See Doctor Jack!

I took Ada in for her 18M appointment with Dr. Jack yesterday.  Here are her stats:

• Weight: 24 pounds, 6 ounces (51st percentile)
• Height: 33.75 inches (94th percentile)

Ada charmed everyone in the doctor's office, starting with the pharmaceutical rep who rode up the escalators with us.  She helped me "draw" on the autism assessment, played with the kids in the waiting room, and insisted on reading every book in the play area.  When they called us back to the office, I said "It's time to go see Dr. Jack!", and Ada marched back to the exam room chanting "See Doctor Jack! See Doctor Jack!".  There were a lot of affectionate smiles directed her way.

Ada was once again a little bit wary of Dr. Jack, and didn't display her full range of communication skills, but he still seemed pretty impressed by her verbal abilities and insistence on eye contact at all times.  I had Ada up on the table, with my head turned towards the doctor while we were talking, and Ada several times reached over and turned my head so that I was facing her and looking at her.  She really likes to look people in the eye whenever possible.  Not surprisingly, she passed her autism screen with flying colors.

In general, we think Ada is doing really well and don't have any concerns about her.  The only thing that seems a little bit out-of-the-ordinary is that the second toe on each of her feet tends to cross over and lie on top of the big toe instead of touching the ground.  Dr. Jack said that there's really nothing to do about that, and it doesn't seem to be affecting her ability to move, run, or do anything, but we'll keep an eye on it to see what happens as she gets bigger.

Dr. Jack did recommend that we wean her from bottles sooner rather than later, for the sake of her teeth.  I admitted that we're mostly just lazy and that she'd probably be fine with the switch to cups, and he said that this is common with the last child in a family.  She's our baby, so we're not all that eager to push her through the milestones, but this one is pretty important.  We also need to make sure to brush her teeth before bedtime.

Ada has been exposed to chickenpox recently, so we decided to give her the second chickenpox vaccine as well as a few others.  She did not like the shots at all, but recovered pretty quickly and was happy to pick out a few stickers as a reward for a job well done.  She was also very upset by the mouth examination once again.  I think we need to start looking at her teeth a little more often so that she isn't so insulted when the doctor or dentist does it.

It turns out that there is actually one photo of the kids dressed up for Halloween this year.  Our neighbors up the street snapped this photo after giving Jude two full-sized candy bars ("I need one for me and one for my mom").  No wonder his smile is so big!

Giantess

Ada had her fifteen month appointment with Dr. Jack this week. Here are her stats:

• Weight: 23 pounds, 4 ounces (55th percentile)
• Height: 32.75 inches (97th percentile)

We have another large child on our hands. The doctor didn't actually believe that this was the right length measurement after looking at her, so he remeasured her and got about the same number. Ada always seems so small to us, compared with her big brother, but I guess we can expect her to be tall compared with other girls her age.

Ada had a few shots, which she did not like at all, and she also complained vigorously when the doctor examined her mouth.

Developmentally, it seems like Ada is doing just fine. She's saying more words than average. Dr. Jack said that her habit of intentionally pestering her brother shows very advanced social skills...:) We are supposed to "put her in time out" when she does things like that so that Jude feels like the rules apply to her as well as him. Of course, the time out is mainly for Jude's benefit at this point.

Here are a few cute photos of Ada from our anniversary evening at the park.

And a short video of Ada kicking the soccer ball and practicing her favorite word...

Little Things: Ada, Fourteen Months

Ada is fourteen months old today!  This post is going to be pretty photo-heavy.  Ada is such a cutie these days, but developmentally she hasn't made any dramatic shifts in the past month.  The word I would use to describe her these days is insistent.  She is starting to want things much more passionately than in the past, and she gets irritated when she can't have what she wants.  She'll give a loud cry of frustration when she is spurned.  She does recover pretty quickly, so I can't really call them tantrums yet.  I think if we hadn't just been through Jude's tantrums from hell, though, we might be singing a different tune.

