Noah is 15 Months Old

Noah's 15 months-old statistics:

Weight: 23.26 lbs (29th percentile)

Height: 32.48 in (83rd percentile)

Head Circumferene: 19 in (78th percentile)

Noah has 12 teeth, which includes four molars. He still crawls everywhere--no walking alone yet, but he can stand on his own. He can crawl up the stairs without any problems, but he still hasn't figured out how to come down them on his own. After a few tumbles down the stairs while trying to get down them, Noah has chosen to just make noises at the top of the stairs until someone comes and gets him. He still doesn't say much, just "Mama," but he makes noises all the time.

Noah loves to be in the middle of whatever is going on, which is usually cars, trains, or angry birds. He knows how to speak up to get attention and can be quite feisty at times. Diaper and clothing changes are daily battles. Noah LOVES going outside. He'll often stand at the door, waiting for me to take him outside to swing, dig in the sand, or just explore. I have to keep him in pants and socks so his skin doesn't get all scraped up outside.

We play the piano together a lot these days now that I have to practice for my organist calling in the church. I am grateful for the calling because it is helping me expose the boys to music more.

Noah insists on feeding himself with his own utensils. He and Jason are still often opposites in their food preferences, which means Noah eats a lot of what I cook and loves mashed potatoes.

05/26/2013

I love spring! Here are a few things we've been doing:

Playing at the Dinosaur Museum

Working in the yard

Finishing Jason's first year of preschool, which he has loved. Pictured here is Jason with two buddies, Carson and Ashton, on Jason's pretend birthday.

Going on lots of walks

Feeding ducks. We love seeing the new ducklings.

Spending time as a family. We love having Kyle around more now that busy season is over. Kyle and I are enjoying exercising a lot more. I am happy to be fitting into all my old clothes.

Great-Grandma Geniel's Funeral

Kyle's Great-Grandma passed away-- She was 102 years old. I feel guilty that we never took Noah to meet her. We are glad we were able to attend the funeral. Kyle was asked to give the family prayer and was one of the casket bearers. 

From left to right: Grandpa Robbins, Kyle, Noah, Kate

Obituary: 
Geniel Bardsley Robbins
1911-2013
Geniel Bardsley Robbins, 102, returned to her loving Heavenly Father on May 16, 2013. Geniel was born January 2, 1911 in Centerfield, Utah.
She is the daughter of John Samuel and Ane Marie Nielsen Bardsley. Geniel was the second oldest of seven children.
After graduating from Gunnison Valley High, Geniel moved to Salt Lake and graduated from Stevens-Henager College. She then worked in California for a time.
Geniel was a devoted member of the LDS Church and served in numerous callings throughout her life including organist in the Utah Gunnison Stake and California Hamilton Ward, transcribing patriarchal blessings for the Los Angeles Stake Patriarch, a temple ordinance worker and in many of the auxiliary organizations of the Church.
After returning to Salt Lake City, Geniel became secretary for Elder Richard L. Evans of the Council of the Twelve Apostles where she worked for the next 27 years.
During the summer of 1952 Geniel was introduced to Seymour Kenneth Robbins who had been widowed the year before. Geniel and Kenneth were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on December 11, 1952. Geniel helped raise his three children, S. Kenneth Robbins Jr., Donna Robinson, and Ralph Robbins who survive her. She is also survived by many grand and great-grandchildren who love and admire her.
Geniel loved to cook and share her delicious food with many of her neighbors. She loved animals and birds and was very generous with everyone.
Two younger brothers, Quenten Bardsley of Murray, Utah and Harold Bardsley of Salt Lake survive her.
The family wishes to extend special thanks to the staff of the Sarah Daft Home in Salt Lake City for their excellent care and love where Geniel resided since October 2006. Geniel passed away in the home of a beloved granddaughter Lynn Tusieseina.
Funeral services will be held at the Garden Park Ward 1150 East Yale Ave. (1045 So.) on Tuesday, May 21 at 11:00 AM with a viewing 1 hour prior to services. Interment will be at Salt Lake Cemetery.
Please send condolences to the family at www.broomheadfuneralhome.com. Instead of flowers, Geniel suggests contributions to the Humanitarian Dept. of the Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints.


Published in Deseret News on May 19, 2013

5/24/2013

I called my dad and said, "Doctor Grandpa, I have an eye question for you about Noah."
He said, "Today is my day off, so I can't answer your question today."
"But are you still a grandpa?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "What's your question?"

I had a good laugh. I love my dad.

GERD

In March Kyle woke up at four a.m. one night with such severe stomach pain that I rushed him to the emergency room. While there the doctor started talking with us about different things that could be causing the pain and he started throwing out scary phrases like gal bladder disease, ulcer, kidney stones, etc. When we left the ER five hours later, they thought it maybe was a kidney stone because of the amount of blood in his urine, but the results were inconclusive since no stone showed up on the CT scan. We were, of course, totally freaked out by the whole experience not knowing what was going on. It definitely gave me a reality check on how much I love my husband and how lucky I am to have him provide for me and our boys. I was grateful for the collective power of prayer as many people were praying for us at that time.

In the weeks following the ER visit Kyle saw a Urologist, who confirmed it was not a kidney stone (which was what we believed), and ruled out other scary things, like prostate cancer. Then Kyle got to have a bladder scope (ouch!!) and an upper stomach scope. I was Kyle's ride to get his stomach scoped since he was given anesthesia for the procedure. I am glad I was there when Kyle was coming out of the anesthesia because he unintentionally confirmed how much he loves me. He was very forgetful and kept saying the same things over and over. Four times in a row he smiled at me as if I had just entered the room, then motioned for me to come kiss him, and then told me that he loved me. It was very sweet.

The stomach scope showed that Kyle had developed Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), and so far it seems to be the correct diagnosis. Now, after managing it with prescription anti-acids and minor lifestyle changes, his stomach feels back to normal.

Big Boy Bed

We finally moved Jason to a big boy bed three months before his fourth birthday. Up until this April, Jason stayed in his crib once we put him in for the night, so we figured, "Why change a good thing?" Jason finally started climbing out of his crib four or five times a night for various bedtime curtain calls: "I need water," "What was that noise?," "I need more light," etc. Since the crib was no longer keeping him contained, we made the switch to the big boy bed. Luckily we already had the bed in our storage room, thanks to Kyle's parents handing down furniture.

When I asked Jason what kinds of sheets he wanted, he said "Angry Bird sheets." His latest obsession is playing any form of Angry Birds. He plays it on Kyle's iPod touch, he plays it with a real hands-on Angry Birds game we got him for Easter, and he plays human Angry Birds (he is the pig and we get to knock him over).

Because Jason was in the crib, Noah has slept in the pack-n-play since his birth. We moved Noah to the crib at the same time we were moving Jason to the bed, but Noah stopped taking two naps when we did that. I decided we weren't quite ready to be doing one nap 100% of the time, so we moved Noah back to the pack-n-play for now and the the two naps have reestablished themselves.