Sharing a ride.

Julia thought Jude would enjoy a ride in her car this morning...


I'd say Jude liked it!

My future model!

I think Julia might have a future career in modeling. This is how she posed when I went to snap a quick picture.


Right now she is really into wearing flip-flops, sunglasses and matching hats.


I am so doomed! I know nothing about fashion and all things girly. Good thing she has an aunt that does! Although I think Jerrod will be looking into buying a shotgun in about 10 years or so!

9 month check-up

Jude had his nine month check-up today. It was a fun visit because he did not need any shots this time! YEAH!

My boy is still a tall, skinny guy. He was 29" long and weighed right at 19 pounds. His head circumference was 18". He is no longer off the charts on his height/length, but he is still in the 75th percentile. His weight curve really dropped again though. He is now around the 25-30th percentile for his weight. He drops further down the curve on weight at each visit. I told the pedi that this concerned me a little, especially since Jude has a huge appetite. She was not worried. She said that his height and head circumference growth stayed roughly on the same growth curve, so that is what is really important, he is just so active that he burns through the calories so fast. I told her that one of his nicknames is "Mr. Wiggles", because he is ALWAYS moving. That just confirmed what she thought, and said not to worry. It is just hard for me to wrap my head around having a skinny baby, Julia was always on the top of the growth curve for weight (and still is).

I told her about suspecting Jude was having night terrors, just like Julia always did/does. She agreed that that was probably the case and was not concerned. Everything I have read about them over the years says they are completely normal for little kids to have, so I was not worried about them at all. It is just tiring to get up with him multiple times a night when he is going through them.

I did ask about the fact that Jude's feet and hands are ALWAYS cold. I dress him warmly, almost always wears socks, has footed pajamas, but still his feet are cold. She felt his feet and saw that even though the office was very warm and Jude's cheeks were all red because he was so warm, his feet were still cold. She said it is somewhat normal for babies to have cold feet and that it should improve once he starts walking. We will watch it for the next six months or so and see if it improves.

We talked about how he still had super sensitive skin. She gave me the name of another brand of baby products I could try if I wanted. What I have seems to be working well, I just have to make sure everything he wears or lays on is washed in All Free first. I notice he breaks out when held by other people and their make-up/lotion/perfume/etc rubs off on him. I don't wear any of that stuff, and I use the same laundry soap and body wash for me as I use for him to prevent that from happening.

The pedi was very pleased with his language skills already. Jude can say almost a dozen words already and is constantly babbling. I fully expect him to be speaking full sentences by a year old, just like his sister was.

Chasing the birds

Our neighbor has some guinea fowl. Occasionally they will wander into our yard. I don't mind and normally just leave them be. However, they occasionally wander too close to the road and I worry they will get hit, so I will go outside and shoo them back home.

One day they were in our yard and getting close to the road, so I told Julia we were going to go out and shoo the birds back to their house. She eagerly came with me and quickly started shooing the birds back to the neighbor's. She thought this was great fun.

The last two weeks the birds have been in our yard frequently. Every time Julia sees them, she goes running for the door saying "We have to shoo the birds!". We will go out and she will chase the birds around the yard until they head back home, yelling "SHOO, SHOO" the entire time.

I talked to the neighbor this weekend when he came up to chase the birds back home again. He apologized for the birds being in our yard. I told him that I did not mind and actually it is the highlight of Julia's day to have to shoo them back home. (He has a house/pen for the birds, they just like our yard for some reason.)

Laying to sitting

I forgot to post that about 2 or 3 weeks ago, Jude started getting into the sitting position on his own. (I post all the milestones here, since this is his baby book!LOL)

Up until that point he could sit on his own, but only if we sat him up. He could not get up to sit on his own.

He is also trying to pull himself up on things. He cannot quite get there yet, but it is only a matter of time!

Very funny....

Jude's sense of humor is already coming out.

Jude recently started saying "Bapa", which is what Julia calls Jerry. (Instead of Grandpa)

Last night I was trying to get Jude to say "mama". He knows how to say it, he just rarely does. He prefers to say "dada", unless he is upset and wanting me, then he will say "mama". So this is how it went..

Me - "Say mama"
Jude - "Bapa"
Me - "Not Bapa, say mama"
Jude - "Bapa" smiling
Me - "Mama!"
Jude - giggling "Bapa!"
Me - "Mama"
Jude - "Bapa" just a laughing at me
Me - "You are real funny, you know that?"
Jude - continues laughing at me

By this point, Jerrod is also laughing. He knows that Jude is just playing with me.

Then today when Jerry and Debbie were dropping Julia off, Jude did it again. They thought it was funny too. The little stinker!

The strawberries made it okay.

