Why must I always forget the camera?

We keep having all these great weekends, and we ALWAYS forget to bring our camera! June 4th weekend we were in Ohio visiting Ryan's family, June 19th weekend we were celebrating my Mom's birthday, brother's birthday, cousin's wedding, and Father's Day. And each time - no camera. So, if any of you reading this blog were at these events, please email me some pictures so I can add them to the blog for others to see (and for myself). We also just had friends in town from California, and although the camera is in our own home, we would forget to just take pictures with it, or forget to take it with us when we are out. I guess they say the memories are in my head... We really are lucky to have such great family and friends.

I just have to start capturing Jude more too (although some of you may think that I already do this enough). He really is getting bigger everyday. He says "Hi" every time someone comes up to him or comes into a room. He loves saying (or closely saying) - Stitch, truck, car, all done, Mickey, Dad (or Da da), and lastly Mom (mostly only says this when he is whining and really wants something). The kid knows who is a sucker!

Other than that - just enjoying the weather. Jude could literally be outside all day long. It was cute at first, but now a little annoying - if he wants to go outside, he will grab his shoes by the door, walk over to me and hand them to me to put them on. As in ... hint, hint... I want to go outside Mom! The 95 degree days were a little warm to be out for too long, but now that it is back in the 80s I love being outside just as much as he does.

I jinxed myself

Well- I have to say that I jinxed myself. The day after I complained about Jude sleeping late in the morning, he decided to wake up at 5:30. Then the next day he decided to be upset when I left the house to go to work. Him being upset over me leaving is MUCH worse than him being okay with me leaving. So, I take back everything I said and hope the little guy gets plenty of rest, is happy during the day, and then super happy to see me when I pick him up. :)
The two car pictures are from our trip to Ohio. The one of him sitting on the floor is of him listening to my Ipod. And the one of him in Ryan's hat he is holding his blackberry texting away to Shiloh. The first one is from our latest trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo. He LOVES the lions now. Rrrrroooaaarrrrrrrr! It was a lot of fun to watch him actually see the animals and kind of grasp what they are. He really continues to amaze us everyday with all of the new things he is picking up.

I am happy that he is happy, but...

The other day when I was putting my shoes on to walk to the train to get to work, Jude came up and gave me a hug, walked away into the living room, turned around and waved bye-bye (in that adorable way that he does - turning his wrist side to side like he is singing "Hi, My name is Joe, I work in a button factory"). I know that I should be happy that my son is doing so well going to daycare and me going to work, but just a little selfish part of me wants to see him not let me go after we hug. I feel like I don't want to let him go, but now that I think about it, I guess he gets to play at the park, paint, color, circle time, eat, eat and eat again, oh - and a 3 hour nap, and all I get to do is sit at a desk. So... I guess I can see where he is coming from. The other great/no-so-great thing is that he has been sleeping later in the morning. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE it on Saturday and Sunday, but during the week I have been only seeing him for 10 minutes before I leave. Again, happy that he is so well rested (Ryan can definitely see a difference), but I just want a little more time with him. Oh well- like I said in the title - I AM happy that he is happy.

We just had a great weekend with Mimmy and Papa (Grandma and Grandpa for those of you not from "the south"). They babysat so we got to attend a Coldplay concert, and we all got to lay out at the pool a few days. The weather was much nicer there than in Chicago. I really don't think we are going to get "summer" in Chicago this year. Then maybe the hurricanes in Florida won't look so bad anymore....

Next weekend we are headed to Minnesota to attend a family wedding, and visit the other Grandma and Grandpa. We are hoping for some more pool time, and maybe catching a movie (in between the wedding, Father's day, Mom's B-day, and Jeff's B-day - busy but fun weekend).

One of our other new favorite Jude momment is when he sees someone go by on the street riding on a bike - he wiggles from side to side really quickly. Hilarous!

Almost 1 1/2 years old!

I can't believe that on Thursday Jude will be 1 and 1/2 years old! Time is flying by, but I can't remember life without him. (well- I do remember being able to eat hot food while dining at a restaurant - vaguely...) We had a great time this last weekend. I went to yoga class with a friend Saturday morning, and then took Jude and Stitch to the park while Ryan was golfing. There was a tree at the park that had little while petals that had fallen down and it looked like snow. We spent a good 5 minutes just throwing them up in the air and watching them float away. Just magical to a one year old! Then the best part was using one of the many sticks that we picked up on our walk to dig around in the dirt. We found so many cool rocks! You can buy the boy as many toys as you want, but the way to his heart is a rock or twig. That night we went to a birthday party for someone we had gone to college with. They have a 2 year old and a baby due any day now, so they understood how to have a party and still have kids there. They had a whole table with toys and coloring books and juice, and a wagon full of toys - Jude just played around with the other kids and had a great time. Which meant... that I almost got to eat that hot food that I had been talking about earlier. Sunday we woke up at 5:45 (and by "we" I mean Jude, and it was my day to wake up), and took a walk again (with Stitch, of course) from 6:30-7:00. I am not an early morning person, but have to say it was very peaceful that early. Ryan woke up, we went to church and then of course, our favorite after church activity, took a nap! Then it was off to another friend from college's house. She has two boys and, again, it was great to see Jude just play and do his own thing. The boys were older so he wasn't always so sure, but as long as Ryan or I were in eye sight he was happy. Although I am pretty sure he was body slammed by the four year old. Up one minute, arms wrapped around, and down on his back the next. No one got hurt, and Ryan would have done it to him sooner or later anyway. All in all- a great weekend. And I am sure you can tell by the dirt, rocks, and wrestling, we definitely have a typical boy on our hands. ALTHOUGH - I did get video of him dancing to "Ellen" and then climbing on the couch with the remote in his hands to watch the rest of it (while still bobbing up and down).

