Jude's words

Jude's latest strides into verbal communication...

Mama or Mommy
Daddy or Da
Nana
Papa
Bye
Hi
Wow
Roar = often for dinosaurs
Uh-Oh = Not what patents want to hear...and he says it when he sees "uh-oh's" on TV, too
Binky = pacifier
Bathtime
Wee-oo = fire engine
Beep, beep = when reading a car book
Apple = his favorite food, after chocolate
Cracker
Baby

He'll sign please and down and shake his head no.
His favorite all purpose sound and a crackley-staticky sound that he uses all the time.

Jude just turned 21 months old.

A box for Walentine's Day

A big box showed up on our doorstop last week... It wasn't anything that I had ordered from an online store...and it was addressed to Tamlin and Jude.

 Tam recognized that it was his name on the front and imedately asked to open it.  

I saw that it was our Valentine's box from Aunt Carol and Aunt Rosilyn (RoRo).

 Of course, Jude wanted in on the action. 

Whatever big brother is doing, he wants to be involved in to!

Tam:  Look Jude!  Its a box for us!  I bet there are cars inside; I love cars.

Jude : Wow!

 

 Tam:  Cards!  This one is for T - A - M...That's me!

Look!  There's cookies, and more cookies, and more cookies, and fudge, and candy!

Jude: Wow!

 Jude:  I'll remove my binky for a moment and try to gnosh-down on these candies...

(He has been known to chew through wrapping to get at the candy inside, 

such as Tootsie rolls at Halloween)

Tam:  Cool!  Books!  A book about snowman and one about dinosaurs.

Jude: Wow!  What's all this white fluffy shreddy stuff?  Is it toys?

 Tamlin : Roar!  Dinosaurs go Roar!  And listen, the book roars too!

Jude:  Books are cool.  These snowmen pop-up.  Momma read this book, Now!

 Jude:  But wait...that shreddy stuff looks cool.  Let me grab several handfulls and throw them around really quickly while everyone is distracted reading the cool pop-up books.

 Tam: Super-Tamlin to the rescue.  I'm on a mission, Mom.  I'll sweep it up!

Jude: I want to help too. That was fun!

Thank you, boys, you are both very messy and both good helpers. 

Thank you, Aunts.  The cookies were immediately shared amongst ourselves and friends.  The chocolates are being doled out for good behavior.  The fudge was eaten quickly.  And the books are HUGE hits.  Both the boys love interactive books.  Tam loves to pull the tabs to make the snowmen move and Jude loves to turn the pages to hear the dinosaurs roar.

Thank you!

I love bedtime

I love the moments before bedtime that I spend with my boys.  After baths, jammies get put on, and then a few minutes of play prior to reading our stories.  Currently, Jude is an avid "reader".  He pulls himself up into the big bed and hunkers down with a book, usually something about cars, trains, or airplanes.  I crawl into bed, pull Jude into my lap, and Tamlin snuggles up beside us.  I then read a few of the simpler board books to my boys.  Tam helps point out his favorite cars in the books; Jude points too...often to random things. 

I love these moments. I just savor the feel of warm, soft, child skin and the sweet, clean smell of their hair.  I know that I always take a few seconds to just try to memorize them...the curve of an ear, the freckles on their necks, the little fingers, twinkling eyes. 

After books, Tamlin turns off the main light and turns on the star night-light.  Then, we sing our lullabies.  I have always sung tunes to the boys before I lay them down to sleep for the night.  Sometimes I sing songs from my childhood that I recall my mom singing to me...like "Let it Snow" or "Shortening Bread" tunes.  Sometimes I sing songs I learned at Sunday school or Pre-school, like our current favorite of "I've got the Joy in my heart" or "Jesus Loves Me" or "She's got the whole world in her hands."   Sometimes I am in a Christmas mood and we sing carols.  Sometimes it is rock songs from the Beatles or Janis Joplin. Sometimes, Tamlin wants me to make up a song about cars and trucks...I admit that I have become better at making rhymes on the fly. 

