A New Year and Seven Months!

So earlier this month (January 4), I was sitting beside Judah who was on his new steering wheel bike he got for Christmas, watching him sit on his bike and drive with one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand moving the shifter up and down (where did he learn that). He then pulled himself up in a standing position, bouncing to the music from the toy followed by sitting back down and putting his feet up as he pretended to ride the bike. I happened to be sitting close enough for him to occasionally reach over and grab me to give me a slobber kiss on the lips and return to driving. Later this month (January 31), I was also sitting near Judah who was playing with the same toy. Only this time he was standing behind the bike pushing it and walking behind it. He would stop, grab me with one hand, and then move to the front of the bike to play with the steering wheel.

Judah has started the New Year on the move. From the moment he is awake to the moment he is asleep, he is one active boy. Judah started the month crawling across the room. He discovered that he can get into things on his own and chase the cat (his sole motivation for this milestone). This new world of discover has allowed him to explore our records, Maestro's toys, the cat water dish, and to mop up the dust on the tile floor among other things. It is fun to watch Judah crawl on all fours especially as he gains speed. Earlier on you would catch him up on his toes doing push-ups before he plopped down on his knees. Also he would half sit up (this is when he still couldn't sit up on his own) in a lounging position with his head turned back looking at you giving you that look like come and get me. Judah never tires of crawling, sitting-up, crawling, and sitting-up again over and over. This is most evident in his pursuit of the cat as he rapidly chases Maestro, Maestro moves as Judah pauses for a fistful of hair, Judah crawls again laughing as he goes, and the process is repeated. When I take his pants off to change his diaper, his poor little knees are all red. Taking several minutes to to wrestle his diaper back on, Judah is off again whether the diaper is on or not.

The moment he mastered crawling, he was already working on the next milestone: standing and walking. Judah has now experienced more bumps, scrapes, and falls from this milestone. One afternoon (January 8) I put Judah down for a nap and as normal he started to fuss. I walked out of the room as I tend to do until he settles down to rock. A minute later it got unusually quiet. I peeked in to see if he had actually fallen asleep. Nope! He had pulled himself up onto his feet and was standing in the crib just laughing at me. Time to lower the crib! And lower the crib we did! By middle of the month (January 14), Judah got his first scrape on his own. And he got it from trying to stand. Tim caught Judah pulling himself on the outside of the steps/railing on the bottom step. Once he was up on his two feet, he moved to the next step, and finally once he accomplished that, he moved to the third step before finally taking a tumble and scraping his finger on the wood railing along the way. Again (January 31), Judah got his first goose egg from a similar experience with the glider footstool. Judah just pulls himself right back up on his feet again and again with any object, moves back and forth between things like chairs, and actually releases his grip at times to reach for things. I have counted him standing on his own for five seconds. Judah wants so bad to stand and move around. Most recently, he even has mastered squatting and standing back up instead of plopping down on his backside. You will often find him on his hands and his feet with his backside in the air pulling himself up from the floor trying to stand without any support.

Judah's ability to move around has given him the opportunity to get in trouble (mainly with the fireplace, chords, vents, and the cat stuff). The other day, Judah got his hand slapped for the first time due to getting into the cat food and water dish. Still he goes after things (January 31) and once again he acted on his fascination with the cat dish. Both Tim and I were nearby telling him "no" and "stop." He did stop, turn and look at us, and then inched a little closer. Finally, he decided he would go just past the dish to pick up Maestro's toy mouse. Turning back, he held the toy mouse right over the water dish and dropped it in the water dish soaking the mouse. His look back at us said it all, "I did not touch it." His need to explore has helped in the need to speed up baby proofing the house. One weekend, Tim and I (Judah watched from the crib) moved my craft corner into the closet for me to be able to leave stuff out but still shut the door. We also put padding on the fireplace stone as well as a baby gate at the top of the stairs. Judah will be in enough trouble without adding to it with unsafe items.

Judah also has also starting clapping and waving (still working on them though). When you play patty cake, he will grab your hands and play along. He likes to listen to music, especially his new tunes from Christmas, and you can get him occasionally to clap along to songs like Pop Goes the Wiesel. Whether in his jumpy swing or in his booster seat, Judah always bounces to the music. In his swing, you will see him step with one leg at a time (I call it the bunny hop) and in his booster seat, his upper body moves to the rhythm. A few times I have gotten out objects to use as drums and we have fun hitting mommy's bowls in beat or drumming on the table. Judah also likes to make his rattles sound to the beat like a tambourine. Sitting on the floor playing, Judah always has his legs moving and kicking as if excited about the next best thing. In front of the mirror, if prompted Judah will wave hello to himself. Judah likes the game of standing in front of the mirror waving and saying hi to his reflection. He also has discovered that it is him touching the mirror as well as the the shiny bowls we play with.

