Jude and "mommies" (apparently I am now plural)

Lately, I've been worried about Jude when the new little man is born. I worry about not being able to hold him as much as I do (which is frankly as often as possible). I worry that he'll feel slighted by my shared attention. The thought breaks my heart. Today, when I was putting him down for his nap, rocking him was killing my ribs and back, but I couldn't put him down. I sang him song after song when he quietly asked for "mo" and wee tears stole down my cheeks during the lullabies. Time is not on my side. Jude is growing so quickly and soon there will be another little man. I don't know how to grapple with these changes in our family, all this growing.

Big "P," little "p," what begins with "p"? Playing with Papa in the Park....p...p...p

**Please note in this picture that Mike dressed Jude and apparently thought it appropriate to put him in a onesie that is no longer big enough to snap at the bottom. So, he walked around with his tails hanging out all day.

Wheel-barrow races. I was actually impressed with how quickly they moved.

Eskimo Kisses: Love Knows No Bounds

Adding to the List

In the wee bit of time it took to get home from Mike's brother's house, Jude managed to add two acts of grossness to his ever-growing list.

1. Gross Act #1: Jude pulled off his shoes and socks and started scouring his feet for fuzzies. He found a few choice toe-jammed fuzzies and promptly popped them into his mouth. Yes, his mouth. As if that was the only obvious choice. Um, gross.

2. Gross Act #2 (the foot fetish continues): Seconds later, Jude started spitting on the bottom of his bare feet and then wiping the spit on the top of his head with his feet. It was amazingly acrobatic and totally disgusting. What would inspire such an act? (Has anyone seen Mike doing any of these things when I wasn't looking?)

Power to the male species.

Snuggle On

Devolution

The Artist at work
Given the glorious weather, we decided to make a trip to the dollar store for some washable paint for an outdoor art project. I knew it would be messy, I just had no conception of how messy. Of course, Jude is the mayor of mischief. He gets this look in his eye, like the one below when he had decided to smear the paint all over his face, and he knows he's being devious, and there's no stopping him. He revels in it. He looks most like Mike when he is being devious, which makes Mike proud, I think. There is a part of me that resists the mess (and, trust me, it was a huge mess), but I let him go hog wild so infrequently, I just have to squelch the desire to chase him around with a trail of wet wipes.

Cleaning up. Have you ever seen a cuter bum? Seriously.

Little Buddies

Yes, Tyler likes to wear underwear as a hat. Power to the people.

Playing Peek-a-boo

Looking like me as a kiddo

Today the sun shone bright and beautiful. A gift from the universe I did not expect. We picnicked at the park for lunch with the buddies and then later returned to picnic for dinner. I felt in high spirits today, until I realized as I was making dinner that our container of home-made poppy-seed dressing had spilled all over the fridge at some point today and I had ten minutes to clean it up before we needed to leave for the park. Why is it that such a little thing can make me so cranky, especially when there were so many beautiful things in my day today? Maybe it was the universe's nudge to get me to finally clean my fridge, which I loathe doing, that is, until all of my food looks cosmetically altered and impossible to resist in the bright light.