More, Please!

We introduced some sign language with Jude when he was somewhere between 6-9 months old and continue to use it with him on a daily basis. In most cases, he can speak the word but continues to sign at the same time. From the get-go, he adapted some of the signs to make them own, most notably the sign for "please." The standard ASL for "please" is to use an open palm touching the chest and moving in a circular motion like this:

From the first time we introduced this sign, Jude has signed this by putting both hands on his chest/belly and moving his trunk from side-to-side, often quite excitedly. Here's an example where he was begging for some additional sour cream on his plate (and he uses the standard sign for "more");



He certainly gets his point across with his modified sign and I guess that's the whole point of introducing sign anyways. But it's funny how kids make things their own!

Tickle Monster!

For some reason, Jude has recently decided that he should "tickle" Ben and me when we crawl on the floor to clean up around his chair at dinner or snack time. We have no idea what prompted him to decide that this was a good time to tickle us. While we certainly have a fair amount of tickling in our household, it's not like we do any tickling at the table. Jude's been doing the occasional "tick-uh, tick-uh," since April (he first "tickled" me on a Sunday afternoon when Jonah and I were laid up sick on the couch), but recent weeks feature regular tickling sessions like this one:

He so thoroughly enjoys himself when he does this to us and his laughter and his pleasure in it is infectious. We love playing up our reaction to encourage the fun. Now if only we could keep him from pulling my hair in conjunction with the tickling...

Pour Some Water on Me!

It's been over a year since we've taken the time to blog. Yikes! I guess life just got busy and priorities changed. Finding time to blog didn't take precedence, even though we've been documenting the kids by taking lots of photos and videos and posting the sweet, silly, and insane little comments they make on Facebook. But as Jude's been getting bigger, I find myself looking back more and more to remember where Jonah was at this stage or what he enjoyed doing, etc. Not so much to compare them directly, but more for reference points. And it's nice to read back through some longer pieces to remember what we were doing and feeling at particular points in time. So my hope is to try to do a bit more blogging in the coming weeks and months, even if they aren't particularly long posts.

So... to get things started, I thought I'd share this video taken on Monday. We pulled out the water table and set it up on the front yard in the hopes that it would entertain the boys for a while and I could do some weeding in one of the flower beds nearby and Ben could till the garden out back. This was the first time that Jude really was able to play at the water table as a water table. He was too little to use it last summer (not standing at all), and we pulled it out once over the winter and filled it with birdseed in the house so he could just have some tactile play when we couldn't get outside.

Needless to say, he LOVED it and enjoyed pouring the water on himself just as much as anything else (well, he did also like to drink the water out of the cup).

Between the water table and the sandbox, we had four (if not more) outfit changes over the course of the day. I think we need to get this little guy to the pool!

Jude tried solids

Ready to try this eating thing!

Although our pediatrician had suggested we try introducing Jude to solid foods after our four-month check-up (in order to get more calories into him), we decided to stick with our plan to delay solids until six months, continuing to reap the health benefits of breast milk, minimizing the development of food allergies that are sometimes tied to an early introduction of solids, and maintaining my supply. We had introduced Jonah to solids after six months and felt that it had worked well with him and that we would repeat it this time around. While Jude's weight gain has been very slow, and he continues to be at the absolute bottom of the charts for weight (just 11 pounds 5 ounces at his 6-month check-up today), he's been on track developmentally. Although we were concerned about his weight, we felt the benefits of continuing with the original plan were worth it.

Whereas Jonah had not necessarily shown a lot of interest in eating solid food before we introduced it, Jude has been showing some signs that he has been ready. He watches us eat and occasionally grabs at our silverware and plates when he sits on our laps at a meal. He often stares at Jonah during meal times as well. We've had Jude sitting in the table in the high chair at meals with us for about a month, and while he tends to slouch to one side, he can support himself just fine.

What is going on here?

We'd planned to offer Jude solids for the first time last Saturday and opted to start with sweet potatoes again as they are a staple in our house and the avocados weren't yet ripe. We weren't quite sure how Jonah might react to all of the attention we knew we were going to give Jude when he had this experience. Jonah sometimes exhibits some signs of jealousy, and we knew we needed to be sensitive to his feelings but also true to our desire to document the moment as we wanted. We lucked out in that Jonah had resisted his nap earlier in the afternoon and ended up falling asleep on the couch while I read to him late in the afternoon. He slept on the couch while we took our time feeding Jude. A win-win for all!

