jabberwocky.

so it seems that just over two months ago i entitled a blog "chatterbox." what was i thinking? obviously i am a first time mom, because here i sit just eight short weeks later... with a real reason to entitle a blog "chatterbox." so, since i've used that one up, here i will begin what i've not so creatively titled "jabberwocky."


just within the past week has my strong, silent type turned into a jabbering monkey. he had been gnawing on anything within arm's reach and suddenly decided that the gnawing was much more fun while trying to talk. sure, i'd been noticing him putting vowel-consenant sounds together a LITTLE, but boy oh boy! he has really figured it out! he moves his mouth in so many ways now and i can actually see the comprehension when he is watching the way my mouth moves when i am talking to him. it's insane how different my boy is these days! i keep expecting to hear the ma-ma-ma or da-da-da sounds that i've been dying for. but seriously, the little jabberwocky is adorable. he talks, he plays, he scoots, and he just does so much more than he did six months ago... go figure! and six months has flown by!

he started cereal about a week and a half ago as well. that has been fun. much more work for me, but fun nonetheless. i decided at some point several months to go au naturale with mr.jude. so he is only breastfed, a co-sleeper, a sometimes slinger, and an organic, homemade food eater who waited nearly the full six months before his first bite. my doc (OBGYN) and jude's doc both talked to me in depth about the benefits of waiting and also doing the homemade thing. they both warned me full well about the dangers of starting solids too early and i'm glad i listened. it's not a method for every mom nor a path for every baby, but it totally worked for us. and i'm not so rigid that i waited until six months to the day (or later) for the cereal thing. i just did a lot of research, trusted my gut, and listened to jude. originally i had decided to start feeding him on christmas day, so that zachary could be a part of it, but of course things planned with babies never work out. but i did wait until a morning that zach was home from work to feed our little one for the first time. the morning time is ideally the best time to introduce new foods in case of allergic reactions to ensure that your ped's office will be open for just such an occasion. but luckily, there was no need of that for jude, though he did make terrible faces and act as though i was torturing him by feeding him on that initial day. but since then he has adapted nicely to the new texture and i have perfected my recipe and portion size for his rice cereal. i will say the rice has constipated him somewhat (not uncomfortably) and so i have added 1/2TBSP of organic pears to his morning ceral and 1TBSP of pears alone in the evening. it seems to have helped although he hasn't been going every day and so i guess it's one of those lovely TMI questions i will bring up with my pediatrician. but if there is one definite thing that has changed about me since i have become a parent, it is that nothing seems like TMI (too much information) to me nowadays. i call my mom to talk about jude's puke, poop, penis... everything. my friend elijah made the comment that he wished he could be a baby because all you have to do is survive and you are incredibly impressive. "oh look he's pooping, eating, smiling, etc... how special and wonderful!" lol. i guess it's totally true.

speaking of impressive, i have a super scooter on my hands these days also. he slides backward all over the hardwood floors like a pro. he can turn himself all the way around with his hands, too. on not-so-slippery surfaces he can get onto his knees and hold his position or rock back and forth for up to a minute before tiring or getting bored. it's astounding really. three and a half weeks ago he couldn't do that! i am so stoked to see this boy crawl. (though i do kind of dread having to chase him.)

mr.jude has also learned to sit unassisted. this was one of the clues that he was ready for solid food. just a couple weeks ago he could barely sit alone for a few seconds before tipping over, now he can sit for several minutes (or until he decides whatever is in front of him is no longer as interesting as what is beside him) but he still prefers to be on his tummy and moving around.

and since he's been much more easily entertained and self-entertaining, he is getting a little easier to travel with. today i took him with me to register for class and it wasn't all that much trouble. sort of. haha. no, he was great. very sweet, quiet, and clingy. he rarely makes a fuss these days (not that he ever really has) and is an absolute peach in public. he seriously just quietly clung to my shoulder and observed everything today until engaged by my advisor to whom he actually opened up to a little and even said a few ooo-glee-blahs.

i am just convinced that i have the best baby ever. especially lately. last month he went through a hard to get to sleep phase off and on and i sometimes have struggled to get him to nurse at night (hence the bottles at night for the past few months) and that kind of thing, but lately all of that has disappeared. he went through a week or so of teething discomfort recently, but since that has worn off for the time being, he is an angel. he goes to bed between 9-10:30 most nights now by nursing and then simply laying beside me with his pacifier. sometimes i have to rock him in my arms for a couple of minutes, but it's that easy really. i have noticed that he night-wakes or cat naps when no one is in the bed with him or at least close at hand, but i think that is a personality trait instead of a bad habit. and honestly why wouldn't i want to lay in bed next to that sweet boy for hours while he sleeps? it works for me, because when he is in another room sleeping, i am in and out of that room at least every 3 minutes. (worry wart, right here. admitted.) but anyway, so goes to sleep like a dream and then he sleeps until about 6ish when he nurses and goes back to sleep, wakes up around 9ish to nurse again and then usually goes back down until 11. i get to sleep in! it's lovely. he is totally his mother's child. and he never cries when he wakes up. he just starts talking, or either lays there silently and reaches out and touches my face. !!! i know, right? howwwww cute. i just love him!

i will admit that he is a whiner. a total and complete whiny-baby. he makes this cute little puppy sounding whine. and mostly during the evening or when he is hungry/tired. but it's hardly annoying, more endearing. he only cries when he is overly tired at night, sometimes when he night-wakes, or if he smashes his nose on the quilt or a toy. he got his first bruise last week! and it was all my fault. i felt like total crap about it and probably would have cried had i not been around so many people. we were at zach's cousin lauren's house visiting (she has a son, noah, who is just 19 days younger than jude) and i had him sitting in front of me and i turned to get a bib and he tipped over and hit his head on a cabinet. of course i was mortified, but he didn't even cry. i scooped him up and held him for a long time. did i mention that i felt really bad? ugh. it was the worst. and then a couple days ago mom was playing with him on his quilt and i was sitting on the couch next to them watching a movie and she had him sitting up and i guess we both got distracted by the movie but he definitely fell backwards and bonked his head on the floor. and cried. i immediately jumped up and swooped him up and talked gently and reassuringly to him (which usually works to calm him down) and he would stop cryingm think about it, and then start bawling again. it was really sad. again, i felt like the worst mom ever for not watching him. but i guess i do learn from these accidents. anyway, it still sucks...

what else? hmm... i don't know. it's 11:30 and i am utterly exhausted. i will write more later :)