Judah, Singer/Songwriter

Move over Taylor Swift, there's a new singer/songwriter in town.

Yesterday Judah just sang his first original composition.  I've heard him sing songs before, but never heard him make up his own lyrics, so of course I HAVE to note this major milestone.

First, a little background.  Judah loves his G.I. Joe motorcycle toy (which he sometimes mistakenly calls "B.I. Joe").  And we taught him the catchy song that goes with it--G.I. Joe, a real American hero!

Judah's been singing that little jingo all week and suddenly, yesterday added on a few lines of his own.  This is exactly how he sings it:

G.I. Joe, the real American hero,
He 'posed to see the baby
The baby 'posed to see the big boy
The big boy 'posed to see the cow
The cow 'posed to see the garbage man
The garbage man 'posed to see the fireman
The fireman 'posed to see the police

Um, yeah, we're totally ready for that Grammy nomination.

On the Can

Typical conversation while Judah takes a dump on the toilet:

Judah: Mommy, it stinks, open the window.
Me: Okay
Judah: Mommy, leave, I need privacy!

Wow, when did Judah morph into the spouse?  All he needs to do to complete the transformation is ask me to bring him the latest issue of Time magazine.

Major Milestones for Everyone

Exciting developments have been happening in the Chung house (unfortunately none of them have to do with better sleep).

First, at just 5 months and 1 week of age, Noah has cut his first tooth!  Yesterday I felt a little sharp ridge when Noah chomped down on my finger.  I shouted "Noah has a tooth!" excitedly and Judah, apparently my herald, carried the news far and wide around the house shouting "Noah got his first tooth!  Noah got a tooth!"  Well that explains all the recent bad sleeping and endless crying--teething pain!

Judah revels in Noah's first tooth--or maybe he's just slipping him another booger.

Second, about 2 months ago, Judah started wearing underwear.  It happened so nonchalantly I hardly noticed it, but in retrospect, I suppose it's quite the big deal.

The kid is potty-trained, but he still doesn't know how to "smile" like a normal person.

One day, I just sensed that Judah was ready.  I know that sounds totally unscientific, but I just got the feeling that he could tell me that he needed to pee before he did it.  After all, the dude has been preemptively telling me he had to poop since he was 18 months old (and basically hasn't pooped in his diaper since then).   So of course he could tell me about the urge to pee.

I had held off on "pee-training" for a while out of sheer convenience and not wanting to use public bathrooms, but I felt like it was finally time.  I guess, to be more accurate about the whole thing, I got the feeling that I was ready to have Judah "pee-trained."

Anyway, the first day he had 3 accidents and basically no more after that.  I bought a bunch of blue "police" underwear and we haven't looked back since.  Yay Judah!

Thirdly, Noah started solids this week.  Frankly, I'm not sure he was ready, but after him waking up multiple times at night, I was desperate to stuff his gullet with something more filling in hopes that he would sleep longer.  And besides, he's 5 months, it can't hurt.  At first he just kept pushing out the food with his tongue, but slowly I think he's getting the hang of it.

Fourthly, Noah is now locomotive!  Nope, he hasn't learned to crawl.  But he has learned to roll himself around, over and over again, so that he can end up on the opposite side of the room from where I put him down.  Not super impressive, but hey, my first baby didn't move himself until 10 months old (while standing and cruising) so it's impressive for a Chung baby!

Judah and Noah practice a scene from Adele's Chasing Pavements music video.

Noah can't yet roll away fast enough to avoid Judah's kisses.

And lastly, a milestone for mommy.  Recently, something has shifted inside of me from "have to" to "get to."  One day this week I just woke up and instead of feeling my usual dread and unwillingness to face the day, I felt...lucky.  Lucky to spend the day with a hilarious (but still moody and petulant) toddler and a cute, chubby (but still poor-sleeping and way-too-heavy) baby.

I'll probably explore this subtle, but tectonic shift in a later post, but for now, I'll just say this: Life is (still hard, but) surprisingly good.

Yeah, we really need to work on Judah's smile.

Nuking Noah

Tomorrow I start Noah on his first (and hopefully last) round of oral antibiotics.  I feel kinda sick to my stomach about this.

