Cincin and 1st tooth cutting thru!

Little man just had a fantastic weekend with cousin Olivia and Aunt Yvonne and Uncle Andy this weekend.  He just turned 6 months yesterday and this morning his first tooth is cutting through.

First time eating

The third photo was from the second time we fed him.. He took to it fairly well.

Jude being very concerned during the tornado warning --->

A lot of firsts for this past month.. of course that is pretty much going to be on going.  I should say the first of the big firsts...  First time swimming... first tornado siren... first time eating food other than breast milk... first time seeing a parade and fireworks... First time attempting to walk (with us helping him keep balance of course)

Juder is  growing up so quickly.  We have his 6 month check up coming in a week or so (We need to get that new pediatrician.  Progress has been made, we just need to set up some meet and greets.  My new job is working out awesome.  I love getting home at 5pm.  We are finally getting onto a normal schedule.  We did end up losing our nanny over the hour change but we have our niece Katie watching him for the summer which is beyond amazing.   

We are hoping in the next week or two to get him to his first Tiger's game but we are waiting for a little cooler weather.  It has been in the 90's and that is not  a fun time at the park.

We thought we were dealing with our first cold this morning for him but it turns out he was just having a reaction to the yogurt that we gave him.  (Plain organic whole goat milk).  The good news is that he has been regular the last few days but we will have to hold off on giving him that again.  The rice cereal was a pretty big hit.  

First time swimming

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Past Due

So much has happened the last few weeks that I have hardly found time to do anything.  Sorry for the late entry.  Littleman is almost 5 months old.  Where has the time gone?  He is learning to do all sorts of things.  In the last 2 weeks he has learned how to laugh (which is deep throated and adorable.), how to blow raspberries, and how to keep himself awake while feeding (hit himself on the side- big whoppers.  I have to wrap him with a blanket- a pseudo swaddle to get him to stop.)

We made another family road trip  this time to Cleveland for Bill and Beth's wedding.  Jude slept through most of the service but was ready to party well into the night.  He kept taking cat naps but wanted to be awake to play with all the people.  I got some evil looks when we got back to the hotel with him so late.  He was happy as a clam.

He finally got to meet Melissa and Micheal.  They seemed pretty taken with him.  I am looking forward to seeing them again in September.  Melissa is bringing her camera and wants to take pictures.  It has been great seeing our of our friends interacting with Jude.  Besides Sarah Rosaen and Mike Kuz we don't really have any friends with kids yet.  Jude is so awesome I believe he has inspired a few to start trying.

We had our Memorial Day celebration and Jude got to meet little man Logan.  April and Patrick are a couple that I went to high school with.  We recently got back in touch with each other via facebook and they came over.  They adopted Logan just a few weeks ago. He is two months younger than Juderbug but not much smaller.  He is 13 lbs to Jude's 17.  April is thinking of starting up a Mommy group and I may join.  It would be nice for Jude to make friends now especially since I don't have him in daycare.  Most of his interactions have been with adults. It is time we start up some play dates!

Juder Laughing

Last night I was sitting in Jude's room with him in the chair.  I had him sitting while facing me and rocked and he loved it.  He first started smiling and then laughing!! This was the first time I have heard him laugh and it totally cracked me up.  Here is hoping I can make it happen again tonight!

Jude vs. The Octopus!!!

This is little Jude wearing his super hero onesie attacking Stanley the Octopus.  He actually got to be pretty interested in watching the hockey games.  It is a shame they are over so soon.  The only TV he gets to watch is my P90x videos and usually he doesn't last too long before I have to stop working out and pay him more attention.  Occasionally he does let me do the entire video.

This Mr. Jude outside with me Mother's Day while Nick was planting my new Lilac tree. 

The little man has just started liking his Exercise toy.  When he first started out he kept scaring himself with a couple of the parts that make loud noises. 

I made myself a nursing necklace to try and keep Jude's attention while nursing. He has just started to get distracted and pulling off which of course leads me to squirting him in the face. This morning at about 5am he was nursing and pulled off.  I went to burp him and he started yelling and then suckling my face. 

We went to Jude's 4 month appointment this past week.  As you may recall he had a horrible reaction to his vaccines last time around.  We talked it over with his pediatrician and we are only doing one shot at a time.  He ended up getting one shot that did have multiple vaccines in it but we stayed away from the Rotovirus vaccine which is the one that really screwed him up last time.  We are not going to ever give him that one again. She did not seem to thrilled about it.  The vaccine is suppose to prevent him getting diarrhea and instead it gave him diarrhea.  What is the point?

 Nick and I are actually looking into switching up Docs.  Not terribly impressed with the process we went through to get a pediatrician.  We received a packet from our Midwife outlining the various Pediatricians they had at their clinic but they would not let us set up appointments to meet the doctors and told us to wait until we got to the hospital.  We got to the hospital and they wanted to know which doc we choose. We gave the name of the nurse practitioner but then went we got out of the hospital she did not have any appointments available so they randomly assigned us a doc and we have had her since.  Don't get me wrong she seems perfectly nice but she was not one of the ones I was considering when choosing.  We are now thinking of moving to the Livonia clinic because it is much closer to our house.  I am sure we will once again not be able to meet with the doc but who knows, they may surprise us.

p90x

I am determined to get into shape.  I want to be in better shape than I was pre-Jude.  I have done many things to try and get into shape- diet changes, ran a marathon.. nothing has worked so far.  Sean dropped off P90x which is a crazy 12 disc 90 day workout routine designed to confuse your muscles so that you  never platue.  One day you are doing a million chin-ups and push-ups the next you are jumping and squatting.  It is crazy intense. I sweat like a pig and smell like a skunk by the time I am done.  You can tell that many people complained about the main motivator is a complete douche canoe because you can actually mute him out.  All he does is constantly talk.  I personally don't have a problem with his rambling but I can see how it could get old after watching the video over and over.  So far I am on week 2 and I have lost 4lbs.  I am trying to set small goals for myself that will add up to my larger goal.  My current goal is to weight 200lbs and after that we will do 15 lb increments until I get to 160 lbs. 

I am starting a new job!!!  It starts on the 17th and I am super excited.  Sadly I will be getting less $ but the amount that we will save on childcare evens it out.  The bummer is that I have to get all new clothes.  I have been wearing a uniform for the last 3 years and I no longer fit into the clothes I had pre-baby.  I weight the same but my body has completely changed.

As for the little man.  He is getting the hang of grabbing things and sticking them in his mouth.  The blue wand in his hand is made to stimulate baby gums.  We have to be super vigulent about washing our hands because he is constantly grabbing fingers and stick them in his mouth.

We went on our first family road trip this past weekend.  Jude got to see Nick play in a band for the first time, he got to meet Simon (Simon is a month older than Jude and belongs to Joe Short and his wife Leah) for the first time and got to see a lake for the first time.

It was Short's Brewery's 6 year anniversary and they specifically requested Nick's former band to come and play.  Jude was amazing Friday night.  He stayed up until 11pm and listen to the music without a fuss.  Saturday night it was quite a bit busier and louder which Jude did not like quite as much.  I ended up leaving early with  him and he passed out 20minutes after getting to where we were staying.  He slept for 12 hours with just a few feeding times that he barely opened his eyes for.

It was incredibly windy at Torch Lake but Jude seemed to be really interested in both the wind and the water.

Below is Jude looking at himself in the mirror.  I was putting on my make-up in front of the mirror and he suddenly took interest in what he was seeing in the mirror.  It was adorable!

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Mice 0.... Vanessa 2

Peta would be most pissy with me.  I have killed 2 tiny black mice with stumpy tails.  I am providing them with last meals before their demise. 

As for Mr. Juder,  he had not one but 2 big poops yesterday.   Poor Nick has been home with a horrible cold.  He has been sick for 12 days.   Last Saturday he took the day off work and went to see the doctor only to be told it was a common cold and he needs to go home and take rest.  Sadly that was impossible as he of course had a show that night as well as one of his best friend's bachelor party and then a hockey game the next day.  It seems after taking Monday off that he is finally on the mend.

