Andy & Jessica

I got Andy a vacuum cleaning robot for Christmas. Andy named her Rosie. Jude loves Rosie (Andy and I love her too, for that matter). Jude loves powering Rosie on by himself and he loves chasing after her and cornering her. Every time I’m giving Jude a ride in my arms past Rosie (who is usually on her charging base), Jude points at her and babbles about her. It’s so cute.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Andy and I haven’t celebrated yet. We agreed back in the day that if V-day falls in the middle of a week, we would celebrate on the following weekend. One of the benefits is that we can buy each other presents on clearance (e.g., candy and flowers).

For V-day this year, Andy asked me not to get him a gift, but to instead go out on a date with him. Reasonable request, right? I know it’s reasonable, but I only reluctantly agreed to it. Since I work full-time, I feel I already am missing out on so much of Jude’s life. I hate the idea of leaving Jude for 2-3 hours to go on a date with Andy. But, as I said, I reluctantly agreed to do so. So, I’m stuck. It will be our first time out without Jude. I hope he won’t be scarred for life as a result of this abandonment!!! If he is, I’ll blame Andy of course.

We’ve posted some more photos, including the pictures from our Bahamas trip.

You can view them here.

Q1: So, is he sleeping through the night yet?

A1: Actually, about 5 months ago this was a hot question. Now, I don’t hear it as often, probably because everyone assumes the answer is yes. Well, the answer is NO. Jude has never (I repeat, NEVER) slept through the night. He still gets up at least 2 if not 3 or more times a night. I lay down with him and feed him each time to get him to go back to sleep. I don’t make him cry himself to sleep.

Q2: Is he crawling yet?

A2: Yes. He has been able to crawl for at least a month and a half. He’s very fast. He likes to chase after the cats and the robot vacuum cleaner.

Q3: Is he walking yet?

A3: Not yet. He stands up and cruises around furniture a little. Maybe in another month or so.

Q4: Is he talking yet?

Q4: Not really. He babbles a lot. He said “mama” for the first time today and that was exciting, but I’m not convinced he was referring to me or just practicing. He’s been saying “dada” for some time now (and probably not referring to Andy).

Last Friday, Andy, Jude and I, along with my mom and Andy’s mom went on a short cruise in the Bahamas. Jude traveled great. It appears that he will be Daddy’s little co-pilot (Andy has a private pilot license). Jude is such a social butterfly. He loves seeing and charming new people. And, people love him. I love it when people love him. He’s my little “beauty king.”

Below is a summary of our trip:
Royal Caribbean cruise. This was the 2nd cruise Andy and I have been on. We liked NCL better. Royal Caribbean had lots of events on the ship, but they occurred well past our 9 p.m. bedtime or while we were out and about exploring the Bahamas.

Beautiful turquoise water in the Bahamas. Snorkeling was not good. Saw about 4-5 different kinds of fish. The snorkeling was nothing compared to the snorkeling in Cozumel or Hawaii.

The water was fairly cold. Nevertheless, Jude went “swim-swimming” for a short time.

Nassau (the capital city). Lots of pushy people trying to sell you their homemade goods or knock-off purses (insisting the purses were the real thing). I bought Jude a hand painted piggy bank with “Bahamas” on it, but nothing else.

The historical sites in Nassau were not as impressive as they sounded on the country’s official website. We went to Fort Charlotte, Fort Fincastle, the Queen’s Staircase and saw the Water Tower.
Overall, we had a good time and we all traveled well together. But, I would not go to the Bahamas again. Been there. Done that.

On another note, my brother Mike was supposed to come with us, but he has been afflicted with disabling shoulder pain for the past 2-1/2 weeks that has had him in and out of the ER and he even had to spend several days in the hospital. He is still on heavy pain killers. The doctors are not sure what is going on.