forever changed

As most of you know, Judah William Congdon was born on the 13th of February and he has changed our lives forever for the better. I'll write a more detailed birth story over on his little blog soon, but I was blessed with a very short labor and delivery. My mom and I went into the birth center on the 13th for my weekly appointment (I was 38 and 1/2 weeks), and I was fully expecting to be back home within an hour. However, while the midwife was checking me, my water broke (at 10am). Contractions started almost immediately, and four and a half hours later, at 2:32pm, Judah was born! The midwives were all shocked... they kept telling me I would be in labor for 12-14 hours and it would take about 2 hours to push him out, because I was a first time mom. But happily, we proved them wrong!

A brief record of Jude's first three weeks:

Brand new family!

8lbs, 4oz... 20.5 inches long... perfect from head to toe!

 Holding Dad's thumb.

Staring intently at each other.

Not even 2 hours old.

Jude is 2 hours old, mom is all showered, feeling great and loving every second!

The new grandmother, who was there with us for the whole birth! Thomas was at work when my water broke at my appointment, and I'm so glad she was there with me. Thomas had to go home and pick up all of our stuff (which was kind of spread out all over the house, and while I knew exactly where everything was, my poor husband was running around frantically trying to find the stuff on my list!), so mom was with me through the first hour and a half of contractions. They started getting really painful right as Thomas arrived.

When Judah was 5 hours old, we headed home.

Our first night as a family in our own home!

Cute little bean in his carseat, going to his first pediatrician appointment at 18 hours old.

Snuggled with mom.

First little sponge bath... he LOVED it. We made the bathroom all warm and toasty for him.

 Hanging out with dad.

2 days old.

Talking to Nana :)

Love those chubby cheeks!

Little burrito.

 Thomas tried to put together Judah's links in a pattern with 6 different colors and 4 different designs... harder than it sounds.

Monkey butt!

Jude and his rugby ball from Grandad!

We think he's going to make a great rugby player... he already has the intimidating look down!

Sleepy newborn... won't stay awake for tummy time!

 Bear hug for dad.

My little 1-week-old snuggle bug.

Trying so hard to wake up!

At his 9-day-old visit (he weighed 8lbs 9oz!), Judah got his little footprints on the wall of the birth center along with the 3000+ other babies that have been born there.

First time napping in his crib (he sleeps in his bassinet in our room).

Going for a walk in our Maya ring sling.

"My Uncle Matthew is awesome!"

"My Uncle Daniel is awesome!"

(These onesies are how we told my family we were pregnant :) )

Getting ready for an outing.

Funny story... our good friends the Whitsons came to visit Jude, and while they were here he needed a diaper change. He proceeded to pee ALL over the wall next to his changing table while I was changing him, so the guys all came in, moved the changing table (because of course it dripped down behind it as well), and wiped the wall down with Clorox wipes. What good friends!

Nap time.

Thomas decided to join Jude in a nap in the middle of studying for a presentation for grad school.

 Just hanging out. We do that a lot. I don't want to miss a moment!

We are developing a little double chin! Love it.

Cutie.

Jude looks wearily up at me after a long photoshoot... "Are you done yet mom and dad? There will be plenty more opportunities to capture my adorableness!"

We've been blessed with an easy transition into parenthood. My recovery was quick and not bad at all, and Jude is such a laid back baby. Having my mom here for a month has been wonderful... very reassuring when we wonder if something Jude is doing is normal. She's a baby expert. I get to learn from the best. The three of us are going to be very sad when she has to fly back to South Africa next Saturday, especially because we don't know when we'll get to see her again.

For the first week or so, Jude was eating every 2-3 hours during the day and 3-4 hours during the night. It's now stretched out to 3-4 hours during the day, and 4-5 hours during the night. He's even "slept through the night" a couple times (6 or 7 hours). The first time he did that we were worried because he hadn't eaten all night, but he was just as happy as a clam (and then so were we!). He is certainly getting enough food because he gained a whole pound by his two-week appointment!

It's amazing how much he has changed in just three weeks... he is so much more alert now. He stays awake for 2-3 hour stretches sometimes. His face is looking more and more "grown up". Right from the beginning he has been staring at our faces intently, so we take those opportunities to teach him to do things like stick out his tongue at us, make "kissy lips", and even smile. He gets better at mimicking us every day. I can get a smile out of him almost instantly now. He loves music and being sung to, so we try to have music on, and we sing to him whenever we can. It's so fun to interact with him, and I'm sure it's just going to get better and better as he gets older. 

I love watching his little personality develop. He makes these cute little squeaky sighing/grunting noises when he likes something (like his bathtime... he LOVES baths). He gets a quivery lip and a pitiful little cry when he doesn't like something (like diaper changes... he doesn't like having a cold bottom!)... but as soon as you pick him up when it's done he's perfectly happy again. He does this little fast breathing/panting in anticipation thing when he knows he's about to be fed, and then sighs contentedly while he's eating. His little face is so expressive, and his hands are always moving when he's awake like he's trying to talk to us.

We are just loving every minute. It's going so fast already, I don't want to blink in case I miss something!