Here is a cute close-up from dinner tonight.


Pensive.


She is teething, by the way.  She has three molars coming in at the same time, and that can't be fun.


Doing some gardening on the back porch.


Ada loves to pull the leaves off of the sage plant and eat them.


Ada and Daddy have the same eyes, exactly.


Ada has this funny mannerism when she walks.  Her hands are up at shoulder level with bent arms and it's really cute.  I'm going to miss that walk when she gets more steady on her feet.  Here's a shot from behind.


At the park.


Mischievous.


So Big!


Ada is doing really well.  She gets better at walking every day.  Her language continues to improve.  Today she saw a dog walking past our house, pointed, and said "Dog".  Clear as day.  I'd never even heard her try that word before.  She does have a heart-stopping habit of making a run for it, often towards the street or oncoming traffic.  We have to be really vigilant or she will end up in the middle of the street or halfway up the stairs with no spotter.

Ada seems to understand much of what we say these days.  She can follow simple commands like fetching a certain toy or dropping something.  She also likes to throw food from her tray during mealtime, and then if we don't clean it up right away she'll come back later and eat it.  One very endearing trick:  if we're in the living room and ask "Do you want a bottle of milk?", she'll lead us over to the fridge and show us where to find the milk she wants.

Ada continues to eat well and sleep well.  She goes to sleep easily at night, and sleeps 11-12 hours.  She also takes an afternoon nap of 1-3 hours, usually closer to two.  She's still in size four diapers and size 12-18M clothing.  She has grown out of the 6-12 month Robeez and is now wearing the 12-18 month size soft shoes.

Here's a short video of Ada's speed walking to finish out this month.

She Speaks!

I didn't say much in my last Ada post about the words that she is saying these days.

Ada's favorite word is OUT!  She must say it hundreds if not thousands of times each day, starting first thing in the morning when she wants to get OUT! of her crib until last thing at night when she is cranky from being tired and just wants OUT! of everything!

Ada has finally started calling me something consistently: MAMA.  She will look in my direction when someone says MAMA and will copy when someone refers to me that way.  She has been calling E Ben DAT! for a while now.

Ada has just recently started pointing at things and saying AT!  I think this means "what's that?".  She seems happy when I label things for her and sometimes tries to copy what I say.

Another common word is UNTZ (I wants it!).  Ada knows what she wants, and it is usually something that one of us is eating or holding.  She has also started selecting a book, carrying it over to someone, and asking for a story using this word.  It's a pretty big change, because for the longest time she was fairly uninterested in books.  She'd lose interest before most books were finished.  Just recently, she has grown much more interested and will happily flip through favorites like "Moo, Ba, La, La, La", "Baby Says Peekaboo", and "Where's Spot?".

And, of course, she loves to say BYE BYE accompanied by a cute wave.  BYE BYE!

Dr. Jack in May

We took Ada in to see Dr. Jack yesterday for her 12-month checkup.  Here are her stats:

• Weight: 20 pounds, 9 ounces (41st percentile)
• Height: 30 inches (77th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 46 cm (76th percentile)

Both her height and weight are down a bit in terms of percentiles, but still in the right ballpark.  Dr. Jack was very impressed with Ada's verbal and communication skills.  He actually used the word "exceptional", although we try not to let it go to her head.  She had two shots, which didn't bother her at all, and had to give a blood sample to test for anemia and lead.  She didn't like that part AT ALL.  I tried to tell her that I had to do it four times a day while pregnant with her, but it didn't seem to help.

We also had Jude measured and here are his stats:

• Weight: 38 pounds
• Height: 39 inches

Dr. Jack was happy with his growth (i.e. his weight gain has slowed) and said we don't need to check him again until his 3Y visit.

I'll leave you with this photo of Jude eating "pigs in a blanket" at the Charburger in Cascade Locks.  Kids eat free on Easter!

