Bears & baby

Baby Jude and mom went to the Chicago Bears training camp with Grandpa Scott Kline. It was an easy 1 hour trip to Bourbonnais. We were impressed by the easy free parking and free access to watch the team. Mostly Grandpa and mommy chatted in a shady spot, enjoyed some lunch and then fed Jude a bottle. It was nice to be together and be outside. I'd love to give you insider info on the Bears, but we never got super close to the team because they were wrapping up practice by the time we finished lunch.

Jude at Bears Camp 2008

Jude was only in the sunshine for that photo for about 5 seconds... so stop worrying! :-)

Grandpa Scott tended to Jude while Robbie Gould was practicing field goals right behind him. In my opinion Robbie gets a touchdown but Grandpa Scott has the real prize!

Mom enjoying Bears camp

In praise of... this crazy mobile

When we first opened the box for this crib mobile, given to us by our friends Craig & Judy, our first thought was "wow... the Krasinki's taste has changed now that they have kids". Craig and Judy are very admirable people with a good aesthetic sense (Judy went to NYU film school) but you might never know it when looking at the Tiny Love "Symphony-in-Motion Mobile - Farmyard". (FYI, they also have one of best ongoing baby blogs you can check out here.)

But, as with all things baby, we are regularly surprised by the things that get little Jude excited . This is where I have to bow to the prior parenting experience of the Krasinskis, and publicly acknowledge that I should have never pre-judged the mobile... it is wild looking to be sure, but Jude loves it. We would have not picked it out ourselves, but we'd be worse off without it.

We have attached the mobile to our pack-n-play (see Kara's "in praise of" review here) which also has a changing table. Jude will lay there absolutely mesmerized for lengthy periods of time watching the mobile spin around and play music.

Now to the music: you'll notice a theme in my "in praise of" posts for anything that makes noise. Basically, if it has decent tonal quality and plays a subtle rendition of the music--as opposed to the garish clanging of most baby toys--then I am all for it. All three pieces of music played by the mobile (by Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven) are artfully reproduced so that it doesn't drive me crazy to hear them over and over again.

The Tiny Love Symphony-in-Motion Mobile

The amazing Jude-dini

Baby Jude made quite a move of his own last night just two nights after we moved him from the bassinet in our bedroom to his crib in the nursery. While swaddled he managed to free one arm, turn his entire body 90 degrees, and move two feet in the crib. Guess he takes after his mommy...another sleeper who moves around a lot (which is easier after daddy gets up for work)

Artist rendering of amazing crib move

Jude's arm was like this in the crib

The amazing Jude-dini has 'escaped' the swaddle before

In praise of: The Combi "pack n' play"

We registered for the Combi Solutions Playard DX instead of the traditional Pack N' Play brand product because frankly we liked its sleeker look and color better. Plus it had no ruffles...a high priority for Greg. What we did not expect, was how awesome it would be.

Combi Travel Solutions DX

Usually you get a large playpen with a bassinet and changing pad that hang over the top until the baby is too big to use them. We unpacked the thing and were surprised to find it also included a separate stand for the bassinet attachment. The convenient rolling stand allows us to move Jude into the kitchen or by the dinner table. Jude was quite a fan of being able to lay around and sleep instead of sitting in his bouncy seat all the time.

How well this looks in our dining room :-)

Jude in bassinet on stand
Now that he's older it works great for his baby workouts as well. He's going to be the best backstroker I know!

Jude working out on Combi changing pad