All this movement has really changed up our schedule. Judah takes about 3 hours of naps a day: one hour in the morning and two hours in the afternoon or vice versa. He has been starting to get tired earlier in the evening making us wonder if he is ready to sleep twelve hours overnight (maybe?). Judah usually wakes up from anytime after 6:30am in the morning. Allowing time for breakfast of rice cereal and banana, getting dressed, and morning chores like laundry or unloading the dishwasher, Judah is ready for his morning nap about two hours later. Depending on how long he sleeps, this will leave us time to play or run errands to places like Bass Pro Shop (to see the fish and waterfall), walk the malls, or play with friends like Lexi Reeves or on Thursday morning playgroup. Daddy usually joins us at home for lunch and by 2pm, Judah is ready for his afternoon nap. After nap, we are on the move again often playing and finishing the chores we started earlier that day as well as trying to start supper. Judah likes to play with his new toys for a bit longer after supper such as Buster, the Penguin, stacking blocks on the shelf, or banging his rattles around. Judah gets a brief wipe down or a bath when we can splash around and pop bubbles (twice a week) and is off to bed around 8:00pm.

Growing bigger at 17 pounds and 3 ounces, Judah is wearing 9+ month clothes now (except for socks since he always pulls them off). Judah lost some weight from being on the move but lately he has gained it back as we have added carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado, applesauce, and banana to his diet. While he grabs and chews on one spoon, you can sneak in another bite of food with the other spoon. Most often he wants to feed himself and does a good job of taking the spoon from you and sticking it in his mouth (but upside down). Although he went through a phase of not wanting to eat this month (probably due to his ear infection), more recently he has been eating close to a tablespoon of food at most meals again. Also, he enjoys drinking out of the sippy cup of water or milk (or tipping it over) or even mommy's real glass. We have been putting more and more food on the tray like bananas and rice cakes and you can see him coordinate his fingers in a pinching position to pick it up or move it around. On occasion, I distract him with rice cakes dipped in food for him to lick off. Judah has become more engaged in eating so much so that when he is finished you will find him sitting on rice cake or find hair covered with sweet potato (sorry Lexi). Maestro has enjoyed finding the food leftover on the floor and daddy has enjoyed cleaning the floor! Then we end our meal with Judah standing up next to his chair chewing on his seat buckle for dessert.

He has been wearing his warm pajamas a lot during the day this month so his feet stay warm in during the chilly temperatures we have had. His hair is getting thicker and hangs slightly over his ears (no Tim, you cannot cut it). Occasionally when you catch a profile with his fluffy hair, you get a glimpse of Uncle Philip at that age. Judah also bites down on his lower lip giving him the allusion of a mischievous smile. Judah has started saying "blah, blah" more now as well.
Judah also loves to chew his Bink backwards. You often see him twist it around in his mouth, chew on the handle, and throw it around in his hand.

All tuckered out from being on the move and recovering from Christmas excitement, Judah came down with his first cold. Without running a fever and showing no signs of teeth yet, we were a little confused why he kept waking up at night fussy. At first thinking he was cold, we added a onsie layer to his nighttime wardrobe. Then we added Tylenol. Next we went to the doctor and had him checked for strep and ear infection (with no such luck). Meanwhile both Tim and I developed a cold with a cough, sore throat, and runny nose. So after a week of being cooped up for six days straight with colds and frigid temperatures outside, we went to the doctor again. This time Judah had an ear infection which was causing him to wake up at night several times and lower his appetite considerably. A couple of nights both Tim and I have taken shifts with Judah from midnight to five in the morning because he would not sleep (and was really hyper). By week two, Tim got over his cold leaving Judah and I with a congested cough and a runny nose. Judah just finished his second round of antibiotic for his ear infection and we see a specialist regarding his ears. On top of the ear infection, Judah is also on the mend from a case of eczema skin rash all over his legs and underneath his chin thanks to creme that we have been applying three times a day.

The rest of the month Tim and I have been catching up on sleep from chasing Judah, from the frigid cold, and from waking up at night. Tim has been especially busy at work this month picking up the slack from his Director of Operations leaving and from implementing a new teen program for students from East High while resuming his normal tasks like YLI recruitment and programming and web design work. His hard work has paid off as he been named a member of Des Moines Top 40 under 40 through the Business Record this month. Judah and I have explored more places trying to get away from the cold. On Thursday mornings, we attend a playgroup at a nearby church. At least once or twice a week, Judah and I get together with our friends for playtime and lunch. Other times we run errands or go to events like the Branstad rally a few weeks back. At home, Judah and I find projects to do like organizing or painting letters for his name. And yes, it has really taken me a month to write this post!