Okay, here we go....
March: Since last time I wrote sleep has been awful! I was just reading back on my last posts about Jude's sleeping and recalling how great he was. Well, he sure had us fooled! Near the end of March we took a trip up to Edmonton because Steve was there for a tournament and we'd thought we'd take advantage of him being close by and visit. So, off we went. We had a great time with a couple of short visits with Uncle Steve. Lennon loved the pool at the hotel. It was a nice little weekend getaway. Anyway, the first night there Jude took ages to settle to sleep but when he finally did he slept from about midnight to 7:30 am! Jackpot! Amazing! Wait, don't get too excited...the next night he was up every hour! Ugh! And then for the next almost 3 months he was getting up every hour to two hours. Sooooo tired! More on that as I carry on.
April: We took our annual trip to Palm Springs with Fred's family at the end of March. It was a great time and the weather was amazing! Lennon loved having the pool in our yard and was in it within minutes of us arriving! She's getting much more confident in the pool and has a blast. We took it pretty easy for the week as Jude was still waking up frequently. Fred and I were probably in bed not much later than 9 every night. Oh, Judey....please sleep! He had fun too. He loves to roll over and play on his tummy most of the time and is a very happy guy (despite not sleeping)! When we got home from our trip Lennon started swimming lessons. Her first lessons without me in the pool! There were only 2 other kids in her class so that was great. She was reluctant at first and I had to sit poolside for most of the lessons but she did great. By the end of it she was putting her head under and everything!
May: May saw us take a whirlwind, but amazing, trip. We started off by flying to Kelowna and then driving to Penticton for our annual friends wine touring long weekend. Lennon stayed with Grandma L and Pugga at their condo there. We had Jude (only 5 months old) with us, and our other friends also had to have their kids with them too so the weekend was a little bit changed from our usual adults-only time. It was still fun though! Jude was still in the midst of his frequent wake ups and my solution while travelling was to bring him into bed with me. That seemed to be the only way we could both get some sleep. Exhausting! I keep saying this, but even though he hardly sleeps he his a super happy guy. After our weekend in Penticton we drove back to Kelowna and then flew out to Toronto. We spent a couple of nights at mom and dad's and then drove to Kingston for Fred's first graduation ceremony at Queens. Lennon stayed with Grandma and Gramps and they drove out to meet us afterwards. The ceremony was really nice and it was great to see Fred walk across the stage! After the ceremony at Queens we took off on the road for Ithaca for graduation part two at Cornell. That was a great weekend too. It was interesting to see how graduation is done in the U.S. There were two ceremonies, one for just the business school which was pretty casual, I thought, and not quite as formal as the one at Queens was. Then the next day there was the huge convocation where they have the entire school gather in the stadium. That was something to be seen for sure! Again, it was great to see Fred participate in these ceremonies as the final piece to end his MBA journey. We all had a great time. Fred's whole family was there and my parents too. They all rented a nice spot on the lake where we gathered for dinners. Good times! The kids did really well with all the goings on as well. Jude was happy to be in the carrier and sleep on me and Lennon did great despite the long times sitting and it being hot. After Ithaca we made our way back to Bowmanville, stayed a couple of nights and then went home again. It definitely was a whirlwind, but totally worth it!
June: This month was spent at home. We planted a garden in the backyard. Lennon was thrilled to help out and excited to see things grow! Jude's sixth month saw him trying really hard to get moving. He would get up on his knees and rock. This kid wants to go! He also got his first teeth and started solid food. He loves (and I mean LOVES) the solid food. On his very first try he took to it right away and hasn't slowed down since. He got up to three meals a day quite quickly. We had amazing June weather and spent a lot of time out in the yard with the kiddie pool and out at the playground. The playground is one of Lennon's favourite things! She loves to run and has finally gotten the courage to go down the twirly slide and the big tall one! Now she is unstoppable...haha!
July: One day before he hit the 7 month mark, Jude started crawling. After a few days of not getting too far he mastered it and is now all over the place! There's no stopping this one! He still loves food and is happiest just being able to crawl around and explore. Sleep is up and down. He will go through a period of fewer wake ups, get us excited, and then go back to frequent wake ups. I am thinking of doing some more serious sleep training soon. Lennon is a sleep superstar and luckily Jude hasn't disturbed her sleep too much. We have been having the most amazing summer weather, like unheard of weather for this city. We've enjoyed lots of time outside in the yard, at the park, etc. We did a half day at the Stampede, which Lennon really enjoyed. She was able to go on a number of rides by herself and she loved it! The other Stampede highlight for her was the mini-donuts (for me too;) Auntie Holly was in Calgary for a while so we spent some time visiting her. At the end of the month Grandma and Gramps came for a visit too. We spent a week at home doing whatever, enjoying the weather, and some jobs for Gramps. Then we took a road trip to Sandpoint, ID and spent a week there. It was a lot of fun. Jude was still not sleeping great but having G and G around was super helpful to give us a bit of a break once in a while! Lennon, and all of us, had a great time swimming, beaching, exploring.
August: Our little non-stop mover decided to start pulling himself up to standing, 3 days after he turned 8 months. Oh boy! This guy is going to walk early. He's getting more and more teeth. By the end of the month he had four on the bottom and two on the top, with a third starting. Loves, like LOVES, food and will eat anything we give him. He crawls everywhere and now spends a majority of his time on his feet. He has gotten quite good and getting himself back down without falling too. About a week before his 9 month mark, he started moving himself along the furniture. Ah! Sleep continues to be a struggle. Most nights he is still up a couple of times and is waking up early too. After G and G left we had a couple of days and then we had Uncle Steve visit, he was here for a friends wedding. We had a good few days to visit with him. Lennon thought it was great having him around and kept him busy! Then we went to Penticton for a week to stay with Grandma and Pugga. It was hot there too. Lennon again spent most of the time swimming and beaching. She loves the water! We had a great time! Then it was back home to start gearing up for Lennon to start preschool! And also, to get Jude sleeping so we can have a more predictable schedule!
September (so far): Lennon started preschool after the long weekend. Her first day was a success! I anticipated a bit of a dramatic drop off, not being sure of how she'd react to me leaving her there, but she was excited, ran in to start playing right away and barely said goodbye to me! It was probably harder on me then her! She had a great first day and was so hyper that evening. When we put her to bed and were leaving her room she said "mom, do I get to school again tomorrow!" So cute! Jude continues to be super mobile. He can not sit still...ever. He loves to move. He plays very well by himself too. He's very content to move around and play with toys. We do sometimes put him in the play pen with a load of toys when we can't chase him around. He's totally happy in there too! Such a happy guy! We also started some more sleep training. He had made some big improvements and was getting up just once a night. I would nurse him back to sleep but knew he wasn't really waking because of hunger. So, I started on the long weekend with not going in when he woke. The first night was rough and he woke a few times but was able to settle himself. The second night was even better with one short wake up and settling himself. The third night he slept ALL night! Amazing! The last couple of nights after that he's woken up briefly once but settles himself back to sleep fairly quickly. Hopefully things will continue to get better and better! The weather here continues to be amazing. We're holding on to summer for a bit longer!
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April: We took our annual trip to Palm Springs with Fred's family at the end of March. It was a great time and the weather was amazing! Lennon loved having the pool in our yard and was in it within minutes of us arriving! She's getting much more confident in the pool and has a blast. We took it pretty easy for the week as Jude was still waking up frequently. Fred and I were probably in bed not much later than 9 every night. Oh, Judey....please sleep! He had fun too. He loves to roll over and play on his tummy most of the time and is a very happy guy (despite not sleeping)! When we got home from our trip Lennon started swimming lessons. Her first lessons without me in the pool! There were only 2 other kids in her class so that was great. She was reluctant at first and I had to sit poolside for most of the lessons but she did great. By the end of it she was putting her head under and everything!
May: May saw us take a whirlwind, but amazing, trip. We started off by flying to Kelowna and then driving to Penticton for our annual friends wine touring long weekend. Lennon stayed with Grandma L and Pugga at their condo there. We had Jude (only 5 months old) with us, and our other friends also had to have their kids with them too so the weekend was a little bit changed from our usual adults-only time. It was still fun though! Jude was still in the midst of his frequent wake ups and my solution while travelling was to bring him into bed with me. That seemed to be the only way we could both get some sleep. Exhausting! I keep saying this, but even though he hardly sleeps he his a super happy guy. After our weekend in Penticton we drove back to Kelowna and then flew out to Toronto. We spent a couple of nights at mom and dad's and then drove to Kingston for Fred's first graduation ceremony at Queens. Lennon stayed with Grandma and Gramps and they drove out to meet us afterwards. The ceremony was really nice and it was great to see Fred walk across the stage! After the ceremony at Queens we took off on the road for Ithaca for graduation part two at Cornell. That was a great weekend too. It was interesting to see how graduation is done in the U.S. There were two ceremonies, one for just the business school which was pretty casual, I thought, and not quite as formal as the one at Queens was. Then the next day there was the huge convocation where they have the entire school gather in the stadium. That was something to be seen for sure! Again, it was great to see Fred participate in these ceremonies as the final piece to end his MBA journey. We all had a great time. Fred's whole family was there and my parents too. They all rented a nice spot on the lake where we gathered for dinners. Good times! The kids did really well with all the goings on as well. Jude was happy to be in the carrier and sleep on me and Lennon did great despite the long times sitting and it being hot. After Ithaca we made our way back to Bowmanville, stayed a couple of nights and then went home again. It definitely was a whirlwind, but totally worth it!
June: This month was spent at home. We planted a garden in the backyard. Lennon was thrilled to help out and excited to see things grow! Jude's sixth month saw him trying really hard to get moving. He would get up on his knees and rock. This kid wants to go! He also got his first teeth and started solid food. He loves (and I mean LOVES) the solid food. On his very first try he took to it right away and hasn't slowed down since. He got up to three meals a day quite quickly. We had amazing June weather and spent a lot of time out in the yard with the kiddie pool and out at the playground. The playground is one of Lennon's favourite things! She loves to run and has finally gotten the courage to go down the twirly slide and the big tall one! Now she is unstoppable...haha!
July: One day before he hit the 7 month mark, Jude started crawling. After a few days of not getting too far he mastered it and is now all over the place! There's no stopping this one! He still loves food and is happiest just being able to crawl around and explore. Sleep is up and down. He will go through a period of fewer wake ups, get us excited, and then go back to frequent wake ups. I am thinking of doing some more serious sleep training soon. Lennon is a sleep superstar and luckily Jude hasn't disturbed her sleep too much. We have been having the most amazing summer weather, like unheard of weather for this city. We've enjoyed lots of time outside in the yard, at the park, etc. We did a half day at the Stampede, which Lennon really enjoyed. She was able to go on a number of rides by herself and she loved it! The other Stampede highlight for her was the mini-donuts (for me too;) Auntie Holly was in Calgary for a while so we spent some time visiting her. At the end of the month Grandma and Gramps came for a visit too. We spent a week at home doing whatever, enjoying the weather, and some jobs for Gramps. Then we took a road trip to Sandpoint, ID and spent a week there. It was a lot of fun. Jude was still not sleeping great but having G and G around was super helpful to give us a bit of a break once in a while! Lennon, and all of us, had a great time swimming, beaching, exploring. 
August: Our little non-stop mover decided to start pulling himself up to standing, 3 days after he turned 8 months. Oh boy! This guy is going to walk early. He's getting more and more teeth. By the end of the month he had four on the bottom and two on the top, with a third starting. Loves, like LOVES, food and will eat anything we give him. He crawls everywhere and now spends a majority of his time on his feet. He has gotten quite good and getting himself back down without falling too. About a week before his 9 month mark, he started moving himself along the furniture. Ah! Sleep continues to be a struggle. Most nights he is still up a couple of times and is waking up early too. After G and G left we had a couple of days and then we had Uncle Steve visit, he was here for a friends wedding. We had a good few days to visit with him. Lennon thought it was great having him around and kept him busy! Then we went to Penticton for a week to stay with Grandma and Pugga. It was hot there too. Lennon again spent most of the time swimming and beaching. She loves the water! We had a great time! Then it was back home to start gearing up for Lennon to start preschool! And also, to get Jude sleeping so we can have a more predictable schedule!
September (so far): Lennon started preschool after the long weekend. Her first day was a success! I anticipated a bit of a dramatic drop off, not being sure of how she'd react to me leaving her there, but she was excited, ran in to start playing right away and barely said goodbye to me! It was probably harder on me then her! She had a great first day and was so hyper that evening. When we put her to bed and were leaving her room she said "mom, do I get to school again tomorrow!" So cute! Jude continues to be super mobile. He can not sit still...ever. He loves to move. He plays very well by himself too. He's very content to move around and play with toys. We do sometimes put him in the play pen with a load of toys when we can't chase him around. He's totally happy in there too! Such a happy guy! We also started some more sleep training. He had made some big improvements and was getting up just once a night. I would nurse him back to sleep but knew he wasn't really waking because of hunger. So, I started on the long weekend with not going in when he woke. The first night was rough and he woke a few times but was able to settle himself. The second night was even better with one short wake up and settling himself. The third night he slept ALL night! Amazing! The last couple of nights after that he's woken up briefly once but settles himself back to sleep fairly quickly. Hopefully things will continue to get better and better! The weather here continues to be amazing. We're holding on to summer for a bit longer!
