Saturday, May 22, 2010

Little Things: Jude, 21 Months

It's been a big month for Jude. Here are a few of the highlights.

Big Brother: Jude became a big brother this month, and he has taken to it really well. He loves his little sister, and always wants to hold her and know where she is. Lately, she has been joining him in his crib after naps and he reads his books to her. It is pretty cute. Sometimes he asks me to put the baby down and pick him up, but that is pretty much the only time he seems to mind that Ada is around. He is very interested in the fact that she gets to drink a lot of milk (since he is still obsessed with milk himself) and makes sure to tell everyone that Ada drinks milk from Mum.

Counting: Jude has developed a real interest in numbers during the past month. He seems to have a good grasp of the concept of one (UN) and two (TOO). After that, it gets a little bit hazy, but he will continue to count (with prompting) up to five (SHREE, FOR, FIVE). Then he skips to EIGHT, TEN, and THIRTEEN. For example, every morning he asks for TOO FAFFLES and sometimes for TOO EGGS. Sometimes it is SHREE EGGS, especially if he thinks someone else might be sharing with him. When we go outside to play, he likes to find FIVE rocks to carry over to the trees and throw them. For a while, UN was one, and TOO was anything more than one. I think that phase has passed, but it is hard to tell how much he really understands at this point.

Friends and Pillows: Jude has become attached to a few more toys and stuffed animals around the house in the past month. He also has started giving everyone a name. His absolute favorite is BUBBY, the gorilla golf head cover. He also really likes SHOOPER, a skater doll from Terry. Another favorite is STEW BUNNY, an Easter basket gift. All of these friends have to be in bed with him when he naps or goes to sleep at night. He also has grown to love pillows. Every night he asks for the pink, blue, BIG, and TINY pillows in his crib with him. Sometimes I wonder if he's going to use all of these pillows and friends to climb out of the crib, but so far the thought doesn't seem to have crossed his mind.

Singing: Jude has really started participating in our family music time in the past month. He has several favorite songs, including CHEESE (On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese), PUFF (Puff, the magic dragon) and SUNSHINE (You are my sunshine). He'll sing along and (if you give him enough time) he will sing the last word of most of the lines of the songs he knows. He also loves to sing the LI-LA-LI's from The Boxer.

Here are a few photos (not in chronological order) from the last month.

Jude brought his friend HOPPY-HOPPY to Multnomah Falls with us. HOPPY lives in the car, and is often asked to drive the car or play hide and seek while we're on the road.

The other day after reading Green Eggs and Ham, Jude ran into the kitchen as asked for TOO EGGS HOT. E Ben decided that he wanted some green eggs, although we agreed later that he might not even know what "green" means at this point.

Jude has been spending a lot of time at Nee-Nee's HOUSE lately, and enjoys blowing dandelions around the field (just what she always wanted).

We've discovered a new park this month (Lair Hill) which has a big field, playground, and tennis courts. Jude approves.

Play date with Cousin Justus at the Hoyt Arboretum A-Frame.

He still loves to wear Daddy's shoes. Lately he wants to put my shoes on me and his own shoes on himself. He also loves to put socks on his hands and play puppets.

This one is from the hospital. Jude snatched the hat off the baby and put it on his own head. This was the day she was born.

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