Jude 1.25

Jude, our "touchy" baby. He's the only one in the family who didn't recover from "the great sickness" on his own. After snotting and coughing for over two weeks, I finally took him in to the doctor. He just finished up antibiotics and has been doing much better. But now that we're beyond the "rubbing boogers on Mommy's shirt" and 5am coughing fits, we've moved into more teething. Like his brother, Jude has his front 4 teeth on the top and bottom, skipped the canines, and is moving on to the "back teeth" (I don't know what they're called!). So we've been dealing with a few random fevers recently, as well as tossing his lunch up all over Mommy ... while she was on the phone with her Director.

We love our Jude-bug's walk. We get a kick out of it every day. And he's loving his new form of transportation. He now chooses walking over crawling and can usually be found carrying some object from somewhere and depositing it in another place it shouldn't be. Which would explain why I'll find one shoe in the kitchen, a toothbrush floating in the toilet, or Jon's alarm clock behind the living room chair. It's also why we've gone over a week so far without Jack's video monitor. I've always wondered at what point I'd stop using a monitor with Jack. Well I now have the answer, it's at 2 years, 9 months ... or when your brother is last seen carrying the monitor and since then it's nowhere to be found.


Jude's latest nickname is "Chicken Little." He tends to walk around with a worried look on his face and saying "uh-oh" all day. That's Jude's word. You know, the one they say over, and over, and over again. Like a broken record. Jack's was "more" but Jude's is "uh-oh."

"The sky is falling!"

But when he's not worrying he's showing off his new personality. You know, the one kids get right around the time they turn 1? And lately we're seeing both extremes.

Jude has a great laugh! Jon said it sounds like Brad Pitt. Which is strange. Because I'm the woman in this house and I most definitely do not know what Brad Pitt's laugh sounds like. I'll pay more attention now. But I know Jude's, and it's a fun one. The kind that makes you work extra hard to prolong the happiness. "Why yes I'll throw this beach ball at your head for the gazillionth time today, just to hear you laugh." "Sure I'll pretend to bite your sticky, dirty fingers again and again and again, just because it makes you giggle." And Jack gets in on the fun too. He loves to put on a show, and Jude makes a very appreciative audience.

Jude's "crabby" pajamas, an appropriate addition to many a morning.

But when he's down, he's down. Jude has proven he can be a real crank at times. And he's definitely got a strong "bratty" side coming out recently. For instance, when he doesn't get his own way, he head-bangs. The floor, the furniture, the wall. The doctor says this is normal. I think Jack went through a similar phase too. But Jude's banging is so obviously in protest, so apparently "Hey, you're not going to give me what I want? See if you like this bang, bang, bang." Except he's the one who ends up crying at the end. Or with a bloody cut above his eye.

And that's just the tip of his tantrums. His other nickname is "Prince Jude" because he's so vocal about his wants... or not wants. For instance, generally he DOES NOT want his diaper changed. I dread diaper changes at this point. He's so squirmy. And then he kicks his feet, and puts his hands in poop, and then grabs the dirty diaper and flings it across the table, flips over and almost dives off the end. Unless Marmie is changing him. Then he lays there quietly studying a toy, pretending to be the Angel Baby so many people think he is.

Jude learned how to blow raspberries from his brother, and they like to have entire conversations like this together  ... over dinner.

Between his sinus infection, horrible cough and teething Jude's been up in the night more than usual. Usually he just wants a drink a water (emphasized by pointing and the door and grunting) and some cuddles before going back down. But not every night is so easy. And he almost always, definitely, does NOT want to be rocked. C'mon, what baby doesn't want to be rocked? We broke down and bought a glider 6 months ago and my kid doesn't even like it. He insists that Mommy stand, and sway, and rub his back ... Except Mommy is oh so very tired. The other night, during one particular post-midnight shift, I caught myself falling asleep while standing up. I figured this was probably not safe for me or either of my babies, so I sat down in the glider. Jude immediately sprang up and threw a fit. A fist flying, back arching, feet kicking, about to flip out of my arms fit. Obviously wide-awake at this point, I attempted to console him for the next 20 minutes... to no avail. He went back in his crib and worked things out on his own at that point.

A rarely seen instance of Jude picking on Jack!

So Jude's hit a bit of a rough patch at this age. I've been expecting this. As difficult as it was, I knew having a 2-year-old and a newborn was nothing compared to having an almost-3-year-old and a 1-year-old. But I also know that the tough times are usually the really good ones too. Typically when my boys are going through developmental changes, testing the waters, learning new things, they are really, really fun as well. And this current stage is no exception. When the boys are not picking on each other, they're really starting to act like friends. I even had time to catch up on my Bible study lesson this evening while they happily played together in the den!  So I'm counting on what everyone's been telling me - that having kids close together, while tough at first, really pays off when they are a bit older. But for now, I'm bracing myself for the fall.