Jude turns 2!

Dear Jude, 

It's been a crazy few weeks but we still had to celebrate you Jude! You loved having us sing to you and were all smiles and claps. We also didn't have any birthday candles to go with your birthday cake  strawberry shortcake, we just lit a decor candle and had you blow it out but you did so successfully right away!  

You are adorable awful these days. So cute - and so much trouble!

You are talking up a storm. This week's new words include hammock, turkey, and good girl (to the dog). 

You're fearless. Too fearless if you ask me. You love swimming in pools and will just jump off the edge over and over again. You went river tubing this week and loved the (itty bitty) rapids saying, "fun, wheee!" as you went over. 

Wild turkey spotting

Evening deer spotting

You love trucks (and cars and boats and planes and basically anything that moves). 

You adore animals and when we see one, wild or not, you hold out yours hands to hug it. There was no convincing you that the wild turkeys really didn't want hugs. You had to find out for yourself (they just ran away, no toddlers were harmed in the process) .

You love to mess with stuff. Uncle Rick's sprinklers are now going off at random times because you may have spent a few minutes messing with its timer. We have to watch you around phones because you can turn on netflix in seconds. We were waiting to go tubing until you woke up from your nap but when we peeked in on you, you were up and in bed and watching a show on my phone that was supposed to be charging! The porch gates have caribener locks now. We just never know what you're going to get into. but if you are quiet for more than a minute, we know we should find out. 

You also love music and dancing and singing. You're pretty good with tunes. Even if we can't understand the lyrics your saying, we can normally guess the tune you're aiming for and you love it when we starting singing along. 

You've learned from your siblings and are a great roadtripper. We've thrown a lot of changes at you and your basically unphased. Despite all the changes, you're starting to go to bed on your own which is very exciting for me. Dad or I will just rock you for a few minutes and tuck you in and those last few smiles I get every night when I'm swaying you are my favorite. 

 

7 months!

No, he didn't get younger. I just realized I had his 7 months post as a draft still. And I haven't even written his 9th month one but as he's almost 10 months old, I guess it's kinda late. But I will try and get the 10th one done. Poor 4th child ;-)

Oh Jude, you're just getting more and more personality with every passing month!

This month you were all about the food. You started solids strong and now your more and more insistent on getting exactly what everyone else has, even if it isn't really baby appropriate (you did not seem to like everyone eating bacon without you tonight!) And when you want something, you certainly know how to let us know. At the table, its mostly this deep grunt. The grunting is almost exclusively done in your high chair but its pretty much a constant through each meal and it kind of hilarious. I need to capture it on film except when you're grunting, my hands are normally busy keeping you happy by providing food so no time to stop and film or that grunting will become screaming.

The screaming is not a table only thing. You love to scream. It's a mostly happy scream though. You just know you've got to be loud to get everyone's attention - so you're loud! You love all the attention, especially from your brother and sisters. They'll look at you and you just stop and smile so big.

You're a pro at sitting and getting yourself from your belly up into a sit and back to a downward dog and can do all the individual components of crawling. Like moving your hands forward or picking up your knees and scooting them in. You just don't actually crawl. Maybe this is your month to start?

You don't mind playing on the floor but  even with just army crawling, you're super fast so we're having to be careful. You already found some dog food (and yes, tried to eat it) which frankly amazed me because Lizzie does not tend to leave any leftovers. But you're just as happy being worn.

You had your first round of croup this month and it was a bad one. But you loved all the people at the emergency room so you had them fooled for a few minutes until they brought out the stethoscope and could tell mom was right and it was time for the nebulizer (a first for me too! Never needed any professional help for dealing with croup before but Anne Shirley wasn't around with her so we had to rely on modern medicine this time). Luckily you bounced back quickly.

