04 Dec

Category

Jude ‘n Daizy 4Ever

1

Jude is a dog lover. Whenever we’re out at the park or walking around the neighborhood and he sees a dog, his eyes immediately light up and he says “Bow wow,” over and over again.

My sister-in-law and her husband have a dog named Daizy. Daizy stayed at my parents-in-law’s house over Thanksgiving, so Jude got some much desired dog time. I was really worried at first because Daizy is still a puppy, and well, she can be a big hyper. I was amazed at how well she settled down and how gentle (or kind of gentle) she was with Jude. Daizy loves giving kisses, and lucky lady that she is, Jude LOVES getting (doggy) kisses, so they got along famously.

Exhibit A:

This scene kept occurring over the two days of our visit. Jude would approach Daizy, lean forward, and wait for Daizy to lick his face. Daizy was happy to oblige. I’m happy that someone’s trigger finger was quick enough to catch this photo op. (Grant? Erin? Which one of you got this shot?)

04 Dec

Posted by
Jillian Frank

Category

Action Snot

0

Jude loves blowing his nose. He’s not picky. Kleenex, toilet paper, a cloth hanky…anything will do. He’s what we call an equal opportunity nose blower.

Take this picture, for instance:

Here Jude had chosen to use a used dryer sheet as a hanky. I know… he’s a bit different.

Tanks to Uncle Grant for snapping this great action snot, er, shot!

02 Dec

Posted by
Jillian Frank

Category

How’ve You Been?

0

Hello, internet. How’ve you been?

Me? Well, I’ve been sick…sicker than I’ve been in a good long while. I’m not sure if I had the honest-to-goodness flu or if I had some other virus with influenza-like symptoms, but whatever the true diagnosis, I was sick, sick, sick. I was unable to do much more than nurse Jude for a full 48 hours, but since then I’ve been slowly getting better. Jude got sick the same time I did (though he fared far better than I), so, despite having an attentive and helpful husband at home, I wasn’t able to rest much during the height of my illness. Come to think of it, I haven’t been able to rest much at all since I got sick, which was more than a week ago. Perhaps that’s why I’m still feeling fairly crappy.

Jude’s 18-month birthday has come and gone, and I (due to illness!) never got around to writing his letter for the month. Check back near the 21st of December for a combined 18/19 month letter to Jude.

In other Jude news, the boy refuses to have a good night of sleep. For more than a week now (yes, I realize it coincides with him getting sick) he has been waking up nearly every hour during the night; sometimes for just a few seconds or minutes and other times for a lot of minutes. I’m sleep deprived, as is Josh, and I’m praying for an end to this madness.

We spent Thanksgiving at my in-laws. The trip was cut short by a day because both Jude and I were feeling pretty terrible. Thursday was a miserable day for both of us, but Friday was much better. Jude had a great time playing with his Aunt Makenzie, Aunt Erin, and Uncle Grant, and had a great time visiting with his grandma and grandpa. I think the most memorable part of the trip was Jude continually trying to kiss Erin and Grant’s dog, Daizy. Stay tuned for pictures!

All in all, things are going well. I’m really exhausted and have felt like quitting (quitting what, I don’t know) a lot lately. I’m sure once Jude’s sleep gets back on track and I get some rest, I’ll have a much brighter outlook on life. Until then, say a prayer for me if you’re the praying type, or sacrifice a small animal in the name of my good health if that’s your gig.

03 Nov

Posted by
Jillian Frank

Category

Fall Back

2

I remember the good ol’ days… Once a year, the clocks got turned back, and in turn (haha!), I gained an extra hour of sleep that night. Up until recently, that day has been my favorite day of the year: better than my birthday and Christmas combined.

A little more than 17 months ago I gave birth to a beautiful, wonderful, amazing baby boy. Generally speaking, Jude is a thoughtful little guy. He gives me kisses and hugs and will cuddle with me when I’m feeling down. However, my very perceptive and attentive child somehow missed out on the Daylight Savings Time Memo, and failed to sleep in on Sunday. Actually, he has been getting up earlier than normal for about a week now. So, unlike years past when, during the month of October, I would gain a glorious hour of sleep, this year, it was a wash, at best. Because of this, I am sad.

Sooner or later, Jude will get himself straightened out and get back to sleeping past 5:30am; I just know it! Until then, I fear I’m going to be little more than a walking zombie…a foggy-headed mama with an hankering for brains.

01 Nov

Posted by
Jillian Frank

Category

I’ve Created a Monster

0

A few weeks ago, well, maybe it was just last week, I started playing some VeggieTales videos for Jude when he would get up from his afternoon nap. I won’t lie; I did it because it allowed me 10 extra minutes to lay in bed. He seemed to enjoy it, so I figured, why not?

I’ll tell you why not. Now, every time my boy sees my laptop, he wants to watch videos. I can’t just show him one 3-minute “Silly Song with Larry…” he cries and cries for more. *sigh* I’ve already started to cut down on how much he watches. One of the reasons we got rid of our TVs was so that we (read: me) wouldn’t learn to rely on it for Jude’s entertainment. Breaking this habit is going to be tough… Jude loves the Song of the Cebu.

In other news, I have 1604 words of my NaNoWriMo novel written. I’m hoping to write another thousand before bed. Wish me luck!

