baby jude is 3

Baby Jude officially is 3 months old today-- born on May 27th at Prentice Hospital downtown. It has been amazing to see this adorable, sweet, calm baby develop and begin to absorb the world around him.
Tonight Greg and I left Jude with a babysitter and went to a nice dinner downtown. Jude smiled when the babysitter came in to see him. (it was the lovely Beth from our church who has tons of experience in her own family and with babysitting).
Jude is such an easy baby that he accepts holding, bottle feeding, even going down to sleep from whoever will show him love and attention. It is truly a blessing after reading in so many books about the challenges when babies are born with difficult temperments. We rejoice that at 3 months our child is doing so well.

this week is full of milestones. It was one year ago Monday the 25th, that I underwent my IVF procedure. For more on that, check out the early entries of our blog when Jude was born. But I may also share some more personal thoughts tomorrow. Thanks to all who have supported us and cheered us on as new parents. We love you and we love our Baby Jude.

jude gets grabby

Baby Jude is 3 months old tomorrow. His latest skill is using his hands to hold objects, and putting his hands in his mouth a lot.

Jude holds purple monkey toy

Jude grabs the links chain

He is extremely happy to lay in his pack n' play or activity gym and coo, squawk and 'run' with his legs and arms.

Jude is much more verbal now... making sounds a lot when he is awake.

He is also a champion sleeper. He takes frequent snoozes during the day. But part of his daytime sleep has organized into a morning nap that starts sometime around 9:30. This gives mom time to have her coffee or pickup a bit or make some phone calls.

Mom is interviewing various women to watch Jude on the one or two days she returns to work. They all comment what a cute, good baby he is. Apparently some book describes his temperment as "angel" baby. Mom agrees. We are blessed.

Daddy days

Little Jude has enjoyed two Days with Daddy recently. First on Saturday Kara traveled to Champaign to Grandpa Scott & Jane's house for a bridal shower for her stepsister Laura. Greg kept Jude all day, and even had an extended time when Kara's car brokedown on the expressway. (she managed to coast off to an exit and found a friendly garage on the next corner. The eventual tow truck came quickly and all is well)

Jude & His super daddy

On Tuesday Kara returned to work for one day. She slogged through 1300 emails and got to say Hello a lot of folks and tell them about Baby Jude. Greg stayed home with Jude all day. And he got to experience the joys of walking Jude and George together. George is still learning how not to stand directly in front of the stroller while it is moving :-) But George has gotten a longer leash which should help.

Jude in the buff :-)

Kara is slightly emotional about a milestone in Baby Jude's world today. She is putting away a bunch of onesies and the outfit she brought Jude home from the hospital in. They no longer fit without 'stretching' the shoulders. Its hard to believe this guy keeps growing. The consolation is that Jude has many cute outfits in the 3-6 month size that can now be washed and added to his baby wardrobe. Thanks everyone for the great clothes

how fast the time flies

Today is 12 weeks of baby Jude. We celebrated the day by Kara going back to work for the first time and Greg staying home today with the little guy.

Little is relative, of course. Just taking a look at the two photos below and you can see how much has changed in 3 months, and how much he's filled out and looks, well older in such a short time. I hope that I don't look like I've aged that much in the same time frame!

Jude at 12 hours

Jude at 12 weeks

Yes, I know this photo was just posted, but I think he's wearing the same hat in both photos...

So, let's see... a lot has changed for Mr. Jude in the past 12 weeks:

+ He's breathing air;

+ His eyes actually focus on things (rather than the blank newborn stare we were surprised by);

+ He smiles;

+ He can reach for and grab things (though he's still working on what to do once he gets hold of them);

+ He recognizes mom and dad both by sight and by voice... he got a big smile on his face today upon hearing Kara's voice over the phone, which shocked us both!

+ He's holding his head up on his own for brief periods of time;

+ He sleeps through the night.

The list could go on and on. I was certain that our friends were solipsizing about their kids when talking about how "there's something new every day!". Well, maybe not every day but it is quite amazing to see the continual progression of development.

George the dog is not impressed, of course. By 12 weeks he could sit and stay on command. Jude has still not mastered the "don't pee on Daddy" command. But we digress.

I have a feeling that the next 12 weeks will actually be the biggest changes for us, or at least that we'll be aware of those changes... the first 12 weeks had some extended periods where we were in simple shock, and could only figure out what had changed in retrospect. I think we'll hit 24 weeks sometime around Thanksgiving. He'll be sitting at the table by himself and eating turkey by then, right? Perhaps we still have a lot to learn.

baby jude keeps on growin

Baby Jude is almost 3 months old. He was born on May 27th. Up close I think he looks like such a cute chubby boy now instead of a tiny baby.

chilly mornings deserve a hat

jude's cute chub face

But then when I see my child lying asleep or watch someone else hold him, I realize again that he's still a tiny infant...born not that long ago.

Jude snoozing on the couch

Baby Jude is quite a smiler when he wakes up from naps or in the morning. He grins and squeals. It is adorable! When I carry him from room to room, its almost like he has to catch his breath because it so amazing for him. He makes a sound like 'kuh' and looks mesmerized.

Jude also loves to laugh and smile at ceiling fans and lights.

He even smiled at me two nights ago when I was putting him to bed. He was getting a bit fussy and fussed on the changing table. But as soon as I laid him on his swaddle in the crib and started to fix it, he got a huge grin!

It is still amazing, even though friends told me this happened with their children, how Baby Jude can appear wide awake with big eyes. But when we put him in the crib sometime between 8 and 9 pm he will fall asleep quickly. Some nights without making a peep on the baby monitor. All we hear is the ocean wave sound effects from the noise machine near his crib.
Other times he does cry and we have to go in and turn on the mobile, or stick in the pacifier.

