The New Dad Blog

Jude Gets a Visit From Lily and the Des Moines Family

Jude's fondness for his cousin Lily was evident from the moment they arrived from Des Moines. They held hands virtually nonstop for the first hour they were together. And now after a couple of days they sometimes get sick of each other but there is still a lot of hugging and playing together. The above photo is a still from a quick video I did of them hugging - and here is a video of them dancing in the rain together.

Jude was really getting into his finger painting tonight as you can see above. We had green paint everywhere including his face, arms and hair, and there was some on the paper. Lily and Jude have been playing together constantly since we arrived in Keystone. Below is a photo of them playing Connect4 together yesterday.

Getting Out the Pool and a Trip to North Carolina

Jude spent a lot of time in the pool the past couple of summers so Marcy got it out for him for the first time this year. As you can see our yard is well shaded so it was a little chilly for him, but he didn't mind much. If he can spend some time in water he will put up with a little cold.

On Wednesday it was off to North Carolina to visit with Marcy's Aunt Wendy. Jude had a great time. Wendy's home is in the woods of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Jude loved the all the open spaces and the sounds of all the critters. But most of all he loved the lakes and the playground. We took him to the water every day and the playground most days. We took this great video of Jude and Anna playing on the swings.

We tried something new with Jude on this trip. We shared a bedroom with him for the first time in almost two years (the last time didn't go very well - so we haven't tried it since). On this trip we slept in Wendy's bedroom with Jude on the floor on a twin mattress. It actually went very well - we would have to lie with him in the evenings for him to go to sleep but for the most part he slept right through the night. Then in the morning when it became he would wake up and climb into bed with us and sleep for another hour or more. This was a relief for us, we were worried it wasn't going to go well and none of us would get any sleep. The great thing is it makes this a possibility for future trips.

We spent a lot of time relaxing around Wendy's home. Jude enjoyed playing the piano as well as many of the toys that were on offer. And as always Jude loved to read books. Here he is on our last morning with Aunt Wendy reading books in her library.

Jude Likes Looking at Plants

Jude has started this funny little activity lately. He likes to do a walking tour of all the plants in our house. These days he will often say "want to look at plants with Daddy (or Mommy)" and we will start at the front of the house and visit all the plants on the main floor. He will name all the plants and then want us to touch them. This is what he is saying in the photo above, "Daddy touch it!"

Jude loves giving us funny faces these days, particularly when we are wanting to take a photo of him. Here is an example from this morning in the kitchen.

Overall Jude has a pretty even temperament. But as you can imagine, like most 2 1/2 year olds he has his wild moments. He is really at an age where he likes pushing the limits, he likes doing things he knows he is not supposed to which I think (from what I have read) is due to him wanting to know where the limits are. It doesn't matter what he is doing, when he is in the mood to test the limits he will find a way to do it. He may hit Anna, throw food on the floor, hit Marcy, or have a complete meltdown because we have run out of raspberries. These times are challenging and we do our best to maintain our composure but sometimes that is very difficult.

Today was Father's Day and I had a very nice day. Marcy made me breakfast and I watched the US Open golf for most of the day. I also had some nice family time and Marcy shot this photo this afternoon as we were all enjoying the golf.

Jude-Sized

I received an early Father's Day gift (thanks so much Connie) this weekend that you can see pictured above. It is a perfect little statue that reminds me so much of Jude. He loves walking around the house in my shoes, and he was even walking around in my golf shoes earlier this week. Jude has his own golf clubs but he still likes to get one of my clubs out from time to time. Jude seemed very enamored with it as well commenting that it is "Jude-sized," one of his favorite expressions.

Jude was in party mode this weekend with two birthday parties, one each on Saturday and Sunday. He really seemed to enjoy being around all the new people and toys. We didn't have time to do much else, although Jude helped us clean out the garage on Saturday morning.

One funny new thing Jude has been doing is climbing back in to the "Ultrasaucer" which has been Anna's play toy for the last three months. He can climb in by himself quite easily but he has trouble getting out. I don't know whether it brings back memories for him (he used it a lot over the course of several months about 2 years ago) or he just thinks it is a new toy, but he does like it. By the way in the photo below that is a spoon in Jude's mouth (not a cigar).

Mowing the Lawn and Playing in Puddles

Jude loves the mowing the lawn. He has been using his lawn mower pretty much every day this past week. And then when I am mowing the lawn he is right there with me the whole time. He is just as happy to walk his lawn mower up and down the sidewalk as he is to walk along the grass.

Jude has started to love playing in puddles. We have had quite a bit of rain lately so there have been puddles forming in many places. Including our alley. I spent an hour in the alley with Jude yesterday as he was playing in the puddles there. Check it out on the video below.

Despite the rain the weather has been pretty good lately with the days not too hot yet - nice spring weather. So Jude has spent a lot of time outside in both the front yard and back yard. He likes to help Marcy in the garden, and one of his favorite tasks is pulling weeds. Here he is this weekend with his bucket during a weeding session.

That was a Big Jump!

Jude has started jumping. He jumps off many different pieces of furniture in our house now and after he jumps he always says, "that was a big jump!" Above is a photo of him getting ready to jump off the couch. He has also been jumping off his stairs on to the hardwood floors, which can't be comfortable, but he doesn't seem to mind.

