Uncle Clutch

Uncle Clutch let Jude bonk him on the head with a ball.

Uncle Clutch showed Jude how to do magic.

Uncle Clutch taught Jude to say "What's wrong with you?"

Uncle Clutch and Jude were too busy bonking each other on the head to participate in singing "Happy Birthday" to Grandma June.

It was Uncle Clutch's idea to hide with Jude in the woods when Mama and Daddy said it was time to go home.

Uncle Clutch and Jude are best friends now. So if you were vying for that position, you can give up.

M.I.A. / Y2K

We've been kind of M.I.A. lately. Energy has been focused mostly on our work, getting Jude to and from his caregivers, family stuff, and getting enough sleep so that we can function properly.

Oh, and I've had a little side project I've been working on. It involves these picures of my innards, and its name at the moment is Baby K2. Kind of like Y2K, in the sense that we're expecting something big.

K2 at 8 weeks (lower left of black oval)

At 8 weeks, K2 looked like an amoeba with tiny legs and arms pulled in close to its body. We saw the flicker of a heartbeat. Even as a blob, it was a tiny bit cute.

I'm 14 weeks now, and have already gotten two ultrasounds because of what happened last time with the blighted ovum thing + a little spotting episode. Of course I was freaking out about the latter, but it helped that I'd been warned it might happen from something they saw in the first ultrasound, and could be harmless.

K2 at 12 weeks

Here you can see the shape of K2's head, and the outline of a forehead and nose. In the actual image I was able to find an arm, bent at the elbow, and hand up near the side of the face. The heart was still beating. This fact amazes me more now than it did the first time around.

The feelings I had being wheeled in to the ultrasound room, versus being wheeled out, couldn't have been more in contrast with one another.

We are happy, and hopeful.

Little Shaver

I said I'd never do it.

Well, I didn't do it. Jono did. But after seeing what his hair looked like after our first hot day, I gave the order. (A whole lot of sweaty strands plastered to his forehead. Hmm.)

("What is this stuff"?)



(Watching "Feed the Kitty" on the laptop, which Jude calls "Feet of the Kitty".)



We could've stopped here, for an Orthodox Jewish look.



But we opted for a corn-fed, white, midwestern look instead.



Ta-da! It's Little Shaver!

Summer cut only, I assure you. The long locks will be back.

Though (bonus), this cut has revealed his smooth, sweet-smelling forehead, which I can't stop kissing.

More from Chatty Charles

I'm starting to keep a log of Jude Witticisms, lest I forget how humorous this time period has been for us. Thought I'd share. This first one is my personal favorites.

After Jono had just put him in his crib for the night...

Jude: "Are you going to school now Daddy?"Jono: "No, I'm going downstairs."
Jude: "Are you gonna go play with my toys?"
Jono: "Yep."
Jude: [anxious look]
Jono: "Don't worry. I'll put them away when I'm done."
Jude: "Okay."

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While changing a dirty diaper...
Jono: "Where did this come from?!"
Jude: "I made it!"
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As I'm nibbling on his cheek...

Jude: "Mommy. That's enough."
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With leg in the air like a 50's housewife after she sees a mouse...

Jude: "There's an ant!! It's not scaring me."
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[Bunches up a blanket to form a small bump]

Jude: "This is my nose."
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Jude: "It's windy out here. Oooo, look at the red flowers! The wind is blowing them up to the sky! Are we gonna see the fishies? Oooo, he's on a swing. He's swinging!"

(What he said on the way in to the pediatrician's office after seeing red tulips outside, remembering there's a fish tank in the waiting room, and seeing a mural on the entryway wall of kids playing as we walked in - respectively. He had a 102-degree fever and respiratory virus, but he was still talking a blue streak :)

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On the way in for a chest x-ray after the doc appointment:

Jude: "Are we gonna eat? My tummy's gonna gurgle."
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(Yay for asthma, right? He's a good sport.)

Sorry Verses

While I'm in the occasional habit of plugging my family members (at least 85% of you are my family members, or know them, but to be fair)...I need to vouch for my littlest brother's new album, which he made in an old chapel in Nashville with his former high school band. It's called "Sorry Verses", and was released today - if not at this moment, soon. Listen, if you want. (Or you can listen to all his discography - EP, home demos and stuff - here).

The album image is an old photograph of the farm my dad grew up on near Sedro Woolley, Washington. He probably milked those cows every morning. And likely started that fire in the foothills, too.

Grant also covered a Joni Mitchell song not too long ago. Love.



Just so nobody starts getting a big head about this, here's a choice section of a photo taken about 22 years ago. Back then, he couldn't have fit even one of those cheeks into the leg-hole of his hipster hot pants.

I believe that is a nautical-themed onesie. Well played.

Like a Wecord, Baby

*Slurp*

A Sampling from the Peanut Gallery...

Quote-Unquote:


When it's raining: "It's waining."
When it's sunny: "It's sunning! It's sunning in my eyes!!"

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"Daddy is crunchy." (i.e. stubbly.)

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"Shall we go?"
(Repeated often while wiping away tears during our latest ER visit - asthma related - which of course included rectal temp-taking.)

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"Nice boobies, Mommy."
(Also, "Oooooo, boobies!!")

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"Oooo... I like your boots, Mommy. Do you like my boots?"
(Also, "Do you like pine needles? I like pine needles", etc.)

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"Don't touch my belly button!"

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After kicking Mona in the neck and getting reprimanded for it: "Can I say sorry to Mona?"
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"I want Larry the Cucumber." (asking for a cucumber slice)

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I'm a Wumor Weed! (yelled enthusiastically after Veggie Tales line, "I'm a Rumor Weed!)

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Pointing at his foot: "There's my tiny fweckle."

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"Daddy's big. Mommy's big. Jude is little."
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J: "I wanna play hhhing-hhhong."
M: "What's hing-hong?"
J: "A little ball."

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"I don't like my double chin. I wanna take it off." [pulls at chin]

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"I'm not a lumberjack. I'm Bob!"

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Okay then. I love you, Bob. Keep 'em coming.