We Have a Walker!

Jude is officially walking!

Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal

I finally got around to trimming some overgrown bushes today during Jude's nap. My very first swipe across the side of the bush uncovered this:



Inside were three of these:


I knew right away that it belonged to the cardinals I see frequently from our sunroom. I immediately chided myself for not remembering them and checking for the nest before I removed all of it's cover.

The cardinals are there right now scoping out the damage. I really hope they don't abandon the nest, but I really did a number on the branches that were protecting it from view. In fact, another two inches and I would have taken off some of the nest itself.

On another note, can you believe all the plastic they used in building that nest?!? They even found some bubble wrap! It's very interesting, but also kind of sad how easy it was for them to find so much plastic garbage lying around.

Anyway, does anyone know if there's anything I can do to help ensure that the cardinals don't abandon the nest?

I'll update in the comments in another day or two on whether the cardinals are going to brave the openness to raise those little eggs.

He Thinks He's People

Mr. Darcy's new favorite spot:



In case you can't tell, it's Jude's high chair. Jude sits in an easier-to-clean plastic booster seat at lunch and supper, so Mr. Darcy even gets to sit in the chair during meals, which he does with great relish. He's sure that one of these days, we'll let him eat human food with us.

Meanwhile, Jude's favorite spot is the cats' food and water dishes.

Go figure :)

Staying Cool

We went from a cool spring this year, to 93 degrees in early June. Does this mean it's going to be another steamy summer?

This morning Jude and I bought a little inflatable pool for him (and me!) this summer, but we have to wait for Daddy to inflate it for us. So, for today, we settled for a little tub of water:


Jude is 10 months old now, and I can't believe we are so close to 1 year! Jude can crawl at mach3 now, and he can walk from one end of the couch to the other faster than you can blink. He hasn't stood by himself yet, but I'm sure that's coming very soon. And the walking, of course. I would be really surprised if he's not walking by 1 year.

There's so much fun stuff to do in the summer, but I feel like Jude is still too young to enjoy much. Next year will be much better for him to enjoy things like zoos, parks, and pools.

He's already just about ready to drop his morning nap. In fact, he did skip it once last week and then again today. He's taking a pretty solid 2.5 - 3 hour afternoon nap, which is great for me to get things done (like blogging!). :)

This weekend is Neenah Streetball. Jude will get to watch his daddy play some basketball. It should be fun!

Larry White

Ray and I own half of a calf! My parents got the opportunity to "save" an injured calf from death (ironically since he's going to be butchered in another year or so anyway). They asked us if we wanted to pay for half of his costs in exchange for getting half of the meat. Since the last cow they raised ended up costing them about $1/pound for steaks and hamburgers, we felt it was a really good deal.

Ray got naming rights for his first name, and he chose the name Larry. My mom decided that his last name is White because, well, see for yourself:


Cute, huh?

Sitting Up In Bed

I walked into Jude's room after his nap the other day and was met with this sight:


He was very proud of himself.

It seems likes he's learning something new every day!

ps- We lowered the crib mattress down a notch that night :)

Easter Is For Babies

I really do think holidays are more fun with children around. We had a great Easter weekend. We even ended up hosting both families at our house! It's actually not a bad thing, I only had to dust once ;)

Saturday, we had the Froehlich's over. I finally got a decent picture of the cousins:


We ate a ton, of course, and then walked it off on a hike down to Riverside Park. It was windy by the water, so we didn't stay long, but it was a really nice walk.


Sunday morning we went to church with my entire family, which is really quite impressive! Everyone then met up at our house for a rousing game of Easter Egg Lightning With A Baby Basketball Hoop. Only the Jochman's could come up with such a thing :) If you got someone "out", you received an Easter egg with $1, $2, or $3 in it. After the big kids were done, Jude even got to play!

We ended our Easter happenings with a really nice buffet lunch at Liberty Hall. It was a whirlwind of a morning, but we got Jude home on time for his afternoon nap. All in all, a very successful holiday!

Baiting The Baby

Cats make for really good incentive to get a baby to crawl:




Puffs work, too:

My 8-Month Crawler

I feel like I'm long overdue for a Jude update.

February and March were full of illnesses for Jude. Poor little guy. He seemed to just get over one cold and then another one would come along. I'm really hoping we're at the tail end of our last winter cold.

The illnesses gave us some setbacks in the sleep department. Some nights he had a hard time going to sleep and other nights he was up in the middle of the night. The worst nights were when BOTH of those things happened, though that was rare (thankfully). He's still having some trouble going to sleep, but he hasn't been up in the middle of the night for a week now - yay!

Jude loves to play with the cats. He can't decide if he wants the cats to play with the toy or if he wants to play with it himself. The cats have been great motivation for Jude to start moving. I think they deserve all the credit for the fact that Jude crawled for the first time on Sunday! He's pretty wobbly and only gets a stride or two in, but he'll be picking up speed in no time. Yikes!

Jude also got his first haircut. I guess it was more of a trim. His hair was getting really long around his ears and it was driving me crazy. I put him outside in his Bumbo seat on Sunday and carefully snipped away. I'm no hair stylist, but it looks better than before :)

Before (notice the hair over the ears):

After:

We're ready for summer now!

Showing Off My Freebies

I am a member at the website BzzAgent, from which I occasionally get the opportunity to sign up to try out products and share coupons and "buzz" with people I know. This week I really struck it rich and received two packages from BzzAgent!

The first was for S.C. Johnson:


Anyone want coupons for any of these products? I think I have 5 coupons for each. :)

The other package was from L'Oreal:


No coupons included, though, with the L'Oreal products. I was a bit bummed about that. I really like the mascara, but I'm not a fan of the eye shadow. You're supposed to be able to apply all three colors with one swipe, but it didn't work at all. I had to wash it all back off and start over. Good idea in theory, I guess :)

Oh, how I love getting free products!

Dancing Boy

Jude discovered dancing a day or two ago. He's getting really good at it! :)

Daddy took a video of Jude's mad dancing skills this morning:

6 Months of Mommyhood

I can't believe I've been a mom for over 6 months already. Jude has changed so much in that short time. He can now sit really well (though I still have to keep a Boppy around him). He finally rolled both ways and he's getting interested in things that are out of his reach, so he'll probably be mobile soon!


Jude is also starting to get the hang of solids, though I think he's going to be a picky eater like his mom (his dad is not going to be happy about that!). He hasn't liked any vegetable baby food or baby cereal. So far, he likes Puffs and potatoes. I know, shocking right? (I am a potato fanatic) I did try baby food peaches this morning and he took a couple of bites, so hopefully that one will become a "like". He also still has no interest in the sippy cup, though he knows how to use it. I think he somehow knows that once he drinks from a sippy cup, he will not be nursing as much and he LOVES to nurse.

I've been feeling really trapped in the house lately. First, Jude is not a big fan of the car. Second, he no longer nurses in public easily. The distractions are too much. Third, he still requires a nap about every 2 hours and one of them is his 3-hour afternoon nap. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the 3-hour nap! It is my sanity. But, the combination of the short morning nap and the not eating in public makes it hard to be out of the house for very long in the mornings. I can usually get in one or two errands max per day. Of course, the winter weather isn't helping. Hopefully Jude will be a good stroller baby this summer and we can go on walks pretty regularly.

Come on, Summer!!!

Charlie, Ray, and Jude (in his basketball diaper)

No More Braces!

Mommy and Jude before (can you see his two bottom teeth, can you???):



Mommy and Jude after: