Words!

Here are some exciting updates on Jude:

• 3 weeks in speech therapy, and he is finally unleashing his inner parrot.  We are so proud of him!  We go twice a week, 30 minute sessions.  He looooves his speech therapist.  Today I got there early because I needed to nurse Graham in the car before we went in.  The entire time Jude was yelling, "Go go!!!" and pointing at the door handle.  When we were in the lobby waiting, and she (Miss Chris) came out with the kid she works with before, he ran over, held her hand while she gave the report to the parent, and then as she took him back he cheerfully waved to me and said, "Bye!"  I'm glad he has fun in there, and glad it seems to be working.  He adds a bunch of new words pretty much every day, and putting words together for sentences is in sight.  (He will already say "My ______" and "Bye bye ______" or "Hi _____" sometimes, which is awesome.)  This is the answer to our prayers.  It's hard enough being 2 years old without adding communication barriers to the pile!
• He figured out his scooter, and loves to be outside with it or his Spider-Man truck or "Lo-lo" (Back-hoe loader).  Toys get old fast, but something he can ride around on outside will be a favorite for months and months.
• He has outgrown another pair of pants and on average I have to buy him a bigger size shoe every 2 months.
• He is finally at peace (or something like it) with the ear plugs he must wear for water time because of his tubes.  I'd been worried our pool/splash pad time would suffer this summer if he never stopped trying to take them out.
• He's eating a wider variety of victuals, and is not so addicted to milk anymore.  
• He suddenly really wants to be snuggled up in blankets when he's outside of the crib, which is cute (and maybe an act of Graham jealousy).

And, much to the chagrin of some, we buzzed his unruly mop of hair.

We did this because:

• His curls will come back (we buzzed him last July, too).
• There was this spot in the back that didn't really curl -- it looked weird and I kept having to fight the urge to take a hot roller to it.
• When he's throwing a red-faced, flailing-limbed, ear-splitting tantrum, you look at that wild frenzy on top of his head and feel that it just adds to the chaos.  His tidier appearance really does help the vibe of the emotional roller coaster that is a day in the life of a 2-year-old Jude!

He's also, of course, just acting older.  You just have to hang out with him to see it.  It's like Graham is this little toy that smiles and gurgles at us, and Jude is a companion.  Since he's still not exactly conversational it shows up in other ways.  I know that he knows exactly what I'm talking about.  I am starting to see SOME reasoning seeping in (like "You can have your gummy vitamin AFTER you finish your breakfast").  The other day I gave him an "energy bite" to eat (maybe I'll post the recipe if I have the energy that those bites are supposed to pass along), but I told him he had to eat it right away if he was going to be out of his booster with it.  A few minutes went by wherein he held it, and then he put it next to me on the couch.  Exactly what I didn't want to have happen.  But I was nursing and didn't want to get up to put it on the counter.  So I ate it.  About 12 seconds later he came back looking for it, saw it was gone, goes, "Hmmmmm...." and looks behind him and under the couch.  Then he stands up, sees me still chewing and exclaims, "Heeey!" It was cute and funny, and he didn't hold it against me.  He had, after all, been given the terms of the energy bite bequeathal.

I get really frustrated with the blood curdling screaming he does just to get a rise out of me.  His face will be almost stoic, he's not throwing a tantrum, he just opens up his mouth and projects like an classically trained opera singer who switched careers to horror film star.  And if it were just my ears being most offended that would be one thing, but it scares the crap out of Graham and makes him cry.  And the best way to get him to stop while I'm driving or nursing is to ignore it, but then that means we all have to endure 7 or 8 screams before he gives up.  My ears are nigh unto exploding at times.  

He also, when both boys are in the stroller and Jude wants to be free, reaches over to Graham's side and grab at his face.  OOoooooh this is a problem.  He doesn't do it to hurt Graham, he does it because he knows I won't ignore it.  I block it as best I can but Graham's had a couple of scratches, or at the very least been woken up, and I don't know what I should do about this.  I can't let it go on, it has to stop NOW.  I might handcuff him :).  In a month or two when Graham can sit in the stroller without the car seat, Jude won't be able to reach him anymore.  Any idiz?

Anyway, I am trying to approach each day full of positive thinking and energy to teach him, and fill his day with the things he loves most: friends, the outdoors, and me chasing and tickling him.  As much as he can squelch my patience, the older he gets the more ways he learns to show love in return, which means my day is spotted with greater flourishes of heaven.  HEA-VEN.  Tonight he gave me about 13 kisses in rapid-fire succession.  

Which brings me to bedtime.  Last night he gave me a long kiss on one cheek, then took his little hand, said, "That," and turned my cheek so he could give me a kiss on my other cheek.  I swear, night time rituals are magical.  All the day's mischief and acts of defiance are forgiven as I read my sweet jammies boy his Night Night books, some scriptures, we pray (he now says "Amen!"), and I sing to him while he snuggles up on my shoulder.  Then I put him, his sippy, the toy cars he has chosen to sleep with, and a couple blankets in his crib, have Lovey Monkey give him a kiss on the cheek too, we say "Night night" to each other, I run my finger from his forehead to the tip of his nose as I have since he was a newborn, turn on the noise maker, and that is the end of another day with my Jude.

Love it.