The Millers' Oak Park Baby: I'm a big boy now

OK, so he's not quite pulling up his own diapers yet (as the "I'm a big boy now..." jingle refers) but Mr. Jude is moving up in both size and complexity day by day. Perhaps the most striking recent development--and yes, the pun is coming--is that he objected, and literally swatted the dog's nose, after George licked his hands in the bouncer. George, who has become accustomed to the occasional free lick on exposed skin with the baby, was shocked enough by the slap that he literally leapt backwards two or three feet. At least Kara and I were entertained by the encounter.

Yes, Jude is grabbing and swatting at stuff all over the place. We used to just put those dangling toys on the bouncer for his visual amusement (not to mention the peace and quiet they lead the baby into). Now he's messing with them in all sorts of ways.

He is also into folding his hands and twiddling his thumbs, which we've taken to calling his "Plotting to take over the world" posture as it is often accompanied with a mischievous grin. And he grins a lot. Jude has been smiling for a few weeks now, but the regularity with which they come has been increasing. They seem almost like "whole body" smiles at times, with the mouth wide open and the legs and arms flexing in near convulsion. Despite the awkward description, it's quite cute.

Fortunately for us, Jude wakes up smiling in the mornings. He has timed his waking to coincide precisely with the most rushed portion of my pre-work routine, and Kara is an infamous non-morning person, so you'd think his waking environment might be a bit stressful. But Jude just waves around his arms and legs and gurgles in excitement with a big smile on his face for the first 15 minutes he's awake. (Then he realizes he's hungry, and gets defiantly fussy until breakfast is served; I think he gets that from his mom and her need for morning coffee).

His greatest achievement, in his mind it seems, is still his volume of spit-up. I can't tell you how many times a day he soaks himself and anything within a foot radius. Probably 10 to 15 times a day! It's like a sport. And the odd thing is, Jude smiles and giggles after many of his spit-ups. Grr. If the kid weren't gaining weight like a sumo wrestler then I'd really be worried... but all's well so long as we are able to maintain our ability to tolerate it. I tell you, even if he were to utter "Dada" tomorrow I think it would excite me less than if he suddenly stopped spitting up.... and I don't have to wash my outfits constantly to the extent that Kara does, her being the target of his spitting more than me.

But the little guy keeps growing and growing, and get more and more engaged with the world around him. It's fun to watch (just so long as I stay out of the line-of-fire of the spitup!).

Jude is caught in the act of being thoroughly soaked in spit-up