Favorite Things

Jude quickly developed his own favorite things and habits once his little personality started forming.  Here's a few...

Bathtime

Once he got used to water, he loved taking his bath in his baby tub in the sink.   He would spend the last few minutes of his day, playing in the tub, learning about the water and being fascinated with how it rolled all over his body.  He would kick his legs like CRAZY, seeing how big he could make a splash!

Here he is around 4 months in his baby bathe

Here he is once he graduated to the sink

 And now his new tub, the big boy tub!

His Hair

This child loves his hair, or I should say loved since we cut it all off when he was 9 months old.  When little Jude would get tired or sleepy, he would put his hands all through his hair, pulling gently on his curly tufts.  Oh, it was so sweet that he found so much comfort in that hair of his. 

Here he is putting himself to sleep while we were watching Daddy play golf.

 

 Here he is playing with it, while getting some pics taken.

The Vacuum

Now, I would have thought that a vacuum would scare a baby because of the loud, scary noise it makes.  Not this kid.  The second he could scootch himself across the floor, he went straight towards that machine.  He talked to it, hit it, beckoned for it to play with him.  And then one day, Daddy thought the vacuum would make for a nice pony.  So, now the vacuum is our home-made carnival ride.

Going for a little afternoon thrill ride.

 And it tastes good too, yummy!

Feeding Himself

If this kid could talk, every time he ate, he would say "Let me do it, let me do it!"  He sure thinks he can feed himself better than me or Daddy.  It all started very early on...pretty much the first time I fed him solids, he's been stealing the spoon from us.

He does such a nice job of not getting it all over his face, doesn't he?

Here he is trying to feed himself, but we tricked him...no food on this spoon!

He got better at it, once Mommy realized there are foods out there that allowed Jude to feed himself, and did not make a mess!  Case in point, Mum Mums.  Love them.

And here, feeding himself his 1st Thanksgiving dinner (with a little help from Momma D).

 Toys

Jude loves playing with his toys, but there are a few that he LOVES!  The first one, we named "Freddy."  He's the orange 'thing' from Dr. Suess's Feet Book.  It must be because it's bright orange, but Jude took to him right away.

Snuggling with Freddy

Holding Freddy's foot while swinging.  His Dad figured out how to rig Freddy on his mobile.

He also, loves his baby Einstein bouncer.  I can remember times when we would literally bounce in it for an hour straight.

His old-school Fisher Price phone.

Anything he can ride or push.  Also, riding shotgun is his cat dressed in a green Santa outfit that sings Jesus Loves Me.  Who thought that would make a great toy?

Nicknames

So, maybe this isn't his favorite thing, but Lonnie and I are chronic nick-namers.  For example, our dog Lady's nicknames are Bug, Buggy, Bodo Sweet, I'm a Lady...and our other dog Lucy's names are Loose Goose, Loosey Goosey, Goose Goose, and Weirdo.  Just kidding on that last one, but she is the strangest dog I've ever met.  But, that's for another day.  When we first brought Jude home from the hospital, his Daddy called him "oh Boy."  It was so funny, because we rarely called Jude by his first name.  We're getting much better at it now, but for some time, he mostly responded to Bubby, whoops!  But here's a few of our favorite nicknames for him; Boy Boy, BoBo, Bub Bub and of course our favorite...Bubby!  And for the record, he does now know his name is JUDE!

Things I wish I'd known

1. Boys pee on you....all over you.  And I could always tell when it happened to Lonnie.  He would scream a very distinct "oooo" and step aside until Jude was finished peeing on himself.  Luckily, Jude didn't seem to mind.

2. Babies really don't do much, but sit there until they are 6 weeks old.  It's hard being a first time mom, and anticipating a bouncy baby to roll out of you, when in reality, they are blobs.  There I said it, a blob.  A hungry blob of joy and preciousness, but a blob nonetheless.  But, when you get that first smile, it makes it that much more rewarding!  Here's one of Jude's first smiles.