Little Things: Ada, One Year

Today is Ada's First Birthday!  Our girl is such a delight.  She is happy, adventurous, social, and in general has such a sunny personality.  We're really relishing these days and weeks where she is so easy-going and fun.  We hope to remember these times once the tantrums start happening...:)  Here are some details about Ada at this age...

Moving: Ada took her first steps at her birthday party over the weekend (April 23)!  It was very exciting, and I was happy that I got to witness this event (I expected it to happen when I wasn't around).  Of course, she still prefers to crawl to get from place to place quickly, but I know it is just a matter of weeks before she's walking everywhere.  She can stand with ease, and goes from sitting to standing constantly throughout the day.

Communication: Ada says a lot of words.  The most obvious one is "Out!".  This is what she says when she's frustrated with a situation.  She also says "Jude", "Dad", "Bot-toe" (for bottle), "Rada", "Bye-Bye", and many others.  She is also very expressive and uses signs and body language to get her point across.  It's usually pretty easy to figure out what she wants and needs.

Teeth: Ada sprouted four new teeth in a two-day period last week!  I think it was pretty painful for her, because she was kind of cranky for a few days and only felt better when we gave her some infant ibuprofen.  She now has eight teeth, four on the top and four on the bottom.

Tricks:  Ada's most endearing habit these days is giving kisses.  All we have to do is say the word "kiss", and she'll smack her lips in our direction.  This never gets old.  Ada also loves playing "How Big is Ada? So Big!", stretching her arms up over her head.  Jude gets into this one too.  See the photo below.  She also does a lot of clapping and dancing.  She seems to be a bit of a daredevil like Jude, and loves being swung around, flying over our heads, and sitting in the tree in our front yard.

Toys:  Unlike Jude, Ada really seems to love stuffed animals and her doll Rada.  She'll play with little plush toys for a long time, talking with them and burying her face in their bodies.  She doesn't seem to have a specific comfort object yet, but she does like to sleep at night with her blankie and Rada.

Consuming: Ada has recently begun to enjoy drinking water out of a sippy cup.  She drinks with all of her meals, and also sometimes in between.  She also has a bottle when she wakes up in the morning and as part of her falling-to-sleep routine before naps and bedtime.  We're currently mixing formula and whole milk, and will switch to just milk soon.  She continues to be a good eater, mostly eating finger foods but still some spoon-feeding.  She really likes blueberries, cheese, bread, and tofu.  She is not too fond of egg yolks, which is funny because Jude also prefers to eat just the whites.

Sleeping: Ada sleeps pretty well these days.  She is down to one nap almost every day now, although she might take two naps from time to time.  She goes to bed at about the same time as Jude, and wakes up at around 7am most mornings.  She rarely needs us in the night unless she is sick.  What a difference from six months, or even three months ago!

Size: Ada weighs a little over 20 pounds, and wears mostly 12-month clothing.  She is in size 4 diapers and still wears the size 6-12 month soft-soled shoes.  She seems to be pretty average sized, compared with Jude who was always really big for his age.  We'll get the official measurements at her appointment with Dr. Jack next week.

Here are a few recent photos.  Dancing with Dad at her birthday party.


On the back porch with Ama.


Jude and Ada are SO BIG.


Just hangin' out on the back porch.


Getting ready to party with Nini.


Kiddos in their chairs.


Cupcakes?  I'd rather eat fruit!


Happy Birthday, Little Lady!

Little Things: Ada, Eleven Months

Ada is eleven months old! She is such a charming, happy, adventurous baby and I can't wait to see what she's like as she continues to get older. Here are a few details about Ada at this age...

Standing: Ada is very stable on her feet these days. She can pull up on anything, and also stand up in the middle of a room. It seems like she can stand for as long as she wants to stand, although she does lose her balance from time to time.

Communicating: Ada has a lot to say. She says "Jude", "Mama", "Dad", "Ba-ba", "Bye-bye", "Baby", "Beach", and many other expressive words and sounds. Her favorite sound is the letter B. She is constantly chirping and babbling, and loves to have long back-and-forth conversations. She is also doing a few signs - "more" and "all done". And she loves to wave to people.

