Embry- uh oh!

Noah is changing all the time, and I wish I were better about blogging more regularly so I could keep you all up-to-date on the latest with him!! I told my sister (who's due in less than three weeks!) that I sort of regret not documenting all the little milestones better. You know, first smile, laugh, etc. I feel like I can ballpark those things, but looking back I just wish I would have jotted down something like "Today I think Noah smiled for the first time". We've documented everything in pictures though, so at least I have a generally reference point...

Noah has exploded with his gross motor skills!! He's like a different kid. After being so worried about this area of his development for so long, he's finally taking off! He started getting himself into sitting while we were on vacation. He crawls so fast when he's motivated to get something, like a cat or a favorite toy. He probably started getting really good at it about 2-3 weeks ago (see, again with not really having a precise date...) - I know it was right after our vacation, so probably the 2nd or 3rd week of August.

He started pulling up in the crib awhile ago, probably the end of July, and now that he's really good with crawling, he's pulling up on the coffee table. We put the padding on the outside half of the table (that's not along the couches) a few weeks ago, and he loves to pull up, squat down, pull up, squat down... He's even starting to cruise a little bit. :)

A few weeks ago (maybe mid-August), he started stepping while he was standing at the table or in the crib, and in the last week or so, he's walking with his hands held! It's crazy to think he's going to be walking in the next few months - where has the time gone!

Yesterday, tooth number 8 finally broke through! Now he has 4 on top and 4 on bottom, and none except the first two really gave us any trouble. Thank goodness for that!

So now that his gross motor skills are well on their way, my newest concern (because I'm neurotic, apparently) is feeding, hence the title of this post.

Noah DOES NOT like anything solid or chunky. Stage 3s are a no-go - he spits out anything solid, such as pasta or veggie pieces. Typical baby finger foods - such as Gerber puffs, wagon wheels, yogurt melts, crackers, cookies, cheerios, etc - go straight on the floor. Table foods - fruits, veggies, chicken, pasta - also go straight on the floor. Early in the process (like around 7-8 mo) he would put a cracker or cheerio to his mouth. He even bit off pieces of a Ritz cracker, but twice he "choked" on a cheerio, and I don't know if maybe that turned him off to food.

I told Noah that I don't know how he can be mommy and daddy's baby if he doesn't like to eat food. Mommy and Daddy LOVE to eat food. That when I told him that maybe the doctor mixed up the embryos, and daddy said "Embry- uh oh!". Obviously, Noah is our combined mini-me, so there's just the little matter of figuring out how the hell to get this kid to eat!

So many people have said "maybe he's just not hungry". Oh. my. god. That to me is like when people used to say "it'll happen" when we were trying to get pregnant. It's condescending. Trust me, I've tried every trick I can think of, PLUS I've been chatting with a speech therapist who's given me MORE ideas. I'm hoping maybe the dropping things is a phase. I mean, I know it is, but he can drop toys until the end of time, just PLEASE stop dropping the food!!! I don't even care about the mess. I just want him to bite into something and realize, "oh my god, this is so delicious!" I keep telling him he'll like it, and when has mommy ever lied to you??