Jude-a Buddha

I have started to write about my little guy so many times and have never gotten around to finishing a post and this post is already totally outdated.

But my little guy is just too awesome to not be remembered in his babyness.  So, understanding that this post is about last month current, I am going to share all things Jude.

Two month old Jude is a big ball of chubby love.  He sleeps at least six hours straight at night (sometimes up to eight) and takes at least one long nap a day.

He loves watching his brothers and sister play and I can usually get some good happy awake time from him.  Really I could probably get a lot of happy awake time but at some point Rhode and Scarlet get all too close to his face and shout really loud or Asher does something violent to the dude.  I think we are finally out of the biting the baby phase... please let us be out of that phase...

He reminds me so much of Scarlet as a baby.  Size, facial features, temperament, pointy elf ears...
At his 2 month appointment, which happened a week or so after he turned two months old, he weighed in at just a little over 15 pounds.  Scarlet was only 13 pounds at her 2 month appointment but jumped up to 16 by her 3 month appointment.  I know... bunch of little fatties.  

He has just wispy hair on his head but he has the craziest long hairs on the rim of his ear.  It looks like long hairs peeking up from his head... but no.  They are attached to the ear.  I am talking a good 1/2 inch long.

He loves his sling just like his brothers before him.  I frequently throw him in the sling and go on a little walk around my kitchen or out the front door for a little peace and quiet and the kid will be out in seconds.

When he is awake in the sling, he loves to push his hands against me so he can be far enough back to look at my face.  Big wide eyes and chubby cheeks staring up at you from against your chest = heaven on earth.

He is generally a very happy kid but I have definitely had to learn his quirky little tricks to keep him that way.  And he likes to switch things up every now and again.  Some days he is all about the morning nap.  Some days, a 20 minute doze will do.  He likes to be swaddled in his car seat but not at home.  And no blankets please, he prefers his sleepers.  There has been much trial and error involved but the home runs are more frequent these days.

His eyes still have a little bit of blue in them but they are mostly grey and probably on their way to hazel green or brown.

They told me at the hospital that he was a little tongue tied (Scarlet was too) but unlike Scarlet, this kid loves his tongue and has it out of his mouth frequently.  No problems nursing either, his cheeks don't lie.

He has exceptionally delicious baby rolls.  I love them so so much.

Seriously, the best.

Check out those thighs!  They are even bigger now.  They are awesome.

He is pretty consistent in his long stretch at night but getting him to go down at night can be time consuming.  His favorite bed time is about 10 p.m.  He also prefers to have one formula bottle before bed.  This has become less frequent recently but for a long time he would drink 2 - 3 oz of formula at night and then nurse to sleep about 30 minutes afterward.  Big dude needs a ton of food I guess.

He makes the best faces.  Ever.

Jude only poops once or twice a week.  Like there already wasn't enough to love about this kid.

At his first pediatrician appointment, the doctor noticed a click in his hip and had me take him in for an ultrasound.  Its never fun to hear there might be anything wrong with your baby, but even in the worst case scenario, he would only have to wear a hip brace to make sure it grew in correctly.

We asked our extended family to keep Jude in their prayers as we went to the appointment, and they found nothing wrong with his hip.  Awesome blessing.

Scarlet and Rhode are really good helpers.  It has been a battle to train them to give him a little more personal space, but they are so eager to hold him and love on him, not to mention fetching things he needs.  They have also really helped with Asher when my hands are full.  They make having four young children totally doable.

Jude is my first baby that really loves tummy time.  He started holding his head up like this really early, like just over 6 weeks I think.

He makes this face at me frequently.  My closest baby interpretation is something like, "I want something to be put in my mouth."

He's a keeper.

Christmas 2013

And after all of the excitement* (*stress) that comes with traveling, we suddenly found ourselves back home all by our lonesome on Christmas Eve Eve.  We spent a very unfun day dedicated to laundry and cleaning and last minute grocery shopping since there wasn't a drop of edible food in the house.

I had to remind myself every few minutes that Christmas was happening the next day.  I hadn't come up with any good meals to eat, I had absolutely nothing wrapped and nothing to wrap it with.  I was halfway through Christmas Eve before I remembered that my kids were supposed to be opening their new pajamas shortly.  But the show must go on, and like all good productions, all my behind the scenes craziness stayed behind the scenes.

Christmas pajamas were opened and enjoyed

Two children posing without prompting.

One child happily hanging with mom on the couch.