Play: A few of Ada's favorite games include crawling though tunnels (especially tunnels made of arms and legs), playing peekaboo (she will cover her face with a blanket and emerge with the happiest expression on her face) and "How Big is Ada?". The last game involves Ada raising her hands above her head and laughing hysterically.

Sleep: Ada often has only one nap these days, although sometimes she'll still have two. As I recall, Jude had two naps until he was eighteen months old. She definitely does not need as much sleep as he needs! These days, he will often take a longer nap than she takes. She is doing very well with night-time sleep. Most of the time, she'll sleep though the night. Sometimes she wakes up once and goes right back down with a bottle. She is still swaddled to sleep, but I think we're going to stop wrapping her sometime soon. She really doesn't like having her legs wrapped tightly, so we just wrap her arms and leave her legs loose, and she seems content with that arrangement. She seems to want to sleep on her stomach these days, and we'll often find her face-down when we get her after a nap or in the morning. She's also started doing this cute thing where she burrows her face into a pillow or blanket or someone's shoulder.

Consuming: Ada is happy with 24-30 ounces of formula a day in addition to three meals and a couple of snacks. She's a pretty good eater, although she does better if someone can be interacting with her one-on-one during meal time (i.e. handing her bites to eat and changing what she's offered every few minutes). It doesn't work as well to put food on her tray and expect her to just eat it, although that does work if she's hungry. She really likes to eat meat, and her favorite foods are the protein ones.

Size: Ada wears mostly 12-month clothes, with a few pairs of 9-month pants that are still big enough. She's just about to grow out of her infant car seat, and we'll switch her over to the rear-facing Britax for her second year of life. She loves to wear suede-soled shoes for some extra traction on her feet, and currently fits in the size 6-12 month Robeez. We're finishing up the last box of size 3 diapers before we start using the size 4s. She still has four teeth, but I think a few more are about to poke through.

Jude: Ada just loves her brother, but she is starting to pester him a bit. He'll be watching TV, and she'll crawl over to him, pull up on the arm of his chair, and then start patting and pulling his hair. He does not like this at all and will complain or push her away, but that doesn't stop her. Or she'll stand up right in front of the television and screech so that he can't see or hear what's going on. I don't think it's intentional yet on her part, but this is a preview of the future, I'm sure. Jude also has become very possessive with his toys and other things. If Ada is playing with something, he has to have it. At first, she didn't care, but she has begun to object when something is taken from her.

Here is a video of Ada from a few days ago.


We are really enjoying Ada during her last few months of babyhood. She is such a joy.

Little Things: Jude, 2.5 years

Jude is two-and-a-half years old today!  At Jude's first birthday, a friend (who is a mother to grown children) told me that the most magical time in a child's life is between the ages of one and two-and-a-half.  She said that watching and helping a child acquire language is an amazing process, and I have to agree.  At the age of one, Jude wasn't saying any words, and at this age, he can say anything he cares to communicate.  His grammar might need a little more fine-tuning, and he does struggle sometimes to say what's on his mind, but there is rarely any question about the point that he's trying to get across.  It's an astounding change.

Jude is incredibly persistent when is comes to conversation.  If he says something and you don't understand what he's saying, he will repeat himself over and over until you guess correctly.  It's a very endearing quality.

Most nights when I get home from work, as long as the weather isn't terrible, Jude and I go outside for a "WACE" (race).  We bundle up in our coats and hats, we each carry a "sword", which is really a stick, and we take off running down the hill.  Jude is very fast and it's often a challenge to keep up with him.  He is more trustworthy than usual during these outings.  He will never leave the sidewalk and step into the street unless he is holding my hand, and if I yell out for him to stop he will come to a screeching halt.  Part of every WACE involves saying "Nice to meet you" to all of the frog statues in our neighbor's front yard, hiding behind trees and bushes on our route, and getting a piggy-back ride home on Mom's back.  It's a really fun part of my day, and also seems to help Jude to get outside to burn off some energy before dinner and bed.