I'm supposed to eat this, right?

Trying to figure this out...

Not so sure about this any more...

Jude has been doing remarkably well with the solids! While he's still trying to figure out how to work the food to the back of his mouth, and it has a tendency to come back out, he's actually had a pretty decent intake. We did three days of sweet potatoes before offering him avocado at dinner time yesterday, and I actually had to prepare additional avocado for him. He had avocado again tonight and ate a generous amount. We may find that we can move much more quickly through a variety of textures with Jude. While I don't mind making purees, it's nice to be able to serve table-type food as well!

Ben caught it on video (while also taking photos):

Here's a link for a look back at  Jonah's first experience with solids.

Look who's 6 months old!

What a heart breaker at 6 months!

Jonah couldn't stand that Jude was playing with "HIS" Tigger so had to take it away during the photo shoot. Jude grabbed Jonahs' sleeve quite by accident and we watched a little playful back and forth between the two boys. So nice to see them both smiling and generally enjoying one another! Looking forward to seeing much more of this!!!

It’s hard to believe it, but our little guy turned 6 months old last week! Much has happened since we last blogged, but finding the time to blog is just increasingly difficult these days. Let’s just say that we have our hands full with the two boys, our full-time jobs, and trying to keep the household running...

Since we last really posted about Jude (about 2 months ago), he has hit a number of milestones:

1. He’s rolled over, going from his tummy to back just days after the 4-month mark, and finally rolling the other way for the first time last week (at least the first time I’d ever witnessed).  While Jude can roll, he doesn’t really do it all that often. If he’s on his tummy, he’s generally perfectly content to look around and to suck his thumb or to inchworm or spin until he gets frustrated or close enough to the item that he desires. If he’s on his back, he’ll often twist and contort his body to see things (moving all of his body over but his head), but usually gives up or spins enough in the process that eventually he finds something of interest. Now that he is more interested in the world and in getting objects of his desire, it will be interesting to see if he steps up his rolling. It seems that the two other boys in his room at day care who were also born the same week are also in this boat (yes, three of them are within 5 days of each other!).

2. Jude’s a pretty good sitter, all on his own. Until he just completely flops over backwards (or forwards, but usually backwards). He’ll be sitting just fine for several minutes and then fall over seemingly out of the blue, after performing somewhat more difficult feats of moving toys or arms and legs without incident. He’s gotten really good at this in about the past 2 weeks or so. We first started encouraging him to sit on his own after Easter when we got out the musical table and propped it up on two legs. Supported initially by two boppies and then by one and none, he really seems to enjoy being able to see more of what is going on around him, especially seeing what Jonah is doing.

 

3. Jude is an avid thumb-sucker. Doesn’t matter which one. But one of his thumbs is pretty much a permanent fixture in his mouth. Sometimes he double-thumbs it. It’s a good thing the thumbs are inseparable! I have mixed feeling about this – it’s nice that he doesn’t need to have the pacifier to comfort him, but at the same time, I worry that it will be difficult to wean him from the thumbs…

Caught on camera sucking both thumbs at once!

4. Jude also enjoys eating his feet, so much so that giving a bath can be a bit of a challenge as he’s practically doubled over in the bath and little of his body is exposed. Socks are often victims of this compulsion too.

We've hit a number of other milestones as well, such as playing with certain toys, getting some great vocalizations, and starting solid foods (yesterday). Those will come in separate posts - hopefully sooner rather than later. How amazing it's been to watch this little guy grow and change! 

Melting the Coldest Winter Snow

With all the talk of "Snowpocalypse" and various other names for the big winter storms floating around, we've been pretty fortunate to not have gotten huge amounts of snow at any one time. It has been cold, though. Fortunately, we've got a couple sweet boys who know how to make us melt.

A happy little guy

Jude obviously doesn't have any words, yet, but his smiles and expressions just turn us to mush sometimes. 

