Dear Jude: 3 months

Dear Baby Jude,

You are already a quarter of a year old!? You are growing and learning so quickly, it's almost scary! We are loving your emergence into babyhood as you leave those sleepy newborn days.




Buddy, you are all about being your own person, and I love that! You will never be the same as your brother, but it would be okay if you wanted to pick up his sleeping habits. :) That being said, you are not an awesome sleeper. You are very unpredictable. You nap anywhere from 30 minutes-2 hours and your night stretches vary between 3-6 hours. Hopefully, this month you get a little more consistent.




I don't know your exact growth stats, but at your 2 month appointment two weeks ago, you weighed 11.1 pounds and were 22.25 inches long! That puts you in the 15th percentile for both length and weight! You are wearing mostly 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers when you aren't in a cloth diaper. You are getting really good at holding your head up and can almost roll over! You are smiling, cooing, laughing, and kicking. We are so pleased with your growth and development!




You love to eat, baby Jude! During the day you eat every three hours and get up once or twice at night to eat. You've been nursing almost exclusively to this point. You usually have a 5 ounce bottle of breast milk before bed. You do great at taking bottles which is great, starting tomorrow you will be 50% bottle fed while mommy is at work.




Jude, you have two moods: happy and furious! Things that make you happy: mommy, ceiling fans, playing in the floor, milk, funny sounds/faces, white noise, bath time, having your face/head tickled, mornings, kicking your legs, and playing in your bouncy seat. Things that make you furious: having to wait for milk, wet/dirty diapers, burping, afternoons/evenings, and being swaddled when you don't want to be.




Darling boy, you are loved so very much! Your mommy and daddy are so proud of you and your big brother is completely enchanted by you. We are so thankful that you have made us a family of four!

Love you forever, and ever,
Mommy

A snow story:

Last Thursday night it started snowing big, fluffy flakes. As they started sticking to the patio we decided that we really wanted to wake Liam up to let him experience the snow falling. He had seen snow a few times but had been too little to play in it until this time.

It was about 11pm when we woke him up, he was so snuggly and confused. We put some boots, a coat, and a hat on him and quickly rushed him outside to make, what we thought would be, awesome memories!

Apparently, Liam does not appreciate being woken up regardless of the reason! He basically screamed and cried the whole three minutes we were outside! In this picture, I was trying to give him a snowball but he was so mad he had his back turned on me!




I'm sure when he is a bit bigger he might enjoy being woken up to play in the snow, but not his time!

Fortunately, we woke up to half an inch of snow on Saturday morning and he was much more excited to play! He and Ryan went sledding (on a trash can lid) in our backyard and played until they were practically icicles!









I bundled Jude into his snowsuit and put him in the ergo carrier to take these pictures. He was so snuggly, and kept me warm!

Liam Lately

*almost always wearing a hat. Sometimes two hats. This blue beanie is his favorite and he's been known to sleep in it from time to time.




*Liam is flat-out in love with his daddy. He cries huge crocodile tears anytime Ryan leaves the house and is constantly saying "HI daddy" and climbing in his lap. Absolutely precious.


*he adores "baby Jude" and is always very concerned when he cries. He loves to "pet" Jude's hair and lay his head on Jude's and say "awwww." We have to watch him because sometimes this turns into a bit of a head butting situation.



*at school, Liam is known as the "one-man welcoming committee." He greets every person he sees with a very loud and enthusiastic, "HI!" We love that friendly spirit!



*He has always slept with a blanket, a lovie, and the light up sea horse that we call "Glowy." We have recently realized that he calls all three of them "gwwowy." They're his little bedtime trinity.



*He says "E-yum Hock" for his name. They "hock" sounds like someone who needs to spit. Hilarious. Amen is "Ha-mean." He loves playing with his trains and does a very good "chugga chugga choo choo" sound effect.



*Always reading, dancing, or counting. And in general, always being awesome! This kid makes my heart melt a million times a day. He is so funny and sweet and I am so blessed to be his mommy!

Dear Jude: 2 Months

Dear tiny boy,
You are two months old today! It seems like just the other day that you were born, but at the same time it seems like you've been a part of our family for a lot longer than two months! You fit into our family so well and we are loving getting to know your little personality!


You spent the first two weeks of this month being a perfect angel while we drove to Colorado and back visiting family along the way. You slept and traveled wonderfully. Unfortunately, you got sick along the way and came home with RSV. You had to be hospitalized for two verrrry long days and you are still getting over that yucky virus.


Baby Jude, you are a pro at keeping us on our toes. Sleep wise, you go anywhere from 3-6 hour stretches at night. Nothing predictable in your sleeping yet. During the day you eat every 3 hours, almost on the nose. I am thankful to be able to breastfeed you, but you do not make it easy. Lots of flailing limbs!


Last week, at your post-hospitalization follow up appointment we found out that you weigh 9 pounds, 8 ounces (more than that now) and you are almost 22 inches long! You have done a great job of growing, love, keep up the good work! You wear a size 1 diaper and are still mainly wearing newborn sized clothes, a few 0-3 months are starting to fit!


You are such a snuggle bug, baby Jude! You are never happier than when you are being loved on! You are also quite the noisy little bird. You squeak and grunt and squeal constantly, even in your sleep, it's precious. Your personality is definitely starting to show itself in your little, or not-so-little, temper. You can go from content to flat out furious faster than anyone I've ever known, you must have gotten a helping of temper from both the Irish and Italian sides of your family tree!


Buddy, you have stolen the hearts of everyone in this family. We are all just smitten with you, even your big brother! Even on days when you scream (like today), and nights that you don't sleep (like last night) you are a blessing just by being in my arms. We are so very thankful that you're ours!

Love you forever, and ever,
Mommy

p.s. your BFF, Thomas Crest Cummings was born today!!!! Woohoo!

Liam Lately

Liam bird has been his usual hilarious self lately. It's a shame that he has no personality! :)




Liam talks all day, everyday. Literally from the moment he wakes up, and he usually falls asleep jabbering or singing to himself. Some funny things that he says:
*When you are changing a dirty diaper he says, "woowee" and then, "siiiinky." Cracks me up every time.
*He has cultivated a deep passion for M&Ms, but he calls them "mimis."
*Ryan taught him to call Uncle Nathan, "putz." He draws it out into multiple syllables and chants it!
*Can count to 10, favorite number is "seben."
*Knows the tune and most of the ABCs
*Calls treats/candy "yummys."



Liam continues to love Gus even though I'm not sure Gus will ever return his love with as much fervor. Liam loves it when Gus licks his forehead (very rarely) and will routinely get down and stick his head in Gus' face. So funny.



Liam is a charmer! When he is in trouble he will often break the tension by asking for a "high five."



Liam's latest "trick" is that he's learned how to climb out of his pack & play. This is proving to make our long road trip a bit exhausting since that is where he is supposed to be sleeping! It's still quite funny.



To sum it up, Liam is a hilarious ball of energy and we are daily amazed by his intelligence, beauty, and capacity to steal our hearts.