Jude loves climbing (he often says "I'm a monkey!").  He climbs up trees, onto windowsills, and up and down his changing table.  The other day we were out for a WACE with the kids who live next door, and we eventually came to a stone wall perfect for climbing.  The other kids are much older than Jude, but he climbed up so high that I couldn't even reach him.  He proudly exclaimed "I'm the highest monkey!".  Yes Jude, you are.  Here's a photo of Jude in the tree in front of our house.



Jude loves sweets and would eat cookies and cupcakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if we let him.  Tonight at bedtime he related a conversation he had with his grandmother over the weekend: "I like cookies, Neens!  I know you do, Jude."  That basically encapsulates his eating preferences.

We've been doing dinner as a family most days for the past couple of months.  We all sit down to eat at about 6:15, and the kids eat whatever we're eating, although they often get a few extras to supplement the adult food.  At first, Jude was antsy and would only stay at the table for a very short time before getting up to run around and play.  As the weeks went on and he realized that this was going to be a regular thing, he started spending more and more time at the table with us.  These days, it is not uncommon for Jude to sit down and eat with us for 15-20 minutes, which is an ETERNITY for a kid this age.  He's discovered that he likes eating with chopsticks, so we've started having a stir-fry about once a week.  He does a pretty good job of picking up the food and getting it to his mouth with the chopsticks.  See the evidence below.



Jude is very sweet with his sister, but he definitely values one-on-one time with his parents.  He almost always sleeps later than Ada in the morning, but the other day he woke up early while she was still asleep.  We were tired, so we brought him into our bed to read books and play "take a nap".  We were talking about how it was early, and he was usually in bed until almost 8 o'clock, but today he was up before 7.  He replied with "I like seven".  We laughed pretty hard over that one.

Jude is very attached to his blankies and binkies.  Whenever he gets upset, he immediately says "I need my binky and blankies.  I NEED them."  He'll let the blankies out of his sight long enough to be washed or when he's busy with something more interesting, but I think that in the back of his mind, he always knows where they are.  It seems like a harmless obsession, so we haven't made any real effort to take this stuff away from him yet, although we are pretty strict about only allowing him to use the binky in his room.  He seems to accept that, and will spit it out before going upstairs.

Personality-wise, Jude is very intense.  It is so much fun to play with him, and he enthusiastically greets his friends whenever he sees them.  It can be a real challenge to get him to do something that he doesn't want to do, though.  There are days when he has quite a few temper tantrums over diaper changes, changing his clothes, getting into his car seat, and bedtime.  Other days he is very cooperative.  I want to say that the cooperative days are getting more frequent, but it's really hard to tell from day to day.  I think in the next few months we'll have a better idea if he's getting more reasonable (and I hope that he is moving in that direction!).

Jude is still in preschool two mornings a week, and loves his teacher and classmates.  School has been great for him, providing an outlet for his energy as well as an opportunity to learn some social skills.  Initially, we were concerned that he'd be behind since he's the youngest in his class, but he is keeping up really well.  I think it helps that he's big for his age and very verbal, but he also seems to be doing well from a maturity and interaction perspective.  We just signed him up for three days a week next year (starting in September).

Jude is kind of amazing when it comes to memorizing songs and stories.  Sometimes we'll hear him from the other room reciting pages and pages from "The Cat in the Hat".  He also sings songs to himself when he's in his room.  He knows a lot of words that I don't know.  For example, he can sing all of the verses of "Frosty the Snowman" and "The Wheels on the Bus".

Here's a funny picture after drinking some "Jude juice" made with beets and carrots.


And this one captures Jude perfectly these days.  He's surrounded by his "accessories" - guitar, binoculars, swords, etc.  He's always carrying his gadgets around with him.


