5 minutes of laughter

Someone recently asked me what I've enjoyed most about being a mom recently. After thinking a minute I answered 'playtime' and making the baby smile. Greg and I keep saying we had no idea we were so cool and exciting until Jude came along. Practically just walking into the room makes him light up and smile or babble at us. Or better yet, in the dark of his nursery, when we approach the crib he starts kicking and swinging his arms wildly. so you just hear this cute 'thump thump thump' in the dark.

Just this Sunday we had 5 minutes of baby laughter. I was holding Jude in the kitchen. Greg came in from cutting the grass (yes its october and our grass was still growing like crazy). For some reason Jude decided Greg was absolutely hilarious. He starting laughing and cackling at Greg, and he kept on going. After a few solid minutes of loud laughs, the poor baby was almost choking himself. Yet he kept on laughing. It wasn't like greg was making a silly face at first either. Apparently Jude just really enjoyed seeing him and seeing the reaction to happy sounds.

Greg & Jude

And that brings up another thing... the huge, huge difference in the way we parent. I think maybe its a gender difference and a personality difference. Greg is so much more willing to use the furniture, floor, rug, around him as a place for Jude to be.

Greg 'holds' Jude creatively

Tonight I came downstairs for our small group and Jude was sitting by himself in our arm chair...propped by a pillow. It is always an adventure to see where Dad will put him next or how he might hold him (upside down!) as mom looks on somewhat scandalized. But I also appreciate that Jude probably benefits from all the new experiences...and I know for sure he enjoys lots of love from both of us.

trips and fall

We've taken lots of trips this fall. You've heard about baltimore already, but this past weekend we took Jude to Kara's hometown of Champaign. We stayed with our friends Dawn and Cyrus. They now have two kids who were quite excited to meet Jude.

Jude & the pink ladies

Claire and John were too excited to 'take turns' playing with Jude, so our little one got played with...and even read too...from both ends and both sides. He handled it all pretty well and seemed to enjoy being so loved.

They really loved Baby Jude

We enjoyed attending kara's stepsister's wedding and it was especially fun to get dressed up which we don't do very often with a new baby.

Dawn and Cyrus graciously put Jude to bed for us. And the next morning we awoke to a 'treat'. Dawn's daughter Claire had laid out a row of 'gifts' for Jude. There were several drawings and baby toys for him to enjoy.

jude's present row

After the Champaign adventure, Kara and Jude journeyed to Grandma Carole's house to celebrate her birthday. Jude enjoyed talking to his grandma and sleeping.

me and great grandma

so how often do you get a 94 year old relative with a 4 month old relative enjoying each other's company? turns out its several times...when it involves Jude and his great grandmother thelma belt.

Jude & Great grandmother

This time we took Jude to visit her apartment on another day of our Baltimore trip. We had a nice time chatting and watching Jude play.

watching Jude watch us

schedule smedule

I'm happy to report the adjustment to baby jude's new less-scheduled life is going well.

It may sound silly to you, but I've been feeding him on a 2.5-3.5 hour schedule since he was born. It was a major adjustment to step back from that. Mainly because I didn't want to see a child who had to meltdown before mommy understood he was hungry or tired.

There have been a few more inconsolable screamy moments the past few days. But that may have more to do with traveling, missing naps, etc.

I am hopeful today that we have turned a corner and can relax and enjoy baby jude's growth.

Its very nice today that when he fell asleep at the grocery store I can bring him home and let him sleep contentedly, for as long as he wants. and not being doing the math in my head of how I will fit in his feedings before bedtime.

And speaking of bedtimes... that is still in flux. He was falling alseep on his own at 7, a week ago. But now it seems we're back to 8ish again with some consoling required. Regardless of when he goes down, he still is one of the calmest, sweetest babies I know. And yes I'm biased.

i'm a big baby now

Baby Jude is just back from his 4 month checkup. Dr. Claus was so pleased with all his progress. But he had to chuckle to share that Jude gained 4 pounds in two months. So here's the stats on our super baby.

Weight 17.5 lbs 90th percentile

Height 25 3/4 inches 80th percentile

Head circumference 43 1/2 75%

The pediatrician pointed out Jude is nicely proportional, even if he's larger than average. And people on the street comment on that too...I've had people in stores and offices say he's like the Gerber Baby-- perfect looking. Although we have little to do with that, other than taking care of baby jude, it is a nice thing to hear after all the busy days with baby.

So today the doctor said I can stop 'clock watching' with baby jude. I followed his advice and some books for the first few months and kept Jude on a feeding schedule of every 2 1/2 or 3 hours. This helped him get in all his calories in the daytime and sleep through the night. But now I'm cleared to let Jude decide and manage his feeding schedule entirely. This will be a new adventure as we learn to communicate more on this topic.

baby's big baltimore adventure Part Three

Baby Jude packed in visits with the relatives in Baltimore. We're happy to have new pictures with Greg's sister Pam, her husband Chris, and Jude's cousins Meredith and Andrea. Chris is a Packers fan but we like him anyway. O.K. he is from wisconsin, but hey. He also owns a bakery, which is a fun place to visit when we 'need to see our brother in law' but really also want a pastry.

