Kid stuff... February & March 2011.

Aviyah eats EVERYTHING. Well, almost everything. (For a visual, check here or here.) The only thing that I've ever seen her reject on multiple occasions are men's arms. Too hairy for her taste. The face when she tries to eat them is priceless...

Jude eats NOTHING. Ok, that's a little but of an exaggeration. These are the things he'll eat without me having to talk him into it: macaroni and cheese (which I won't feed him), french fries, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (sometimes), Kashi (he wants this for every meal- "Mommy, can I have breakfast again?"), white rice (sometimes), prunes (always) and grapes (always). See? Nothing wasn't that big of a stretch. What this means is that he pretty much never eats dinner. I offer him what we are having (nothing too crazy, I'm not mean) and if he declines it, he waits until breakfast. This explains his general obsession with breakfast cereal.

Aviyah gets around by rolling and army crawling. She can get to most places that she wants to as long as they are on the floor. Her favorite places are under the stools in our living room- she likes to grab on to the legs and jerk them around. The girl is a beast. I regularly get comments from nursery workers about about how strong she is. Speaking of which, she seriously abuses me. If I give her my knuckles to chew on, she bruises them. Big chunks of my hair can regularly be found between her fingers and detached from my head. She also enjoys grabbing glasses and eyeballs. She has an iron grip that is hard to break without breaking what she's gripping. Is this normal for six months?

Jude is obsessed with Star Wars. My dad is the one to blame for this- he watches the movies with Jude when we're home visiting in Minnesota, and he gave Jude three Star Wars books for Christmas. Jude regularly asks me questions about Star Wars that I can't even answer. There is something weird about that. He has a "light saber" that he got when we were at Disneyland that has Mickey Mouse's head on the bottom that he likes to fight imaginary storm troopers with. He also owns a bubble wand which looks like a mini light saber. We have light saber battles sometimes, until he gets all Darth Vader on me. Then I run for cover.

Aviyah's still the happiest girl around. Smiling and giggling are two of her three favorite pastimes (along with eating everything). She still loves watching Jude play (until he tries to wrestle with her, that is), and thinks almost everything he does is hilarious!

Jude insists on reading the Bible when I'm reading mine and taking his to church every Sunday. It's a full-size kid's ESV, so he has to bring a backpack to hold it. His teachers are always so proud of him- they must let him use it during the teaching time. How awesome is that???

Both kids very much enjoy being out and about, going on walks and trips to the beach. Up until last time we were at the beach, Jude was deathly afraid of the water (on our trip to San Fran last year, it knocked him over with all of his clothes on, so he wouldn't go near it after that). This last time, though, he couldn't get enough of it! It was cute except for that he wanted us to go in with him. The average water is about 59 degrees there!!! (A comfortable pool temperature is generally in the mid to upper 80s, if that gives you any idea of how cold that is!). We stayed in until our feet hurt so badly from the cold that we had to switch. Jude never got out... he didn't even notice! (If you see vacation ads for California that show people swimming in the ocean without wetsuits, don't believe it. It's all a lie!) Fun fact- wetsuits were invented right here in California!

Jude is doing GREAT at potty training! He's been mostly accident-free at home and also when he's out with us for awhile now. He still has trouble overnight and sometimes at Sunday school because it's a long period of time away from home and he has so much fun that he can forget to go. But overall, he's doing a wonderful job. Potty training was seriously the worst part of parenting so far (Jake and I agree on this), so it's a huge relief that he eventually caught on. It was really painful for awhile there. I would sooooo pay someone else to potty train my kids...

I... ummm.... don'thatepinkanymore. There. I said it! I'd still never, ever, ever wear it myself, but I simply cannot resist dressing my darling little girl in it! I can't help it! Little girls look cute in pink! A few of you who have known me for a long time are getting a good laugh from this part of the blog. Haha!

