stuff he'll grow into

his new chair from mom and dad

the front seat

the entire bathtub

jude's elite status

Jude is part of an elite group.
he's among the 1-2 % of kids with head injuries, who actually have a skull fracture. it happened when jude tumbled off his changing table while Kara turned to grab a shirt for him.

jude at a previous doctor visit for ear infection

Jude stopped crying in like 3 minutes and acted normally, other than a little sensitivity on his right side. Kara thought at the time that jude landed more on his back and butt than his head. The doctor-on-call had Kara wake him up two hours after bedtime to check for signs of neurological problems (vomiting, unable to rouse him, pupils uneven). Jude showed none.

Baby 411--- which is an amazing book if you don't have one--- has a section on head injuries. The authors added 'extreme fussiness' to the signs jude's doctor said to watch for. apparently it can be a sign of a headache baby can't tell you about. This was important for kara to know later on.

Day 1 after the fall-- the back right side of Jude's head had a definite bump and swelling. The nurse Kara called at the pediatrician's office said they would expect a bump in that type of fall and to continue to monitor for any neurological symptoms.

Day 2 after the fall-- Jude was Mr. Whiny. Kara even snapped a picture on her cellphone and texted it to Greg to show him how jude was doing.

unhappy boy

For the first few hours jude was awake, Kara hesitated about whether to call the doctor. You don't want to be one of those mothers who assumes every woe with little johnny is a huge deal. But Jude just didn't seem like himself. Kara thought it was either a recent ear infection reoccurring, teething, or maybe he was sore from the fall.

Greg, aka Super Dad, came home and took jude to the doctor's appointment so kara could get ready for work. but kara sent the poor man with a full sheet of information: medicines jude takes, his symptoms of last several days, history of phone calls.

Doctor noticed a boggy spot- apparently that is an official medical term- on back right side of jude's noggin. she thought it was probably fine, but ordered a head x-ray.

our little guy has a small fracture in his right parietal bone! that afternoon and evening we spent 5 hours at the children's hospital ER so jude could see a neurologist and get a ct scan. we are glad to report he has no internal bleeding and no internal damage.

this has been a scary and stressful ordeal. as jude's mom i've just felt horrible about the whole thing. I actually went into the nursery later to just stare at the spot where he hit the floor, to just cry and pray. the guilt is overwhelming when you believe you could have prevented your child's injury. but i know god's grace is also overwhelming...and true. jesus offers me forgiveness, not because i deserve it, but because he loves me way more than i can imagine. and its a time like this when i really need a reminder of that.

the life saver

Greg is generously giving up his free evenings and weekends to build furniture for our living room re-do. I'm so proud of the window seat he built. Each of the panels opens as a storage cabinet for Jude's toys. Last week I let Jude explore his new play space.

Jude meet the window seat

Jude can 'army crawl' now. Its an awkward, grunting, sliding combo. But he is determined to move around in his own way. He played with opening and closing the wooden panel doors several times. It was quite a process. Each pass of the door required the little guy to roll/slide/stumble to get his body out of the way, while keeping a firm grasp on the door.

Each cabinet gets one of the white bins to hold toys

Jude has now moved on... to exploring anything and everything he can grasp and crawl/slide too. That might be his safe, very colorful plastic toys. Or the cable wire, the table, or the occasional dog toy.

Kara has also moved on... she is now required to watch her previously stationary baby, like a hawk. I read recently that a parent's job from age 1 to 2 is to keep the child from killing themselves. It should be an interesting, and life saving year.

outdoors here we come!

For a long time as a mom I felt completely unable to get outside for many activities with Jude. Occasionally we'd have a good week where we took walks in the late afternoon more than 2 days that week. But trying to protect his nap schedule + 3 food feedings + nursing + anything else I had to get done = a very packed day.
I finally came to a point of desparation recently. I was feeling overwhelmed and lonely trying to process my job change and hampered by many nights of Jude not sleeping well at all. I ended up at a park near our house and had such a nice time. And I realize how much Jude likes to see other kids. He grins and stares.
This summer we are going to make an effort to get out more, a lot more.

Jude's first time on the swings

Grandpa Scott gave us a baby pool for Jude's 1st birthday. Greg jokingly calls it our 'zero depth' pool because the water rises to a whopping 5 inches maximum. When we finally had a warm, not rainy day recently, we gave Jude a chance to try it out.

Jude's private pool

It was especially helpful that day because Jude was Mr. Fussy. When he is not feeling well, our sweet, happy child gets whiny and clingy. The pool was a welcome break where he was happy and content, while we got to work off some our energy and slight parent frustration, in the garden.

the 411 at ONE

We forgot to post the updated digits for Baby Jude at his 12 Month checkup.

Our little chunker is slimming down. Jude is now at 50% for weight, ending his 75th percentile streak.

Weight 23.5 lbs

Height 30 1/4 just above 50th percentile

how does he do it?

How does Jude who cannot walk or totally crawl manage to turn ON the VCR and EJECT a tape while I'm around the corner putting on makeup?

How does Jude manage to find the one grown up (i.e. not hard board) Book in the pile and chew on that one?

How does Jude manage to leave a pile of destruction in his toy area when he only plays with seemingly one thing at a time?

How does Jude manage to make us smile everyday by grinning and shrieking when he sees us come home?

greg the builder

You may have heard of Bob the Builder, a children's cartoon starring a construction guy that kids love. Allow me to introduce Greg the Builder. He has spent the past few months designing and building a window seat for our living room. We are re-doing the space to make it more kid-friendly and to add more hidden storage for toys.

the old living room toy area

The seat will run the full length of the sunroom portion of the living room. Here's some shots during construction.

installation begins

Jude with Greg the Builder

We invite you to come see our new living room when its all done. We're giving it a fresh paint color and adding window treatments and lighting. Now if only Jude could help....

1st Birthday

On Saturday, May 30th, we hosted a Lawn Party for Jude's 1st Birthday. We invited the grandparents and a few additional family members, along with Greg & Kara's friends and colleagues. We also included a mom and baby friend from Jude's music class.

Make a wish Jude!

Kara worked many hours planning the gathering and preparing the party food. If she could pick any career besides writing and media, it would be party planning. For Kara the whole thing is a fun exercise--to brainstorm, plan, and execute the event.
Kara made the party's theme "The Poky Little Puppy." The Little Golden Book was one of Greg's favorites as a child and Kara and Greg have laughed about it over the years.

The Rice Krispie Tower

The Menu

Partygoers got to enjoy Rice Krispie Treats from the Tower and Sweet Potato Pie from a diner Greg and Kara love. But Jude got his own mini cake to dig in to...literally

which is larger...cake or candle?

Guests are arriving

family and friends

Dig in Birthday Boy!

Jude's favorite thing of the day- His #1 Balloon!

Good Night One Year Old!