October Wrap Up

Hello Everyone!


We hope the rest of October has been great for all of you. We have had a busy past couple of weeks. Our friends, Erica and Chris, flew down from NYC to spend some time with us and more importantly, to meet Noah.  We all had a great time and although they both loved holding Noah, neither was ready to change one of his stinky diapers! Also in the past couple of weeks, Noah met his Grandpa Willy for the first time. Seeing the two together was very cute but Noah's tiny size made his grandpa a little nervous so Noah spent most of the afternoon in the arms of Grandma Omega. 

Chris and Erica with Noah

In the midst of all of our visits we had some important business to attend to. Noah had a couple of doctors appointments as follow-ups to the ultrasounds we had in which the doctors observed a multi-cystic right kidney. We went to the Duke Children's Hospital where Noah had some tests run. After running the tests, the specialists concluded that Noah was born with only a left kidney. Fortunately, there are no long term implications of having a single kidney and God willing Noah will live a long healthy life.


I (Steph) return to work on November 1. I am happy to return to my colleagues and to regular adult conversation but definitely sad to see the end of spending all my time with Noah. With my return to work, Noah will be starting daycare. We already had a practice run with Noah spending a few hours in daycare last week and he did great! The daycare is about five minutes from my job so I can take time during my lunch break and visit him. 


As with all new babies we are having an ongoing debate over who Noah looks like - me or Jorge. Unfortunately Jorge has no baby pictures so we can't really do an accurate comparison. But after comparing Noah to my pictures I don't think there is much of a need for Jorge's picture. Noah obviously look just like his mother :) In all fairness, I think that Noah has Jorge's nose and chin and he has my eyes and ears. Overall, he is a perfect combination of the two of us. 

Steph as a baby

Noah during bath time

With the end of October comes everyone's favorite day to dress up - Halloween! For Noah's first Halloween he was a lion. He was definitely the cutest little lion that we had ever seen. 

Well that wraps it up for the month of October. Here are a few more cute pictures we snapped of Noah this month.

Noah taking a cat nap in the clothes basket. 

When he's hungry he will suckle on anything you put in front of him. Looks like he'll have a big appetite like his daddy.

Yeah, he's definitely going to have a big appetite!

Thanks for reading and God bless!!!

Love,

Steph and Jorge

Noah Tracking A Toy With His Eyes

Family and Friends,

Here is a video of Noah looking at one of his toys. When we move the toy back and forth Noah follows it with his eyes. We love playing with him and improving his gross motor skills. We even have alphabet flash cards (courtesy of Steph's mom) that we will be using so that he can become familiar with letter recognition as soon as possible. 

The First Weeks

Hi Family and Friends,


Well, we've survived 3 weeks of parenting! Although the shock of becoming parents definitely has not worn off (and we're sure it probably won't wear off until for a long long time). The hardest adjustment has definitely been lack of sleep. It's been rough for me (Steph) adjusting to cat naps whenever Noah sleeps instead of my customary 8-9 hours of sleep a night. So far, Jorge hasn't had to get up in the middle of night since I am nursing and handle all of the feeding. Although, he's been getting minimal sleep trying to balance work, grad school, and spending time with Noah. We're just both super happy that Noah is a pretty quiet baby and isn't up all night crying. 

It's been a little scary for us (mostly me) realizing that we have this little life to take care of but I think we're doing a pretty good job. Noah makes it easy for us since (so far) he has been a really well behaved baby. It's also been really helpful having help for the past few weeks. My mom was here for the past week helping us get adjusted and my Aunt Karen has been coming a few days a week to help with odds and ends around the house. Jorge's mom also stayed for a day to help and see her grandson. Even without their help, it's been really nice having experienced moms ensuring me that I'm doing everything right. 

It's also been fun experiencing all of the things associated with caring for a new baby. We have had some hysterical moments changing Noah's diaper since he seems to like produce projectile poop during diaper changes. Along with spraying pee, which is typical with little boys, Noah likes to spontaneously poop. Our first experience with the projectile poop was totally  unanticipated and Jorge and I were both completely shocked when he pooped and the debris landed a clear foot from the source. Needless to say, we've become much more careful when changing his diaper to avoid making messes in the nursery. We've also come to enjoy bath time with Noah. He really enjoys the warm water sponge baths and now that his umbilical cord has fallen off we can start submerging him in water for a more thorough cleaning (although we're going to have to figure out how to combat projectile poops during bath time).

We actually ventured out with Noah last weekend when we took him to Elon University for his first college campus tour (we're starting early!) Unfortunately, the fresh air soothed him to sleep and he missed most of our walk around the scenic campus. Since it's getting chilly outside we're going to have to choose his outings carefully although his Granny (my mom) was willing to drive an hour to take him on his first trip to the zoo! I know she can't wait for him to get a little bit older and more aware of his surroundings because if she had it her way she would take him around the world. 


As a follow up to prenatal reports about Noah's cystic right kidney, we took Noah to the hospital for an ultrasound. It turns out that Noah's right kidney failed to develop and therefore he must rely on his normal left kidney for fluid filtering. We aren't terribly concerned since he uses the bathroom normally and the doctors have assured us that a person can lead a normal life with a single kidney functioning at 50%. Unfortunately for Noah he won't be able to participate in any contact sports (i.e. football and boxing) but all things considered this is something that both Jorge and I can live with. Despite the positive prognosis please continue to keep us all in your prayers as we continue to grow (us as parents and Noah as a healthy little boy)


God Bless,


Steph and Jorge