Happy Jude in yellow.
Dear Jude,
This letter was supposed to begin with, “Today you are 4 months old.” And then when I got behind, it was supposed to begin with “Today you are 5 months old.” But instead, you get a letter that begins with, “Today you are 5 months and 11 days old.” Life is full of people letting you down, so you may as well start getting used to it, I suppose.
Anyway, the real reason I haven’t written is because you and I have been busy busy beavers in the last two months. At the end of October, we went up to visit Aunt B (That’s Grantie B to you!) and she took care of you while I processed pictures from a big photo shoot. You had lot’s of fun with Aunt B, playing in your baby gym and taking walks on the beach with her. Here you are in the carrier getting ready for an outing. Because it was in the high 90s in Los Angeles when we left for Pacific Grove for our visit, it didn’t even occur to me to bring a hat for you, so you had to suffice with my snowboarding beanie. I think you looked awfully cute.
Jude with Aunt-B
Right after we got back from Pacific Grove, we made a quick stop at the house and packed up some cold weather clothes for you, picked up Daddy, and headed off into the mountains for a retreat with the college group. Did you know that you have become their mascot? They really love you and you seem to like them too!
Lake Arrowhead with College Group
The next week, we went out of town again for a trip to Fresno to see your new buddies, twins Jeremey and Mason, the newborn sons of our friends Matt and Christina. You were a giant next to Jeremey! It’s amazing to see how tiny you were (but I don’t think you were ever as tiny as they were.)
Jude and Jeremy with 2 old fogies!
We had come up so that I could take their newborn pictures, and while it was lot’s of fun, it was also challenging for me, because the first night there, you learned how to roll over! The only problem was, you didn’t know how to roll back, and you did not like being on your tummy for sleeping. So for all of your naps, you cried and cried until you finally passed out. Daddy tried to comfort you, but you weren’t used to being rocked to sleep. We usually just gave you a kiss and laid you down to go to sleep. This was what you were used to, so it was no good trying to hold you until you could fall asleep in our arms. But as soon as he put you down, you rolled over onto your tummy again, and so it went.
Jude screams
As soon as we got home from the shoot, we ordered a wriggle wrapper, which we will use as a portable highchair for you when you’re bigger, but for now, it helped you sleep flat on your back without rolling over. You were much more relaxed once we got you settled into it, and so was mommy. You’ve been sleeping every night since then in your wriggle wrapper, and now we’re trying to help you sleep without it!
After we got back from Fresno, we had Halloween to look forward to! Boy was that fun! Your Nana sent you a super cute little penguin costume, and you just barely still fit into it on Halloween night. We had fun showing you off at the Halloween carnival at church.
The only penguin ever found in So.Cal!
You continue to grow and get more and more mobile. Now, not only are you rolling, but you are scooting around all over the place! First it was little scoots around in a circle, and now you scoot toward things you want. Mean mommy that I am, once I noticed this, I started moving things farther and farther away from you to get you to work on those mad scooting skillz! Go baby go!
Need sports mode!
You are also getting more and more vocal, and your “words” are more and more varied. I love to hear you squeal in delight and laugh when we play peek-a-boo. As each day goes by your personality expresses itself more and more and your daddy and I fall more and more in love with you.
Jude Squeaks from Rachel and Kevin Hill on Vimeo.
In November we went to your second cousin Judy’s house to visit with Judy, Connie and Lance, and Claudia and Larry. You had so much fun entertaining them with your antics, rolling around and smiling and spitting up on everybody!
The next week, we went to your Great Aunt Kay’s house for Thanksgiving where you saw second cousin Claudia, Larry, and their girls Kelly and Vanessa. Kelly had never met you, but you felt like old friends with her! Here you are with Kelly on the left and Vanessa on the right. They are your first cousins, once removed. Can you keep that straight? Good, neither can we.
Jude (a.k.a. ladies man…) with Kelly and Vanessa
Recently, you’ve started waking up more and more in the middle of the night. You are growing so fast that you are a hungry little boy, and so your daddy and I are excited about starting solid foods with you. Hopefully getting some more substantial food in you during the day will help you sleep better at night. Your daddy and I are VERY ready for you to go back to sleeping through the night. You’ve already started on a little rice cereal in your bottle, and next up is banana and then avocado! We tried spoon feeding you rice cereal a few weeks ago, but you weren’t quite ready for it just yet. But once you get the hang of it, it’s going to be lot’s of fun!
First
We are so excited for you to have your first Christmas! This month will have lot’s of first for you! First plane ride, first time seeing Grandpa Joe, first time seeing Uncle Josh and Aunt Jen and we couldn’t be more excited for you! We’re also excited that you will get to see your cousin Will again! Maybe you guys will be able to actually “play” a little this time.
Well, mommy is still working on finishing up her photography jobs, so she can’t write anymore now, but I have to say how proud I am of you for all you’ve learned in the last through months. You are growing so fast into such a perfect and wonderful little boy! You are growing right before our eyes, and you are growing too fast! Stop it! I wish I could freeze time at each and every one of these moments in your life and treasure it forever. I love you so much and am excited to see the next adventures that we have waiting for us!
Jude with Mommy.
Love, Mama
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