Hide and Seek

I have another fun Jude story :)  I have to share how Jude plays hide and seek - it's so stinkin' cute!

When it is Jude's turn to hide:

1. Mom or Dad starts counting.
2. Jude runs and hides behind the fig tree (EVERY TIME).
3. Mom or Dad says "ready or not, here I come!"
4. Mom or Dad asks theatrically, "Where's Jude?"
5. Jude, while still crouched down hiding behind the fig tree, yells "I'm over here!"
6.  Game is over, Jude has been found.

When it's Mom and/or Dad's turn to hide:

1. Mom/Dad reminds Jude to count all.the.way. to ten (he's perfectly capable).
2. Jude agrees to count all the way to ten.
3.  Mom/Dad makes a mad dash for a hiding spot.
4. Jude says, "Two, Three, here I come!"
5. Jude looks for Mom/Dad in the location where they hid during the last round of hide and seek.
6. Jude can't find Mom/Dad and panics.
7. Mom/Dad yells, "I''m over here!"
8. Jude finds Mom/Dad and much laughter and excitement commences.

The Esther Baby

I am so overdue for an Esther post.  It seems I have more fun stories about Jude and more cute pictures of Esther, so I will definitely be adding pictures to this post!

Overall, I would say that Esther has been a great baby.  She slept through the night early, she napped really well as a newborn, and she wasn't colicky!!!  Her naps disappeared when she was 4 months old, but I think they are finally back (praise the Lord!).  She just started crawling last week, so the interactions between her and Jude are starting to get very interesting.  She also just got over her first cold, which ended in an ear infection and antibiotics.

I'm still trying to figure out how Esther's personality is going to differ from Jude's.  At 8 months, she's still mostly just a baby, but I know her individuality will be shining through really soon - and I can't wait :)

Ok, onto the pictures!

Her first time getting into a sitting position on her own in her crib (crib mattress got moved down a notch that night!):

Eight months old (and finally getting over being sick):

She just started crawling and she's already trying to pull up on things:

New Interests

We've owned wooden blocks since Jude was a few months old, but they've never held his interest for more than 5 minutes - until about 2 weeks ago.  It's like something clicked, and Jude now "gets" blocks and legos. 

He spent about an hour one morning building this:

Ok, so not the most impressive thing ever built, but Jude does love to line things up, and blocks are no different!  The funny thing is that he will just keep on lining (and occasionally stacking) blocks until they are all gone - every.last.block. 

I love watching his interests develop and seeing him begin to enjoy the imaginative toys more and the baby/electronic toys less.