These Wonderful Things Are The Things We'll Remember All Through Our Lives

That's my Jude! My little, tiny 17 lb. four month old! In case you are wondering, I totally took this picture on November 28, not on December 9.

He did have clothing on, but it's really hard to fully appreciate the rolls of chub if he is covered up.



Oh, that hair. We know not from whence it came. Or what the heck to do with it. It is his trademark though. Not many people are sporting the fluffy curls these days.

He is a very busy guy now. He rolls over from his tummy to his back. He is in love with his toes and his thumb, which provide hours and hours of entertainment and comfort, respectively. He would rather not recline. He is constantly trying to sit up when he is in his bouncy seat or if I am holding him.



He loves the exersaucer that Saige and Meadow let him borrow although I have to turn him facing away from the little balls that are on there because he gets very upset that the balls do not come off so that he can chew on them.



He takes thumb-sucking breaks during playtime. It relaxes him if he gets a little too worked up trying to get everything in his mouth.



He does reach a point though, when the fact that the toys are attched becomes too much.



And I know exersaucer time is over. He's a pretty easy guy to read.

He is enjoying his oatmeal cereal twice a day now. He is sleeping about 10-11 hours at night. He no longer requires a late (10 pm-ish) feeding so he goes down around 7:30 or 8 and wakes up between 6 and 7. No complaints here! And now that big bro is back in a baby bed, night time has become truly restful once again. That makes me happy.

I call this portrait "Oatmeal: I can feed myself."

Speaking of big brother, Asher just turned 22 months. He has the ability to frustrate me and crack me up, all within about 2 minutes. He is always coming up with new sayings now. One that makes me laugh is he will call something by the wrong name, for example, say something is green when it is blue. I'll say "no, it's blue." Then he'll say "not green!" with a note of condescension in his voice and on his face, as if you were the one that thought it was the wrong color in the first place.

He really just may have some natural muscial talent. One of his favorite songs, "Three Little Birds" sung by Elizabeth Mitchell begins with just a rhythmic pattern played by what sounds like 2 drum sticks being hit together. He can replicate the exact rhythm using his drumsticks. The first time he did it, Kris and I looked at each other in disbelief. We knew he loved playing instruments, but there is a big difference between having the love and having the talent. Just ask...
me.

We are rapidly appraching the "twos." They will not be terrible. They may be challenging. The may be tiring. But acting like a brat just because you are young is simply not an option. So there. I will make sure Asher gets that memo.

Sweet little brothers! Hard work should always be this fun.