six months

I am downright embarrassed.  And ashamed.  My baby is almost seven months old, which means it's been two whole months since I have blogged!

 It makes me sad...not because I'm letting my millions of readers down (ha...come on, you know you laughed, too) but because life is just zipping on by, and I'm not taking the time to record it...which really means, that in a few months or years (or in some cases a few days, or hours, even)...I will have forgotten.  It makes me sick to think that I could really forget these moments that have made up one of the sweetest times of my life...but alas, it happens to the best of us.  If we don't record it, chances are, we will forget.  

Well, I'm determined to change that by devoting more time in my life to my trusty old blog...

And I can think of no better way to get started, than by highlighting a few of Jude's six month milestones and achievements...before he gets another month older.

Cut me some slack, will ya?...I've got one day to get 'er done.

• At his six-month check-up, Jude weighed in at 16 pounds 12 oz, was 27 inches long, and his head  measured 17 1/4 in.  The doctor told us he was in the 25th percentile for weight, and the 50th for height and head.  (Boring to you...but something I may want to remember some day.)
• Jude attended his first concert!  Which also happened to be MY first concert 25 years ago!  It was the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary tour.  We didn't end up buying tickets for it until the day of the show...so we were lucky to have been able to find a sitter for the evening.  She was a little young, though, and I wasn't sure I wanted to leave Jude anyway...so we took him along!  He wore John's noise cancellation headphones, which surprisingly, stayed on the whole night, and which, also surprisingly, he seemed to enjoy.  He was a hit with everyone around us...the man sitting next to us called his wife and told her all about how there was the cutest baby sitting here enjoying the show with some giant headphones...and the folks in front of us asked if they could take a picture of him - they thought he was so cute.  He ended up falling asleep for the second half of the show (it was a three hour set!  they played 50 songs...one for each year!)...I had to laugh, as it reminded me of how my little brother, Matt, fell asleep when we went to the Beach Boys concert as kids.  We've teased him a lot about that over the years...how anyone could fall asleep at a concert is beyond me.  Jude was so cute though...lying in my lap, sleeping so peacefully despite the sound level in the venue, and wearing a pair of headphones that were twice the size of his head.  The cutest sight!
• Jude tried rice cereal for the first time...and liked it!  
• He talks a lot, and he screams a lot...he squeals, and he hollers, and he jabbers the day away.  I think he loves hearing his low and raspy voice in action as much as I do!  It's seriously the best!
• Jude loves his bamboo blankies!  Whenever we start to put one on top of him, he grabs at it with his hands, and kicks at it with his legs, and then buries his little face into it!  It's the cutest thing to see how excited he becomes over something so simple.  At bed time, and for naps, he's sure to fall right to sleep as long as he has a piece of his blanket touching the side of his face...and believe it or not, even when we're out and about with temps in the 110-115 range, Jude still loves to be covered with a bamboo blankie.
• He is the happiest baby I have ever known.  He smiles if you just make eye contact with him, and if you laugh at him,  you're sure to get a laugh back.  He loves to sit in his exersaucer, or in his little bumbo chair, and just watch and observe his surroundings.  He's content to lie on a blanket on the floor, and he loves hanging out in his swing.  He's happy and he's easy.  He goes with the flow, and he naps on the go.  He's my dream baby.  
• Even though he's so chill...he does have a little bit of a hard time for some reason every night around 5:30...which also happens to be when I'm trying to make dinner!  We've come up with an easy solution for that, however...we make dinner together.  I strap on the baby bjorn, put him inside, turn on some tunes, and we're good to go.  He's getting some good practice in.  Who knows, maybe he'll grow up to be a chef, or a food connoisseur, or a culinary specialist of some sort.   I so look forward to this time that we share together each evening.  I'm going to miss the day that he loses interest...or becomes too big for me to strap on my chest...or starts reaching for the knives, or the boiling water.  For now, though...we have a pretty good thing going.
• He started sitting up, but can't stay sitting for very long before he topples over.  
• He can roll, too, but for the most part, choses not to.  I see some of his friends (who were born at the same time) doing all sorts of tricks...but jude, he's just my chill baby.  And really, I'm in no hurry to have him grow up and turn into a big boy. In fact, if I had it my way, I'd put a hold on time, and enjoy my six month old baby...for another six months or so.

Happy 6 Months, Baby Jude!