And now for the "factual" part of this entry.  Jude currently wears 3T clothes (although I think he'll be in 4T shirts and sleepers soon), size 9-10 shoes, and he's in size 6 diapers.  He sleeps 11-13 hours at night and still has a nap most days.  Sometimes he doesn't feel like sleeping, but he'll still have a "play nap" where he has some quiet time alone in his room for an hour or so.  He's pretty good about playing by himself if he doesn't feel like napping, so Daddy still gets some down time in the afternoons.  Jude is drinking quite a bit of milk although his intake varies widely from day to day.  He also drinks a lot of water.  And would eat a LOT of cookies, if given the chance.

Our boy is such a miracle.  Happy Half Birthday, Jude!

Where The Wild Things Are

Jude is 28 months old today. Like all Cornett men, he has a knack for memorization. Daddy and Uncle Andy know all of the words to almost every song they've ever heard.

This video is quite long, but we couldn't resist showing off Jude's latest skillz. Perhaps you can let Jude read a bedtime story for your kids tonight!

My Skillz

I'll often put Ada down in her eating chair with a few Cheerios while preparing her meal. It keeps her occupied and one might make it into her mouth from time to time.

Jude likes to help Ada with everything, so of course he tried to shove the Cheerios into her mouth. "Jude, let Ada do that on her own. She needs to work on her skills."

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The next day, Jude asked for a bowl of Cheerios. I obliged, and sat down at the table to keep him company while he ate. "Mommy, these are my skeels! You can have one skeel. Here it is!" He puts a Cheerio in my mouth. "I'm eating skeels!"

I was puzzled for a while, but Daddy figured it out. Ada was working on her skills with the Cheerios, so now Cheerios = skills. Jude confirmed tonight. "Mommy, Cheerios are skills! I like to eat skills!"

Mmm... Cardboard...

Young children aren't supposed to eat raw vegetables, at least not the very hard ones like carrots. We're encouraged to parboil them to soften before serving. That word seems to be a little bit out of Jude's range. Hence, one of his favorite foods is "cardboard carrots". We giggle every time he says it.

More Language Quirks

I thought of a few more language quirks.

Jude knows the right word for "boy", but instead of "girl" he says "gullah".

Jude has thankfully not started using the word "mine" yet, but he does say OWN a lot. The most common usage is when he wants to do something "by my OWN", or tells someone to do it "by your OWN". For a while, he was saying "OWN, OWN" when someone was playing with one of his toys. Now he says, very seriously, "Jojo, that's Judey's".

Jude has very specific (sometimes non-intuitive) names for the shows he likes to watch and songs he likes to sing. Just a few examples:

• ILA (EYE-LA) for "Good Night Gorilla"
• GUY for "Patrick" (a cute musical show)
• CHEESE for the "On Top of Spaghetti" song
• LUCIA DANCE for his favorite Lucia video
• NATHAN AND GRYPHON for his favorite Shields family video

First Person, Singular

For the past few months, Jude has been referring to himself as "Judey". "Judey wants some dinner". "Judey went to school today". "Judey has a double-ouchie". Recently, he seems to have discovered the first person. It's not exactly natural for him, and when he's in a hurry he's still "Judey". But occasionally, he'll very deliberately say "I am hungry" or "I need a new diaper". He watches closely for a reaction, to make sure he is doing it right.

This was one of the questions on the two-year-old developmental questionnaire (does your child refer to himself as "I"), one of the few to which we had to answer "no". I didn't even realize it was a developmental milestone, but now that it is on my radar, I'm very aware of his steps in that direction. Everything is a process, and it's incredible how everything with children is temporary.

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This morning, we were reading "Pat the Bunny" right after Jude woke up. If you're not familiar with the book, the two kids in the book are Paul and Judy. This was very puzzling for Jude. Why was I calling the little girl "Judy"? He corrected me: the boy was Judey and the girl was Ada. Once I started calling the kids the right names, he was a lot happier.

Snippets

Me: What are you drawing, Jude?

Jude: That's a chicken!

Me: How beautiful! Where are its legs?