And one other inexplicably missing.  I can't remember exactly what was going down with Asher but I can promise you it involved whining, angry no's, and probably destruction of property in some form or another.  Santa was REAL forgiving to that kid this year.

Mom and dad had given the kids a trip to Hawaii for Christmas so our only gifts under the tree this year were from Santa.  We got up at midnight, hid in our spots and were lucky enough to catch him again this year.  Even Asher was extra quiet this time and we didn't get caught.  Santa was extremely generous to our kids.

Scarlet got several fun arts and craft kits, which have been used to create several different types of art and have provided her ample supplies for playing school with her brothers.

  She also got her first Nutcracker, which she could not love more.

Rhode got his first Lego set, a castle and dragon variety.  Scarlet, Jon and Rhode had some bonding time putting the whole thing together.

He also got his first basketball, as he started his first basketball season last week.

Oh look!  Here's Asher's Christmas pajamas!  Asher got a big ol' dinosaur for Christmas, or as he would put it, a "T-wex!"  His new buddy roars, shakes his tail, moves his head and even walks.  Thanks to some help from Scarlet, he named his new buddy Screamy.. which in 2 year old sounds a lot like Creamy.

Creamy was a big hit, until our early morning rising got the best of Asher.  While sitting on my lap in a half asleep state, Screamy started walking in our direction.  "Mom, creamy likes me!"  he said.  ((Roar!)) "But mom, I don't like creamy..."

Screamy enjoyment continued shortly after a good Christmas nap.

And this little guy, arguably the most well behaved of the bunch this year, got nothin' for Christmas.

He didn't seem to mind.

He enjoyed the festivities anyway.

It was a good day.

And shortly after Christmas we sent out these Christmas cards.  I wasn't sure one is allowed to use the word "crotch" in a Christmas letter, but Jon assured me that it was okay.  

Hawaii Christmas 2013 Part 3 - Beach Time

This is my favorite picture of the trip... and quite possibly in the top 20 all time favorite pictures of my children.

So my family's flight got in a little before the extended family and we had some time to waste.  So we headed straight to the beach.  It was Sunday and we were still in our traveling clothes so we were just planning on hanging out for a bit and put our feet in the water.  Everyone was in on the plan except for this little dude.

 He ran straight into the water before we could roll up his jeans and then tripped on his way back to us.  So within seconds, he was soaked from head to toe.

Our resort lagoon was fun, but it didn't feel extremely beachy as it was absolutely waveless.  Jon did a fantastic job handling all of the resort time and kid time this trip involved, but every now and again he would burn a little adventure energy and go beach hunting.  Oahu in December does not have a lot of kid friendly boogie board beaches.  The week we were there had some exceptionally crazy surf on the North Shore, 20 foot waves, but he was determined to let the kids do some boogie boarding.

 We spent some time at this beach... can't remember the name.  The waves were a little weak for boogie boarding but fun was had nonetheless.

 Still sick, Asher spent the majority of the time on the beach eating chips.  Not a bad life...

 Love this picture too.

 Scarlet was in an extremely adventurous mood all week.  If there was a challenge, she was up for it.  Even a little tree climbing.

 The way down... lost a little bit of that overbrimming confidence but still a pretty tough little chick.

 A random photo of us at lunch that day but this face is just very Hawaii Asher.  I'm going to sit on the table and play with the car keys and I would like to see you try to stop me.  So cute.  So troublesome.

And right at the end of our vacation, we found the beach we had been looking for.

 It was a little more churny than we would have hoped, but Jon was determined to get some boogie boarding action going.

Scarlet was in heaven.

 She made several runs and caught several great waves.  This girl was born with a little of her dad's salt water blood.

Rhode even got out there for a few runs.  And though it is a whole lot of pictures, please enjoy the frame by frame capturing of a fantastic moment.

Thank you mom.  I have enjoyed more than a few laughs over those pictures.

Asher was feeling a little better that day and told dad he wanted a ride too.

 When he reniged on the deal... it was too late.

 In dad's defense, if you had been feeling up to your normal self, you would have really loved it buddy.

And to round out our vacation wrap up, Scarlet adopts a more Brazilian swim suit style.

I could never do that plane ride with a two year old again and be completely happy, but it was worth all of the crazy.  I had so much help taking care of my kids and they had such a fantastic time with their grandparents and aunt and uncle.  My phone rang the other day and Asher's face lit up, "It's Kwisty!" he said!  "You think so?" I asked.  "Yeah, she's my fwiend."  Mine too buddy.  Thank you for a week to remember guys.