It was another busy travel month for you. That brings you to over 10 states I think? You're such a happy baby. When leaving the plane after our long flight from Hawaii to Colorado, I heard someone say "What? I didn't even know there was a baby on the plane?" Now, I don't feel the need to keep your existence a secret, babies are people too, but it was a nice flight!

8 months!

Dear Jude,

This month just speed by but you keeping growing no matter how much this mama wishes you'd slow down.

You started crawling this month and now seem determined to try to walk. You pull up quiet well and keep trying to let go and stand on your own but honestly, that's not going quite as well and just ends in a lot of bumps and bonks on head. Good thing you're resilient!

You're really enjoying the nicer weather. You got to experience the sandbox for the first time and despite the expression on your face above, did have fun playing in it. But mostly you just like to sit in the grass and watch all the big kids play.

You really love the playground swing! 

You also love solids and eat a ton! But despite eating three solid meals a day, you are taking after your brother and not gaining weight well. The doctor and I are keeping an eye on it but I want you to stay nice and chunky. 

You also love people! You continue to be my most extroverted baby. You loved being at the conference and were just happy to people watch must of the time. Everyone commented on how smiley you are. I joke that you'll be the kid I have to join the co-op for :-) You're pretty independent too. The conference had a wide open space and I enjoyed watching you crawl around and seeing just how far you'd venture off before coming back to me. It was quite a bit farther than I thought! You'd turn around and make sure I was still there, watching you, but then you'd be off again - crawling over to the other babies or just exploring the area, not even caring if there were lots of big people walking around you. You had a "Don't mind me, I'm just exploring!" attitude that made me laugh.

But I do have to mind you! You're such a little stinker. Somehow you got ahold of a chocolate kiss during the conference too. I noticed you being unusually quite, I watched for a few seconds then saw some brown drool start to flow out and then I pulled the aluminum out. You spotted another one a few minutes later and got so excited but one piece of chocolate was enough! We've had a few more dog food episodes although you normally prefer to play in her water so now both food and water bowls are kept contained in her crate. Luckily I have three other people keeping their eye on you during the day or who knows what trouble you'd get into. Even Norah will gentle tell you "No, no Jude, that's not for babies" and then come runnning to me. Unless what you're getting into is her stuff then she may be a little less gentle about it. But again, you're resiliant. 

But of all the people in the world, you still love your family best.  You were so happy to come home to them and love nothing more than when they sing or play clapping games with you. You give (very slobbery) kisses. Oh, the drool! You go through several bibs a day but even if it means I need a towel afterward, I'll still take a kiss from you anytime - but I do have to be careful because those kissing turn into bites very quickly. You have three teeth now, all on the bottom, and I keep thinking those top two teeth will pop through any day now. Maybe then my shoulder will no longer be peppered with tiny baby teeth shaped bruises. 

But bites and drool and mid-night wakings are nothing compared to what you bring our family. We're so blessed to have you in our life little guy!

Happy Half-Birthday Baby Boy!

I continue my streak of getting these out about a week late. But I am getting them out at least!

Dear Jude,

How are you six months old already? Your babyhood is speeding by and I am so torn. Every milestone I just get so excited for you - but heartbroken for me as I it means your closer to being a little toddler boy and I just want you to stay itty bitty forever. Ah, a mama's continual struggle.

But you have had some fun times this past month. You got your first teeth earlier this month and if the drool and finger/thumb chewing is showing anything, those next two top ones might be joining the bottom ones soon.

You are up on your hands and knees (and often up on hands and toes in a odd downward dog position) and managing to scoot forward now too. You rock back and forth and sometimes even lunge forward the big kids get excited every time (yes, every time even thought it happens 20x a day!) that you might actually start to crawl. I guess they'll be right one of these days but they do love to encourage you.

You can sit for a little while by yourself although as soon as you get distracted you start to tip. So Lucy and Jonah like to help protect you. 

