At least he'll know his name, right?

When we decided to try to get pregnant, we started brainstorming names.  We had picked out our girl's name years ago.  In fact, the "Project Roosevelt" blog name came from our girl's name.  Eleanor.

We were at a loss for boys' names.  We had some ideas, but nothing really struck us.  Until Jude.  People ask us today how we came up with the name, what he is named after, but we don't really know.  I think that we were having the typical "What about ____?" conversation and someone said "What about Jude?" and the other one said "I like that."  And that's it.

And that decision has led to what some might call an obsession.  That is an obsession with personalized items for Jude.  Others in my family share that obsession and feed my problem.  As I look around Jude's room, I see puzzles, toys, art, towels...

Here are some of my favorite personalized things!

Jude's growth chart...he's 31" now!

A special piece of artwork for baby Jude.

Jude's very own name puzzle to match the stool I had growing up.

Dental hygiene starts early.

You know how sharks grow seven rows of teeth so that they can shed them and have replacements?  Jude isn't quite to the 7 rows of teeth yet, but the kid has a toothy grin that stretches from ear to ear even at the age of 11 months.  Right now, he has the four front top teeth and the four front bottom teeth.  So to start his dental hygiene early, we have started brushing his teeth before bedtime.

We were reluctant at first.  He's going to hate it!  There's now way he'll let us brush his teeth!  But Sneaky Baby strikes again, and in fact loves getting his teeth brushed.  Maybe it's the Elmo toothpaste.  Maybe it's the mirror that he gets to check himself out in.  Either way, Jude is an oral hygiene champ.  Here are a couple of pictures of the mini-dentist in action!

When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to one, and you want to have a little fun, you brush your teeth (ch-ch-ch-ch ch-ch-ch-ch-ch)....

When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to two, and you wish you had something to do, you brush your teeth (ch-ch-ch-ch ch-ch-ch-ch-ch)....

When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to three, and your mind starts humming, twiddle dee-dee, you brush your teeth (ch-ch-ch-ch ch-ch-ch-ch-ch)....

And Again....

Jude is sick. Again.
Another call from daycare, another dash from work to the school.
This time it's just a fever. Just a fever. So far, anyway.
I called the nurse line and they said he didn't need to come to urgent care unless his fever went up to 105, any other symptoms showed up, or he still has the fever in the morning.
I'm beginning to get better at this whole "parenting a sick child" thing, but I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

Since Jude is sick, we won't be going to our ECFE class tomorrow (Early Childhood Family Education). I'm kind of bummed because I was looking forward to the conversation we were going to have. But since we became parents, we've also become cancellers. I hate that. I hate that we are no longer dependable. I hate that we may or not come. I hate that we may or may not be on time. I hate that we sometimes have to miss out on the things that we'd like to do. I hate that I had to cancel a meeting at work today. I hate that we make plans and then can't follow through with them.

I know. I was probably too anal about all that stuff before and this is the healthy dose of "get over it" that I've been needing. I also know that other parents of small children totally get it and are definitely not judging me because honey, they've been there, too.

I think it's more the reality setting in of what everyone always told us - having kids will change your life. I knew that on an intellectual level, but learning that on an emotional level has been an entirely different story. Pre-baby, it was not unusual for us to hang out in our pajamas until 1:00 on a Saturday, then go run errands all afternoon and top off the day with dinner out. Now I'm up at 6:30 and planning my time away from the house in 2-3 hour increments. Or canceling work meetings. Or eating dinner at 5:00.

Ok. I don't want to complain. Because though the adjustment to life as a parent hasn't exactly been smooth sailing all the way, words can't describe how much I love Jude and honestly, a little change is quite worth it. Today, though he had a fever of 103, he was practicing standing on his own. It was amazing. There he was in his little footie pajamas with the guitar on them, squatting, then standing, then squatting again. Like a person.

So I guess if I have to cancel a meeting or two (or ten), it's ok. But I still hate that he's sick.

Sicky

This past week was really trying to be a parent - especially a working parent.  On Tuesday afternoon, on the first week back after two weeks off, we got a call from school that Jude had a high fever and we needed to pick him up. 

Lindsay whisked him off to Urgent Care where she had to endure a chest x-ray - Jude's second.  Because infants can't lay still on an x-ray table, they have to be clamped upright into a device that looks pretty much like a torture device:

No, that's not Jude in there... just a random pic from the internet.  And that baby doesn't appear to be crying.  Jude cries (as I'm sure you can imagine one would).  

Anyway, it was determined that Jude had "subtle pneumonia."  Awesome.  We got him on antibiotics, gave him some Albuterol via his penguin nebulizer (now named "Puffy") and began the delicate dance of "I HAVE to be at work tomorrow, but I can clear my calendar for Thursday."  In the end, Jude's fever lasted for only a day, but we each took a day off of work to make sure he had plenty of time to recuperate.  Now, a few days later, we're still talking to each other and Jude is back to his normal self (though he does have a lingering cough).  It was tough, but we all made it and it certainly made me realize how lucky we are to have a relatively healthy, happy baby.  

In the midst of it all, Jude was still learning, growing, and playing, as exampled below (both were shot while we were home with him, respectively, thanks to our new iphones - side note: HOW did we live without those things?)

More more more (How do you like it, how do you like it)

It's been a while back now, but over Thanksgiving, I started noticing Jude doing something interesting while he was eating.  In between bites, he kind of slapped his wrists together.  I almost didn't recognize it for what it was, but Jude was signing "more."  It was really amazing, because both Lindsay and I had been making the sign for more since Jude started eating solid foods.  In other words, months.  And finally, in an "Ah ha" moment for Jude, there he was... signing! 

Since then, Jude has decided that more is a universal communication tool.  Want more food?  More.  Want to keep playing?  More.  Want to get out of the carseat?  More.  Want someone to pay attention to you?  More. Want to take a bath?  More.  Of course, we've been challenged to try to guess what Jude wants and we certainly don't always get it right.  We've also been trying several other signs with him.... all done, drink, eat, milk, bath.... but unlike more, Jude hasn't figured out that there are different signs for different actions/needs.  The look on his face says it all, "Look, assholes.  I know that you do something whenever I slap my hands together.  Figure it out."

Supposedly most babies who are taught to sign will hit a "sign explosion" sometime around 14 months.  They'll start to realize that there are different signs for different things and suddenly want to know everything.  So maybe that time will be coming soon in which case, I'll need to brush up on my signing quickly. 

I love this video... Jude is just in a super good mood... cracking up about everything Mommy says and if you watch, you'll see him doing more.  More funny, please Mommy!