he's more of a vowel guy

I love my husband Greg for the way he reassures me when I read one too many baby books that tell me about which developmental level my child should have reached by now.

The latest was a book last night that said "we expect that your child will be using d's & m's, saying mama and dada indiscriminately" Well, Jude is doing lots of great things... banging toys together, scooting around, and babbling almost as if in response to questions. But he is not using those sounds. I struggled with that deep, nagging worry that maybe something is wrong with him. (this may sound hilarious if you are not in the early child years).

When I shared my story and my struggle with not being concerned, with Greg he said "Jude is more of a vowels guy. He's not a consonant man."

I had to laugh and remember that my child is loved....and loved by God even more than the huge amount of love we have for him. He will grow up just fine and soon enough i think i'll wish he didn't learn my name, mama, so he would stop calling for me all the time :-)

i'm ten and i'm friendly

Jude at 10 months old

We are amazed to say that our boy is 10 months old!

The most frequent comments we receive from store clerks or strangers are "what a cute little guy!" or "look at that big smile." We are grateful Jude has not entered the fear of strangers stage. I'm sure it will come. But his current friendly happy demeanor makes errands more pleasant and actually fun as mom and dad enjoy so many positive interactions with others.

Today Jude ate his first 'meal' in the car while we were out doing errands.

Yogurt with bananas and carrots. uh, yum? Its amazing the combinations we feed our child when we would never consider mixing them all together. Perhaps we should reconsider. I imagine our vitamin consumption would go up significantly. But I think we'd miss the texture of unstrained food very quickly. Greg continues his trend of tasting most things we feed the baby. It has led to some funny reactions.

Jude continues to recover from his pink eye and ear infection. Last night, he woke up at 545am for some tylenol, but otherwise slept through the night. He has started spitting out the banana flavored antibiotic. We are trying to come up with creative techniques to sneak the spoon in fast or mix it in his food. that creates even more strange food combinations. chicken, mango, banana medicine. yum?

it folds

Now for an update from the world of Miller Baby Gear. We enjoy finding good design not simply for the way it looks, but we find it actually functions better as well. The newest find we're proud of is the second car seat we purchased for Greg's car and for travel.

I'm a big boy now

The Sunshine Kids model has a steel frame that allows it to fold flat when not in use. Its quite heavy as a result. But its nice that Greg can store the seat in his trunk until he needs to pull it out. We also purchased a carry bag for the seat. Unfortunately that bag ripped the first time greg used it. But...we are still very happy with the seat itself.

jude has a neck...and pink eye

We are happy to report we have discovered something missing from our baby for several months... his neck!! Little jude is getting taller and a bit slimmer and his cute little neck has emerged from the baby fat. we just noticed it the other day. both of us thought he suddenly looked a little older and we think that's why.





unfortunately our boy also has his first case of pink eye and an ear infection at the same time. he's been a trouper, but we are tired parents. the past two nights he's been up. and he's on antibotics for 10 days. the worst is the eye drops for 5 days. the poor guy screams and squirms to avoid them. we got some tips from Grandma Jane, who just happened to be a pediatric nurse. thanks jane!

its hard to believe that tomorrow our little boy turns 10 months old. the time has flown by.

busy boy

Our little Jude is a happy busy guy a lot of the time.

i've got a lot to do

He likes to handle and toss almost anything off his bumpo tray. His favorites are rubber spatulas, and his stacking cups.

what a mess

But the other new love of Jude's life is... his Johnny Jump up. The baby loves that thing and will spend a long time (like 20 minutes in baby time) working on his bouncing skills. Its been a great source of entertainment for Jude that allows Greg and Kara to eat dinner.

bouncing is fun!

Kara made a video of Jude enjoying the jumper on his first days in it. She wanted to capture his joyful squeals at being able to move himself around on his own!

Jude's jumping VIDEO

me and dad chilling, watching football

its a baby's life

We thought we'd update everyone on a typical day for Baby Jude at 9 months.

