Saturday

Means plenty of time for naps.


Also, Noah says: A bouncer? Perhaps an eeeevil bouncer?

Friday

Noah is starting to be a lot more fun when he's awake (so awake doesn't automatically = crying. It often does, but not always). We had a pretty good time before getting out of bed this morning.


Still cuddly, even in the morning.


In other news, (this part is just bragging, sorry) I was able to dress myself in normal (aka non-maternity) clothes today! I was actually pretty surprised. And excited. In addition to showering and leaving the house I can add "regular pants" to my list of accomplishments.


In the interest of full disclosure, these are very low riding jeans. I tried on a pair of regular work pants the other day and we are not even close.

More cats

The cats have adopted stadium seating, from which they can keep an eye on the baby. One eye, shiftily opened, while the rest of the cat is sleeping.

Of course, only one cat is brave enough to stick around when the baby comes close.


I am pretty sure we achieved Noah to Entropy eye contact today. Another development milestone!

Tummy Time

Too early to tell

If they'll actually end up being friends...


But we wanted to make sure we had a cat post soon, lest anyone think that having a baby made us not be crazy cat people anymore.

Growing Requires Sleep

I took Noah to the Breast Feeding Resource Center today and the little bugger weighed in at 10 pounds. That's 1 pound more than at the pediatrician's a little more than a week ago.

We spent the weekend commenting about how much bigger he seemed. Turns out we were right.

Sunday

Noah got lots of good rest this morning.


In anticipation of this afternoon's visitors! He got to spend some quality time with Saba

And he got to meet (great) grandma for the first time!


What a wonderful Sunday afternoon!

Still Cute

Cute sleeping, cute awake and looking around.

Moo

Scene: Babies Backwards R Us, just after new years.

Rachel (9 months pregnant, slightly hormonal): OH MY GOD COW OUTFIT WE MUST BUY THE COW OUTFIT

Chad (slightly concerned): um... ok

Look at this outfit. I ask you, was I wrong?


Noah doesn't necessarily agree I guess.


Luckily we have bit of time where we get to decide what he wears, even if he finds it ridiculous.

Hairdo

Noah says: please no comments about my baby mullet.

Seriously

The kid just gets cuter every day. Bias be damned. Look at him!


Also I believe he has a very developed sense of humor for an 11-day old, and may be tired of mommy and daddy shoving the camera in his face all the time.

Hope and Change

We toasted the new president with sparkling cider and milk breath.


It was a powerful thing to watch the inauguration with Noah. In addition to being part of the generation inheriting the country, all of a sudden we're responsible for taking good enough care of it to pass it on to him. I feel very optimistic and inspired to get down to work.


Noah, meanwhile, is willing to do his part by looking around the house in amazement.

Sleepy

Being a baby is hard work!

Brit Milah

Today we celebrated Noah's Bris, with lots of family and lots of food.

Also, a giant fish plate.


It was just beautiful, and Noah was a real trooper. It was great for everyone to get a chance to meet the baby (and of course go on about how perfect he is). Christopher was especially interested, since he was old enough to actually hold the baby.


Little does Noah know that this is the kid who will be bossing him around as soon as he can take direction. :)

Noah also got to meet all of his grandmothers last night


They were reasonably well behaved, taking turns with the baby. I know it was difficult but we appreciate their keeping their setting a good example with sharing.

One week old

Holy cow.


Today we're preparing for the onslaught of relatives eager to meet Noah. We relaxed in the morning with Noah's second favorite activity (after eating), lying on the makeshift changing table during the spin cycle. Seriously. The kid loves it.


Also as new parents we're learning what one can do while holding a sleeping baby. Today's lesson: finishing the hat for tomorrow's bris. Surprisingly comfortable and snuggley for you and your baby.

Day 6 and counting

You are powerless against the squishy face!!!


The cute is strong with this one. Taking a nap with his daddy and the cat. A lovely, peaceful afternoon.


Also I would like to mention how much I LOVE the just-bathed baby. He is so cute and smells so good... it is maybe more powerful even than the squishy face.

Noah Day 5

Noah says, "Fight the Power!"

Today we (Chad, Rachel, Noah, and Grammy) got ambitious and decided to take a family outing. We bundled Noah up in the Baby-Bjorn under Rachel's coat, went for a nice walk in the snow, and then went and got a cup of coffee. Is it reasonable to take a five-day old out for a walk in the snow? What if he's wearing a cute (and warm!) cow outfit? Either way, I think he liked it, but its hard to say, because he was snoozing the entire time.



Grammy made a new friend, the woman who runs A Touch of the Old Country in Ambler. They bonded over grandparentness, to the extent that we had to leave her there and take Noah home to nurse. At five days old, he's already got the ladies talking.

And quit rolling your eyes, we live in the tropics and there was barely any snow.

Daily Noah #4

We'll be posting the daily dose of Noah here, both so we have a better running record and so we don't have to worry about who's getting the email. Eventually we'll post more about what's actually going on with him, but for now at least a picture a day seems manageable. :)

Also, we're changing the name of the blog since it's not just Chad and Rachel anymore. Also, now that we've been here a year an a half we've realized we don't actually live in Philadelphia.

Noah (5 days old) with Grammy. We know, the number of days old is confusing, since he was born in the middle of the afternoon. We are assuming it will get less confusing after we start counting in weeks and months.

Daily Dose of Noah #3

Noah at 4 days, in milk coma.

Daily Dose of Noah #2

Noah at 3 days, with Chad. The hat was chosen in honor of Aunt Debra and Uncle Nils. Also because Noah is badass.

Your Daily Dose of Noah

Noah at 23hours, 59minutes old.

Noah arrives!

The craziest, most amazing moment for our family came at 2:22pm on Jan 10th.


Noah Evan Pytel arrived, 8lbs 14oz, 21.5 inches long. And it only took us 26 hours to get him out.

Easily worth every second.

Noah T-2

Officially 40 weeks today!

Thus begins our daily dose of Noah series. Although we didn't know it at the time we took this picture (just wanted to record how things looked on the actual due date), this is just two days before Noah arrived!