The Big Boy Bed!

Jude spent his first night in his "big boy bed" on Saturday night!  He made it through the entire night, though he was pretty crabby on Sunday, so I don't think he slept great.  He slept much better Sunday and Monday nights (based on his mood the next day), so I think he's now comfortable in his new bed!

Naps are another story.  He has slept in his bed for one nap and the other two he ended up taking in his crib after trying for an hour to sleep in his bed.  I'm hoping this will get better since I would LOVE to get rid of the crib for good.  We'll see.

His brain must be working overtime, because Jude also told us he had to go potty tonight and then made it to his potty and peed in it!  It's the first time that that entire series of events happened at once :)  Our baby boy is growing up!!!

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.

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.

Yoda

Tonight, while out for a walk, I wanted to show Gimpy that I had taught Jude his middle name.  Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Jude, what's your middle name?
Jude: William
Me: That's right!  What's Esther's middle name?
Jude: Yoda

The things that boy comes up with!  My newly two year old has been a great joy (and a great challenge!).  He cracks me up daily - and frustrates me like crazy with his willfulness.  I can't wait to see what he comes up with next :)

Jude as a Big Brother

Today, we went for a quick drive to Walmart.  Esther was crying in her car seat.  Jude pointed his finger at her and ordered, "Baby, stop!"

Esther, of course, did no such thing.

Jude then looked at me and said, "Mama, give the baby nuk."

That boy cracks me up!  He has this whole baby sister thing all figured out :)

Jude's Last Day as an Only Child

Jude had a blast helping Daddy wash the car.  Little did we know that this would be his last day as an only child. (insert Mom guilt here)

We Have a Walker!

Jude is officially walking!

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!

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 :)

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!

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)

A Post About Teeth

I had an orthodontist appointment last week where it was confirmed that I get my braces off on January 5th! Yay!!! I'm really, really excited. I have been in orthodontic care for 3 years now and have had the braces for 2.5 years. It is time to be done with it!

In completely related news, Jude already has his first two teeth! He got his first one a week before Christmas and I felt the second one on Christmas morning. Here is a picture from a couple of days before Christmas where you can definitely see one tooth and I can even see a little of the second tooth about to pop through:

Ok, I'm not sure if you can see it on the blog, but it's really obvious on the picture on my hard drive :) I guess you'll have to take my word for it for now. I'm sure there will be more tooth pictures in the future. Maybe I'll try to get one of us together after the braces come off!

Baby + Christmas = Toys Galore!

Jude's first Christmas went very well. He was spoiled by our families, of course. Knowing that, Ray and I kept our gift buying very light. All Jude got from us was sippy cups and "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

On Christmas Eve, we went to my parents' house and met up with all of my siblings. My family does a name exchange that I insisted Jude be a part of (and requested that his only gift be the name exchange gift). Aunt Liz got Jude's name and still managed to spoil him! He received a musical seahorse, two books, a teether, two cute onesies, and an ornament from Aunt Liz. Of course, that also meant that Jude had to give a gift - he bought Uncle Neil a shop vac. He also got an outfit, ornament, and Toy R Us gift card from Grandma and Grandpa.


On Christmas Day, we had Ray's family over. I really think we need to start a name exchange with Ray's family because I can't even list everything that Jude received from that side of the family. A picture will have to do:


What a lucky little boy! I think Jude would have to say that it was a great first Christmas.

Blizzard Aiden

Thanks to Aunt Leah, Jude was completely prepared for his first blizzard (it is seriously an awesome snowsuit!):



I think we need to work on the snow angel skills! Jude has the laying down part all figured out. Waving the arms and legs? Not so much.

The 17-pound, 12-ounce Baby

Jude had his 4-month doctor appointment last Friday where it was determined that, at 17lb, 12oz, he is at 91% of average for weight. He is now at 69% for height as well - he amazingly grew longer at an even faster rate than growing chunkier! (not sure that sentence even makes sense)

Jude's fourth month of life included a lot of firsts (although I guess his previous three months also contained a lot of firsts).

Jude's first Thanksgiving (picture with Grandpa Pete):


Jude's first snowfall:


...which was soon followed by Jude's first cold. No picture for that one! Jude also spent his fourth month starting to sit and stand with assistance, learning to laugh, meeting his Uncle Tom, and deciding that everything except a bottle belongs in his mouth.

Jude's First Halloween

I've never been a big fan of Halloween - too much blood, gore, demons, etc. I wasn't sure I was even going to do the trick-or-treating thing when I had kids. Jude's first Halloween, however, included dressing up and trick-or-treating! Jude went with his two cousins, Malia and Bennett. It was a fun, family time, and if we have started a tradition, I guess Jude will get to trick-or-treat every year after all!




Month 3
Jude's third month of life found all three of us (Ray, Jude, and me) starting to get used to living together. Jude has continued to be an excellent nighttime sleeper (10.5 to 11.5 hours every night) and a not-so-good napper. It makes it hard to get things done during the day, but I'll take it if it means getting a good nights' sleep.

Jude is also crying a lot less, usually only when he is hungry or tired (the colic is definitely over with - yay!!!). He smiles quite a bit, loves to make bubbles, and is just starting the "drooly" stage. With three months of life under his belt, he is also ready to start grabbing and holding things - bringing them straight to his mouth, of course!

The first three months of a baby's life are often called "the fourth trimester" and I would definitely agree. It was hard, especially the first two months. I have to admit that I am glad we are past that stage and I'm enjoying my son more and more every day!

Jude is a Talker!

Jude is now doing a lot more "talking" and it's so fun to listen to him coo and babble!

A video taken today: