Dear Jude: 8 months

Dear Judes,
Happy 8 month birthday, little love! You have had a busy month of growing and changing, we are all trying to keep up with you!


You are a rolly poly little boy! You love to roll around on the floor and you enjoy getting stuck in small places, silly boy. You are sitting up really well these days and continue to seem very impressed by your balancing skills. I'm starting to get a bit nervous that you will be crawling soon. I'm in no hurry for that.


You've done a lot better with your night time sleep in the past few weeks. You still want to snuggle a few nights a week, but have given us a few long stretches that we are thankful for!


I don't know your weight or length, but you are still in a size 3 diaper and 6-9 month clothing. You got your first, and second, tooth this month! Both little bottom teeth are in and your smile is so cute now with those little razor sharp teeth poking out!


You've been using your new chompers to gnaw on mum mums and puffs this month. You seem very weirded out by those textures but always wind up eating them anyway! Your other new foods were green beans, broccoli, plums, apricots, and whole milk yogurt! In true baby Jude fashion, you've loved it all. The more food the better seems to be your motto. When your teeth were coming in you had a pretty significant nursing strike so you have been partially weaned to formula and are doing really well with it, so thankful that you are getting all that you need to grow delicious fat rolls!


This month you have really started "talking" a lot! I'm convinced your first words are right around the corner, I predict either "hi" or "dada." You babble a lot and make a really guttural growl a lot of times. You also have the best belly laugh of all time!


Taking a bath rates very high on your list of favorites. Other favorites include: getting attention from Liam, Freddy the firefly, anything on tv, eating, pulling hair, pinching, muslin blankets, your lovie, being in the floor, and snuggling. You dislike having a wet or dirty diaper and having to wait for food or nap time.


Baby Jude, it is so neat to see your personality develop and even more so since you are so different than your brother. I actually love not being able to predict your next move! Your smile is spectacular and your eyes already sparkle with mischief. Oh boy! We absolutely cherish you, darling boy, and are so so thankful that you are our tiny boy.

Love you forever, and ever,
Mommy

Salvaged dinner

Have you ever made lasagna? I learned today that it's not the easiest thing in the world to get those noodles to cooperate. I had intended to adapt this recipe {http://www.smells-like-home.com/2012/02/spinach-lasagna-2/} to be gluten free. When my noodles disintegrated, which could have been because they were gluten free, I decided to turn this into a layered baked spaghetti of sorts.

I tossed a pound of gluten free spaghetti noodles in the bechamel, which I halved by the way. And layered them between layers of fresh baby spinach, ground chicken that I cooked with garlic and onions and coated in pesto, ricotta mixed with an egg and some shredded mozzarella, and shredded Italian cheese. I baked it off for about 20 minutes, covered at 350, and then uncovered under the broiler for 5 minutes to brown up the cheese.

It turned out so yummy! I think this is definitely going into the meal rotation.

Liam Lately

I can't even begin to completely encompass just how big this child's personality is, but I will try to highlight a few recent examples of his awesomeness.


We spent the night with my mom in Arkansas on the way to Colorado. He always sleeps on the futon in her office so I'm really careful to make sure there isn't stuff he can get into. I went in to check on him and found him wearing sunglasses with a roll of medical tape in his finger and the lint roller next to him. There was also the spray nozzle to something and a dismantled flashlight that didn't make it into the frame. I nearly died laughing. And of course, we have no idea where he found any of that stuff!


Liam loves his "Bebe Joooode" and is constantly trying to give him a kiss. In this picture he was trying to teach him how to give a high five. Too precious.


He thinks that by flailing his hands around he is snapping. He will say, "your fingers!" and wiggle his hands around. Love it!


Some funny "toddlerese."
Airplane=haircane
Blow dryer=haircane
Traim=train
Bunny=funny
Any dog=Gus Gus
Lemay=lemonade
Everything belongs to someone, we hear "that's daddy's, monmy's, Jude's," all day long. He even goes as far as to identify the rocks in the front yard as Papo's. Animals are always identified by their name and then sound. For example, "that's a frog, ribbit ribbit."


Liam is all boy! He loves trucks, trains, planes, balls, and running around giving me a heart attack. We delight in his energy and zest for life. He adores people and is having the time of his life getting to play often with his cousins.


All of the cousins petting a snake that they caught. You can see the back of Liam's head. I wish I had a picture of his face! He was super interested, but not about to touch it willingly!


At the Studebaker International Meet on July 4th. He was excited to take his picture with "beep beep beep," but doesn't look excited because he was too busy quoting "The Little Blue Truck" to smile.


More brother love. :)