telling us very loudly how he feels. But we are confident that this stage will only last a few more weeks.

Noah continues to be very excited about his little brother. He enjoys looking at him and laughing and gives Micah lots of kisses. Apparently Noah is the only one that finds Micah's crying funny. Noah wants to be helpful - he has tried to help Micah get his pacifier back in his mouth several times.

One month stats:

Weight: 11 lbs 5 ounces
Height: 21 3/4 inches
Head circumference: 38 1/5 cm

Grandpap, Grammy, Micah and Noah on Thanksgiving

Micah under the lights...

Here's Micah getting phototherapy treatment for jaundice. He "tanned" from around 2pm on Sunday to 6pm on Monday.

Baby Micah - 3 days old.

Baby!

Micah Edward was born on November 19th, 2009 at 1:34pm. He weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 21 inches long. The delivery was very easy and we were able to go home from the hospital the next day. So far, he eats and sleeps well. His big brother Noah is very excited about his new little brother - he wants to look at him all the time and is very eager to try to touch his face, particularly his eyes.

Grandpap's Helper

Noah loves to follow Grandpap around, especially when he is working on projects. Noah's not yet the most efficient helper, but he's learning! Here he is making sure Grandpap doesn't fall off the ladder.

Our Big Chicken

Noah was a chicken for Halloween this year. We attended a Halloween party for his baby friends in the afternoon, then went trick-or-treating in Grammy and Grandpap's neighborhood, followed by a stop at Grandma Lola and Grandpa Abby's house. A fun day! Noah caught onto trick-or-treating very quickly and was not the least bit shy about taking candy.

First "Professional" Haircut

Noah received his first "professional" haircut today at Cartoon Cuts. The end product is very handsome, but the process was grueling...you could hear the wailing clear on the other side of the mall. Three adults had to hold Noah down. He would not be coaxed by toys, treats or milk!

Dissertation Defense

After much preparation, my doctoral dissertation defense was yesterday. The meeting went very well, my professors offered very constructive suggestions for improvement and did not ask me any questions that I did not know the answers to. My dissertation was accepted under the condition that I would make the modifications that my professors proposed. I have been working since the meeting to complete the modifications and I sent the revised version back to the committee members this evening. I'm hoping that no more modifications will be necessary. At the end of the meeting, they said "congratulations Dr. Iguchi," but I'm not sure that I'm really a "Dr." yet. I think my paper has to be approved by the dean before I can really claim that title.

Here is a picture of me and my dissertation committee:

Mommy's Tummy

There is lots of room to hide behind Mommy's big pregnant tummy.

Rainy Day

We've had such a rainy fall! Good thing we have our newly renovated basement to play in now. Noah loves it! The first time I brought him downstairs, he rolled around on the new carpet, climbed in and out of the shower several times, and scooted all over on his pony. What fun!

Getting Dizzy

Noah discovered spinning to get dizzy this afternoon.

Noah Says Apple

Noah said a new word this week - apple! This is the first time he has used a word to identify an object, so we are very excited.

Speech Therapy Evaluation

Since Noah is taking a little longer on talking, compared to most children, we are going to have a speech therapist come to the house once a week to work with him on expressive communication. We had an evaluation with a speech therapist and an occupational therapist earlier this week. I thought their report of his strengths summed up his personality nicely:

"Noah relates beautifully to both parents. Warmed up quickly to new people in unfamiliar environment. Used good eye contact during sustained turn taking social interactions. Points to direct adults' attention. Enjoys playing alongside other children during library time. Understands meaning of 'no.' Has a very gentle, easy-going temperament but typical for age occasionally tantrums. Gives a toy to adult on request. Showed good problem solving skills with ability to dump toy from bottle, use stick to get out of reach toy, and complete 4-piece form board puzzle (solved visually). Showed good understanding of language with ability to point to many pictures in a book on request, follow multiple 1-step directions, and point to many body parts. Able to explore his environment by crawling, walking, and climbing. Able to squat to pick up a toy and return to stand. Crawls up/down stairs. Used hands well to place toys in container, stack 5 blocks. Also feeds himself with fingers, beginning to use spoon. Opened shoes by pulling velcro. Eats good variety of food and drinks from sippy cup. Points and vocalizes or pulls parent to get needs met. Sleeps through the night."

