Ju-ju the Wonder Baby

Every day I am amazed by Jude. I mean, it's really incredible to see him grow and develop almost literally right before our eyes, but sometimes what amazes me most is his adaptability.  Since we've been here in LA, we've really mixed things up for him.  While we've tried to keep his schedule as regular as possible, we go somewhere new every day, there are so many new people who want to play with him and talk to him and hold him.  I can imagine that would be exhausting!  Yet there we were at a holiday cocktail party this evening, and Jude was just great.  He was cute and charming and... well, it was just so great to just sit back and watch other people enjoy Jude as much as I do.  And he ate it up!  Despite a short afternoon nap and a late bed time, he was a trooper.

Jude really showed off his adaptability when we visited Santa yesterday.  Frankly, I wasn't looking forward to it.  I thought we'd be dragging him to the mall, standing in line, and giving him a later nap time all for the privilege of paying $25 for a picture of a terrorized, screaming baby.  But oh, how I underestimated my adaptable little guy!  I set him down on Santa's lap and stepped back.  Jude was fascinated by Santa!  He couldn't stop staring at him and running his fingers through the REAL beard.  The elves stepped in a ticked his chin with a feather duster and viola!  They snapped an amazing Christmas picture... I was so so proud!

And while his adaptability is what I'm most surprised by, California must agree with him because he's reached several milestones while here: He's waving (!), cruising around the soft furniture, and forgetting he doesn't quite know how to stand and letting go, if only for a moment.  

And all the while I marvel at the differences between this year and last year.  Last year, I was enjoying baby showers and fretting about my blood pressure.  Now I'm marveling at the amazing little guy that I am so excited to spend Christmas with.