Jonah has a full arsenal of words at his disposal to go along with his expressions, and I wanted to be sure to share some before they are lost to time. This isn't just the standard "I love you" and random "I'm happy" that still have full impact, but other little things that he says.

Michelle bought some daffodils today. Jonah constantly reminds us that yellow and orange are his favorite colors with great enthusiasm. He was thrilled when he saw the flowers, and I introduced him to smelling them along with enjoying how they look. After lunch, he said "I want to smell the yellow flowers again!" As I type it, it doesn't seem to have as much impact, but it was really sweet the way he said it.

Reading by turtle-light

A few nights back, after reading with Jonah, he was playing with his Twilight Turtle, which projects stars on his ceiling and walls when lit up. Usually he likes to shine it so that we can "eat" the stars or so we can have the starts on our faces or hands. That night, knowing it was cloudy out, he asked me to open his curtains so he could share his stars with the sky.

Michelle told me a story at daycare where they had puzzles out, and after completing one, he walked over to a friend and asked if he could "please do the puzzle with" him. They then continued to work on the puzzle together. I'm sure I don't do the story justice, but it sounds like such a sweet moment.

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We recently got some books through the Scholastic order at daycare. One of these books quickly became a favorite: Penguin and Pinecone. Completely out of the blue while we were eating lunch one day, Jonah looked at Michelle and said "Mommy, you will always be in my heart." Then he turned to me and said "Daddy, you will always been in my heart, too." The unlikely friendship between a penguin and a pinecone introduced him to the expression, and it blew us away that he would use it.

There's nothing quite like sweet words from your two year old to melt your heart.

 

Jude is 4-Months Old!

4-months old! Look at me sitting up for a while!

It's hard to believe it, but our little guy turned 4-months old today! Where has the time gone? We've been having a ton of fun with Jude as he has become more and more social.

We took Jude to the doctor today for his 4-month check-up and were a bit shocked to learn that he weighs just 10 lbs. 5 oz. (slightly less than Jonah weighed at 2 months), and measures 23 3/4 inches (exactly the same as Jonah did at 4 months and in the 10th percentile). (See what Jonah looked like in the post we wrote when he was 4 months old!). Developmentally, Jude is where he is supposed to be, but we'll be watching his intake and growth a bit more closely in the coming weeks.

Jude at 3 months.

We get lots of smiles, laughs, and jabbering from Jude now, and it is fun to learn more about this little social guy. He is almost always in a good mood and is a pretty easy-going baby. He enjoys playing with the toys in his little activity gym and on his bouncy chair, and enjoys - for the most part - his tummy time, where he is working very hard to roll over (and has come very close to success). We'll try to post some video of these activities in the coming days. Jude loves to eat his hand and lately has been seen frequently sucking on either one of his thumbs. We have introduced him to the Bumbo for short periods over the last few weeks, and he does really well in it, just hanging out and enjoying the activities that are going on around him.

Of course, it's interesting to see the interaction and interplay between the two boys as well. Every "toy" that comes back out for Jude has to go through rigorous Jonah testing first, as was the case with the Bumbo:

This sure is a different experience!

Hey - wasn't that my chair?

I can still fit in this! This is MY chair!

In terms of the personal dynamics between the two boys, it has generally been sweet. This evening, Jonah was concerned that Jude was trying to eat his burp cloth and tried to pull it off of my shoulder so that Jude wouldn't "eat" it. I explained that Jude wasn't trying to eat it, but that sometimes the burp cloth got in the way of his hand getting to his mouth. It was nice to see Jonah exhibit some concern for Jude. And then Jonah tried to get Jude to laugh by making up his own "baby talk" and blowing raspberries at him. Unfortunately, it didn't work in this instance, but it was so much fun to watch Jonah take an interest in and watch out for Jude. There are still times where he has fits and asks us to not bring along Jude, or tells me to not nurse Jude because he would rather I do something else, but overall, Jonah is a good big brother.

We are lucky to have two such sweeties!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Two Boys and the Tub!

I don't think I like this!

It's amazing how much something as simple as bathing can evolve as a part of the routine and how quickly it can do so. I'd forgotten what it was like to bathe a newborn and how challenging I find it to support his head while cleaning his back side. And how little time it really takes to bathe a newborn, as they aren't yet into playing, stalling, or pitching fits. Or that they might actually dislike the bathing process.