Ever since I read an article by Michael Pollan in NYT Magazine about the importance of good gut bacteria, I've been loathe to use antibiotics.  (Btw, I highly recommend this article to everyone--one of the best, most fascinating, paradigm-shifting articles I've ever read).

But, alas, the topical antibiotic ointment hasn't been working and the risk of Noah's eye skin infection spreading to his actual eyeball outweighs the risk of nuking his good bacteria.

Hopefully this treatment works and we won't have to do another round of even stronger antibiotics.  We'll find out in a week.  Fingers crossed!

BFFs

My greatest hope and dream, as a mother, is that my two boys will be best friends.

So it warms the cockles of my heart to see them interact, though it isn't often.  But once in a while Judah will take an interest in his baby brother and want to hug or kiss him or bring him toys.

Judah petting his 'pet'.

For now, the interactions are well-intentioned but a little violent.  Judah bonks Noah on the head or pokes him in the eye with toys.  When playing peek-a-boo with a burp cloth Judah looks like he's smothering Noah to death.  And last week I walked into the room to Judah's voice calling out "Mommy, Noah ate my booger!"

Judah feeding his 'pet'.  Thankfully, not boogers this time.

I read that the sibling relationship depends largely on the older sibling.  If he/she tries to include the younger sibling in various activities and makes an effort to interact, the relationship will generally go well.  I'm hopeful that's the case with Judah.

He already said that Noah can wear his police 'uniforms,' his most cherished possession, when Noah gets older.  And if that's not inclusion, I don't know what is.  I hope Noah likes the color blue!

A Heart Full of Love (and Batman)

Judah is totally exasperating but there's no denying he's got a very sweet side.

I just have to record all the sweet things he says regularly and spontaneously:
--Let's cuddle together!  (As he jumps into my bed)
--I love you thiiiiis much!  (While raising his arms to the ceiling)
--I love you in the whole world!  (Pretty sure he means "the most")
--Big hug!  Kiss!  (And of course I kiss him on the lips to catch all his germs)

Usually when we pray at night Judah says "Thank you God for my batman, robin, batcave, bat elevator, bat mobile, bat light, penguin vehicle, joker house, amen!"  Materialistic much?

But he surprised me today by adding "Thank you God for my family."

Awwwwww.

I Should Change My Blog Name to Debbie in Downerland

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last blog entry.  To be honest I've been avoiding blogging because there's really nothing good to say.  And you know what your mother would say--if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all.

But I suppose it's worth noting the hum-drum and the glum, if only for posterity's sake.

Noah's eye infection is driving me crazy.  It had all but completely cleared up 2 days ago, but just yesterday flared up again.  Today it looks as bad as ever.  ARGH.

Also frustrating is that Noah has seemed to have completely lost the ability to sleep on his own.  It's as if I've never sleep-trained the guy.  Good grief.  And he's been crying a lot in his car seat for no discernible reason.

And he's heavy.  Really, achy, my-body-is-breaking-down-carrying-this-guy kind of heavy.  Eighteen pounds.  That's like Thanksgiving turkey.  But this turkey jerks around and can't support his own torso.

Heck yeah I'm only 4 months but wearing a onesie for an 18 month old. 95th percentile biatches.

So here's a snapshot of what goes on in my head on a typical day--ugh Noah is crying and not napping, ugh Noah's eye looks like a horror show, ugh Noah is awake but cranky because he didn't nap well, ugh time to put Noah down for another nap and hear him cry, ugh Noah isn't nursing well, ugh Noah is crying like crazy in his car seat, ugh Noah is so fussy, rinse and repeat.

To be honest, Noah isn't really a 'hard' baby.  He's quite average.  But I've come to realize that I just suck at being a baby caretaker.  My temperament seems to be the exact wrong one for enjoying babydom.  I hate unpredictability.  I hate not being in control.  I hate uncertainty.  And I absolutely hate the sound of crying.

I may not be perfect, but my HAIR is perfect.  You gotta give me that.

The spouse, a paragon of eternal sunshine and optimism, keeps telling me to stop being such a pessimist.  The glass is half full!  Noah's eye is going to get better because at least now we know the medicine can work.  Noah learned to sleep on his own so he can learn it again.  Everything's going to be great and fine and things are always looking up!

Gosh it must be nice to be an optimist.  What I wouldn't give to live inside his head for just an hour!