Jude's school pictures

All I can say is that the kid cracks me up. It is amazing to see his personality keep evolving everyday. Which is why we thought that for his spring daycare pictures we had to put him in something a little more relaxing. He is Jude the Dude after all! We already thought we had enough pictues of him in button downs and polos, and when it comes down to it, he is a beach baby at heart (or maybe that is just mom and dad wanting him to be a beach baby). But, how fantastic is that fake background? And that little pose with the one hand on the trunk? Kills me! And those little bare feet? (I thought shoes would take away from the rest of the vibe... Maybe I took it a little too far?)

Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather that we are finally getting. It just puts you in a better mood, doesn't it? "You're gonna make it after all." - Mary Tyler Moore.

Oh- one more funny Jude story. We were at "The Wall" (Walgreens for all of you non-Dane Cook fans) and saw a fuzzy catepillar looking thing that would move in your hand (thought it was like those Chinese paper fish) and I just had to have it. I mean, I thought Jude had to have it. Well, it ended up being basically a piece of fuzz attached to some clear thread. Lame! Although, it turned out to be one of the best toys we have. Jude was laughing so hard at it moving around on the floor at first, and then the smart guy figured out the string and started playing with it with Stitch (Stitch was not a fan of the toy). So for any of you bored parents, get a piece of fuzz and some string and it will get you at least 30 minutes....

Okay... I have to brag for a minute

I try not to brag too much about Jude, because I know and have learned that all kids catch on and catch up eventually. But, I had to share a few of these... last night after work I was playing with Jude and asked him to get his ball (and pointed to the ball across the room, but it was in a pile with the ridiculous number of toys), and he walked over and picked up the ball! How smart?!?! He is also getting better at using a spoon when eating dinner. He says "All done" when he is done eating. He knows sign language for "more" and "books" and "eat." He will touch his ears, feet and belly when you ask him where they are. Then the other day, I was singing a song that plays on one of his many annoying toys and he went into his bedroom and found the toy that plays the song and started playing with it. One last thing... I was reading him a book with a lion on the cover and was growling to let him know that is what lions say. Then later that night I was asking him what sound a lion made and he looked over for the book. Not quite telling me what a lion says, but still pretty smart!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! What started as a crazy end of the work week, ended up being a good Easter weekend. Jude came down with a stomach flu (we think) on Thursday. Poor kid. My parents came in on Thursday as well to celebrate Easter and to get to see Jude. Poor Grandma and Grandpa. We were all a little nervous that the "flu" was contagious, but we seemed to all be okay so far. Knock on wood. Little by little, Jude seemed to be getting better over the weekend. He would still have some stomach problems, but as long as we kept him on a pretty bland diet, he would do better. But poor little guy just wants some good food. And although it was quick (it always is) we got to have a lot of fun with my parents... shopping downtown, eating Olive Garden (yummmmm... breadsticks), eating an Easter dinner (early) (prepared by Mom - thanks, Mom!). The only other bad part was Ryan and his work, work, work. Not the fun acting work either. This was the "day job" - working 12-16 hour days. Poor Ryan. But, the trial is over with so hopefully we can get back to normal now. On Sunday, Jude, Ryan and I went to church (along with all the other residents of Evanston), and then went over to our friends for a fabulous brunch. Scrambled eggs, banana walnut pancakes, bluberry muffins, bisquits and gravy, fresh fruit, ham, and of course, CANDY! Although I did break toward the end (a little stressed lately), I think I did fairly good overall sticking with giving up candy and desert for lent. I didn't think I would make it a day, let alone almost the whole time. Jude hunted for some easter eggs in their backyard, and we even colored a few eggs (although I should mention that Ryan made an egg for Jude and wrote "poop" and "pee" on it... classy - although he just made me feel like I was a kid again and decorating eggs with my brother - he would have done the same thing). Now we are just hoping that Jude is on the mend, and that the weather keeps getting warmer. It sounds like it will be nice by the end of the week, but I am not holding my breath.