Summer Vacation

We're on summer vacation and I somehow didn't have time to put together the Month Ten post. Here are a few snippets to keep our readers going.

Jude was teething a week ago and his fifth tooth is in! We saw it for the first time last Friday. This was the most painful one yet for him. He didn't sleep very well on the camping trip because of his tooth, and E Ben had to make a special "civilization" run to get some Infant's Tylenol, but once it poked though he seemed fully recovered.

Jude had his first airplane flight as a Real Boy and he did surprisingly well. On our first leg from PDX to Salt Lake City, we lucked out and had a whole row to ourselves. Jude had fun crawling back and forth between us for most of the trip. He only made one enemy: he couldn't resist pulling the long hair of the lady sitting in front of one of our seats. On the second flight (SLC to JFK), we managed to get him down for a nap for the first two hours. He was exhausted, but it was still a challenge because Jude is not at all used to napping anywhere but his crib or carseat. We breathed a sigh of relief when he finally closed his eyes. Once he woke up, he did really well but needed to be entertained constantly for the remaining three hours. We cycled through toys and books and luckily brought enough in the way of entertainment. I will never again say that plane travel alone is difficult. What a luxury to be able to read a book or close your eyes or watch a movie! At one point we gave Jude a Biscoff cookie and he gnawed on it until it was gone. Ten whole minutes of just sitting on my lap. We'll have to keep that trick in the bag.

We had a great weekend in NY. We were here for my cousin's wedding, which meant that Jude got to meet a lot of family members for the first time. He loved my cousin John Lawrence, giving him "Jude kisses" (which consist of an open mouth on your cheek or nose) every time he saw him. Jude also got to play with his second cousin Lukas, who is four days older. We're planning some Baby Olympic Games one of these days. So far the only event we've been able to agree upon is a race up a flight of stairs. Jude has been in training this week. Luckily, climbing stairs is pretty much his favorite thing to do, so it's not too hard on him.

Jude is also loving his "cousin" Maximus (my sister's Yorkie). It is so cute to watch the two of them playing together. Maximus swoops in and licks Jude on the face. Jude pushes Maximus away, and then chases after him and the cycle repeats.

Jude's communication skills have also been improving markedly in the past few weeks. He seems to understand more of what we say, and he is using a few baby signs. I wish he would learn the "all done" sign, because at this point when he's done eating a certain food he picks it up and throws it on the floor. Last night we were playing this hilarious game where I would hold Jude and E Ben would go into the other room. After a few seconds, Jude would make a little noise and E Ben would come running back into the room, and which point Jude would shriek and open his eyes wide as if he was really frightened. It's almost like he was pretending to be scared, but I don't know if his mind is developed enough to be that sophisticated. Then he would laugh histerically and want to play again. Every day we have new games; this age is a lot of fun.

Oma and G'Pa have been a lot of help and we've been able to get away a few evenings for walks around the golf course and games of backgammon. E Ben is playing in the Liberty Bell backgammon tournament this weekend and it's pretty much the highlight of his week.

That's about it for now. I'll post pictures when I get a chance, but it might not be until we're back home.

He's a Real Boy Now

We have achieved full mobility.
Jude is crawling, grabbing, pulling, climbing, cruising the house, and generally into everything.
I don't say "no" much ; usually I just hand him my car keys or point him in a new direction.
He eats his own breakfast.
He reads his own books.
He thinks the toilet is his own private swimming pool.
He wants to touch all the light fixtures and loose straps in the house.
It's just like they say!
It happens so fast.
One day he's a baby - and the next?
He's a boy.

Couch Diver

Jude is hilarious these days. He crawls all over the place, waves at everyone (including himself in the mirror), and tonight he invented a game which consisted of climbing from the couch to the table, throwing a book onto the couch, then diving onto the couch to play with the book. After doing this about ten times in a row, I pulled out the camera to try to capture the moment.

After having been a great eater for most of his short life, Jude has finally discovered that he can have an opinion about his food. He's decided that he doesn't like pureed baby food any more, and pretty much only wants to eat things that he can pick up with his own two hands. Current favorites are bananas (he can eat a whole banana in one sitting!), chicken, and cheese. We need to start preparing vegetables in finger-food chunks. Until now, he's been getting most of his veggies mixed with cereal, but this is no longer working. Next question: what do we do with a freezer full of cubes of pureed fruits and veggies? Make smoothies for ourselves???

We've been keeping an eye out for "stranger anxiety", which is supposed to hit at around this age, but so far Jude does not seem to be exhibiting any signs. He is very happy to see his parents when one of us has been out of his sight for any period of time, but he seems to be just as happy to see other friends and family as he is to spend time with one of us. This makes things a lot easier for us, since we're fortunate to have a few loving babysitters who are willing to take care of Jude so that we can have some time to ourselves. In fact, my mother is arriving tonight so that we can have our first "Parents' Weekend Away". We're looking forward to it!

Weaned

The house is very quiet tonight. Jude and his dad are in Wallowa County visiting some of Jude's Eastern Oregon fans. Here are a few cute photos from the last week.

Got to keep the sun out of his eyes...

This one is a little blurry, but it's a good shot of Jude's "happy face".

Making trouble at Grammie's house...

Jude and the "Bottle Dog"...

Jude has started flipping through my books. Not the baby books that we get for him from the library, but my "literature". The other day, he spent over five mnutes (which is a LONG time for a baby) flipping though the pages of my book on the couch. I tried to get a video of it, but as soon as I pulled out the camera he abandoned the book and made a bee-line for me. I decided to post the video anyway, because, well, you'll see...