Learning to be Gentle to Baby

I cleaned up my old Cabbage Patch Kids so that Noah could practice being nice and gentle to his baby brother. If he can learn that his new brother is not going to want to wrestle, I think we'll be okay.

Relaxing

 

Recliner...check! Remote...check! Nothing like watching TV in a diaper and socks. This guy knows how to relax.

33 Weeks Pregnant - Almost There!

 

Musical Little Guy

Myrtle Beach, September 2009

We had a wonderful trip to Myrtle Beach last week with Grammy and Grandpap. At the end of the week we were joined by Aunt Jennie and Uncle Bill, a special treat! Noah loved the beach. He spent hours digging in the sand and looking at shells. I think walking made a big difference in his vacation - he wandered all over the beach, but was also happy to sit and play with his bucket and shovel.

We've posted many pictures to our Picasa Web Album, click here.

Noah's SOOO Funny

Iguchi Creations

Here is Noah sporting a t-shirt that Donna Sugarmeyer gave us at his baby shower. Very cute.

18 Months Old

Noah turned a year and a half last Thursday. The last few months have been busy. Noah learned to walk at 17 months and hasn't stopped moving since. It's becoming more challenging to take pictures of Noah because he doesn't want to stay still (as you can see from this blurry shot). He loves books. His favorite is a story about Minnie Mouse losing her cat (Mommy is sick of this one). He finds the picture of Goofy struggling with a tent especially funny. Noah also loves his blocks, ball and a stuffed animal doggie that he likes to pet and carry around.

Noah loves the playground, especially the slide. We go to the playground in our neighborhood and at Navy Elementary School a couple of times per week. In the evening, he also enjoys a good wrestle with Daddy.

His favorite foods are animal crackers and graham crackers. Noah is a very good eater!

Noah can say ma-ma, da-da, and boo-boo; but generally likes to stay quiet. I'm guessing that he will start to talk when the new baby comes home and Noah wants some more attention. Although he is a quiet guy, Noah understands many words. He can point to his nose, mouth, ears, hair, feet, tummy, cheeks and knees. He can also pick out the pig and chicken from his plastic farm animals.

Noah is an excellent sleeper. He is sleeping about 12 hours at night and taking a 2 to 3 hour nap during the day. Lately he has been waking up at night, which is usually an indication that we can be expecting some new teeth soon. He has two front bottom teeth, four front upper teeth and top and bottom molars on each side, for a total of 10 teeth.

We love our little guy! He is such a joy.

18 Month stats:

Weight: 25 lbs
Height: 32 inches
Head circumference: 47.8 cm

Wrestling with Daddy

Noah had us cracking up last night with his wrestling moves. Or I should say his one wrestling move. The 'body slam' seems to be his preferred tactic.

Noah and Doggie

Noah's been dragging this doggie around the house lately. I think it's cute how he pets it.

Yum yum

Spaghetti and blueberries for dinner! Yum.

Bathtime straight away after this meal!

Noah Having Fun!

Noah's New Tricks

Football Season

Daniel and Noah are gearing up for the start of the football season.

Go Noah, Go!

Oh Happy Day! After gaining more confidence standing by himself, Noah took a few tentative steps yesterday. This morning, he was giving it his all! It almost seems like he is going to skip walking and go straight to running! You can see in his face how proud he is of his new accomplishment. Daniel and I are proud too!

Summertime

The Iguchis have been enjoying a fun-filled summer! In May, Grammy, Noah and I visited Great Grandma in West Virginia. Noah also got to spend some with with his cousin Sarah who was generous to share her toys. Noah was in awe.

In June we enjoyed a visit from Suzanne, Jack and Charlotte. Noah showed the more assertive side of his personality when interacting with his cousins, and they have the bite marks to prove it! During their visit, we all trekked down to Sebring, Florida to visit Great Grammy and Great Pap Pap. We were able to share with them the exciting news of our newest member, due November 26th. While in Florida, I reconnected with a good friend from college, Heather White (now Heather Beato) and met her new husband. Noah surprised us with the presence of a handful of molar teeth earlier this month. He hasn't cut all of his front teeth yet, so we were surprised to see four molars in the back when he gave us a big laugh. Noah continues to demonstrate that he grows according to his own schedule.

