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!

Two-Year Old Stats

Jonah went in for his 2-year old check-up with Dr. Timm on July 3. We were just as shocked as the doctor was at what a good patient he was. The doctor examined him and Jonah let him look in his eyes, ears, mouth nose, etc. and check all of his other body parts without complaint. I don't know if we simply caught him in a cooperative mood or if the "practice" we had done with his new doctor kit had helped orient him to what to expect. Either way, it was a welcome departure from previous visits when each of us had to hold Jonah's extremities so that the doctor could examine him.

Jonah even did really well with the blood test and one shot that he was due for. We were talking about his cars and trains while the nurse drew blood so he didn't react at all, and when he got his shot in the leg, he let out one "wah," and that was it. What a big little boy we have!

Jonah continues to be on the smaller end of the growth charts, measuring in at 33" (up 1 1/4" inches) and 23 pounds 12 ounces (up from 22 lbs.), both at the 10th percentile. What he lacks in size he makes up for in brains - the doctor said he passed many of the things he looks for in three-year olds (though he didn't elaborate).

Where he does stand developmentally and his current favorites:

• He has an impressive vocabulary and a memory like a steel trap.
• He loves to read books, play with his cars and trains, climb up on things, and ride his Cozy Coupe up and down the street. He is fascinated by bridges, trains, and construction vehicles - typical "boy" stuff. He also loves to be outside as much as possible.
• He appears to be right-handed, favoring it for eating and artistic projects (when he chooses to use silverware).
• He does his best to go up/down stairs on his own and is very good about using railings, when they are available. We feel if he were just a bit taller, he'd have no issues with most stairs we encounter.
• Biting and hitting still tend to be issues, particularly with Mommy and Daddy. Usually this occurs when we take too long to respond to a particular demand, but they also show up at unpredictable times, when we are expecting affection and instead get smacked in the face.
• He likes to be in on the action - if Mommy and Daddy are cooking in the kitchen, he wants to sit on the counter and see what is going on. Same if one of us goes upstairs or to the basement.
• He knows all of his colors and shapes and can count to about 14. He knows major portions of the ABC song (the middle is still a huge jumble), and he can identify roughly 1/2 of the letters of the alphabet (J, O, N, A, H, P, W, M, Z, D, B, K, L, T) on a pretty consistent basis.
• He runs and walks on his tiptoes, but has not yet mastered jumping.
• He's very opinionated and sometimes does not even know his own opinion. This leads to a lot of confusion for Mommy and Daddy, and many more tears and tantrums than we might wish.

What a sweet, lovable boy we have! Hopefully we won't have to see Dr. Timm for another year (at least not for Jonah).