You've started eating foods last week and you LOVE FOOD! Definitely my most foodie baby. The first day we gave you food we tried avocado and you ate over half of one! You already eat 2 full packages a day plus baby led weaning chunks like brocolli or sweet potato. Just BLW weaning is not enough for you so we're adding in puree. So far the only thing you really haven't liked was this kinda earthy smelling carrot/broccoli/zucchini mix. But everything else goes down like butter. You grab the spoon and help me put it in your mouth or  open your mouth and dive for it.

"You wasted that drop mom, why would you do that?"

You still like to swing but won't nap in it anymore. But I'll nurse you down in bed, sneak away and you keep napping just fine for a hour or two so that's fine with me. We were given a hand-me-down jump-a-roo and it's your favorite. I'm not sure if you just love to jump or you like it because the kid's often bring their toys and play all around you so it ends up putting your right where you most like to be - in the center of everyone's attention. You just love to be with people, any people, but especially your people.

Movie Night - Much Ado About Nothing. The big kid's loved it. Jude just loved hanging with them.

I asked the kids what I should say about you this month and Lucy said that you grab stuff. That's so true! You're a little octopus if you sit at the table with us or I try to read or help with school with your on my lap. And earlier this month in church, I looked down and somehow you had gotten the bulletin and gnawed it all up. Luckily, Lucy shared hers with me but my goodness - you have quick hands!

Another cute thing you do is sleep with your head all angled back. It doesn't really matter how I try to lay you down, within a few minutes you will have gone back to this position. So I guess it's more comfortable than in looks.

Basically you're just the cutest thing I've ever seen and I can't imagine life without you.

Jude @ 5 months

I wrote this January 5th, the day after he turned 5 months but wanted to wait until his well-baby to get stats - then I forgot about it. But on January 8th he weighed 17 lbs 6 oz (~75%) and was 28.5 inches long (~98%) and I don't remember his head but it was about ~75% too. 

Dear Jude,

 

Oh, I could just eat you up, you're so darn cute.

This month you've really seemed to grow a lot, just less floppy and closer to a mobile, hip sitting baby.Not sure I'm ready for that. You are funny though, you seem to know how to do something but only pull it out occasionally for a week or two before deciding that you're okay with it. Not sure when to "call" it as a milestone completed when you do that.

You were rolling over as early as Thanksgiving but wouldn't show anyone. I saw front to back but knew you could do it the other way too. Then there was a day or two when all the kids saw you multiple times but I couldn't manage to. But it clicked a few weeks ago and now you're a rolling fool! Same thing seems to be happening with scooting backwards. I saw it once about a couple weeks ago so I kept watching for it but nothing. Then a few days ago you did it again! I've tried to show you daddy but you just look at me like "what are you wanting me to do here?" but I'm guessing by next month you'll be stuck in all the corners.

What just happened? How did I end up stuck under this bookshelf? You put me down way up by the carpet?

Another thing you learned this month was how to scream. You've always been quite vocal but this particular noise isn't one anyone in the house really appreciates. Sometimes you scream because you're mad and sometimes it's because you're playing near people but nobody is paying attention to you and you've figured out how to get people to look your way. So you're killing our ears and impressing us with your wits at the same time!

You seem to be moving from chewing all your fingers to chewing mostly your thumb. It's almost always in your mouth but you rarely actually suck on it, just chew. You'll also grab anyone else's fingers and gnaw on them too so watch out. And the last few days you've started chomping your gums on me while you nurse. That has to stop soon!

 Taking a break to scream...

back to the thumb

We got you a new high chair right after Christmas. You will tolerate it for a few minutes while I cook as long as you have lots of toys to throw on the ground. 

And a bit longer if you have siblings to supervise

You have started reaching for our food and stole a cup today at church while we were all chatting and put it right up to your mouth but luckily it was empty. I think you're going to be excited about foods next month. 