He wakes up sometime between 6:30 and 7. Some days we're begging him to stay asleep (i.e. offering the pacifier) at 6 or so. Usually Greg gets up and does the first diaper change.

Jude's lovin this diaper dance

After a meal with mom, Jude usually plays or hangs out on his activity mat or in his exersaucer.

George is wondering why the ground got so colorful

About 8 Jude gets a breakfast of cheerios and some fruit. This takes a long time. Each cheerio is carefully examined and twisted into the mouth. Most are dropped along the way. After eating off his tray, Jude must carefully lean down and search his bib, hoping more will become available. When the meal is finally done, baby goes down for his morning nap at 9.

ready for bed

He gets up and shares a meal with mom around 11. Lunch is yogurt and baby food. He hits the crib for a second nap about 1:15. The rest of the afternoon is playtime or errand time.

i'm focusing on the seat part now instead of the bounce

Jude uses bouncy seats and any soft surface to practice his sitting and playing. Dinner and a final meal with mom happen anytime between 5:30 and 7.

Every few nights its that joyous time... Bath Time! Kara's co-worker Marion bought us the cutest inflatable tub that even makes a duck quacking sound. Jude really seems to enjoy splashing around.

Air ducky you're the one, you make bathtime lots of fun

Mom or dad read mister baby two stories. Then its down for bed. Usually he's in the crib by 7:30. And then mom and dad clean up and prepare to start all over again tomorrow!

please be seated

Jude prefers to sit more and more, rather than lay down when he plays. Occasionally he still spends some time flat on his activity mat or laying in the pack n play. But usually he lets out a cry until we come sit him up.

handsome little guy

He's getting better and better at reaching and playing with things while he's sitting. But its still not a sure thing. Every so often he takes a back dive into the nearest soft pillow or blanket
.

wonder what happens if i drop this?

Jude still explores most things by putting them directly into his mouth. Its like a contest to see how many different things he can chew on each day. And a test for Kara to make sure the things he reaches are all safe.

i'll take 2 in my mouth please

We're happy to report tonight he ate chicken from Kara's salad. Until now he has spit all the pieces out with disgust. Jude's already down with hamburger and pork tenderloin. And thanks to Aunt Pam for the tip about Puffs baby finger foods. Jude, or atleast his parents, are glad he has another option besides the cheerios he repeatedly cries for.

9 months and eating

No one would accuse Jude of being a poor eater based on his current big baby size. He continues to be quite the chunker. But also adorable.
We have new photos taken in February. Here's mister jude at 8 1/2 months.

Hello World!

George the dog is enjoying Jude's new baby food meals 3 times a day. He camps out at the bottom of Jude's chair, hoping for some cheerios or even meat to fall. Our friend Laura Birkey captured a great moment with George and Jude.

Dogs need food too!

A is for Art

Jude's along way off from learning his ABC's, but if he learned the letter "A" anytime soon, he'd hopefully connect it with the word art. You see Jude recently took an excursion to The Art Institute of Chicago with his mother.

Outside by the famous Lions

It was a rather chilly February day, so no chance of getting a nice unbundled shot of baby. But Kara did manage to snap a few photos on her cellphone.
Kara prefers French impressionism and the musuem has quite an impressive collection, including the famous "Sunday in the Park" painting by George Seurat. But Google tells her that his work is considered neo-impressionist. (Aren't you feeling smart now too?)

La Bebe with Seurat painting

Why the Art Institute you might ask? Well the Art Institute is free during the month of February (and select thursday nights during the year). After days of noisy baby, Kara enjoys the tranquil space (i.e. enforced quiet) and the beautiful paintings. Baby Jude was pretty quiet and captivated during the hour or so visit.

Jude with art and the furniture collection

The Institute has a small collection of 'modern' design pieces. After walking around with the very cool and very functional Bugaboo stroller, Kara is convinced that it too belongs in a design collection :-)