Baby's First Illness at Home

About six weeks ago the lack of sleep finally caught up with me and I became sick. Then Matthew...then Jude. That's just how it goes sometimes in a household - especially when it's cold outside so all the pathogens are trapped in with us because the windows are all closed up tight!

For about three days Jude didn't eat much, but he took his supplements like a champ and he rested a lot. So strange to see my little pistol resting so much through the day...

Speaking Judanese

Many people have asked us if Jude understands English. There's not much, actually, that he doesn't understand in any language, as he reads body language and vocal inflection very well. He tries new words every day. We speak mostly English at home, but I also try to speak as much French as I can remember from the days when I was fluent years ago. Unfortunately, you sure lose it when there isn't anyone to speak the language to! Also, French seems to still be very soothing to him in a meltdown. But the reality is, we are actually tri-lingual in our home...here is a small portion of the French/English/Judanese language:

"Ah-bey" - Obey! (one of our favorites, of course! Jude says this while patting his own bottom in a mock spanking)
"Ah-bedda!" - All better!
"Ah lah tu" - I love you
"Ah-wi!" - All right! (a Grandpa Garrett classic)
"Ahf-wa" - Au revior (good bye)
"Ah, tum-ahn" - Oh, come on! (another, courtesy of mama...you really need to watch it around these babes!)
"Appo" - apple
"Arretez" - arretez (stop)
"Ba-BOH!" - Bravo!
"Be-be" - baby
"Be-be Du" - baby Jude (that's what Jude calls himself in photographs)
"Bieh" - Bien! (good)
"Bhooh" - spoon
"Bood-dah!" - good job!
"Buh-dee" - bonne nuit (good night)
"Dacco mama" - D'accord mama (Okay mama)
"Deshuh" - Jesus
"Ess Gama?" - Where's Grandma? (Or Grandpa, depending on who's missing)
"Hep pee!" - Help, please! (another one we love...much better than the alternative, which is a loud, frustrated whine!)
"I-ya!" - Pick me up (always accompanied by outstretched arms)
"It a ni-ni" - Just a minute
"Jekkika" - Aunt Jessica
"Lu-wah" - Aunt LeAnn
"Me-ah-meh" - Amen!
"No" - snow
"Noh!" - No!
"Oh metty" - Oh mercy (one he picked up from mama)
"Oh nah" - Oh no
"Papa" - papa...for some reason always called out in either a whisper or a shout, never a regular speaking voice
"Pata Da" - Pastor Dan - our senior pastor, who Jude loves to give high-fives to and say "amen" with
"Ubb uh bebby" - Rub your belly
"Uh-ko-mah" - Uncle Mike

So, that's just a small sampling of our strange third language; he also knows most of his body parts, and several other words I'm sure I'm forgetting. Funny how we understand so much of this new non-language. I think Jude's training us in Judanese by immersion...the best way to learn a language!

Tuesday Evening...Without Jude

We must tell you that in light of that last post, the only thing great for us about being without Jude on the occasional Tuesday night is the sleeping. In fact, we sleep so hard on those nights that we have to set three alarms because we both sleep through the first two. Oh, and there's no need to make the bed; we can just slip out and flip the covers up since neither of us really move in the night. If you think that's sarcasm, think again...it's completely true!

However, hard sleeping aside, we sure do miss that little man when he's gone. After all, who wouldn't miss this?

Before you start to wonder why we would do this to the poor kid, let me tell you that he actually did this all on his own. One morning when his papa was shaving, he heard Jude giggling behind him. Matthew turned around, howled with laughter, and ran for the camera! This is the fun we live with.

Wonderful days. What nights?

What nights? Well, I say that because nights are for sleeping and we just don't do that. Some people roll their eyes at us as thought we naive new parents don't have a clue. While there are many things about which we indeed do not have a clue, what they don't realize is that our sleepless nights are not normal. Jude doesn't wake us up a few times and we all go to sleep and wake up a little bleary-eyed in the morning. On the contrary, Jude does some things in the night that are very disturbing and keep us awake often from 11pm until morning. So, for almost five months, we can only think of two or three nights in which we've slept for more than three or four hours.

Those couple of nights we were able to sleep were because Jude stayed overnight with Grandpa and Grandma Bowen. They have an enormous bathtub and deer in the yard every night, and Jude loves both - and Bah-pa and A-ma, of course! No, that's not a typing error - he calls her A-ma, and sometimes Maaa-ma.

Thank God for Little Boys

We recently received an email note with a link to the following blog post: http://zuidemas.blogspot.com/2008/10/it-is-not-ok.html, posted by a case worker we know, about boys. Because the overwhelming majority of people adopting want girls, there are many cases in which boys are considered to have a "special need" just because they are boys. The post is worth reading, and after you do, here is my response:

"My thoughts: 'here-here' as they say after a good toast at a celebratory event. Boys...precious boys. You know, girls are cute and precious and cuddly and soft and lovely and ruffly. But, as it turns out, I am not a girl mama. I, by God's grace and provision, am a boy mama, and I'm so glad to be. Harder to raise? Well, I wouldn't know...you see, I don't know much about kids. I only know about 'kid' - my kid. He's all boy right to his core. He's a rough-and-tumble, shout-out-loud, running, tossing, throwing, wrestling boy to the very core.

What some people forget - the people who want softness and light and ruffles - is that boys also sing to you through the day, cuddle when they're sleepy, grin with mischief when they wrestle with their mamas (knowing they can't wrestle the same way they do with their papas), and kiss you awake in the morning if you're not getting up fast enough. Seems to me that I, a boy mama, have been given the best of both worlds. What more could I ask?"

Surprising Papa

For the first time since Jude's been home, I took the day away to do some shopping with my sister and mom. On January 12th, we went to Birch Run searching for deals. Jude stayed with Grandpa Garrett during the day and his papa in the evening. He surprised Matthew when they were getting ready for dinner and Matt said, "Hmmm...where did I put your cup, son?" Jude promptly took off down the hallway and reappeared with his water cup.

Funny...people ask us if Jude understands English. You bet he does - very well. We speak English and a little French at home, and he understands both. His papa had no idea he knew what "Where's the cup?" meant.

Jude Sees the First Snow