In mid-July we learned that our new baby is going to be a little boy! We are referring to him as the Little Turkey because of his Thanksgiving due date. I think Noah will enjoy having little brother. Here is my favorite photo from our sonogram:
In this picture, you can see the baby's head on the left side facing up. His body is curled into a ball with his toes up next to his forehead. His spine is the brighter white backwards "C" shape along the bottom and you can make out the bones from his upper and lower leg on the top. I think he looks pretty comfortable in there. In the last couple of weeks, he's become much more active, giving me lots of kicks.

No name picked out yet, so we are open to suggestions!

Noah is continuing to grow and discover new abilities. He loves going to the pool and he especially likes toys that have pieces to put together, like blocks. He is becoming more interested in books -he now brings us books to read to him. He learned how to climb up the slide at the playground in the mall and gets a big kick out of sliding down on his tummy.

Things have been busy at home as well. Our long-time housemate, Matt, who rented our basement has bought a place of his own in Vienna. Grandpap is busy remodeling the basement bathroom and family room. We will be replacing all the fixtures in the bathroom, replacing the sliding glass door with a swinging patio door, painting, replacing the carpet, and adding new lighting. This project comes at the perfect time as our family is growing. I look forward to having Noah play in the basement where he will be able to make as much noise as he wants without waking up a sleeping baby two floors up.

Mama - That's Me!

Noah said Mama really well yesterday!

New Tooth

Noah's 5th tooth broke through this week! Hurray. The tooth was accompanied by a very runny nose and lots of crying at bedtime.

15 Month Check-Up

Height: 31 3/4 in (71st percentile)
Weight: 22 pounds (19th percentile)
Head circumference: 46 1/4 cm (24th percentile)

Clemyjontri Park

There is a park in McLean that has lots of equipment for children of all ages and ability level. Most of the equipment is accessible to children with physical disabilities. The ground is covered in a soft rubber surface - great for a little one learning to walk. Noah, Daniel and I visited the other evening and had a great time. We brought along Noah's push walker, so he felt like a big boy walking around the park.

Myrtle Beach, May 2009

Noah had a great time at the beach with Grammy, Grandpap, Great Uncle Ernie, and Great Aunt Terry. He enjoyed playing in the sand, splashing in the pool and looking at shells.

Noah and Daniel

Here's a cute photo of Noah and Daniel on Mother's Day. We attended the baby dedication of Noah's buddy Ian Smith and had a wonderful time at a brunch at the Smith's house afterward.

Gardening

I've started a bunch of seeds in our kitchen. This picture was taken a while ago, so the plants are almost ready to be planted outside. We are planting tomatos and lots of flowers.

Bulking Up

Noah gained over two pounds between his 1 year check-up and a weigh-in six weeks later. He went from 19 lbs, 1 ounce, to 21 lbs, 4 ounces; jumping from the 6th to the 14th percentile.

Spring = dirt

Noah is enjoying the spring, especially getting into dirt. If we turn our heads for a couple of seconds, he chows down on some dirt or mulch, yummy! It's hard to hide the evidence.

Frying Pan Farm Park

Noah and I visited Frying Pan Farm Park with our friends Melissa and Ethan last week. We got to see piglets, lambs, and several calfs in addition to big animals (like this pig) and chickens and an ostritch. We had such a nice time. My parents took Suzanne and I took this park when we were children, so it's fun to carry on the tradition.

Big Snow

Noah saw his first big snow storm a couple of weeks ago. Maybe next year we will get to go outside and make a snowman.

First Birthday Party!

Noah had a wonderful first birthday party! He absolutely loved his first cupcake - he just devoured it. We were so thankful for the family and friends there to celebrate with us, especially to the Howells and the Paulls for driving from out of town. Claire was concerned about Noah getting messy while eating his treat. She's such a sweetheart.

Flock of Sheep

I'm proud of my cupcakes for Noah's birthday party. A flock of sheep for my little lambie!