Disciplining Jude Biblically is a very hard, but rewarding, task. It takes regular, diligent Bible study on both of our parts to keep on track and make sure we are being faithful stewards in this area. (Shepherding a Child's Heart is another indispensable resource in this area. It's like the Bible's sidekick :-) We are encouraged, though, because while the Bible does not promise any certain results (even when we are correctly disciplining), we can see change in Jude when we consistently and lovingly discipline him. It is crazy the things that a three year old can understand if you are consistent about teaching them! Jude is never confused as to why he is being disciplined, because the rules are clear and our emotions and moods do not factor in to when or how he is disciplined. Very hard, but very important! It also makes me appreciate this season in life where I do not have to discipline Aviyah. God is gracious to provide a small window of time between being exhausted from caring for a newborn and being exhausted from disciplining a young child :-)

If you ask Jude, "Why did you do that?" his answer will be, "Because I did!" No amount of coaxing will get a more insightful answer. It seems that he knows it's safer to be vague here :-)

Aviyah is the chunkiest little thing... I just love it! So many rolls to go with all the giggles! She's also extremely ticklish, and when she laughs, the rest of us laugh. It's so cute and contagious! She's also making a lot of sounds now, my obvious favorite being "ma-ma-ma!" I love you, too, baby A :-)

Jude never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.... stops asking questions. I'm not kidding when I say the only time that he's not asking me a question is when his mouth is full of food (which, as you read above, isn't very often). I love how curious he is, but it does get tiring. Sometimes I have to politely ask him to stop asking me questions for a few minutes so my brain can rest. Can you guess what the common response is? "What do I have to stop asking you questions for?"

This post is a little Jude-heavy, but since he can talk, there's more to tell! :-) I was just going to end by saying that Jude is an excellent helper. He loves to help with his sister and also chores around the house. Though his attention span for these things is short, I appreciate his sweetness in helping me even if it's only for 30 seconds.

Our boss sent us to Disneyland, which Jude was enamored with~ he was able to meet Mickey Mouse! Ah, I need to write another blog. I feel like I'm missing some things.

If you want to see my favorite pictures from the last two months, click here. That's all for this round.

Sass?

Jude: (says something about something that I did to Jake, but I can't understand him)
Me: "What are you talking about, Jude?"
Jude: "I'm talking to Daddy. Can you be quiet, please?"

Studying Colossians and snuggling with this little bundle of joy :)

Aviyah's heresy face.

Listening to Daddy teach on Romans 16 at bible study. She made this face when he was talking about heretics sneaking into the church. No joke.

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'star wars shoes'

That's what he calls these shoes. He likes to wear them while playing with his mickey mouse 'light saber'. He's a little obsessed with star wars- thanks, dad!

School bus heaven.

And he didn't even touch them! He was very obedient our whole time in Hollywood :)

Did David have to say sorry to Goliath?

Jude: Mommy, did David have to say sorry to Goliath for hitting him? That was NOT kind! He hit him in the head!

Haha! Ummm, how do you explain this to a three year old? I did go on and try to explain why it was okay for David to do that- how Goliath hated God and was trying to hurt God's people. He understood it a little bit, I think, because we often discuss stories from the Voice of the Martyrs magazines and he sees pictures who have been hurt by people who hate God and His people and how God is their protector even when they are physically hurt. It's not exactly the same, but he can see asome similarities there.

I do love when he thinks about things like this and talks to me about them. I love discussing how God is working in our lives, in the lives of others, and in the stories of the Bible! It's encouraging to see such a young one so engaged in talking about and thinking about the things of God. Thank you, Lord, for my precious, thoughtful little boy!

A soaking wet Jude reading his Bible on the way home from church. That's enough to melt a momma's heart :)

Goodnight, moon!

Jude loves the moon. I don't know what it is about it, but he's always been fascinated by it, and can find it anywhere in the sky, even when you can hardly see it during the day. His Uncle Jeremy got him one of these for Christmas, and he's really obsessed with it. It's his own moon!!!

Anyways, I'm not sure what's going on with the moon tonight, but my Grandma told me it was going to be bigger and brighter than usual. Since Jude loves to find the moon in the sky each night, I took him out to see this one, knowing that he would appreciate it. He looked up at it, and a look of sheer joy spread over his face. "Mommy, can I show the moon MY moon?" He was SO excited to go inside, take his moon off of the wall, and show it to the real moon. He grabbed it, ran outside, and started explaining to the real moon that he had his own moon because he loved the moon so much. It was so so so cute!!!

He topped off the cuteness by saying, "Goodnight, moon!" before heading inside to go to bed.

I think I need to go kiss him goodnight again. Just for being so precious.

Buddies :)

Self-discipline, Jude style.

I just sent Jude to his room for assaulting his baby sister. While awaiting some much needed discipline, I heard from his room, "I spanked myself, mommy!" I'm not sure if he thought he was doing me or himself a favor :-)

We're kickin' it old school!