Jude was not happy about his first bath at home. We did it in the spare bathroom in a small tub that came home from the hospital with Jonah, and I made it as quick as possible. Jude screamed and cried the entire time. Jonah had to be present to witness it, but he spent the entire time washing his combs in the sink nearby, which was both a help and a hindrance. I secured privileges of the first bath at home because Ben had those privileges with Jonah. Fair is fair, right?

Who cares that my brother is screaming about a bath right next to me!

We only did one sponge bath like this at home before graduating to the baby tub in the tub. And ever since that time, Jude has pretty much unilaterally LOVED his bath time. He can be crying up to the moment you put him in the tub, but once he hits that water, he just chills out. Of course the poor kid gets absolutely no privacy because big brother has to come along to check out what is going on (he might miss out on something) and to take advantage of the additional opportunity to play with his bath time toys.

Jude's first bath in the "big" tub.

Jonah's interest in Jude's baths has its perks: while Ben has traveled in the last couple of months, I was able to bathe Jude and manage Jonah by taking advantage of Jonah's desire to help. Suddenly I couldn't remember how to draw a bath and needed his assistance in the bathroom. He came running, happy to show me, and I closed the door behind us so he was effectively corralled. He played fairly innocently alongside the tub while I was able to take care of business, and he took care of emptying the little tub while I got Jude dressed. The downside, of course, is that Jonah can get in the way as you try to get Jude in and out, and he also gets himself in little predicaments (falls) between the toilet and tub as he moves all over in his imaginative play. (He also unapologetically walks all over your legs.)

Jonah playing with his duck boat while Daddy bathes Jude. Typical scene.

Baths with Jonah are now all over the place. He used to consistently LOVE his bath time, but lately he has been throwing fits about it: sometimes because he doesn't want to take off his clothes, sometimes because the water is too "hot" (it's not), and sometimes because who knows why. Invariably, the days when he throws the biggest fits about getting in, he then throws the biggest fits about getting out. Sigh. The joys of parenting a 2 year old.

This does not qualify as a fire truck in Jonah's view.

We do still have a lot of fun during our baths. Lately, the Matchbox cars have taken much of the focus during bath time. But we've also gone through periods recently where other activities took precedence, such as writing and drawing in the tub with the washable crayons he received as a gift. Requests could be very specific, such as a certain number of tractors, trucks, cars, buses, etc., or very generic, such as "write something." Ben is a much better artist than I, so I can't say that I loved the "drawing" phase, particularly when Jonah provided commentary to me that my artwork was not up to stuff. Take, for instance, the fire truck I drew here. Jonah informed me that it was NOT a firetruck. Sorry - I'm already insecure enough about my drawing abilities. I don't need that from a kid!!!  I do credit this interest in drawing and writing with his knowledge of all of the letters of the alphabet. We practiced them in the tub (which he enjoyed immensely, honestly), and we occasionally practiced a few words as well.

Sometimes we sing and use the toys as a part of the fun. For a while, Jonah was very much into the "Five Green and Speckled Frogs" song, and we used it to work on counting/numbers and just having fun in general. I caught it on video one night in December (though it wasn't Jonah's best performance on the counting side):

Now, we can't play with the little frog without Jonah stealing it and having to squirt us. He still can't quite figure out how to fill it (and it does tend to "stick" in the collapsed position, so no additional water will enter it without coaxing). It's hilarious when he has to stop squirting you to ask you to fill the frog and then immediately expects you to give it back so that he can get you wet. 

So many fun times and memories have been made at bath time! We very much look forward to seeing the two boys interact together and have fun in the tub, but expect that is still some time away. In the meantime, separate back-to-back baths it is!

Santa, Baby!

Visiting Santa at Brookfield Square Mall.

We're still playing catch-up here. I can't believe that Christmas was over a month ago already, but it's too cute not to document some of our experiences with the man in the red suit this year.