Mouse update

That first evening I did manage to kill one little black mouse... but the next night even though I put fresh peanut butter on the trap and placed an additional trap.. nothing.  I even heard the other little mice checking out the trap.  I shall try again tonight...  Perhaps a little honey to go with that peanut butter?

As for Mr. Jude.
He once more had a major blow out poop today which is good because he has not had a poop since last Thursday.
He has become far more vocal in the last week or so.  He has discovered that he does not always need to cry to get my attention.  Now when I go in for the late night feedings he is usually yelling from his crib and not melting down (unless I take too long in my exhausted state to get my boob out.) In fact he yells a lot- period.  He is enjoying the sound of his voice and I find it rather adorable. 

Mouse Trap

We have mice.  They are living in our walls.  I hear them scurrying through the vents while I am feeding Jude at 3am.  I have even heard mouse fights- screeching... thumping.  Because they stay in our walls and vents the cats are not able to get at them (which drives them crazy). I did wake up once this winter to a proud Oscar over a dead mouse in the kitchen but I have not seen another one since.   I put mouse poison in the attic hoping that it would take care of the issue but that has not worked so today I got mouse traps... and put them in the vents with peanut butter.  I am sure the snap and final death throws will scare Jude... but he will get over it.

DIE MICE DIE!!!!

Mouths, hands and Jillian Michaels

Mr. Jude has often found his hands to be quite interesting but now he is completely facinated with the taste and texture.  He has become really good at grabbing fingers and stuffing them in his mouth.  I will be on high alert when some of our friends who don't like to wash their hands post bathroom come and visit. 

How can one not wash their hands after using the bathroom?  Since becoming pregnant and spending tons of time in the bathroom there are a couple of things that make me cringe. 

1. People who don't wash hands.  We learn to do this in elementary school.  20 seconds of scrubbing

2.  People that leave "presents" on the seat of the toilet.  I understand you were squatting but clean it up for the next person.

3. People who don't flush... especially with floaters

4. People who don't flush and don't wipe.. .this puzzles me altogether.  When I am in a woman's bathroom and there are floaters and no toilet paper.. you know who you are... and you disgust me.

Jude has discovered his hands! 

Other news- Nick and I did our first attempt at work out 1 for the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred.  Ummm ouch.  I am attempting to work out 20 minutes a day. It is not working out so well so far.  My major problem is that the morning hours are the best time for me to work out before Jude gets up.  But doing jumping jacks with milk full breasts just doesn't work but if I pump then I won't be able to breast feed Jude in the morning when he gets up.  I know I can just use a bottle but it isn't the same.  I don't want him waking to a bottle.

MILE STONE

I just got a call from my sister who is watching Jude.. He just rolled over from his stomach onto his back!!!

Little man making big steps

First off- Another blow out diaper today with Aunt Genevieve!  Something about my sister makes my son poop.  She has been doing  a little energy work on him.  Not sure if that is what is doing it but frankly if it is- I hope it keeps up.
Our house is being taken over by baby toys and clothes.  My co-worker Anita found a bag of clothes that she had bought for her grandson but misplaced before he could wear any of it and she gave them to us.  Yvonne and Andy sent Genevieve back with a bunch of Olivia's bouncy toys (still a little too big for Jude but I can't wait until he gets to use them.) and it seems like whenever I see my Aunt Barb that she is dropping off another bag of Jake's toys for Jude. People have been insanely generous.  Jude turned 10 weeks this past Monday and Nick and I have yet to buy a diaper. Next week we have a gap before our nanny starts and people are stepping up to watch the little guy 

Second- OUR LITTLE GUY CAN ROLL ONTO HIS SIDE!!!  Today while laying on his mat Jude wanted to get a better look at the birds outside the living room window and rolled onto his right side.  He is awesome.

