What I Have Learned

Since Noah was born, I have had a notion that he was not like most kids...But then I always thought "How would you know?!" I mean really Noah was our first child, what do we really know, he is our guinea pig.  Noah was a difficult baby, now I am not talking colic or he cried a little. I mean: When Noah cried everyone heard him, and when he cried, it was not for a few minutes. When he as born until 9 months old, during the day he took two 30 minute naps and slept about 8 hours at night.  When he was still little, Noah required me and only me to pat, sway, bounce and walk all together for 4 to 6 hours each night to get him to sleep.   At night when we was old enough for us to cry it out, he would cry for 4-5 hours rather than fall asleep.  It was insane and of course everyone told us that we were doing something wrong and I coddled him too much.  I still don't believe it.  Noah is just Noah and he is diffferent.

As Noah has grown older he has mellowed out and while that means a lot to us, for a common person looking in on one of our bad days, it looked like Noah was having an awful tantrum and that he had little guidance from his parents.  Again, this is all wrong. Mike and I have had to be very diligent with Noah and always try (key word is try) to be one step ahead of Noah.  I have always said that Noah's mind was ahead of his body.  It seemed that each time Noah reached a milestone, he would mellow out a little.  I am now really beginning to think I was right.

Since Noah has gone into Kindergarten and then 1st Grade, I think I have started to have a better understanding of Noah.  When Noah would have his tantrums before school started, I would think that I needed to show him that he was acting badly and try and show him the correct way to act.  I would get frustrated and I just couldn't understand how a little guy could be so unhappy and especially not understand how he would not stop. Now, I feel that Noah is misunderstood.  His shut downs are a way for him to express himself and now I am thinking the only way he can express himself when he is overwhelmed.  He has a large vocabulary but it does not consist of emotion words.  Noah has always been quirky, but since he has started school, he has been more quirky than before. Overall, I think I have a better understanding of how Noah works.  I know I have more patience and positive words for him.  It is amazing how much I have grown since he has started school.  God gave us one amazing little guy and I think he could very well be someone who makes a huge difference in the world.  He has an amazing mind and an amazing heart for the ones he loves.