Jude's been really into this lately. One of the videos on it is for a song called "Kickin' it Old School", which is basically about how we don't need all the crazy shenanigans that churches are using these days to try to lure people into the church~ we just need the Bible! "You can take the new stuff, You can keep the fluff, The Bible is our tool, And we're here to kick it old school." Good stuff! Anyways, Jude always wants to know what the songs are talking about. Today, he was asking me about this song, and said, "Mommy, why do we kick the old stool? Is it good to kick the old stool? Should we get a new stool?" HA HA HA! Oh, man, I laughed so hard. I love that kid.

In other news, Aviyah's back to her happy, giggly, playful little self. We went to the doc today for her follow up visit and she's looking good. Praise God for healing my precious little girl!!! :-)

Here's one of Jude's favorite videos. All of the videos made by these guys are fantastic for kids and teach solid truths to them. I hate putting Jude in front of the computer, but when I have something like this for him to watch, I dont' feel so bad :-)

Backseat driver & angry caller

Three year olds are sassy, and Jude is no exception. However, along with that sassiness often comes genuine concern, which is pretty cute. Today, as we were driving to the YMCA, we went through a stoplight that was red, but had a green arrow for right turns. Ever seen one of those? They're weird. Anyways, I saw it ahead of time (usually I stop and then notice later, haha) and kept driving through the light. Jude FREAKED out and was like, "MOMMY! THE LIGHT IS RED! STOP DRIVING! YOU CAN'T DRIVE WHEN THE LIGHT IS RED! RED MEANS STOP! WE'LL GET IN AN ACCIDENT!" I then tried, unsuccessfully, to explain that weirdo light to him. He just thought I was being bad and endangering our lives. Poor kid.

On our way home from the YMCA, he decided he'd like to call his Granny. I dialed the number and handed him the phone, and then started to drive. A few seconds later, I hear from the back seat, "Granny, COME ON! Answer the phone! You have to pick up your phone and talk to me! COME ON!" He wasn't being cute, either- he was really irritated that she wasn't answering. Where does he even learn this stuff? (Theologically, I know he doesn't need to learn it, but the phrases are so adult!) Ahh, kids...

Jude's prayer this morning:

"Thank you for Star Wars, and lightsabers, and Star Wars spaceships that go BLAST OFF! Now you pray for blast off, mommy!"

Truckin'

Jude on hair:

"I have lots of hairs." (stops to think) "Daddy only has one hair." (Haha! Poor Jake.)

Ha!

Jude, trying to get off of 'room arrest': "I'm ready not to bite the crayons, mommy!"

Jude-isms for Monday

Jude asks a million questions, all day, every day. Yesterday, they wore me out earlier than usual, so I had to ask him to stop. I was silly enough to think that he actually might...

Me: Jude, you need to stop asking me questions now. You are being very loud, and I have a headache.
Jude: What am I being loud for? What do you have a headache for?
(Illustrating my point perfectly!)
Me: (facepalm)


Another one from this morning:
Jake: Jude, what are you doing?
Jude: I'm just sittin' here.
Jake: You're not sitting, you're standing.
Jude: (thinks about it)
Jake: Are you standing on the promises of God? (referencing the hymn)
Jude: No, I'm standing on the floor!

Jude-isms of the morning:

#1: I sent Jude to his room because he couldn't stop yelling this morning. Though they were screams of joy, my head was still throbbing. I told him to go to his room until he could be quiet (haha yes, I do love jokes). He finally quieted down and came tip toeing back out the living room. I was pleased with his change of volume until he excitedly and very loudly yelled, "MOMMY! I'M READY TO BE QUIET! I'M BEING QUIET MOMMY!!!!"

#2: Jude stepped on my foot to get a better look at something- apparently I make a great stool. I asked him to please remove the entire weight of his body from my foot because it hurt. He looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "Well, what's that your foot for?" as if my foot's primary job was to be a stool, not for walking. Haha.

#3: This one's actually a few days old, I just haven't been on here to record it. Jude wanted some more food after lunch, so I asked him if he'd finished his sandwich (he usually takes all day to eat it). He looked at me and said, "It's all gone!" Then, almost under his breath, he added, "It's all gone a little bit. But not too much." In other words: it wasn't quite gone. Tricky little bugger.

Deep thoughts.

Jake, to me: I love that you call your dog "baby girl", and you call our daughter "monkey".

(Guilty.)