Jude: Still in the pen, Mommy!

(as in, he didn't draw them yet...:))

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Jude, do you like popcorn?

(Note: we are both shoveling it into our mouths)

No!

Really? Why not?

It's too ... white!

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Jude, who did you play with at school today?

Nathaniel and Riley!

Anybody else?

Finn. That's hard work!

What's hard work?

Playing with Finn is hard work!

Jude makes me laugh every time he opens his mouth. What will he say next?

Language Quirks

Jude's language is amazing these days, but he still speaks with a few quirks. I'm sure these will disappear soon, and I want to remember them, so I'm listing as many as I can recall here...

• When Jude wants someone to pick him up, he says "Daddy hold her" or "Mommy hold her". I think it's because everyone is always talking about holding the baby girl (i.e. "do you want to hold her?", "can I hold her?").
• Jude doesn't seem to be able to pronounce the "SP" at the beginning of a word. Instead, he uses the "F" sound. So, we're often looking for a FOON so we can eat applesauce, or talking about the FIDER WEB at the window, or FITTING out the water after brushing our teeth, or FINNING around and around. It's pretty awesome, actually, but can be hard to figure out what he's talking about if you don't know the rule.
• The TH sound at the beginning of words is not quite there yet. So we hear a lot of "NIS one" and "NAT one" (this and that). Also, he likes to talk about his favorite FINGS. Also, "Daddy do WAT" (that).
• Jude's got most of his colors down, but he still says LELLOW for yellow.

Judey said...

Jude has a mind of his own, and he finally has the language to get his point across. Here are a few examples from recent days...

• Last night, as we were reading Jude's favorite book (Curious George Flies a Kite), we got to the part where George is about to fall into the lake. He said "Judey doesn't like this part" and flipped a few pages ahead to the next part about flying the kite with Bill.
• The other day, as I was saying goodbye to Jude (he was going to spend the morning with Grandpa Danel) I strapped him into his car seat and then gave him a kiss. He said "Judey doesn't need a kiss", as he wiped my kiss off of his face. I told him that Mommy needed a kiss, and he was happy to oblige.
• After his bath the other day, it was time to put on his diaper. He said "Judey has a different idea" and wanted me to hold him for a minute first. I know it was just a stalling tactic, but it was very sweet anyway.
• There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. He always lets us know. "Mommy do it wrong" or "Daddy do it wrong".
• The other day we were playing with the Ben Franklin doll, and he realized that Ben Franklin has the same first name as Daddy. He clarified: "Daddy E Ben". :)
• When Jude has a meltdown and later recovers, he always lets us know by saying "Judey's ok now".
• Other things that Jude says all the time: "Mommy Linden, what are you doing?", "Daddy Ben, come back please", "Daddy Ben, where are you?".

A LOT - A poem by Jude

Jude attended summer camp at his school for a week in August. One day, he came home with his first poem...

Strawberries

Teacher Karen

cupcakes!

in the sandbox

More cupcakes

a lot

1,2,3,4 A LOT!

raspberry with blueberry chocolate

my mommy's mouth - a lot!

More

making more cupcakes, A LOT!

by Jude on 8-11-10

The boy likes cupcakes!

Who's Big?

Lately, Jude has taken to categorizing people and things. It's very interesting to observe the way his mind works. For example, everyone he knows falls into one of two categories, BIG and TINY.

Here are some examples:
Jude is BIG
Ada is TINY
Daddy is BIG
Mommy is TINY

You might be noticing a theme, so here are a few more:

Nini is BIG

Ama is TINY

Margaret is BIG

Annie is TINY (this makes her happy)

I'm not sure exactly what makes someone BIG or TINY, but once Jude has decided, he never changes his mind. Here is one clue as to what it means, though. Last night when we got in the car after Family Friday, Jude said "Mommy can't drive. Mommy is TINY. Daddy drives. Daddy is BIG."

And here are a few photos of our BIG boy from our day at the lake...