You can sit for a few (20-30?) seconds by yourself. Jonah loves to put you sitting up with his legs and arms around to catch you when you start to tip while he calls out "He's sitting! He's sitting!...on wait, he's tipping!" Boy, does your brother love you. And you feel the same way about him. Nobody, not even me, can make you smile quite like Jonah can. You just light up when you see him and smile so big your whole body wiggles sometimes. 

Norah loves you to but your reception to her attention varies. 

I need to do better about getting pictures of you with Lucy as I never seem to have any. But she's awesome at watching you while I shower or do a quick chore (so not prime picture taking). She's gotta be careful with her hair though because you have quite a grip!

You're still my little walking buddy although now you are a cute little bear walking buddy. 

Unless we walk inside. Then you get bored and don't tolerate the strolled quite as well. I haven't been able to wear you as much because of my health issues but my core is getting much better and I've been able to get back into baby wearing and you do love it. I put you on my back for the first time this week and that was fun too but seeing you look up at me so means I'll probably stick to front carry for a tad longer. How could I not want to see this sweet face. 

I think we're past the 4 month sleep regression. It was a rough week or two. You don't sleep through the night but we're getting some longer stretches and you go down with a fuss. You're back to taking at least decent naps fairly consistently too. But the downside to that is you have become an early rise. 6 am is okay, 5 am is not! But you sure do look like a little angel when you sleep. 

Jude @ 3 months

Dear Jude,

You're three months old now and quite the happy little guy. You're super smiley and are starting to giggle and laugh, especially when your siblings talk to you. You love to lay down and watch them playing all around you. I think your my most vocal baby so far. You love to "talk" to us.

You're a great traveler. Before you had even turned 3 months old, you had been to 9 states! You just snug all up with a blankie and your car paci and enjoy the sights until you drift off. I think we really only had 2-3 small bouts of crying during the 26 or so hours we drove. The last 10 minutes of each trip was full out screaming which made everyone glad it was confined to that short time.

Sleeping through the Smoky Mountains

Funny thing about the pacifier though, you won't even consider taking unless you are in the car seat. Swaddled in the swing - what is this piece of plastic? Get it away from me! Half swaddled in the car seat driving down the road - my favorite thing ever. The paci! In the car seat inside with my rocking in with my foot, paci is still good. So it's the car seat itself that seems to tell you its paci time. You don't really need the paci though, you have fingers. You love to suck and chew on your hands. Which is why you probably like being on your back best.

 You're starting to tolerate tummy time more, especially when you have a brother or sister to watch but you still much prefer your back. Although you also really want to roll over from your back to your belly. You can only get about half way before you get stuck but its fun to watch you try...except when you insist on trying during diaper changes and make things difficult there.

Ready for the wedding!

You're pretty social and loved being passed from aunt to cousin to aunt during our most recent wedding events until you needed a nap in the ring sling on mommy. Although I think we might need to shift from ring sling to boba as your getting pretty heavy. You were just shy of 16 lbs at your well baby visit two weeks ago so I'm pretty sure you've passed that now and are in 6-9 month clothes. And the red/strawberry blond hair is sticking around so far although you've got the classic baby bald strip in the back.

You did miss your swing while we were gone though. You take your best naps in the swing and just start smiling and wiggling when I put you down. But while you're a good napper, you're not the best night time sleeper. Not the worst I've had, but not the best either. You probably get up 2-3 times a night on average but it could be more than that.

But you don't really have any witching hour or typical fussy period at all which is kind of amazing. After that first month of crankiness, I guess you got it out of your system. Even your evenings are fine. You often fall asleep around 6:30pm and that might be your bedtime or it might be one last nap until 9ish. Then if you do get up, you eat and lie around next to me in bed while I read then you drift off to sleep by yourself. I'm used to having to work hard to get my littles on to fall asleep in the evenings so as long as you want to keep this up, I won't complain!

You have practically a million nicknames including smoosh, smooshums, bug-a-goo, baby boy, judy-jude, little dude. But whatever we call you, we all love you a lot!