Off to bed for me.  I got up at 5:20 am to work out on our new elliptical machine (thanks to Genevieve and my dad.) It is a none electric and it kicks my butt.  I am going to attempt to do the same thing tomorrow.  It is time for me to get my butt back into shape.

oh the lovely world of pee and poop

Early this morning Jude and I were hanging out in his nursery.  He was nursing when all the sudden I felt a very warm presence on my lap.  I checked Jude but because he was wearing one of those super fuzzy jammy jams or maybe I just checked the wrong spot but he felt dry so I thought nothing of it.  After all whatever was warm quickly in my tired state dissipated and was no longer felt on my legs.  A little while later I stood up to change his diaper and discovered that 1.  My lap was no longer warm but became quite cold upon standing up and exposing it to the air and 2. Jude's diaper had shifted and one side had become up hooked.  I had felt the side that was still attached and therefore did not feel the the pee.  He was soaked, I was soaked, the  blanket was wet and so was the chair.  How does one get infant pee out of a plush chair?

It is amazing how many times poop and pee come up in conversation once you are a mother.  I have a voice mail from Nick saved in my phone that says, "We have poop... Poop has been achieved!"  This was after Jude had not had a poop in three days.  It was a rather small poopie diaper but at least it was something.  That small poopie diaper was it until last Thursday when Jude had not one but two blow out diapers.  So much so that we had to give him a bath.




This weekend is immediate family only weekend. We have had some many visitors over the last few weeks that I just need  a weekend to decompress.  So far it has been wonderful.  Jude and I ran errands yesterday morning and then met up with Nick for lunch.  We then spent the rest of the day hanging out at home. Today we are staying in again. The weather is sucky or we would be outside going for a walk.  I found a pretty cool park yesterday while driving around that is within walking distance of our house. 

Expectations... not met

Sorry all.  I know I wanted to post a picture a day and frankly... I find as a new mother I don't have the time. What a big surprise.  I am down grading to once a week. 
Jude got his first round of shots Monday, March 15th.  We have been dealing with issues ever since.  Jude had really bad diarrhea the first day. He ended up getting a blow out diaper at 10:40pm Monday.  We are used to him having at least 4-6 poopie diapers a day.  He did not have another poopie diaper  until that Thursday.  I was not there for the diaper so I don't know the consistancy of the poop.  He has not had another poopie diaper since then and today is Wednesday.  Supposibly breast fed babies will sometimes do this but I don't see how the shots and the non poopie can not be connected.  My little guy was super regular until the 15th.  He isn't in any pain and is still farting up a storm but I am still worried.  He has also been more fussy in general.

His next appointment is coming up May 21st..  I think I will talk to the pediatrician about doing an alternative vaccination schedule.  I think getting 6 vaccinations at once for a 2 month old is too much.  I think I will see if we can do one at a time and stretch it out. 

This is little Jude at 6 weeks.  He just had a bath so his hair is crazy.

Here he is at 9 weeks.  He definitely needs a bath.

Thank you to our Family & Friends!!!

So the little dude had me giggling like a little girl last night. For a sustained 10 minute period he just stared at me and grinned away. This was after Vanessa brought him back from Ann Arbor and the little boy and I were separated all day. What a great thing to come home to after work. We sat up together and watched some TV, he slept last night for a solid 4 hours! This includes being moved from room to room in his car seat. Baby Jude had a rough day on Monday as he went in for 3 vaccinations. He took the shots like a pro though. Mommy had to deal with a whole lotta discharge for the rest of the day. He has been great through a very busy week. We had the full crew of Humenai in town over the week, Jude just did what he does best, snuggled and won everyone over with cuteness. Once again, seeing him and Cousin Olivia together is the best thing ever. Olivia is well on her way to steps, she will stagger her way across the room (with some help from her parents) to get to you. It is too much. Some photos from the weekend.

We are quickly reminded how important family is when you see three generations of loved ones all coming together like this. We are grateful to our friends & family, his Grandma Deer, Papa Bear, Grandpa & Grandma Klaver, Genevieve, Susie, Suzanne and everybody who is helping us adjusting to working and parenting at the same time. We would be having such a rough time without all of you. We love you very much!

Nick, Vanessa and Jude