Lately, I have been singing a ditty from the movie O, Brother, Where art thou?  :
Good to sleep, little baby...
With this song, the first syllable of baby is drawn out at the end of the phrase.

Just this past week, Jude has been attempting to sing along!  Awwww...
I begin, then Jude comes in and sings the word "baby".
It is so cute to hear him singing and trying to be a part of the song. 
I just love this!

Then,
I always sing the same little tune last.  I pull up the covers and tuck them in while singing and end with a kiss on their head.  Both boys get this song and ritual each night.

Goodnight, Sweetheart, well it's time to go...
Goodnight, Sweetheart, well it's time to go...
I hate to leave you, but I really must say
Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight.

Back turned

I'm in the kitchen rolling out dough for pretzels. The boys are playing nicely in the living room and watching a video. I swear my back was turned for 5 minutes....


I walk in to see Jude's cheeks budging and a suspicious brown ring around his mouth and dribbling down his chin.

Munchkin had found the bag of m&m candies cleverly hidden behind the reclining chair. He stuffed as many as possible into his mouth and chewed with utter delight. I think he knew he was being naughty because he was trying to quickly shove the ones in his hands into his mouth as I came running over.

Stinker.

Those were mine....I guess I need a better hiding place.

Keeping My Mom in My Prayers

 

My mom is a beautiful, wonderful, awesome, woman... 

And strong...

And tolerant...

Especially to have put up with my sister and me for so many years.

 

She has always been a wonderful caregiver, always seeming to know just what was needed: 

a hug, a note, a smile, a word of advice (which might be ignored), or even money.

Her quick little drawings on the envelope of cards have always made me smile...

I have kept many of them safely tucked away :-)

And now, she is attempting to conquer a huge mountain that has erupted in her life.  It is a mountain of pain, nausea, weakness, disappointment, and frustration.  Her knee and back are failing her and medication is only so helpful until it causes additional complications, such as nausea.  

My strong mother had knee surgery done a couple days ago, on Valentine's day no less.  I'm pretty sure this is one of only a handful of times she has been in the hospital, let alone for a surgical procedure.  The surgery went fine, and we all have hopes that with recovery, it will help.

Currently, she is facing days and nights of pain, discomfort, nightmares, and physical therapy as the healing process progresses.  I hate that I am miles and miles away.  I feel completely helpless in that I can't directly help as she has many times helped me in the past.  I feel helpless in that I cannot alleviate the pain magically, as it seemed she did when I was small and had some bump or scrape.  I feel helpless in that I can only say I love you and I am praying for you...

such small phrases that attempt to convey oceans of feeling.

I love you, Mom.

We are praying for you.

We are sending you our strength and well wishes.

 

Photos: Mom and me at 3 years, 1980?

Mom and me at 3weeks, 1978

My family with Mom and Dale, 2011

Mom and little Jude at  1 week, 2011

Christmas gifts still being played with...

I am happy to say that many of the Christmas gifts that were given to the boys this year are still being played with frequently.  The lines between things being Tam's toy or Jude's toy have been blurred and sharing is usually upheld = awesome.   Jude tries so hard to do all the things that his big bother does.  For example, Tam got a plastic marble track set that can be re-arranged into a variety of configuration.  He loves this...and so does Jude.  However, Jude has to be watched like a hawk because he will occasionally place the marbles in mouth instead of down the track! 

Another favorite is a set of Hotwheels tracks that attach to the wall. This is ingenious!  The tracks hang all the wall with adhesive wall strips (that come off but don't take off the paint).  Brian set the track up in the bedroom hallway so that the top track is just at the top of Tam's reach.   The cars race down the track, twisting and turning, and eventually rolling across the floor and under the bedroom door.  Tam loves sending the cars along the track.  Jude can reach the middle of the track and loves to attempt to send the cars down...more often Jude is a road hazard :-)  Both boys love it and can play together reasonably well.  If the tracks are pulled down, they are replaced easily, and it isn't all over the floor for me to trip over.  Total win.

Other favorite toys include the leap pad, play cameras, rocking moose, playdough truck, geotrax and wooden trains, and books.