Julesey Poolsey

When you name your child Jules, there's no need for a nickname, but they happen anyway. I started calling him Julesey, then Julesey Poolsey (pudding and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry). Then Orion decided that we were the Berenstain Bears and that Jules was Honey Bear. (If you haven't read the Berenstain Bears in a while, they eventually have another girl cub.) When we aren't the Berenstain Bears, then we are trains, except for Orion who is Mr. Conductor. I get to be Henry, Isaac is Gordon, and currently Jules is James Percy. (They are all friends of Thomas the Tank Engine. James and Percy are two separate engines.)

Jules sleeps pretty well. He is is having tummy time. No, wait! He is napping. This is his first spontaneous nap. Orion didn't do this until, hmm..., December 24, 2008. (See the last post.)

Jules talks whenever he can. He loves to babble and we love to listen to it. All you have to do is look and him, say a few words and then give him a chance to respond and off he goes. He seems to understand how conversation works, so if you keep talking then he stays quiet. He doesn't want to butt in.

EC is going well. We are only fastening the diapers onto him when we are away from home. Even Isaac has relaxed about the whole nakey butt thing. It helps that he gets virtually all of his poops in the potty. (At this age babys tend to be obvious about when they need to poop. We'll see what happens in a month or so. That's when Orion stopped being obvious.) Pees are hit or miss; it depends on how much attention I give him. I have learned the art of positioning a baby over a diaper, so that when I miss his cues we don't get a mess. Right now the game is communication, because without it we will not do so well once he starts crawling.

Happy 2009!

We started off the holiday season by trimming the tree. Orion enjoyed helping this year. He likes to cluster all the ornaments in one spot. Isaac prefers them all equidistant. It was a constant battle that Orion was completely unaware of.

It just isn't a holiday without sharing it with friends. We had the Lambies over for the first night of Hanukkah. Our dinner was a success, but the jelly donuts were a bit raw in the middle. We had over Isaac's work friend, Dr. Dennis, for Hanukkah a few nights later and finally got the donuts right. We also tried making our own latkes and they were great, too. Ooh, and the homemade applesauce was so yummy. Next year I want to add pretzels to our Hanukkah fare.

This year Orion got to light his own menorah. He got some help the first few nights, but was doing it on his own by the eighth night. He also loved picking out what color candles to go into his menorah.

I had romantic notions of a Christmas Eve spent around the fire, sipping hot chocolate, eating cookies and reciting The Night Before Christmas. The fire got started a bit late, and when I came out with the hot chocolate I found a little boy with a chocolate mouth asleep on the couch. No waiting up for Santa this year.

The boys on Christmas morning. Jules's outfit reads My First Christmas.

My dad and step-mother arrived in time for dinner on Christmas and will be heading to the airport in a few hours. We had a great time with them and they got to see Jules for the first time.

The happy family on the last night of Hanukkah. Well, 3 out of 4 isn't so bad.

The boys and the guests are all in bed for the night, so Isaac and I are alone with Ryan Seacrest to bring in the new year. 2008 was great and we are looking forward to even better things in 2009. Happy New Year!