Six months just around the corner and I’m starting to feel like pieces of my own life are once again in my control- dually a daunting and exhilarating concept. Even cuter and more animated than I had ever anticipated, Jude’s antics fill the day with much amusement.
Just a few days ago, I was bolstered up in bed using my computer, Jude to my right resembling a Michelangelo cherub in sleepland. A furry object rubbed across my arm and I, assuming it was a stuffed animal, ignored it. Again, five minutes later something rubbed against me. This time I looked down to meet Jude’s thousand-watt grinning face. He had woken, shuffled across the bed and rubbed his head against my arm to obtain my attention, an antic perhaps adopted from Pedro.
Another morning, after playing with Faux Scoob, the puppet Matt found for him with a tuff of blond hair and blue-button eyes that eerily resembles Jude, I was running around, dressing for the day.
I glanced over at the baby as I struggled to shimmy into a pair of jeans only to notice Jude sucking away on the puppet’s fake passifier while resting his head against Faux Scooby’s chest! A Kodak moment for sure.
A friend of ours advised us three weeks ago that if Jude wants solids he will let us know it. Just days later, as though on cue, Jude began lunging toward all edible objects, swiping at them if given the chance and shoving them into his opened mouth.
The next evening, I pureed a pear on the otherwise protein-shake dominated blender, added a little water and rice cereal with a plump baby on the box, and stirred. Remembering how messy feeding a baby could be from my babysitting days, Matt and I dunked Jude in his blue bubble bath where he promptly picked up a green plastic duck and began nursing on it, as though anticipating what was to come.
Much to my delight, Jude immediately took to the food, although I found it amusing watching him learn how to eat, a concept that never occurred to me that one had to learn. Instead of sucking, he quickly discovered that clamping his mouth on the baby spoon would allow much more food to enter his mouth and subsequentially fill his bottomless belly. Now, Jude associates bath with food so after the ritual of peeing in the water he pumps his arms in anticipation of dinner.
As a result of the introduction of solids, Jude sleeps much more through the night, only waking when disturbed, but otherwise he’ll be out from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. Sometimes I don’t know what to do with myself after he’s in bed, now that I’m so unaccustomed to having any alone time.
With summer in high gear, Matt and I are now able to take advantage of eating outdoors for early dinners, as opposed to gorging ourselves in hopes Jude wouldn’t erupt into a torrent of cries in the depressing winter months. Everything about summer feels wonderful, particularly with a baby like Jude.