Walking into Month 11!

Today (June 3), Judah received his twelve month pediatrician appointment. When they started to ask me questions pertaining to his development such as "is he crawling, " I laughed out loud and responded with, "He is walking." Judah's development has soared so much during his eleven month.

And walking he is or should I say practically running now. You can see him pick up speed at certain times and carefully turn corners. Judah is on the move every waking moment. It seems like you finish picking up the damage from one thing and then he is already into another thing. Perhaps that is why I have not sat down to write on the blog lately. I am either chasing Judah or sleeping from chasing Judah. He is a busy but very happy, fun little boy.

Judah likes to play games and explore his world. Together, we stack and knock down his "stacking cups." He really enjoys playing "peek-a-boo" followed by being chased and tickled and looks back at you to see if he is being chased. This month he has noticed his stuffed animals and often picks them up talking to them or attacking them in hugs. He has figured out cause and effect with putting his farm animals away in his barn/silo and getting them out again. Then he plays with his cars/tractors making motor sounds and driving them on the ground. He especially likes to put things in his bucket and shake it to where the items fall out. Judah has also figured out that his shapes go into their container and we often practice putting them in the right hole. And of course, Maestro will always be his favorite toy as he still likes to pull his tail and grab his hair.

Judah has a great sense of humor. Quite frequently he brings over an object to you, pretending like he is going to give it to you, and instead pulls it back again. Other times, Judah likes to look at the world upside down by putting his head on the ground and bending over. He also has started "hopping on pop, " which is attacking Tim with his whole body. He still likes to dance to music and so we have many dancing parties (yes, as a family), only now he also moves his shoulders and and his arms up and down in addition to swaying to the music (which is the cutest thing). Judah gives these silly grins where he will scrunch up his chubby little cheeks.

Sometimes these silly antics get Judah into trouble. You can almost see him turn and look at you right before he does something he is not supposed to do. He does this when he is near the fireplace. You can see him thinking, "Are they watching me?" And other times he just gets into trouble going full speed ahead. For example, as soon as the gate is left open, he is into Maestro's water dish.

Judah now communicates with you by pointing and grunting at things he wants and places he wants to go. Judah often walks around waving his arms just making talking sounds and looking for something to do or get into. He is very social around other kids now (or you can say territorial about his toys). About the only time Judah ever really sits still is to read books. Often he will take his books off his shelf and browse through them or he will carry one to you and plop in your lap expecting you to read it. His favorite books this month has become his alphabet and number books called My First Alphabet and My First Numbers (and even likes the Your Baby Can Read Book). Almost weekly on Friday mornings, we go to the downtown Des Moines Public Library for story time (Lap Time for 0-18 months). Here we enjoy stories, songs, flannel boards, instruments, activities, toys, and interaction with babies the same age. Judah and I like to check out picture books (such as Me Baby, You Baby and the Baby Goes Beep) now to bring home to read.

Judah loves to play outside. If we are not outside, you will find him looking out the front door. Outside, Judah will play in the dirt (most often eating it), throwing or kicking his balls, sticking his fingers in soap bubbles, and picking mommy's flowers. In face one day a call was made to the Poison Control Center of Iowa to see if a mouthful of fertilized potting soil was harmful. We still make it to the park occasionally for a swing or a ride down the slide with mommy. Quite often we take walks to Valley Junction for Thursday Farmers Market in the Junction or to drop off some mail to the post office. We also stroll together on the bike paths or take a bike ride as a family in the evenings. At these moments, Judah enjoys watching the world go by as he lounges and relaxes in his stroller or his bike trailer (often falls asleep in his trailer). When it is hot, the sprinkler comes out for Judah to play in the water. He loves to splash water holding out his hands in the sprinkler and laughs. On a sunny Friday, we often go to a garage sale or two as well.

You would not know that Judah is in the third percentile for height at and weight (at 18 pounds) for how much he eats. This month we started him on whole rice, crackers, oatmeal, pasta, apples, shredded pork, and hamburger, in addition to others. He even had his first couple meals of real table food when we had roast pork and potatoes one night and hamburger, vegetable stew another night. His favorite is still peas and cheerios though. Being totally into finger foods has created a challenge to get Judah to eat some foods. That is when we discovered he likes little cracker sandwiches (with almost anything in the middle). Likewise, Judah still likes his cheerios covered in yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast. He has become proficient at using his cup and likes to drink water (except you have to grab it before he starts playing with it). He started two snacks for the day in addition to his three meals. About halfway through his meal, his bib continues to come off as he somehow manages to pull it off. His clothes are not the only thing that have started getting covered in food. He has started throwing food onto the floor when he decides he does not like it.

All his growth goes into his hair. Judah's hair now goes down to his eyes and the mullet in back has started curling when it is dry. When his hair is wet, it becomes one very long rat tail. Also, his hair has gotten lighter with a reddish tent to it. He has only been called a girl once but once is all it takes for it to get it cut. Almost always he has long nails (with dirt in them) since the only time to cut them is when he is asleep in the car (fights it otherwise). His body remains slender in all his active play. He does have a long back thanks to the Rittgers family genes. He also has been working on tooth number three on the upper, front right side. Judah enjoys brushing his teeth or combing his hair just like mommy and daddy in the morning (he even combs my hair).

Judah thankfully is just starting to do two naps a day again. After about two months of fighting one nap, Judah is settling back into two naps on occassion(cross my fingers). Waking up earlier in the morning, he usually is ready for a nap about two-three hours later and then again around two or three in the afternoon. Usually one nap is two and a half hour nap while the second one is a much smaller nap. If for some reason he only does one nap, we try to hold him out until a earlier but long afternoon nap. He knows it is nap time after you read him books and get up from the rocker and he starts to fuss. After you leave the room, he settles down usually sometime during the bink throwing and the crib chewing. The funny thing about nap time is you have to be absolutely quiet when he falls asleep but once asleep, you can move furniture around in his room and he would not even move. Bedtime has been consistent around 8:00pm every night. We have moved his baths to the tub now since he splashes so much. Judah has unfortunately gotten into the habit of waking up once between 3-5:00am but thankfully he falls asleep again.

Every weekend in May we went out of town or we had company. To start off the month, our friend Katie visited for a day to play with Judah. Mother's Day weekend we celebrated Judah's birthday with both sets of families. Everyone stayed in town for church the next day with Judah's baby dedication in the second service. Then we had everyone out to the house for a nice Sunday Mother's Day dinner (the catered kind with paper plates). Next, Tim went to New York City for five days to the National Boys and Girls Club Conference and a technology conference sponsored by Microsoft. While he was gone, Judah and I went up to the farm to hang out with Papa and Gigi (Grandma). As Tim was attending sessions on managing staff, Judah and I were going to garage sales, spending the day with Jacob, beating Uncle Matt at Skip-Bo, and taking four-wheeler rides. Then the third weekend we went down with the Rittgers clan to Kansas City to celebrate cousin Gabe's first birthday. It was nice to have all three cousins together for the first time and watch them play. The following Memorial weekend, we had another party for Judah with our friends. Our out of town friends, John and Beth stayed Sunday for breakfast too. The rest of Memorial weekend was spent resting or eating leftovers with friends.

Mommy has been busy campaigning again for one of our Congressional Candidates, Jim Gibbons. Helping with social conservative outreach, some of my spare time has gone to writing notes and making phone calls. I also finally finished planting my garden. In the small garden in front of our porch I have planted another rose bush (called Laura Bush that Tim and Judah gave me for Mother's Day), some Hostas, a Bleeding heart, Marigolds, and Snapdragons with three hanging pots and two ground pots with Geraniums and other filler plants. The side landscape I have turned into a vegetable garden with peas, beans, peppers and windowsill baskets of leaf lettuce and herbs. Now that I actually have time to keep up my garden this year and make it look nice, Judah is at the stage where he wants to dig it all up.

Tim moved into the Director of Operations position this month at the Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa. This challenging position is a nice transition after doing the Youth Leadership Institute for 6 years and Director of Technology for 4 years. He finds himself busy with managing staff, meetings, grant writing, and program development. Occasionally Tim has gone golfing on a Sunday afternoon for fun.