As in the past, we took the boys to see Santa at the mall. We went on a Friday early in December, taking advantage of the fact that I was home on leave to avoid the longer lines of evenings and weekends. Jonah had been very excited about Santa; this is the first year that he really seemed to engage in and understand the concept of Christmas and this mysterious man named Santa. Ben and I were able to use the concept of staying on Santa's nice list to our advantage, prompting good behavior and a listening boy on a number of occasions. Before visiting Santa, we had asked Jonah what he was going to tell him that he wanted for Christmas. This changed a few times over the course of a couple of weeks, but then fortunately settled into a pretty consistent response of "an orange convertible and lots and lots of garbage trucks."

Our experience at the mall was a positive one. Jonah sat on Santa's lap without issue and Jude, innocent babe that he is, didn't mind one bit. Santa definitely got a chuckle when Jonah made his request. How many little boys ask for lots of garbage trucks? I suppose there must be a good number of them as you can find several different models in stores and online.

Baby Jude is bored by Santa.

The following Saturday, we went to Cranky Al's, our favorite bakery in the old neighborhood, to see the Santa they had there. It's been a bit of a tradition for us, and we weren't ready to give it up. Leading up to the trip, we were getting some sense that perhaps Jonah wasn't feeling as keen about Santa as he had for his first visit. Trying to get him out the door with statements about going to see Santa were met with "I don't want to see Santa" responses. While we waited in line, Jonah was more interested in placing his order for a doughnut than in getting to the front of the line to see Santa. In the end, it took a lot of bribing to get him to stand next to Santa (Jude, of course, slept through it). Santa's elf even gave him a jingle-bell hat in an attempt to make him happier, but Jonah wasn't really having any of that either. What happened between his first visit with Santa and this one? I can't say, but a doughnut made everything better.

I just don't know about this guy...

Trying out the elf's hat...

My doughnut! Awesome!

Jonah with Santa at day care, 2011.

Jonah's final experience with Santa was at daycare. We rearranged our schedule so that Jonah would be at daycare on the day of Santa's visit. Last year, Jonah didn't want anything to do with the Santa at daycare, and it is our understanding that this year, he sat on his lap for this photo, took the candy cane from him, and would then have nothing more to do with him. Wouldn't talk to him. Nothing. Poor kiddo. At least he mustered a half-hearted smile.

Jonah with Santa at day care, 2012.

I wonder what next year will bring. I doubt Jude will be sleeping through the experience at that time. Will he be afraid of Santa? Will Jonah conquer his fear? What will be on their Christmas lists next year?

Trainfest!

In November we took advantage of the fact that Trainfest (billed as "America's Largest Operating Model Railroad Show") takes place in Milwaukee annually. Jonah LOVES trains, so we thought it would be a fun activity for him, and we could have some fun as well.

The event takes place at the Wisconsin Exposition Center on the State Fairgrounds. When we arrived, we were a little surprised to be directed to the Milwaukee Mile (the race track). We got to drive on the track a little, it was fun to put the speed on a bit and pretend to race before we were directed to the infield. We weren't sure how far it was going to be to get to the Expo Center. They were running hay rides to there, but were weren't sure we could get the stroller on it so we walked. It turns out that it would have taken more time to ride the wagon behind the tractor than it took us to walk.

When we got there, we needed to get tickets, and Jude needed to nurse. Jonah and I went in while Jude and Michelle finished in the lobby.

Jonah was mesmerized from the first moment he caught sight of a train moving on tracks. We spent time at a number of different models. Jonah even got to work the controls on one train. Michelle and Jude caught up with us at a large floor model with Thomas the Tank Engine and an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Beyond this, it is probably enough to say, we had a great time, though that time was limited when we got hungry. It is best left explained by pictures from here.

Jonah takes in the first exhibit we visited.

Driving a train!

"Orange caboose!"

Thomas and Percy

My bologna has a first name...

One of the trains we saw.

Checking out the train as it goes over the bridge from underneath.

Jonah tries on his new engineer hat.

Watching a Christmas train with Mommy.

Jude slept the entire time.

More pictures are available in our family album. One thing we recommend and want to remember in the future is to bring a stool Jonah can carry around to stand on to see some of the higher tables a little better.

Jude Thomas Sweetser!

Our new family of four on Jude's birthday

We are excited to announce the arrival of Jude Thomas, born on October 25 at 9:27 a.m., weighing 6 lbs., 2.4 oz. and measuring 19 inches long. He has beautiful blue eyes for the time being and about as much hair as his big brother had at a year!