28 Oct

Posted by
Jillian Frank

Category

Ouch!

0

Oh this boy of mine.

Last night, Jude was playing on the bed, being silly and making Josh and me laugh. He was giving us zerberts on our faces and bellies and being super freaking adorable. In the midst of all the action, he bumped his head on the wall. He immediatley put his hand to his forehead and whined a bit. I asked him if he bumped his head, he answered in the affirmative. After hugging him and kissing him and making sure he wasn’t hurt, Jude wriggled out of my grip, walked over to the wall, looked at Josh and me…

And he tapped his head on the wall.

Jude then proceeded to put his hand to his head, whine, come over for a hug and kiss, and repeat the process a good dozen times in a row. It was hil-effing-arious. Josh and I couldn’t contain our laughter.

Someone ought to tell this kid the story of the boy who cried wolf. *smile*

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Jude has figured out this cause/effect relationship or that he can pretend already, but I am. I’m guessing this is a normal stage of child development (can anyone confirm this?), but it’s freaking amazing to witness. Maybe I’m just awed easily, I don’t know. It seems like everyday this kid does something that stops me dead in my tracks. Many days, it’s a high-pitched scream that halts my action, and other days, like yesterday, it’s the realization that this boy of mine is learning right before my eyes.

As my BFF Lauren would say, it’s wicked awesome.

16 Oct

Posted by
Jillian Frank

Category

Productivity… You’re Doing it Right

0

Today I feel more human and useful than I have in at least two weeks. And that’s despite the sore throat and sore neck I’m sporting.

The boy is feeling better. He’s eating better and he’s napping and sleeping better. Josh is working hard at work and helping out a ton around the house. He’s also doing his best to force me to take time away from the boy for myself. I made a menu and actually stuck to it (so far!) this week. Today I took Jude up to Whole Foods to pick up a few items. I also made breakfast and lunch and cleaned my kitchen. This post will make two (2!) for the day.

So, yeah. In short: I rock.

(Does anyone really say “I rock” or “you rock” anymore? Probably not.)

On to Jude news. A couple of posts ago, I mentioned the muffin tin snack tray I set up for Jude and the other kids during the Fourth Annual Frank Family Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza. I’ve been setting this up daily since the party, and Jude LOVES it. He grazes all day on the healthy snacks I put out, picking and choosing what he wants to nosh on at any given moment. I think the tray has contributed significantly to my productivity over the past few days. Sure, I have to replenish it from time to time…add cheese around lunch time…pop it in the fridge before Jude’s afternoon nap…but overall, Jude just helps himself. It has increased his autonomy while freeing me from the tedium of handing him green bean after green bean. He gets to eat as his hunger dictates, and I get to wash dishes without having to stop to dry my hands ever four minutes when he wants yet another cracker.

He gets to eat. I get to wash dishes. Hardly seems like a fair exchange.

12 Oct

Posted by
Jillian Frank

Category

Hot, Hot, Hot

0

It has been nearly a week since my last post. Last week was kind of rough for us, but things are looking up.

I don’t know if I mentioned on here that Jude had had a bit of a fever on and off for the past week (the week previous to this past one). I never actually took his temp, but my mama lips told me that he was warm. This past week, his fever got up to 101.8 (used a thermometer this time… my lips aren’t that precise) for two days or so. He did really well with it; he was just a bit crankier than normal. Additionally, over the past two weeks, he hasn’t had much of an appetite for solid food (though he’s still nursing like a champ). And also, his sleep has been a bit off. I’ve been having a hard time laying him down when he naps/goes to bed at night, and having a babe in arms makes it hard to type blog posts. In other words, I’ve been busy; I haven’t had the time, or the hands, to write. Again, my apologies.

On the up side, my little guy seems to be feeling much better. Tonight we had our friends over for the Fourth Annual Frank Family Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza. It was a blast. While reading the forums over at MDC, I came across an idea for presenting snacks to toddlers/children. Someone over there suggested filling a muffin tin (or some kind of divided tray) with different foods for kids to snack on. You put it at their hight and let them go to town. It helps children regulate themselves in regards to eating when hungry, and it also helps parents avoid that pre-meal meltdown that often occurs while mom/dad is trying to get lunch/dinner on the table for the whole family. Tonight’s muffin tin was filled with dried pineapple, dried apple, banana chips, dried mango pieces, raisins, fresh green beans, cooked winter squash, apple slices (two sections), sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and teddy puffs. The kids really seemed to enjoy having a selection of food to choose from. Especially Jude. For the first hour of the party (at least) he stayed within a foot of the tin at all times. It was funny to watch. Unfortunatly, I don’t think I got a picture. Boo.

I’ll post this week’s menu (or at least what dishes we’re going to be eating) tomorrow morning. I’m hoping that I can get back into the swing of writing daily now that Jude is on the mend.

Oh, and here’s an article about society’s fear of fever. It explains why we don’t use antipyretic drugs to treat fevers.

23 Sep

Posted by
Jillian Frank

Category

Climbing the Walls

0

Have I mentioned that this place is really hard to baby proof? Because it is.

Josh and I had hoped that putting a large sofa in front of the stairwell would keep Jude away from the potentially (very) dangerous stairs. Well… I guess I can let the photos speak for themselves: