1st bath

Jude got his first bath, much to the delight of big brother Tamlin.

I'm still figuring out the whole bedtime routine with two little ones to manage...some nights it works out and other nights I'm trying to read a story to one while the other is a screaming banshee. Tonight was the first attempt at getting both dudes into the tube, cleaned, jammied, and ready for bed together...and by 8pm. (kept fingers crossed).

In reality it went really well.

Jude didn't seem to mind the bath at all! We had learned our lesson with Tam that one of the secrets is to keep the water fairly warm as well as the room. Jude just relaxed in the water and let me gently scrub him up. No screaming :-) He didn't even let loose his own stream of water until the end.

Tam thought it was AWESOME to share bath time with his little brother. He kept looking over the bath tub edge to check on baby Jude. After Jude was out, dried, diapered and into jammies, I turned to Tam to finish cleaning him up. Eventually, both boys were all ready and in bed listening to stories...then Jude decides to spit up dinner all over himself and me. Sigh.

Finger painting

In preparation for making card for the upcoming Father's day, I was going to let Tam do some finger painting. This isn't as bad as it sounds since I use soap foam and a bit of food coloring as the "paint", which makes clean up really easy.

So...
paint = check
paper = check
apron = check
Kid = check

Commence having oodles of fun getting paint all over....

And Tam sticks his fingers in, makes a few marks and gets...frustrated. Apparently I have the only kid who doesn't like finger painting. It seems that the paint doesn't last long enough, so Tam was having problems drawing a car like he would with a crayon. sheesh.

Problem solved with the introduction of paint brushes.

Then a fun time was had all over several sheets of papers, his hands, arms, and face.

So sweet

Brian was getting ready to leave for work today...

Tam "Daddy work?"
Brian " Yep, Daddy has to go to work now."
Tam "Hug, Daddy?"
Brian gives Tam a hug goodbye.

Tam "Kiss, Daddy?"
Brian gives Tam a kiss

Tam "Kiss momma, too, daddy?"
Brian, with a big grin, gives me a kiss goodbye too.

So glad that Tam notices our affection for him and for each other ;-)

Wordless Wednesday - Jude

Someone is 3 weeks old!
And measuring 11pounds, 11 ounces, and 22.5 inches long

Summertime hair cut

Tamlin before a hair cut
Tamlin after I took the clippers to his noggin. I trimmed a ton off the back and sides, then a bit off at the top. It is not straight or perfect, but the best I could do on a squirmy toddler while he watched "Kung Fu Panda" on the T.V.
He's much cooler now (in temperature and hipness status).

And I love this shirt...
Yes, it says "Wrecking Crew" on the front!

Doh!

Yesterday, the entire family had a great outing to downtown Grand Rapids to participate in the Festival of the Arts. (Check out the website linked) I was amazed that the entire family was dressed and packed into the car by 10:3o this morning. The weather was hot and sunny, so I had slathered everyone with sunblock and hats were worn by all. Right before leaving, Jude was fed, diapered and burped. Additionally, Tam was raring to go "outside!" We hauled out the stroller for the wee one, and figured Tam would just have to walk and burn off a bit of extra energy. We knew that Brian had work at 2pm, but figured a couple of hours was all we could handle out in the heat anyways (and we'll get out before too much crowd).

Once downtown, Brian found a great free parking space at a meter, though it was about 4 blocks away. We all didn't mind.

The festival was great! Lots of food to eat, bands to hear, and art work to gawk at. Tam seemed to have a good time just holding Brian's hand and watching all the cool sites and people. Our first stop was the watch belly dancers...which Tam tried to mimic. Next stop was an ambulance in which the crew was letting kids climb in and check out. This and seeing a helicopter flying low overhead made Tam's entire day, I'm sure. We later heard an excellent accordion band playing some rousing polkas. Again, we all couldn't help but dance a bit with everyone else. Food was good; we ended up with some citrus chicken, fresh cut fries, lemonade, and pretzels.

After eating a bit, we let Tam participate in the "Great Paint In." This was a large coral set up with a ton of easels and paint. Kids are escorted in (without the parents!), robed in a leather paint smoke, given a sheet of paper, and shown to an easel. Then they can have at it for as long as their attention holds. After hand washing, the kids are matched back up with parents and the artwork is hung out along the fence for all to see. Tam saw the kids painting and totally wanted in on the action "Draw too, mama?" It was hard for him to be patient enough to wait his turn. I had a moment when I released his hand where I worried about whether he would go off with a stranger...but the pull of paint and paper was too much, and he was fine. Being a little one, they placed him at an easel near the outer perimeter so he could still see and hear me. Tam, of course, painted cars :-) And told the little girl beside him all about it. Very cute!

After the painting excursion. we meandered back out of the festival and too our car. Everyone seemed a bit tired, and good naps were had by all once we got back home.

Baby Jude slept the entire time.

Yep...I was so proud to have remembered everything for this mini-expedition...
Except the memory card for the camera. Doh! So no photos :-0