The beautiful baby boy!

Jude arrived nine days in advance of his due date, and due to all that took place late this summer and into the fall we weren't entirely prepared for his arrival (buying, selling, and moving houses, amongst other things ... we will get the blog updated in the coming weeks)! My water broke at 1:15 a.m. (it also broke at home when Jonah was born); when I woke Ben to let him know we needed to go to the hospital, his response was, "are you kidding me?" Just hours before, around 9 p.m., I had sent emails to friends who had volunteered to help care for Jonah when the baby was born, providing information about Jonah's care, hospital information, and the like. I'm pretty sure none of them had a chance to read it before we were calling around in the middle of the night! In the end, Jonah got to stay at Kristin and Ryan's house, and we arrived at the hospital around 2:45 a.m.

Mommy, Daddy, and Jude, just before we moved to the private suite.

Daddy with Jude, just after he was born.

Contractions came on naturally with Jude's birth, unlike Jonah's, when the doctors administered Pitocin to bring on the labor. I had a lot of back pain as Jude was sitting very low, and I struggled a lot to get comfortable during labor, but the entire process went pretty quickly. Ben was great dealing with my constant shifting of positions, trips to the bathroom, and requests for massages and ice packs. We had a great staff of nurses during our stay at St. Joe's and I felt like this visit was much quieter and more relaxed than the last (perhaps that is also due to the morning delivery time versus Jonah's delivery around dinner time).

Kristin picked Jonah up at day care and she and brought him to the hospital in time for dinner. We were definitely excited to see how Jonah would react to his new baby brother. We'd been talking up his arrival for some time and had read a few books, shown him ultrasound pictures, talked about going to the hospital while playing with his car mat (which includes a hospital), etc. But we knew that he wouldn't really know what it all meant for him until the time came. Jonah was definitely interested in meeting his brother and gave Jude and me kisses and hugs, but then he was quickly on to bigger and better things. What 2 year old boy wouldn't be interested in all of the things to play with in a hospital room: the buttons on the bed that adjust it up and down and backward and forward, the sliding curtains to give patients privacy, the doors to the bathroom and other little cubbies throughout the room, etc.?

Jonah discovers how to adjust the bed! Trouble ahead!!!

Eating dinner on the bench in the hospital room. A special treat!

I spent nights alone with Jude at the hospital so that Jonah could have normal nights at home with Daddy. That was definitely a bit of an adjustment for me - feeling so far away from the normal routine of seeing my oldest going to bed and getting up in the morning and off to day care. I'm thinking that some of that adjustment may be the most difficult for me in the future - we'd become pretty set in our ways as a family of three and I won't always be able to be there for Jonah in quite the same way as I once was (for example, Jude's nursing schedule at times precludes me from putting Jonah to bed or helping to get him up). We will make new memories and routines, I know, but life is definitely different.

Holding his baby brother for the first time!

The hospital offered a family pizza party for us on the second night of my stay, which was a nice option that allowed us all to enjoy and partake (they also offer a fancier option for just the parents, but Jonah enjoys pizza and we'd heard we would be able to leave with leftovers, which is never a bad thing with a new baby in the house!!!).

Afterward, we felt brave enough to let Jonah try holding his brother with the aid of the Boppy nursing pillow. He was very sweet and gentle in doing so and seemed to be proud and interested in touching all of the visible parts of Jude's body (ears, nose, mouth, eyes, etc.). We hope he continues to show this same gentleness in the months and years to come!

Using gentle touches to talk to his little brother!

Playing around with the boppy!

A big boy helping get things to the car!

On our final morning in the hospital, Ben picked up doughnuts from Cranky Al's as a special treat to me. He picked up some for the nurses as well and had Jonah deliver them in his little shopping cart (brought along as a distraction for the hospital room and also as a means of assisting in getting things in/out of the hospital). Everyone enjoyed his antics, and Jonah was a proud little helper. When the time came to leave, he hauled a bouquet of flowers in the cart all the way out to the car. I'll have to be sure to look for creative ways that I can have him help me out with tasks both at home and when we are out!

We are so blessed and look forward to our new adventure! More photos are available on our photo site.