We finished weaning Jude to formula this weekend. Actually, he pretty much weaned himself. I know most of the books say that babies this age are rarely ready to stop nursing, but it had gotten to the point where I was lucky if I could keep Jude nursing for more than about 30 seconds at a time. If we hand him a bottle, he will lie back on the couch or floor and work on it until it's done (or mostly done), but he has pretty much no patience for eating while being held (even bottles don't work very well while holding him, except for in the middle of the night). I decided that it wasn't worth fighting with him about it, especially since it means I can stop pumping while the boys are out of town. It was a little bit bittersweet for me to realize that he seems happier to not be nursing these days, but all in all I feel good about it. So, he will be on formula for another two and a half months, then we'll start the transition to whole milk. Hopefully that will go as well as this transition!

How Much Is Too Much?

As a Dad, I am very proud of my little boy. Last week we completed a taxing road trip through the empty rangelands of Oregon. This trip was an experiment to determine how we can really do in a day. I'm not a stay-at-home kind of guy, but of course I want what is best for my child. How much can I really ask of him? How much does he get out of our days spent travelling?

Jude wasn't always happy on our trip. He spent hours in the carseat, but when we stopped he always found something interesting to climb around on. Maybe it wasn't always very clean, but definitely interesting. He also didn't sleep very well. Some of it was the bright desert sun, but also the evening heat and different surroundings, lack of mom, etc.

Then I think that maybe it is good to build a healthy sense of flexibility, adventure, and exploration. Where else could he encounter wild birds, chipmunks, and sagebrush? I love introducing Jude to the world around him. How could this be a bad thing?

This is a self-portrait of the weary travellers upon their return home. Which one of us looks the worse for wear?

Yesterday I took Jude for a long walk in the stroller through downtown Portland. By the end of it, he was wiped out, crying, and overstimulated - maybe from the people, or the sites and sounds, or the cars? I can honestly say that he was never that upset through the entire trip to SE Oregon.

I have to pronounce our road trip a success. We also received A LOT of support and positive reinforcement from Linden upon our return. So I guess its official. We're staying home this week to recover, and then off again next week to visit grandpa in Wallowa County. Woo hoo!

More Hare than Tortoise

We had a lovely Memorial Day Weekend here in Portland. We didn't do a whole lot, but that was a nice change for the weary travelers.  Jude has finally figured out that he doesn't need to stay on his back when we put him there.  This makes diaper changes and putting on clothes quite challanging, but it's nice to see that he's no longer turtle-like in his helplessness when on his back...  See below video for a demonstration of his new-found skills.  Oh, and his crawling speed has increased by about 10x in the last week. 

Boy Adventures

Note: This post is by E Ben, in case that wasn't immediately obvious...

The spring rains have passed, and the summer sun dawns brighter every morning. My new career as father and mentor and fellow adventurer is pushing me in new directions. Jude is 9 months old, and that is a number I can hardly get my head around. He grows up bigger and stronger and more curious every day. How long will I be able to keep up with him?

My experience of fatherhood is blooming with the warmer weather. I have begun to look at the summer as a series of adventures, coming trips, and new challenges. As with any career, it is important to take measured risks to reap big rewards. The planning and scheming has led me to venture further afield, to make some steps toward independence, and to broaden my boy's horizons.

This month we bought a family tent (see above photo) and set it up in the yard at Salmon Creek. In my opinion, this is the grand-daddy of all family tents: able to survive a three day storm, but big enough to fit two parents, gear, and the crib. This is a nod to my childhood memories of camping trips in an old White Stag tent. (Portlanders, think of the Made in Oregon Rudolph Sign on the building in Old Town.) We beat the living crap out of that tent for my entire childhood, and then my dad and I left it in a thrift store in Homer, Alaska when I was 26 years old. So it was with a mix of nostalgia and hope that I bought the Base Camp 6 from REI. I think this might be the guy equivalent of a nesting instinct.

With this frame of mind, I boldly set forth to plan adventures to carry us through the months of Jude's first summer. Casting about for some direction, my close friend Gregor expressed a desire to see some of the sights of Southeastern Oregon. Jude and I conferred, and decided a 4-night tour of the Beaver State was still inside the confines of sanity.

We travelled south and east last week to visit Harney County, a little known corner of the state known best for cattle ranches and Steens Mountain. Our destination was the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, where we stayed for 3 nights in a beat up 50's era trailer and played at amateur birdwatching. Jude wasn't much for the birds, but he enjoyed the hiking and general scenery. We made plenty of stops to explore the grass and sagebrush and (his new favorite) rocks.

We visited a historic site that Jude has always wanted to see - the Pete French Round Barn. It was designed in the last century to exercise horses in the harsh winters. In the dry shrub-steppe of SE Oregon, the juniper posts have held up remarkably well.  

On our way through Central Oregon, we stopped to visit the history museum in Prineville. This is a significant stop for Jude, who is of course the great-great-grandson of John W. Cornett and his uncle "Mac" Cornett, early settlers. The Cornetts ran the stagecoach lines throughout the central part of the state, and also ran a local general mercantile. 

As it turns out, my friend Gregor's family also settled part of the area. John Faulkner was postmaster in the town of Paulina, where Mac Cornett owned some property. Our forebears were definitely acquainted, probably friends, and possibly even drinking buddies. We drove out the Crooked River Valley to see what was left of Paulina and our progenitors.