Greg and Pam's families Triple threat of grandkids

Greg and I took advantage of grandparent time to catch a movie on our own. Before the baby I never thought going out for a few hours would be such a treat.

Another day Grandma Nancy took us shopping to buy a snowsuit for Jude. We left Jude at home with Grandpa Henry. In his retirement from the railroad he's become almost a professional babysitter. Grandpa frequently watches Jude's cousins Meredith and Andrea.

Grandpa Henry & Jude

Grandpa showed us his skill by rigging extra toys on Jude's mobile for him to look at and animatedly folding laundry while explaining the details to an interested Baby Jude.

On another note, figuring out how to bathe this baby away from home is always interesting. We've used the kitchen sink before. But this time we used the power of plastic.

Grandma Nancy & Greg get ready

A giant storage tub on the kitchen counter became a splash party for baby Jude.

Jude's "tub" bath

I enjoyed watching it and even added extra water. Greg was a little less into it since he kept getting wet while Jude kicked.

splish splash

A clean and dry Jude

The plane ride home also went great. We had an empty row behind us, so Greg laid Jude on a blanket. Our amazing baby slept most of the way. Apparently he did wake up for a bit, but just looked around quietly before falling back asleep. We know we are blessed to have such a sweet natured child.

i'm adorable at 4

baby's big baltimore adventure Part Two

One of the best reasons for jetting off to Baltimore with such a young baby was the chance to visit with Jude's Great Grandmother Thelma Belt.
She's 94 and she doesn't get out as often as she used too, but she graciously made the trip to Grandpa Henry and Grandma Nancy's to see the baby.

the inital meeting with Great Grandmother

Her face lit up when she saw him and held him. It was the most animated I have seen her recently. She and Jude had their own chat. We kept trying to get her to look at us to take photos, but she wouldn't stop looking at the baby! Finally after some coaxing we did get one shot of her looking at the camera, instead of eyes glued on Jude.

Thelma Belt, 94 & Jude, 4 months

And because it was such a special occasion I even grabbed a short video of it.

big baby's baltimore adventure Part One

We took Jude to Baltimore, specifically Catonsville, to visit his grandparents, aunts, cousins, and especially his Great Grandmother Thelma Belt.
We flew Saturday without much incident, but we were all tired on arrival. Greg and I enjoyed a nap while Jude spent time with his grandparents. They still live in the house Greg was born in, so the house always has lots of memories for Greg when we visit. That night Jude told us he wanted to go to bed early--- by falling asleep at 7pm.
Sunday morning we snapped some photos before taking Jude to church.

Jude and Greg in Greg's childhood home

Grandpa & Grandma Miller with Jude
Grandma's turn to hold him!

my first plane trip

We're happy to report Baby Jude had a great first airplane ride to Baltimore. It was a rough night prior to the trip...we now think the house was just too cold for Mister Baby. But once he was up, he was all smiles. We made our first trip into TSA world at the airport. I had to carry Jude through the metal detector. They even had me put his baby blanket through the scanner...strange.
Jude may be the first baby to 'eat' in the office cubicle section of the American Airlines admirals club. But it was saturday morning and no one was in that more private area..so it worked great for mommy.
Once we got to the plane it was about his nap time. And fortunately Jude cuddled on daddy's lap and fell asleep as we left the gate. Jude slept almost the entire flight...much to the discomfort of daddy's leg and arm which fell asleep holding a 15 pound baby.
I admit we were relieved to not be 'that' family with a baby that cries the whole time. But we're learning now that its certainly probably not something 'that' family wants or enjoys and we hope we'll be more sensitive to 'those' families on our future flights :-)
Jude is now enjoying hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house. And he finally got to meet his great grandmother. We'll post pictures soon.

smile for grandma?

we've noticed the grandparents previous parent experience pays off with Jude. They can get him to belly laugh and react in ways he just doesn't express for us very often.
Grandma Carole is fond of asking Jude "are you gonna talk to grandma?" and encouraging him to babble back in whatever strange noises are his current choice of "words". Clearly Jude loves the attention...as you can see from this photo of Jude and his Grandma Carole.

jude & grandma Carole

i can push up

Sure Jude looks like a small, innocent baby. but we can already see there's a lot going on in that head of his. we're sure he's planning to establish his baby kingdom soon with no more bedtimes, and no more uncomfortable, but cute outfits.

wouldn't you just love to know what i'm planning?

The first step in his 'plot' is to push up on his hands during tummy time. As you can see he's making great progress in this.

things are looking up

Our dog George was nearby to witness this recent tummy time photo shoot. But he was less than impressed. George was more interested in his cool new rabbit toy from Grandma Carole.

george & his new bunny chew toy

And later he was just plain tired of the whole thing. George and mister bunny took one of his frequent naps

letting sleeping dogs lie

boys vs girl

I"m definetly outnumbered as the only female in the Miller household now. Here's a cute shot of the three males all together.