Since we returned from visiting family on the west coast, spring has infiltrated the desolate winter darkness in Connecticut! Barren trees stooped over lifelessly have undergone a complete rejuvination as they now bear flower buds bursting with color. All the birds have returned and crimson-breasted cardinals flutter about as the bees explore the newly immerging tulips Pedro likes to lick as though decadent, icing glazed cupcakes. Jude and I go on daily walks in the running stroller that will help me shed 20 lbs, taking in the scenery and beauty around us.
Likewise, Jude has undergone even more changes as his personality shines through now that he’s no longer in the arduous “fetal stage” (first three months). His manual dexterity improves daily: Jude has the ability to steady his arms and grab at objects as long as they’re directly in front of him. Recently, one morning I was shocked when Big Boob popped out of his mouth only to have Jude use his hands to put her back in.
About a week ago I purchased a square cloth mat covered in red and white cartoonish animals in a zainy band: pandas playing flutes, zebras strumming guitars, etc. Springing from the corners are semi-circle bands extending from one end to the other, intersecting at the top (two in total). The black and red theme continues with stripes. Extending from the bands are a variety of oddly shaped critters such as a cosmic strawberry with four tentacles extending from its body and a mirror/puffy head in one. There’s even a butterfly with crinkly wings and a heart-shaped guitar.
It’s an apparatus created for the amusement of stoners and babies alike. Jude pumps his portly legs and flutters his arms like a bird when I put him down under it. Yesterday, he grasped the strawberry and attempted to shove it into his mouth, luckily without success.
Another great part about this stage is that he can hold his head up pretty well, which makes me much less nervous about having other people handle him. Previously, each time his head wasn’t properly supported, I’d think to myself, “There goes a few thousand brain cells!” as I envisioned his spongy cranium bounce against his skull.
For me, perhaps since the pregnancy was an “oops!”, I was scared essentially through the whole process, particularly regarding the part where he’d have to exit somehow. It’s interesting viewing the process from the opposite end, learning of Matt and my cousin’s pregnancies. A part of me wants to call them daily to assuage any worries and hold their hands as they choose which prenatal pills to buy. It’s such a natural reaction but during my pregnancy at times I was puzzled over why so many women wanted to give me advice that I thought I could just as easily read from my books. Now I realize more than just providing advice, they wanted to be sources of comfort.
One thing I’ve learned recently is that as the baby evolves and grows so should the way you interact with him. I think that I failed to realize how much Jude has changed when it came to sleeping at night.
Whenever I heard the littlest peep out of him, I’d pick him up from the bassinet and feed him. Don’t get me wrong- he loves to eat, but as a result he would scream every few hours as I inadvertently conditioned him to do so. Last night I told Matt I didn’t think I could cope with another day subsisting on only three or four hours of sleep (in much more explicit terms). He said he was going to try to rock the baby back to sleep and that I should go to bed in the other room. My initial instinct was that of worrying Jude would starve, but Matt was steadfast.
From 9 pm until 3 am, I slept (let the record show that’s the longest consecutive sleep I’ve had in 3.5 months). As I entered Jude’s teddy-bear laden room, Matt was awake, but Jude was sleeping soundly. He woke up in the night, Matt told me, but Jude went right back to sleep when his bassinet was rocked vigorously.
Giddy, I laid in bed, partially high from my six-hour slumber, for two hours, listening to the signs and grunts emitted from the bassinet as the birds chirped outside the window. Mother doesn’t always know right…

Jude's 3 month milestone kicked off with both weight gain and loss of hair. I thought such occurrences were slightly premature and my first instinct was to check if Rogaine makes products for babies, but my pediatrician (and Grandma Sus) reassured me it's quite normal for little ones to shed their birth hairs to make way for thicker locks.
Although he's far from sleeping through the night (sigh), at least Jude's nap times are a bit more predicable, allowing me some alone time without tip-toeing around, fretting that I'll inadvertently wake him from a ten-minute cat nap. While some sources recommend letting Jude "cry it out" by three months, I honestly can't see myself or Matt doing that anytime soon.
At three months, Jude's drooling has spiraled out of control; he's surpassed Pedro salivating over wild chickens. Part of the problem, I've discovered, is that bumpy ridges have over-run Jude's previously slippery smooth gums. In other words, he's starting to teethe. Not to say he'll pop a pearly white anytime in the near future, but it certainly is a beginning. Often, I'll apply pressure to his gums in the midst of a crying fit and he'll settle down considerably.
It's really cute how he's discovered his thumb and enjoys sucking it, although he hasn't mastered curling his fingers into a fist. Instead, mid-suck he'll panic as his fanned-out fingers cover his nose like octopus tentacles cutting off all oxygen.
I adore Jude's infectious laugh. He'll cackle to himself, bringing his chubby arms to his chest as he then releases a loud giggle in response to bright colors or, most frequently, when Matt coos, "You da most beautiful scooby in all da world!"
Speaking of his father, Jude looks more and more like Matt as time goes by. First it was his eye-color and "crying face", and now I have trouble discerning any "Pralle" in him! Indeed, at times it infuriates me since I was the one who got fat being pregnant and who popped him out. At least Matt is a handsome guy...