Itsa Sikora invasion!

Last week we had a lovely visit from my sister and brother-in-law (Pam & Chris Sikora) and their two daughters Meredith and Andrea. They were in the general area--Madison, Wisconsin--for one of Chris' class reunions. (Chris grew up in Madison... how did Pam and I both end up marrying midwesterners? Very odd).

Anyway, we had a short but nice visit. It was the first time that everyone met Mr. Jude, and was the first time our nieces had come to visit us in Oak Park. We had a great time hanging out, relaxing, going out for ice cream, and visiting Millennium Park in Chicago.

Chris, Pam & the girls were very flexible to deal with our current lack of a guest room. The old guest room is now the nursery, and the TV room is the new guest semi-room (fold-out sofa, courtesy of Ikea). Meredith slept on the "magic bed" with Andrea hanging out in the pack-n-play, while mom & dad enjoyed the aerobed. I think it was the most people we've had staying overnight in the house ever.

The trip to Millennium Park included a fun fountain foray... into the Crown Fountain, of course, which attracts splashing children from all over the city. Meredith jogged right in, but Andrea remained unconvinced and hung with those of us on the sidelines.

Another feature of the park is the Pritzker Pavilion... architecture by Frank Gehry, acoustics and audio systems by TALASKE which is the firm Greg works for here in Oak Park. We had the serendipity to arrive during an orchestra rehearsal (open to the public mid-day most days) and had a nice break listening to some Copland. It was actually Jude's second time to the Pritzker, as he slept through a concert a few weeks ago.

Well, here's hoping to many more fun cousin/aunt/uncle visits to come!

Pam & Greg with the kids (L to R Andrea, Jude, and Meredith)

Chris with Meredith making "Water Angels" in Crown Fountain

(note the cool circular wave pattern by her arms)

Hangin' at the Pritzker Pavilion

wow the book works

Yesterday morning Jude got up just as Greg was about to leave for work. He had slept from about 9pm to about 8am. (yes this is amazing we know). Greg stayed to change his diaper and gave me a sec to wake up before going. I fed the baby. Jude then seemed content and cuddly, and awake. We went downstairs and Jude chilled in his bouncer for a bit while I started coffee and got out cereal.

Dr Weissbluth's book "healthy sleep habits, happy child" http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp/0449004023 says to watch for signs of sleepyness in your child after they've been awake for about an hour. Signs include rubbing his eyes, yawning, staring off into the middle distance. I saw one yawn at one point, but then no more.

If you don't see the signs the book says to put the child down for a nap anyway, two hours after they woke up. Jude was not showing obvious signs of tiredness. But about an hour after he woke up cute little baby just started crying and fussing in his bouncer in the kitchen while I was doing dishes. I looked at him and thought 'you are tired' even though he wasn't showing any other 'signs'.

I took him upstairs, changed him into the swaddle and turned on the crib mobile. He was asleep in two minutes. Its so nice to feel like I can help my baby be happier. And I never would have thought 'hmm... i bet he wants to sleep again after sleeping all night' without the expert input. thanks Dr. Weissbluth!

in praise of: amazing crib sheets

Now that Jude is happily sleeping through the night in his big ole crib, I am enjoying the benefit of a crib sheet system that is just plain helpful. Instead of pulling off the bumper ( I know, I know, some say no bumpers now! and believe me i'm quite the safety girl...but we're using it until he can move by himself more atleast)...so back to "instead of pulling off the bumper"... to change the sheet after a bit, I just have to unzip the top of it and zip on another 'top'. The base stays in place, along with the bumper.

Jude naps in crib (he's swaddled for his 1st morning nap only)

They are called Quick Zip crib sheets. You can visit the manufacturer's website www.cloudsandstars.com but I found them cheaper on www.babycenter.com. (That's a great website- thanks lynsey)

Quick Zip package

I bought a base/top set in yellow gingham and an extra yellow 'top'. Just recently I picked up a second base/top set in blue, in case they change the product in the next 2 years while Jude is still hanging in the crib.

zipping off the top sheet

MRSA mommy 2, Jude 0

Normally I wouldn't publish details that just affect mom, but my doctors say my issue is affecting lots of people now. Maybe this post will help you too. It also explains the drought of blog posts last week.

Mom & baby

I'm now almost recovered from my second MRSA infection since the beginning of July. MRSA is a staph infection that's resistant to the most common antibiotics (any that end in --cillen).

Here's what I've learned in case you are curious or you find yourself facing MRSA:

--MRSA makes a normal cut get very, very angry

--Doctors take a swab of your cut. A lab can test it for MRSA- it takes 5 days

--Mommy is allergic to Bactrim, the most popular antibiotic to treat MRSA. You will know you are allergic too if you turn red like a lobster all over, your lips swell like Angelina Jolie's, and you get a fever.

--The allergic reaction goes away after a few rough days on 2 Benedryls every 6 hours.

--Once you get a second MRSA they have you use an antiseptic cleanser to kill any MRSA that might somehow be hanging around on your skin. This should mean I don't get any more.

All in all...MRSA is bad. You should avoid it :-) But apparently it is around in the community and lots of people are picking it up. Baby Jude is fine, despite my repeated, worried phone calls with his doctor as I got diagnosed.

Jude rolls to his side

Jude handled all the doctor visits with mommy like a trouper. And he looked great at his two month check up last week.

super spitting baby

the 4-1-1- on baby jude

Here's the latest facts and figures on Baby Jude.

weight: 13lbs,11 ounces (90%)
height: 23 1/2 inches (75%)
head circumference: 40 1/2 inches (50%)
amount of spit up per day: way too much to believe!
amount of smiles: fortunately a lot
amount of coos: also fortunately a lot
favorite word: ah-goo