give that baby a hand

let's all pause and clap and cheer for jude! he clapped his hands for the first time in front of mommy today.

no autographs, please

tonight while eating dinner mister jude gave himself a round of applause.

why does this matter? apparently clapping is one of those baby milestones they look for.

congrats jude!

grandma carole gets married

Earlier this month Grandma Carole got married. She is very happy with her new husband, Chuck Miller. Which makes her Carole Miller... "wow that's my grandson's last name" as she told Chuck when they met.

the happy couple

The wedding gave Jude a chance to see his Uncle Todd for a few days, and also his cousins Roxanne and Cyler from Arizona. The wedding weekend also gave Greg a chance to play Mr. Mom as Kara was engaged with singing in the wedding, serving as a bridesmaid and giving a toast at the reception.

family

The wedding theme was black and white, allowing Uncle Todd and Kara to look spiffy in their black attire.

Uncle Todd & Kara

The rehearsal the night before was filled with a few laughs and a few serious moments as they practiced their vows. Sadly Jude was Mr. No Nap that afternoon. He missed rehearsal to get some sleep before the rehearsal dinner that evening.

almost Mr & Mrs

rehearsing the big event

practicing the slow walk & smile
with grandma carole

Uncle todd's silly face

Jude did just OK over the wedding weekend. We did manage to get him into a cute baby 'suit' complete with bow tie. Unfortunately the photo below with mom and dad had a sort of pleasant expression. But the formal photos where grandma tried to hold him are just a wreck.

our family

I'm sure we'll laugh in 20 years at his scared little face. Poor baby was just tired and overwhelmed i think. Jude looks forward to many future visits with grandma carole & chuck where we are sure he will have plenty of smiles for them.

movin on UP

jude has reached new heights. after a few weeks of being a mom quietly nervous about her child's development and therefore nervous about the rest of his future life, jude managed to pull up to standing, all on his own.

all by myself

kara cheered and clapped, then ran for the camera



Here's the 411: kara in the kitchen making dinner, jude is in his play yard. kara comes around the corner because baby is squealing. she finds jude standing up, holding onto his baby chair.
its the first time we've ever found jude standing where one of us didn't help him get there in some way.

And here's why kara is cheering: our boy has been army crawling for awhile and in the past week he has really started cruising around the furniture (that means walking while holding on to things for support). jude had not shown the skill of pulling himself up to a standing position, which many babies his age have achieved. its all part of the process of learning to walk. and when you're in the trenches of parenting, each milestone seems huge and insurmountable, but also really really important.
In addition, jude has been annoyed. he wants to walk and cruise a lot. but he cannot get up without crying for mom and dad.
jude is movin on up.

cartoon baby

jude's hair is becoming a funny attraction. first off, its red. why yes we know that! and no, it does not run clearly in our families. and wow, isn't it amazing. pardon the sarcasm, but it is a frequent question from strangers.

what's funny now are the tufts on the top of jude's head. I had a mom recently get emotional and tell me to keep them as long as I can. apparently for her its a reminder of how little her son used to be. I'm glad mine is still little and that he can have cute cartoonish baby hair for the time being.

hair do OR hair don't

oh the tufts!