A big day in the life of Judah

Today was a big day for Judah. He had a some new experiences. One he really liked and one he really didn't.

He really liked eating buckwheat crepes.

Ralph has learned that being around a baby is the coolest. He is all about laying right next to Judah and hoping that he just might get some food.

Judah was thoroughly impressed with his meal of buckwheat crepes.

Today was the first time he wore that onesie. Sadly, it will also probably be his last. It is 12 month size, but is totally tight on him. The sleeves are too short as well, as evidenced by the sighting of chubby little wrist rolls. It is so annoying how all the different brands size things differently. I know that is how it is with all clothes and I am fine with that when it comes to clothes for me, because I can try stuff on. But there is no way I'm going to make Judah try stuff on ahead of times. Getting him dressed is not the most awesome part of my day. I have no desire to multiply that process.

Judah's second big new experience of the day was *playing* in the snow. He was not a fan. I think that was more about the fact that it was dangerously close to his afternoon nap-time and less about the actual snow. Weather allowing, we will try again tomorrow (maybe right after a nap, instead of right before).

There was only one part he enjoyed. Bouncing up and down on Bill's shoulders. He pretty much always enjoys that.

It was bright out today

Today I (kind of) got shit done

Today was one of those days where I felt like I kind of maybe am getting a handle on this whole sahm thing. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Judah can sit on his own and play with his toys for 2.5 minutes.

Today we went for a walk (and missed the down pour- what luck!), made the bed in the guest room, did laundry (the other stuff that always need to be done like blankets and spare towels and whatnot), cleared off the kitchen table, went through the mail (it tends to build up around here), went through & hung up  my earrings, and took care of poor Gert (who is recuperating from her knee surgery).

However, in all honesty, none of these tasks were completed 100% (well, except for the walk). There are little piles of unfinished projects in pretty much every room of the house. Oh well, maybe tomorrow I can actually finish some of those tasks.

Btw, guess who is awake right this very second???



Yup, it's Judah. He has recently started boycotting his bedtime. We get all ready for bed, following the routine we have had since he was like a month old, but now instead of falling asleep after nursing... he wakes up! And stays up. For hours. Not sure if this is because we fucked with his schedule over the holidays or it is just one of those phases that babies go through.

Now, I will really feel accomplished if I can get out a couple more blog posts!

Thursday

Uhh, here are some pictures from today... 

These are all sooc... but I was messing with the white balance (which is why the first set is nice and warm). I also used the b&w setting on the camera which creates a muuuuch nicer black and white than post production manipulation- at least on the crappy photo editing program I have. *Sigh* my free photoshop trial has expired. That was fun while it lasted.

Chew toy

I have posts to create about Christmas and Judah turning 6 months old. But those seem like just too much effort at the moment. Instead, enjoy Judah chewing on one of his toys.

That is all.

Double trouble

My almost 4 year old niece is staying with us for a few days.

There she is, hanging an ornament she made on our tiny plastic tree

And, mannnnn, two kids create far more than double the exhaustion level of just one. I'd say quadruple. At least. And here I've been bitching about my lack of 'me' time lately. Today was just a wee taste of the amount of 'me' time I'll have once there are two kiddos permanently running around our house (I'm not implying that it will be happening any time soon, mind you). The thought is that we will eventually have 3 kids, so I'm guessing I'll get about an hour of 'me' time... per year.

In non-exhaustion related news, Judah tried bread today.

We learned from our mistake yesterday. No more plates for this guy.

Hope you are prepared to be inundated by daily photos of Judah eating food. It is just so novel that I can't help but take pictures of him eating. Like. A. Real. Person.

Avocado: The food of champions

It is also the first food of Judah. Bill has been just dying for Judah to start eating. For the last two months or so he has been continually asking me if "Judah can eat the scone? Orange? Ice cream? Cookie? Pasta?" And I kept saying, "No." And then he would get all sad. But, alas, I had to cave sometime. We were planning on waiting until he hit 6 months (Wednesday), but we will be pretty busy that day so today was the day.

Ralph figured out that there was food that just might make it into his mouth. Gert figured out that shiz from the start.

We are doing baby led weaning. I first heard about it from the omnipotent Modg. I decided to look into it more so I downloaded the book for the kindle (but, have yet to read all of it). So much of the book is dedicated to trying to convince you to do it, and we had already decided this was what we wanted to do... I just need to read the how-to chapters. Baby led weaning is a way of babies feeding themselves. No mush, no purees, no hear-comes-the-airplane shenanigans. Judah will eat what we eat (within reason). He decides how much or how little to eat. He gets to play with it (which is how he learns). He gets all his real nutrition from BFing, the food it just for fun.

He loves sticking everything into his mouth and I'm pretty sure that avocado was a vast improvement over wooden or plastic toys (or paper, or hair, or noses, or knuckles, or dog fur). It was pretty entertaining for us too.

Sadly, the adventure ended with this:

He loves throwing things on the floor, so it should have come as no surprise that he would also love throwing (more of a push actually) a ceramic plate on the floor. Looks like it is time to invest in some plastic plates for the boy-o.

