Jaws of Death

Now that your bottom teeth have really come out (which you can see pretty well in this pic) I feel like I'm risking my life every time I nurse you. You haven't taken a big bite yet, but you do like to do small playful bites. I'm really dreading when your top teeth come!

Toddler Judah

Work has been insane these past few days. I'm working 10+ hour days and trying to see you as much as I can. It would all be more bearable if you didn't wake up at least 4 times each night!

Here's a quick picture of you looking more and more like a little boy. I love to dress you like a little boy and you love playing ball, just like your dad!

Dapper Dan Man

Although you're only 7 mo, it's time to say good-bye to your 9 mo clothes, and hello to 12 mo stuff!

Mommy went on a shopping spree for you yesterday and realized that it's really hard to find 12 mo clothes for babies. 99% of it is separates for toddlers (i.e., no convenient snaps for diapers and easy entry).


And they are expensive! I can't believe I'm paying an avg of $15 a pop for outfits that will probably only last 3 months!

Peek-A-You!

One of the best baby gifts we got was a bunch of baby books from Ms. Winnie (it figures since she's an elementary school teacher). At first, I thought it was silly to read a baby books. But it turns out babies love it!


You certainly love it when we read to you. You even have a favorite book! It also happens to be the #1 bestselling baby book of all time--Peek-A-Who.

Oftentimes you'll "ask" me to read it to you 5 or 6 times in a row! I'll get tired of it and try to read you another book but you just keep pawing and staring at Peek-A-Who until I read it to you yet again.


I love this video of you getting all excited about your favorite book.

The Banshee in Your Bed

Oh Judah, what am I gonna do with you?!

Every night you wake up at odd hours (and I know it's not due to hunger) and scream your ever-loving head off.


Your dad tries to soothe you by holding, rocking, bouncing, but it matters not to you. Only when your poor bedraggled mom comes in do you *instantly* quiet down.


Sometimes we give you tylenol or ibuprofen, thinking you might have teething pain. But frankly, it seems suspicious that your pain magically subsides when mom comes to hold you.


And your nap times. You will no longer allow me to put you down for a nap or bedtime. As soon as you are hovering over your crib you start to wail with knowing anticipation. I put you down on your firm little mattress and you kick it up a notch as if little gremlins are now peeling your skin off inch by inch.

I stay outside your room listening for 10 min, go back in and "knock you out" with the boob, and try again. Usually, when I retrieve you, your entire head is damp with sweat and strain. Poor baby.


I am inching ever closer to ferberizing you again. But this time you are 100x stronger, and louder than you were at 4 months. And my resolve is that much weaker as I miss you so much every day at work. Not a recipe for success. Gulp.


(Photo credits: These are fun pics I get from your nanny/auntie and dad while I'm at work--the highlight of my workday!)

All Work and No Sleep

Well, it's been a week since I've returned to work. How is it going?

I think the jury's still out on this one.

On one hand, you have the best care-taker we could ever hope for. Your auntie is so loving and has an innate sense of how to keep you happy and healthy. And you have definitely bonded well with her. (For some reason you look obscenely large in this photo).


But on the other hand, you've been sleeping poorly ever since I began working and I can't help but wonder if that's the reason why. Instead of waking up only once during the night, you'll now wake 4-5x, each time screaming your head off.


I would ferberize you again, but I'm not sure that would help. Maybe you're waking because of teething pain, or you're hungry due to a growth spurt?

Or maybe you wake up because you miss me? I'd feel so guilty if that were the case. I definitely miss you when I'm at work. But I'm also glad for the little break I get. If only there was a way to work just 4 hours a day!

In other news, here's a pic of you and Baby Alexa at church. You guys look like you're on an awkward first date.

More Developments!

Since you had such a hard time grabbing the little cereal o's, we bought you some bigger puffs designed just for babies. We call them, not surprisingly, your "development-puffs".

You absolutely love your DPs and squeal with delight when we put some on your highchair tray. It buys us at least 20 minutes of peace from you.


Of course half of them never get into your mouth. I have to confess these pics are posed (we stuck the puffs to your face!) but you often do have puffs all over your face and hands.


And, another exciting development happened today. I was told you finally rolled over while I was at work! Good job baby! I can't wait to see it for myself some time soon.

Development-O's

We've been giving you little finger foods to help you develop your fine motor skills. You love it since you love all things food-related.


But after a while you got pretty frustrated since you couldn't actually get any in your mouth. So we gave you a bigger object to munch on--your teething biscuit.


You were much happier with that.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

And I got a boob job, tummy tuck, and brain lobotomy.

Not really, but it might appear that way to my work colleagues whom I haven't seen since I was 9 months pregnant and ready to burst.

So I started work for 2 days this week and here are the highlights (and lowlights):

--Man am I tired. I'm so not used to it all. After just 1 hour at work, I seriously wanted a nap.

--It feels oddly like I never left. Just woke up from a long dream in which I had a baby and tended to him all day long.

--My brain is total mush. Many times during the day I wanted to ask my boss to please talk slower and could you repeat that? But luckily had the presence of mind not to!

--I feel guilty about not being there to nurse Judah. Somehow I feel like nursing is his birthright, ha.

--The first day I came home, Judah was so happy to see me he kept laughing and smiling while he nursed. This caused his mouth to back up with milk, which he sputtered in my face while laughing.

--The second day I came home, he acted like it was no big deal. Maybe I'm hypersensitive, but I wondered if he was mad at me.

--Had a major wardrobe malfunction. I won't go into detail, but lets just say it involved my boss pointing out to me that my bra was totally showing and me looking down and realizing my shirt was also totally stained with milk leaks. Learn from my mistake--never ever wear a new bra for your first day of work.

--My boss is the best boss I could possibly hope to have as a working mom. She's committed to helping me work a truly 60% schedule and she has 2 kids of her own so she's really sympathetic to the whole work/life balance thing.

--And the most bizarre thing of all: I realized I actually missed work.

Say It Ain't So

Well, Judah, the day I dreaded is finally coming upon us. In just 2 days I will be going back to work.

How do I feel about it?

Well, in one word (and I think it's a word you'll understand):

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I've been hiding from you the past couple days to simulate my absence and get you used to me not being around. I think you're handling it great, but I miss you like crazy.

When I came back to see you at the end of our long separation today I swear you sort of didn't know who I was anymore. You had this distant look in your eyes. Your dad thinks I'm just projecting my fears onto you though.

Here's a gratuitous photo that has nothing to do with the above--I just love how it shows off your generous thighs. Those are some serious ham hocks.

The Toothman Cometh

Just a quick entry to say you cut your first teeth this morning!

At 6.5 months, you did it, all without any fussing or warning. Although I did notice that your butt and back-side was really red and rashy yesterday.

I'm a little nervous about nursing you now...eek.

Here you are, all grown up in your jeans and layered-t (Thanks for the outfit Peg!) and your first set of teeth.