I had both Jude and Anna all to myself for most of the weekend with Marcy on a Ridhwan 5-day. It was really hard work but at the same time very enjoyable. Today was a first for me. I took both kids out for lunch to eat. We went to Chipotle, Jude's favorite. He had the usual "rice and beans and guacamole...and cheese" and Anna had some sweet potato baby food. It all went very well, with no meltdowns and I was able to finish my lunch quite easily. Below is a photo I took with my phone to record this first in my life.

This weekend we bought a new lawn mower. Last year, we used a lawn mowing service but I decided that after we moved into our new home I wanted to do it myself. So yesterday I went and bought an electric mower, the Neuton CE 5, and I love it. Jude also loves it. He has his own plastic lawn mower so this afternoon he followed me all around the front and back yards mowing the lawn. It made mowing the lawn quite fun. Anna sat in her little "ultrasaucer" and watched us both from the porch.

Enjoying the Fountains Again at Manly

On the last night of our vacation we finally made it back to Manly, the place we have stayed the last two years. We took this great photo of Jude last year playing in the fountains on the Corso in Manly, and this year he enjoyed them just as much (and became just as wet) as you can see in the photo above. We had dinner at our favorite kebab takeaway restaurant on our last night.

The next day it was time for the marathon flight back to Denver. Jude did amazingly well on this flight. We took off a bit late and it was way past his nap time, so he was asleep within 15 minutes of take-off. He slept for about 90 minutes and then woke up and had dinner. Then about three hours later he was ready for sleep again, and this time he didn't stir at all for the remainder of the flight. We had to wake him up 10 minutes before landing in San Francisco. The flat-beds seats in business class on United rock! Below is a photo of Jude and Anna during the short time they were awake together.

We arrived back in Denver on Tuesday afternoon, and we have all been trying to get over the jet lag since then. Jude has actually done really well here. Apart from the first night he has slept pretty well with just one wake up. Although he has been tired and has had a few more meltdowns than normal. The photo below gives an idea of Jude's state earlier in the week. He decided he needed to take a lie down on the stairs.

Jude Loves the Beach

Until we took Jude down to Balmoral Beach (a five minute drive away) early this week, we had forgotten how much Jude loves the water. He was in heaven. Even though it was late afternoon and around 60 degrees he was having the time of his life. He was shivering and blue but he was having so much fun he screamed in protest when we told him it was time to go. We forgot to bring a swimsuit for Jude or swim diapers so he ended up going in naked. We did end up borrowing some swimming gear from a friend of mine who has young kids.

One of the joys of a Sydney vacation is the great seafood we get to enjoy. We had a good seafood takeaway restaurant just 200 yards from our place and so one lunchtime this week we bought some fish and chips and went to the playground for lunch. It was really good.

Where we are staying in Neutral Bay has some great views. It also has a huge wrapround balcony. During the morning Jude would often have his snack on the balcony in the sun. If you look closely at the photo below you will see the Sydney skyline in the background.

Our vacation is winding down now as we leave here tomorrow. It has been a challenging trip in many ways, mostly because of a lack of sleep. It wasn't until we had been here 9 days that Jude and Anna both adjusted to Sydney time. So the first few nights were rough. We expect the same deal when we get back to Denver.

Jude Having a Blast Down Under

We all made it down under to Sydney this past week, Jude's third trip to Australia. We arrived on a Thursday morning, by the time we checked in to our place in Neutral Bay, it had been around 26 hours since we had left our home in Denver. We have already had a full schedule of activities. The day we arrived, right after we checked in, it was off to lunch at Jude's Australian grandparents house. Jude did great considering it had been a very long time since he had slept in a bed.

The first night was pretty rough, as we expected. Anna had woken up at 2am, and Jude followed soon after at 3am. So the first full day here we had nothing planned and we stayed close to home all day. We did venture out in the afternoon to a park that is just a couple of hundred yards away. Jude played with his new soccer ball that Uncle Ian had bought for him.

On Saturday, we made the trip out to Aunt Robyn & Uncle Mark's farm. The photo above is of Jude's first ride on a horse (named Cruise - one of their six horses), and bareback no less. When I say "ride", the horse didn't move, Robyn kept a close hold on the reins, but Jude thought it was great. There were plenty of firsts that day, with Jude taking his first ride in a big truck, that I captured on video here. He also sat in a tractor and explored the large open spaces of their 40-acre farm.

Sunday was Mother's Day and we started off very early as usual. Both Jude and Anna were up by 4:30am, which just meant we celebrated Mother's Day longer than most people. The big event of the day was a harbour cruise on Sydney Harbour with all of Jude's family - there was 10 of us all told. Jude did well and had a good time, especially considering he had been up so early. Below is a picture taken just after we all got up that day (it is still well and truly dark outside).

Jude Enjoys the New Deck

We have some "Jude sized" furniture on our deck that Jude was able to try out this week. He really enjoys sitting and eating at furniture that is sized for him. Many times in the house he will have his lunch or snack sitting at his table that is sized just right.

Jude has taken a real liking once again to the music box that we received from some friends when Jude was born. When you press one of the sides it plays music from several different musical instruments (flute, harp, piano, violin and french horn) depending where you press and Jude likes to say which instrument is playing. He plays with this many times every day now, and here is a photo of him sharing it with Anna.

We face this week with some trepidation. We are flying to Sydney on Tuesday to see my family and the furthest we have traveled with both Jude and Anna is Des Moines. This will be more than 10 times as long and we expect it to be challenging. You will be able to read how it went next week. In the meantime here is another great photo Marcy took this week of Jude riding the tricycle in the kitchen.