Hipster Baby, Take 2

Today we went for more of the handlebar variety.

Sam Elliot would be proud.

Of course, it can also be worn 19th century evil villain style.

Hipster Baby

I need to work on my mustache execution. This 'stache kind of looks like two sperm about to collide.

2 out of 3 things are better

Better 1. Judah

His nose is definitely running less today. However, he is more boogery. Whatever. He sounds less congested overall. One of my girlfriends suggested that maybe he doesn't even a cold, but that the slime nose is a teething symptom. Maybe. Hell, if I know.
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I started writing this post while Bill was giving Judah his bath and getting him ready for bed. Now, I'm back after unsuccessfully trying to get Judah to go to sleep for the last hour and a half. He is super sleepy, and will sleep when I'm holding him, but put him flat on his back in the crib and he instantly gets all congested sounding and wakes himself up. Sigh. I know a certain little boy who just might be sleeping in bed with me tonight (that way his head can be propped up on my arm and his sinuses can drain).

Notice the nose slime.

Oh well, he is still *somewhat* better than yesterday.

2. The boiler

The dude came back today and got everything squared away. Our radiators are now producing heat. All of them (a first!) and the house is slowly creeping back up to my ideal house temp (67 degrees). Yay, heat! It works for now (which is very important and I am verrrry thankful for) but I'm sure within the next 5 years or so we will need to install a new boiler that is better suited for our needs (and comes from a company that makes reliable products).

Not better 1. Gert

We heard back from the vet today. She is going to need surgery. And, get this, not just in one knee, but TWO! Both of her back knees have the messed up ligaments. Can't believe she already needs knee surgery, she is one a year and a half old. We don't have the surgery scheduled yet, my guess is it will probably happen after Christmas. That way she can take it easy at home and not have to deal with traveling right after getting cut open.

3 broken things

There are three broken things in our house right now.

1. Judah

J's Auntie is visiting for a few days to spend time with the cuddly little snot machine

He is coming down with a cold (I think). His nose just started running today. Poor little guy has been leaking clear slime out the nose for most of the day. His breathing sounds really wet because of it and so far he has had a hard time sleeping (I think his little snores are waking him up). This is the first time Judah has ever gotten sick... At least, I think this qualifies as being sick. Those are his only symptoms though, so I'm not sure if this counts. Hopefully, he will wake up tomorrow feeling better.

2. Gert

Gert has a bum knee. She has been keeping her weight off her back leg since Thanksgiving time. We have been making her take it easy and limiting her walks and refusing to play with her (to which she fiercely objects).  We assumed she had strained a muscle or something from playing (non-stop) with all of her Oregon doggy friends... But, she just hasn't gotten better. I took her into the vet yesterday to see what was what. The vet could feel her knee cap pop out of place, which can sometimes happen with little dogs. The bone that her knee cap is suppose to fit into might not be grooved deeply enough to keep the knee cap snug and in place. The vet also feared that she had injured the ligament between her upper and lower leg bones (right under the knee), so today she had to go back to the vet for X-rays.  She was such a good little girl that they did not need to put her under to get the x-rays. She let them move her and manipulate her legs and hips into place while being awake. The X-rays have now been sent off to the surgeon, but it looks like that ligament is effed up, which means she will need to get knee surgery.

3. The boiler

We finally broke down and called a plumber/heat guy to come take a look at our heating system. The guy was at our place from 8am-6pm dealing with our boiler. Whenever he would get one thing fixed, it became apparent that there was an additional problem with another part. He has to come back tomorrow to keep working at it, but hopefully the end is in sight (at least with the boiler part, it turns out our thermostat is not communicating with the boiler which is yet another problem).

The boiler was put in by some of the previous owners. And, well, they didn't do the best job or put in the highest quality appliance (to put it mildly). The first year we lived here we had the radiators serviced and found out the engine to the boiler was installed UPSIDE DOWN. Oi. Looks like the boiler is not very good and there have been loooots of complaints about this particular model. Part of me wonders if getting it fixed is just throwing good money after bad. Is it just going to keep breaking down bit by bit? New boilers are expensive, but at least that would (hopefully) be a one time shot instead of constantly battling what appears to be quite a lemon of a boiler. Sigh.

I do love owning a house, but it sure was a hell of a lot easier when we were renters and the landlords had to take care of all that shit and they had to do it ASAP.

Pajama Party!

Lately, everyday is a pajama party for Judah. Since our heating is on the fritz, J is sporting his soft and cozy fleece jammies nonstop. Sometimes there are even hidden layers for extra warmth.

We are having a heating/plumbing dude that we found on Angie's List come out on Tuesday and take a look at our system. Here's hoping they are able to identify the problem and remedy is asap. Bill described what is going on over the phone and the peeps said it could be any number of things, they won't know until them come take a look.

Lucky for me, I happen to think Judah looks extra cute and cuddly in his pajamas. So soft and snuggly.