3. Doctors don't have the answers to everything.  Jude had terrible baby acne when he was 1 month old, but from 2 - 6 months, he had such dry skin that he literally lost a layer of skin on some of his face.  And in those places where he lost skin, discoloration occurred.   I don't consider myself to be terribly vain, but I was really having a hard time having a blotchy skinned baby who had three different colors of skin on his face.  And not only did it look bad, but he would itch and scratch it and be miserable.  We took him to the Doctor (3 different ones) 4 times over a 2 month stretch and one said it was eczema, one said some sort of yeast infection, and finally the dermatologist got it right with a staph bacteria.  Finally, he was diagnosed correctly, but come on.  Is it really that hard to figure out something like that?  I went in to motherhood thinking everything could be solved by a quick Google search or trip to the doctor, but much to my dismay, the Doctor doesn't know everything.  Here's Jude at around 4 months, with his poor splotchy face and neck :(

4. They will lose their hair, in the strangest ways.  I had heard of this, but no one prepared me for this mess of a head.  He lost all of it except for his curly tufts on top. 

Someone even likened him to Sloth from the Goonies!  Have a heart!  Poor guy.

When it did grow back in, it was even wilder looking.  People thought we gave him an intentional Mohawk.  A 6 month old?  Who does that?

And right before his first haircut.  The hair on top was 4 inches long.

5. Babies will sleep anywhere, and are MUCH easier than I anticipated.  At least our little guy was.  At first, I was scared of taking Jude out in public because, what if he got tired and yelled like a maniac?  What if we got in a traffic jam close to feeding time, what would we do?  What if other moms thought I was a bad mom because I had my child outside when it was the hottest summer on record?  I was a little paranoid about what others thought about my mothering skills at the beginning, but now, not so much.  We just do what we do.  And if that means napping wherever we are, then so be it.  He turned into a nap-on-the-go pro!

Napping at Uncle Waller's art show with Laura.

At a cookout.

On K Pa.

At the pool after his first swim.

At the ballpark.

At the Zoo "watching" the new seals and sea lions.

In the car

6. It will REALLY TRULY change your life for the better!!  You hear it from all parents; you hear about the hard work, sleepless nights, frustrations, but you would never ever change it for anything in this world.  Until it happens, you can't explain it.  Life with Jude is so much more rewarding and satisfying.  We couldn't imagine life without him and can't wait to see what the future holds for our little family!

2nd Month

Aunt Sue Sue came to visit Jude when he was 5 weeks old, and we decided to go to the Zoo.  He spent the entire time asleep.  It was still a blast, and we were so glad Jude got to spend some time with Susan.

Easter also fell during this time period, and we had a nice relaxing Spring day.  We went to church, visited with the Gardners (Momma D and Pappa G), and had a cookout.  Here he is in ALL his Easter stuff.

Around week 6 or 7, we got Jude's first smile!  But, this pic is one of my all-time favorites.  He does this all the time, sticks out that bottom lip of his and just looks pathetic.

My birthday came, and we celebrated with Whitney and Waller at Lilly's, leaving Jude home for the first time.  Momma D took great care of him, and we enjoyed a nice evening out with adults.

Man Boobs

I almost forgot about this!  When Jude was 5 weeks old, K Pa (Grandpa Stevenson) said that Jude had old man boobs and needed to wear a bra.  We noticed that he did in fact have lumps under his breasts, and when squeezed, a milky-like sour tasting substance came out.  Yes, I tasted it.  We went in to see the doctor and after words like "hermaphrodite" were said and dispelled as the cause, we found out our baby boy was producing breast milk.  How weird is that?  I apparently have some pretty strong hormones that caused it to occur.  The lumps went away on their own after a few weeks.

  Here he is in all his glory.

First Month

I don't think I bathed Jude until after we'd been home for 5 days.  There were a few things I was terrified of being a first time mom, and anything that would make him cry, I did not want to do.  I figured bathing would be one of the culprits.  He hated his first bath, but we got through it with some help from Daddy.

