Pacifiers Anonymous (PA)

One Month Old (First Christmas)

Jude is just over one month old (five weeks). Everyone who sees him says "Oooooh, he's so TINY." Meanwhile I'm thinking he's huge, and every other baby who is two months old or older looks gigantic to me. I can hardly believe he'll be much bigger than he is now, let alone have big muscles, a beard and other testosterone-related things someday. For now he's my little man, and I'm trying to savor every day that he is "tiny".

Physically, Jude's eyelashes are now noticeable and he is finally growing some eyebrows. Grandma Jan (Klooster) says she thinks he'll have a unibrow. We shall see -- it runs in the family. His cheeks, legs and arms are getting a little chubbier, which I'm thrilled about.

Day by day he is developing new abilities. At one month he is focusing on faces, lights and objects for longer periods of time and opening his mouth to express himself. He can hold his head up for about 20 seconds. He also flexes his legs and "stands" with support. We're not 100% sure about this, but we think I may have gotten his first smile just over a week ago when I was singing him his song ("Hey Jude" of course, by the Beatles). Since then Jono has gotten about four of them, and I'm having a dry spell. I think when he hears my voice right now, or even smells me, he mainly thinks "boob". So rather than smiling he gets his game face on for nursing. It's hard to say for sure.

He has just started making some irresistable noises -- the pre-cursors to cooing I suppose. When I hear him make one I nibble his face promptly because it's so cute. He's also started some not-so-cute noises. Two days ago he made a shrill scream that he's been using frequently since to declare his discontent with something. It's piercing and kind of girly. I tell him he's being a diva like his dad - ha. I laugh now, but when he does it in the middle of the night it isn't that amusing.

Anyway, here are some pics of Jude's first Christmas. We spent Christmas Day in Cadillac this year with the Klooster's. The Geertsma's and Holtvluwer/Lehman's each got him for a day as well.

Happy New Year people. It's going to be good.

Little Fat One

I've been alerted to the fact that I never credited the person who coined the name "Gordito" (little fat one) for our son in utero. Sorry about that. It was Rachel (Sneller) Dieleman, who recently gave him this GREAT onesie for Christmas. The best part is the "O" on the crotch, in my opinion.

Jude in a Monut (BFFs II)

Mona likes to curl into a tight little circle to sleep. We call it a "Monut" (Mona in a donut). Jude in the middle of the Monut is... well, you be the judge. I think it's one of the koosiest things I've ever seen. Better than custard or fruit filling, that's for sure. Jude loves it. Sweet heavens, who wouldn't?

Not a Bad Life

Each night Jono takes Jude while I get ready for bed. The other night I put on my pajamas, took my contacts out, brushed my teeth, located my nursing pillow and headed to the bedroom. I then walked in on THIS. It's happened every night since.

So. We're Parents.

I still can't believe he's ours :)

I've moved on from barefoot and pregnant to wearing thick winter socks with a kid. Here's a new blog about what's going on with us in general. Well... mostly what's going on with our Little Man.

Jude will be three weeks old on Thursday. He is a tiny boy and can be carried around on one arm while I do things with my other arm. His head is soft and fuzzy and he is extremely kissable. He has long fingers, a long torso and long toes. We think he has my eyes and Jono's mouth and chin. We're not sure whose nose that is. Probably just his own.

When he was born he was 6 lbs. 10 oz. He lost the 10 oz. already in the hospital and we had to give him formula for a couple of days before my milk came in. He also had jaundice, so they sent us home with a "billy blanket". Not as comfy as it sounds. We basically had to strap a set of blue lights to his back and keep them on him for 24 hours. He looked like a little robot baby. We were happy when his levels went down a day or two later and we could get rid of it.

They say it takes two to three days for your milk to come in, but mine didn't show up until the fifth day. I called my mom on the fourth day and asked if there had ever been a woman whose milk never came. She laughed and said no. I wasn't convinced until it came while I was sitting in a coffee shop next door to the barbershop where Jono was getting his haircut. I suddenly felt like I was carrying around a couple of bowling balls.

The next day we made a quick stop at a maternity store to buy a couple of nursing bras. I had gone from one problem (no milk) to another problem (too much milk). I was dripping and spraying all over the changing rooms, and when I walked out my shoe was actually wet. I thought I was going to have to purchase every bra in the store: a "you leak on it, you buy it" sort of situation. I had to purchase a D-cup, which is absolutely unprecedented. I didn't have any boobs to speak of until I was 20 and it took me about eight years to go from an A to a B. Now I'd gone from B to D in one day. All this without surgery ;)

Less about boobs, more about Jude. From the day he was born he had bright little eyes, and he was already lifting his head for a few moments at one day old. He opens his eyes as wide as he can whenever he is awake, which puts about 25 wrinkles in his little forehead. He studies people's faces and likes to stare at lights. He makes quick, small movements with his arms and legs while looking around. He reminds me of a nervous chipmunk with eyes darting and tail twitching while he observes the world.

Also, I've been naming the faces he makes. There's Little Bird Lips, which is his pre-nursing face. He gets really excited about eating and just before he latches on he puckers his lips way out like the beak of a baby bird. There's also Pirate Face, which is the angry face he makes when he tries to latch on and can't right away. It reminds me of a pirate because he scrunches up one eye and opens the other one wide, like he's saying "Arrrrrr".

The thing we most enjoy so far is when he flares his nostrils and breathes rapidly through his nose when he's about to get mad and/or cry. We don't like what's coming after the rapid breathing, but it's really funny watching a baby get huffy about something. When he has a boogie in his nose the rapid breathing turns into snorting. During his first week he was congested and we called him Piglet because he snorted constantly.

Things Jude loves:

• being swaddled or held tightly


• his pacifier


• nursing


• pooping

Things Jude does not love:

• getting baths (screams the whole time)


• being naked (in general)


• getting his diaper changed (cold wipes)


• the period of time between 6pm and 10pm (fussy)

It's strange to be home all day. Jono was home with us the first two weeks, but last Wednesday he went back to work. Now that I'm home alone, I get hardly anything done besides feeding and changing the Little Man. It's kind of like a vacation, but with no sleep and a little creature attached to me at all times. I like it so far.

I've surprised myself with an unexpected surge in my ability to have patience. I'm not a patient person and I get frustrated when things don't "work" right away. But with Jude it's different. He is so little and cute that I'm never annoyed with him. He doesn't cry unless he has a valid reason (hungry, dirty diaper, wants to be held, etc.). This will probably change as he gets older, but for now I'm enjoying this newfound virtue I thought I would never have.

Right now he is sitting next to me in his bouncy seat and continuously spitting out his pacifier and crying. I'll write again when I get a moment.