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