I get Jude out of his crib this morning and joined everyone else in the living room. This is the conversation that followed.

Jerrod - "Is Jude wearing a pink sleeper?"
Me - "Yes, it was one of Julia's old ones."
Jerrod - (Sounding all offended and upset) "It had red hearts on it!"
Me - "No, those are red strawberries."
Jerrod - "Oh, okay." (No longer upset)

So I guess a pink sleeper with red strawberries is just fine, but a pink sleeper with red hearts crosses the line! LOL

Why I smile

This is why I smile so much......

(She made herself a little bed on/in Jude's bouncy seat!)





How can I not smile when I am met with these happy smiling faces everyday!?

Great day on the farm.

Since it is supposed to rain all weekend and Julia does not have much room to run at our house, I decided to drive up and spend the day at my parent's farm.

Julia had a BLAST and got really dirty. She loves going to the farm. There is LOTS of room to run and things to do. Getting dirty and running around is what kids are supposed to do. I really wish we had a yard Julia could really play in, or at least lived closer to family so she could do it much more often.

Julia helped Grandma (my mom) plant flowers, helped Grandpa, Uncle Bill and Grandma plant the garden, played in the sandbox, rode some bikes, got a tractor ride, and checked on the cows and pigs.

She was completely filthy and tired by the time we left! It was a great day.

My silly kids..

I really do have some silly kids. I just love them. Luckily, they love each other too!

"Here, let me"

Jude is sneaking in and playing with Julia's game.


He thought he was pretty clever. (notice how Julia now has the game turned AWAY from him!)

Talking

Jude's babbling is becoming more and more complex. He is saving a lot more words now while he babbles. I think he will be like his sister and speaking full sentences before his first birthday.

This weekend amazed even us with his speech. Jude loves the song "Hey Jude" by The Beatles. He was named after that song and it has been sung to him countless times, even before he was born. Although, when we sing it, we usually say "Hey Baby Jude". While out and about on Saturday, Julia and I ran in a store to get some coffee while Jerrod and Jude stayed in the van. Jerrod was playing "Hey Jude" for Jude while we were gone, but turned it off as he saw us approach the van. I guess once Jerrod turned it off, Jude said "hey baby Jude". According to Jerrod it was quite clear.

I have tired to get him to say it again and of course, Jude usually just giggles at me when I say it. I did finally hear him say "Jude" at least.

Oh, Jude prefers to say "Dada" a LOT more than he does "Mama", the little stinker! Dada is not the one that gets up multiple times a night with him!

Daddy love

For never having ever been around babies before he had his own, Jerrod is a wonderful father. He generally gets mauled by Julia when he gets home from work, so they think he is a great daddy too!




They are both holding their "ugly dolls" Aunt Ninnie got them while snuggling up with Daddy. (Ugly Dolls is the actual name brand of these stuffed creatures.)

Army crawling

Jude has been rocking on his hands and knees for a couple of months now. I thought for sure he would be crawling by now. He seems to want to take after his sister. About 2 weeks ago he started army crawling. Julia did this for MONTHS.

I guess my kids think it was just easier to slide across the floor than to do it on all fours.

Bubble overload

I promised I would not include names with this picture, so I won't, but you know who you are! Once again you are teaching Julia things that I normally would not allow her to do!

Behind on posting

Yes, I know I have not really posted anything in about 2 weeks.

The weather has been nice, so I have been working outside. I have also been having trouble sleeping at night, so I am quite tired all the time. I guess I have just been in a funk for the last week or two.

A bunch of exciting things have happened in the last two weeks and I will try to post about them soon!

Making Easter cookies

Julia and I made sugar cookies for Easter. Julia had all kinds of fun rolling out the dough and getting flour everywhere!

More Easter pictures

I know these are really late, but here are the rest of the Easter pictures.

In their matching outfits!


"Feed me LUNCH!"


Julia with her new bubble lawn mower.


Waiting with her cousins to start the egg hunt.


She loves her brother...

Easter Egg hunting

Julia got to do two Easter egg hunts. One on each side of the family.

Since she and Jude are the only kids on Jerrod's side, Julia had no competition getting eggs.




But on my side, she had to fight her cousins for the eggs!



She had such a great time!

Happy Easter!

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!


Julia is looking outside to see if she can spot the Easter Bunny!


The kids and their Easter baskets. Poor Jude. I forgot about Easter morning pictures in jammies when I dressed him in one of Julia's old pink sleepers the night before! In about 10 years he will hate me for it!!


Yum, the book taste good!


How about this chocolate? (Nope, Jude did not get to try any chocolate for Easter.)


I have oodles of pictures from Easter, but I am too tired to post anymore tonight. So look for many more pictures to come in the next few days!