I was also scared of nighttime, it was like I was a little girl.  For some reason, when it got dark out, I knew it would be time for bed soon, and that Jude would not sleep.  I yearned for sleep so badly, but as I was breastfeeding, and Jude wanted to eat every 2 1/2 - 3 hours, I would get up 3 times at night to feed him.  I was a zombie, fueled by 1 cup of caffeine a day.  From what I heard, I just had to make it a couple more weeks, and then he would supposedly start sleeping at least 4-5 hours at night.  What I "heard" was not what Jude Thomas did.  This child did not sleep in a 4 hour stretch until he was 5 months old.

Other than not ever sleeping for a substantial length of time, Jude was the perfect newborn.  He never fussed except when he was hungry, and spent most of his first few days just checking out his new surroundings and getting used to the world.  Here he is doing one his favorite pastimes in the early days, touching his face.  He would find the most unique ways to get those hands on his face.

And then here are just a few pics that our dear friend, Raegan, took that are among my favorites of when he was itty bitty.

As mentioned, he rarely cried much at all, but here was one of very few breakdowns.  And notice how calm Lonnie is.  He was and is so patient with Jude, never getting frustrated at anything.

And here's my little angel when he was a month old.  So precious.

The Arrival

I went into labor naturally early Monday morning the 22nd.  We went into the hospital and got checked in and situated.  I was about 5cm dilated when I got there, so a couple hours after arriving, they broke my water and the real labor began.  I started feeling very uncomfortable...epidural please!  From there on out, it was smooth sailing.  A little after 5pm, we started pushing, just me, Lonnie, the doctor and a nurse.  It was all very relaxing, calm, peaceful and intimate.  Then we met Jude Thomas Gardner at 6:07 pm after a very easy labor.

9 lbs 3.2 oz & 21 1/4 in 

There were so many people at the hospital to meet Jude that first day, and countless visitors, flowers, cupcakes, and gifts during our stay at the hospital.  It was so sweet to have all those people come and see our bundle of joy and express their congratulations.  We left the hospital a couple days later to go home and adjust to being a family of three.  It was snowing the day we left, so we bundled Jude up tightly and made our way home.

There's a baby in there

Someone was excited to meet the new baby.

And so the adventure began!

Waiting for Jude

For the most part, our pregnancy was very un-monumental....just what we hoped for.  The first trimester kicked my butt with exhaustion, but I didn't have too much nausea.  Working at my high-stress, fast-paced job was difficult when all I wanted to do was sleep, but around week 11, I started feeling great.  Doctor visits were routine for the most part, except one time not being able to hear baby's heartbeat, which was frightening to say the least.  But, in a few short minutes, they had us getting an ultrasound, and all was perfect.

There was no question about if we wanted to know if baby was a boy or girl...we had to know.  Week 19 came around quickly, and the anticipation was killing me.  What were you???  Our family all thought the baby was a girl, but I thought it was a boy.  Lonnie and I had a boy name that we loved, but could not, for the life of us agree on a girl's name.  I thought just for the sake of making life simple, God had made baby a boy, and we could walk out of the doctor knowing your name.  I was right!  When the technician said, "it's a boy" I looked immediately at Lonnie.  He had the biggest grin.  That moment was so special, knowing that this thing in my belly, was our precious, perfect baby Jude.

The next week, we went off to Destin for a vacation.  It was here, sitting on the beach, staring at the ocean, that I first felt Jude move in my belly.  It was a very spiritual moment that I will remember always.  And, here's one, of very few pregnancy pictures, taken on that vacation.  Beginning of the 6th month.

Towards, the end of my 2nd trimester, my mom, sister and I went to New York to visit my dear friend, Laura.  My sister was paranoid about me getting swine flu while pregnant, so I was FORCED to wear a surgical mask on the airplane to not get any germs....embarrassing!  But, we had a blast running around my old stomping grounds, seeing shows, eating great food, shopping for Jude, and walking around the city.  It was a fun way to spend time with my ladies before baby came.

Hanging out in Time's Square after West Side Story.

 Enjoying an afternoon in Central Park with my family.

And then, the due date was upon us in no time.  We had everything ready for the arrival, the nursery was ready to go, clothes were washed, we knew how the car seat worked, bags were packed...and of course our due date came and went with no baby.  We decided that if you didn't come by that Monday, we were going to get induced and make you come out.  Here's one of my last days being pregnant and I was huge!