James and Jude

This post is going to be about James and Jude.

Jude is now approaching week 16 and getting stronger by the day. It is interesting to see the gender differences. Last week I met a girlfriend for coffee and she brought her 6 month baby girl along, Ella. Ella's movements are smooth, delicate and genteel while Jude is boisterous and grabs and 'whacks' things using swipe movements.

His favourite items at the moment are books and things that make sound. He has just started to chuckle at himself in the mirror.

He still demands a lot of our time - he won't play by himself for more than a minute and then starts protesting (gradually getting louder) until we return and likes to be carried a lot. So taking care of him is fairly exhausting. He screams if we try to extend him past his 45 minute naps in the day but sleeps well at night. In fact he went from 6.30pm to 6.30am for the first time last night...could we dare hope this continues?!

James loves coming home to his little family and realises how much he misses the little man as soon as he sees him again. When you see them side on they look like two peas in a pod and Jude loves sitting on James' chest while James talks to him. James was delighted to discover Jude feeding himself last weekend. Though not so delighted when he screamed because the milk was taken away! :-) Jude has taken to licking everything which apparently James did as a baby. Let's hope he outgrows this by the time he is crawling outdoors!

We are counting down the weeks until James finishes work - he is very much looking forward to spending the next 7 months watching Jude grow and develop and of course travelling around. We have Le Mans, Tour de France, my 30th in the Loire Valley wine region and a trip to see Sam in the US planned so far. Cannot wait. Not long before we start the moving process and pack everything up...it will feel very real then.

Nic x