The Daily Jude 2/28/12

"I drew a balloon!"
Sure! We can call it a balloon. I'm just excited to see coloring in a circular shape!

The Daily Jude 2/27/12

So goes the love/hate relationship with lotion.

The Daily Jude 2/26/12

Yup. We let him fingerpaint. Inside. And then we went directly into the bath.

The Daily Jude 2/25/12

Jude and June at June's 2nd birthday. I really hope they're lifelong friends.

The Daily Jude 2/23/12

STILL out of town - I come home tomorrow! Here's the pic that was texted to me tonight. LOVE.

The Daily Jude 2/22/12

Since I'm out of town, today's DJ is brought to you by Lindsay:

I know it's the daily Jude, but I had to capture this lady in the background at the restaurant. She absolutely couldn't stop staring at Jude. Maybe it's sexist, but if she had been a pervy man in his mid 50s with a combover I would have asked to move. She was like the Jude- parazzi!

The Daily Jude 2/21/12

Jude was so excited about his birthday and Grandma being there for it. Sad to see her go! I'm off to Nebraska for work, though, so at least Mommy gets a little respite from single parenting.

Three Days and One Letter Apart

We went to celebrate Jude's oldest friend June's birthday this weekend.  

June opening her gift from Jude, a Packers Pillow Pet.  I know, can you think of anyone who would love one of those more than June?

June and her daddy, Ryan.

And I don't mean oldest like she's 5.  I mean oldest like they were born three days apart.  Their due dates were actually only two days apart, but he had to go and give Mama high blood pressure, so it's actually three.

Jude seems to get along with June better than just about anyone else.

They were born three days apart.  Their names are only one letter apart.  They go to the same day care.

She's the only person he hugs back.

I used to hate watching other people's kids sing the ABCs.

But you damn well better watch my kid sing them.

And just like that, he's two.

For Jude's second birthday party, we went with the one theme that we could think of that would really speak to Jude.  Purple.  In fact, in honor of his purple party, I'm changing the font color.  

We tried to talk up Jude's party for weeks before hand to make sure that he knew that it was fun and something to look forward to -- not like my brother used to be with his parties, where come cake time, he couldn't stand the pressure and would end up in tears.  For days before hand, when you would ask who was coming to his birthday party, the one answer would be Grandma.  

And boy, did Grandma make a grand appearance.  Not only was she a huge help dipping pretzels in purple chocolate the night before, but she also sported her new purple sweater and purple shoes to the party.  She was the purplest Grandma of them all!

We also worked hard making a purple fruit salad (out of grapes, blueberries, and blackberries) and purple chex mix.  But the piece de resistance was definitely the home made purple cake!

Liz worked for hours putting together the perfect cake.  It matched the favors.  It had his name on it.  It even had purple icing AND purple insides!  But you may notice that this picture is strategically taken from one corner.  That is because on the way to the Maple Maze where we had the party, we stopped to get a bag of ice.  The trunk was full of party stuff, so I set the 10 lb. bag of on top of some other items...a little too precariously.  Around one corner and BASH, the ice fell onto the cake.  I stopped the car and got out in the middle of the road.  Yes, the ice had fallen onto the cake.  The good news was it was only one corner.  The bad news was...I had the break the news to Liz.  I was sure we were going to become a divorce statistic, but she took it well and we survived.

 We got the room all set up in purple -- Jude didn't even know what to say when he walked it.  He didn't even take off his sunglasses, he was so surprised!

 Jude and his friend, June, munched on some purple food and then sported their wristbands to go out and play in the maze.  

Jude even worked with Grandma to string a purple pasta necklace - who knew that pasta dying could be so easy?

 Jude did a great job blowing out his candles, and then he thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake.  I think he actually may have had two, but who's counting?


We didn't have enough time to open presents at the party (they run a well-oiled machine in that place), so we took the presents home to open.  Jude was so excited to open all of the gifts, and it was awesome to see how he really enjoyed each one.  

Thumbing through the "doggy book" from Charles.

 Ooohing and aaahing over the car mover from Marta and Sarah.

The next morning, we woke up and opened his presents from Grandma and Mommy and Mama.  Well, he really only opened one present.  Mommy, Mama, and Grandma opened the rest.  Because after you open the Thomas the Train starter set, what else is there?  He will drive those things around the track and around the "Island of Sodor" map for hours and hours.  

We had a fantastic second year with our little man -- we can't wait for the third one to start.  (Remind me of this throughout the year when I complain about the terrible twos, okay?

The Daily Jude 2/20/12

He's two!
We spent the day playing with birthday presents (Thomas trains!) and hanging out at Choo Choo Bob's in St. Paul. Despite one medium-sized meltdown (just to make sure we know the twos have arrived), it was a most fabulous birthday!

The Daily Jude 2/17/12

It's Grandma! Here for a purple birthday party!

The Daily Jude 2/16/12

2.5 hotdogs, 1 cup of applesauce, 1 cup of yogurt, 1 cup of peas, and about a tablespoon of ice cream. Maybe it was the epic meltdown he had just a few minutes earlier?

The Daily Jude 2/15/12

Chocolate pudding makes Jude think of a certain nursery rhyme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9iBouDsbew

Liz Heyer
Area Manager
Learn It Systems
(651) 772-0200 www.learnitsystems.com
Live It! Love It! Learn It!

The Daily Jude 2/14/12

Happy Valentine's day! Check out our cheesy spread!

The Daily Jude 2/13/12

Think I can make that shot into the laundry basket?

The Daily Jude 2/12/12

We timed it just right! We got to see the choo choo train coming down the tracks. The conductor even honked the horn and waved at us!!!!!

The Daily Jude 2/11/12

Curly-Q Conductor.... Choo-choo!

The Daily Jude 2/9/12

Ummmm.... There is a Grover in your head.

The Daily Jude 2/7/12

Rollin' rollin' rollin'.... Keep that fire truck rollin'....

The Daily Jude 2/6/12

Mama! Look! So many cars!

The Daily Jude 2/5/12

I may not have any idea about the rules of football, but I know when there's a touchdown!

The Daily Jude 2/4/12

I was treated to a lovely cheese sandwich and half an apple, while Jude enjoyed a tomato sandwich (topped with a slice of bacon) with the other half of the apple. It was all a little fibrous, but I didn't let him know that.

Hunky Road

Jude was singing some song at home that we didn't know. He would put a car on this hand and sing something about a hunky road. We were confused. Is that a bumpy road? A road with big hunks of rocks? Is it lined with good looking guys?

Lindsay finally broke down and asked teacher Barbie for the words.

We're not quite sure of the tune (I usually use the "Five Little Ducks" tune). And I must admit, I've made a few modifications to the words because it was bothering me that "town" and "on" didn't really rhyme.

Has anyone else heard of this song?

The Daily Jude 2/3/12

Look at mah belleh!!!!!

The Daily Jude 2/2/12

Good times with Mommy at dinner.

The Daily Jude 2/1/12

>
> We got the letter bucket! We have to fill the bucket with things that start with the letter B.
> Ball
> Belt
> Bunny
> Bugs
> Bracelet
> Book
> Butter (just the box!)
> Bowl
> Block
> Bread
> Bacon (don't worry - it was pretend food!)
> Tomorrow Jude's class will check out all the things in the bucket, and Jude will demand that all of those things are "mine."