2.23.2010

note from the edge

yikes. last week was NOOTS. i don't know if it is the age, the teething, the sickness or the meds he was on, but judah morphed into the tiniest contestant in a sommelier competition because (wait for it) he became the ultimate whine captain!
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i blame him, of course. the first 8.75 months, he tricked us into submission as being the easiest, chillest babe on the block. he never fusses and can always be amused or interested out of a borderline grumpy mood. not. last. week. nothing would make him happy and yet he wanted to try everything within screaming distance just to make absolutely sure that he did, in fact, hate that particular toy/activity/environment as well. it was annoying as crap to us because, doy, babies crying and whining is annoying, but it was an emotional kick in the balls as well because he just seemed so frustrated and unhappy about existence in general and all of our most well intentioned and creative parenting tricks were met with pushes away, screams in faces and wails of distress.
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on wednesday evening, i was waiting for jesse to come home and i just lost it. i had tried EVERYTHING to change judah's mood and give him some interest/sustenance/peace/stimulation/money or whatever the hell it was he was looking for. he was just so pissed about it all. i got to the point that i was starting to get mad at him. this scares me about myself and i am quick to monitor any loss of temper AT the baby and take a break and regain some perspective when this happens so as not to end up incarcerated. this time, since i was alone with him, i couldn't exactly leave so i simply just constructed a pillow barrier in his general scoot-able circumference and filled it with graham crackers and toys and then curled up in the fetal position across the room and plugged my ears and hummed until jesse got back. feel free to judge me.
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luckily we think that strange possession or our baby's mood was just temporary because he's getting his chipper back day by day (being out of school for a whole week may have played a part in the malaise since our lil' cub is a very social mammal). saturday morning he was still kind of hissy so we resorted to some unusual maneuvers to make family day as enjoyable as possible for everyone.

first time in the big tub and judah's first ever bath before 10 am (the academy award for best supporting actor in a modesty role goes to: bubbles!).
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he looked and smelled like he had moved in with oscar the grouch because we hadn't given him a bath all week so as to keep his ears 100% dry while they healed, so this activity was functional as well as fun. we could have started the big tub months ago, but the in-sink infant tub is so much more accessible for us since it brings the baby and the bathwater up to our height, plus judah never tried to escape it and seemed to enjoy the little one just fine. well on saturday we decided to make tubbing an amusement activity rather than just a hygiene routine since he was going nuts for a change of scenery. so, i now take baths with judah. it may be a little hippie or scar him for life to take a bath with mommy, but i love it! no back-breaking bending over to reach him while kneeling (which we tried and got fed up with after 5 minutes) and no worries about getting splashed or not being able to catch him in time if he slips. ask me again how much i love it the first time he poops in there with me.
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gonna say sunlight is causing the difference in hair color from the previous picture and not the bath
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after the early morning bath, we took the turd burglar for a long stroll since it was amazing weather outside. nothing weird about this...he has always loved anything outside and never makes a peep during his strolls. no matter how tired he is he doesn't fall asleep because he's soaking it all up. it was quite strange to see him grab his sippy cup off his tray and knock it back like it was nothing. what a big kid. the wind kept making him have crazy hair, it was awesome.
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visiting the canines in maximum security lockdown. that's clifford's mouth with a ball in it in the background trying to climb over chopper. judah seems indignant about something...maybe the injustice of their living situation? little does he know the wildness of these beasts or that they have more acreage than the rest of us.


Add Image
i just put this one in to capture the rotundity of judah's cheek


so tiny!
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judah man is a champion at holding himself up and a fence has unlimited handholds so i left him there and went the 20 yards back up to the house and knocked on the door. jesse opened it and was like, "um, hi, where is our baby, please?" it was so fun to say, "look, he's playing in the back yard with the dogs." judah didn't even notice i had left. in a strange meteorological phenomenon, it is still high-autumn in east-bumbly which is why there are so many leaves in our yard and definitely NOT because we have never raked once in 3.5 years and those piles of years-old leaves are high enough to lose our firstborn inside of.
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we used our highchair for the first time ever. every other meal has been served to him sitting in the living room, on the counter or while he's standing up playing so we felt the time was right to try to salvage what little hope remains for having table manners. it was quite nice to have all of us at the table eating our lunches (to model excellent behavior, jesse and i don't ever eat at the table either)



with a fistful of cheese and avocado plus some kiwi on the plate that were too slippery for him to feed himself


baby's first anatomical anomaly!
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judah now has 2 top teeth to go with his 2 bottom middle ones; however, neither of these is a top middle tooth. the ones that have come in are the 2 side teeth, making him look like a first grader who has lost his front teeth to that tooth fairy or like some kind of infant vampire (i didn't read twilight while breastfeeding or pregnant, so it couldn't have seeped in that way). i read somewhere that it is uncommon for the teeth to come in in this order, but there's nothing wrong with it. so we'll just enjoy baby snaggles for the time being (you can click to make the pic big to see his chomper...the one on your left is just barely cut, so its not in the pic)

sorry that was boring...even to me. i will get back my creative mojo sometime soon. i think the blog quality is inversely proportional to the amount of close-range baby screaming encounter each day.

7 comments:

  1. OH man, I'm so sorry about the temperament... I have no advice cuz I'm not a Mom, but it sure sounds like serious torture. I hate it for you! Hang in there and I think you're awesome!

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  2. sarah kate used to get so frustrated with kiwi. I've heard they will lose their baby teeth in the order they get them. Should make for some interesting elementary school pics.

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  3. sarah kate used to get so frustrated with kiwi. I've heard they will lose their baby teeth in the order they get them. Should make for some interesting elementary school pics.

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  4. haha I loved it! And Madison will be scarred too b/c I bathe with her everytime! It's just SOOOO much easier...and that way I know she won't fall and dunk herself before I can grab her...risking the very critical tubage in her ears!
    Love you girl! Our life seems to be coming back together...let's get together!

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  5. MG has her two bottom teeth in the middle, but her top tooth that came in is not the middle tooth! it is strange but I'm glad to see MG is not the only one with weird teeth placement! As always he is adorable and you are a joy to read!

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  6. My son Jake's teeth came in weird too, it made for some great pics. He's three now and has all normal teeth.

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  7. ok. weird. our lives are eerily similar right now. luke was sick with strep all last week. he suddenly turned into the biggest whiner/screamer when he doesn't get what he wants...we thought it was just b/c he was sick. ummmm. no. he's not quite as bad, but it looks like it's a new stage. he's testing us to see if screaming and whining will get him whatever he wants. it SUCKS. also, i took a bath with luke for the first time last week. at first he hated having most of the water disappear and be replaced with mushy,flabby mommy legs, but then he found a small remaining puddle and just pretended i wasn't there. it was fun, but our tub's too small to make it a frequent occurrence...and lastly, luke got his vampire teeth in first, too!

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