plastic and green

Speaking of our yard, it is now a haven for both plastic toys and greenish-brown grass.

Greg values having plenty of open grass space. We kept that in mind over the years as we re-did the majority of our landscaping and added beds and a deck. But we weren't prepared for the plastic invasion. It began slowly, at Christmastime(?) when Jude received a ride-on/walking toy from Grandpa Henry & Grandma Nancy.

the first plastic outdoor toy

But the plastic pieces multiplied thanks to generous birthday gifts from Jude's grandparents, garage sales, and hand-me-down gifts. Our yard used to be serene, punctuated by pops of color from the flowers.

the new normal

Now it is punctuated by pops of plastic color, a pool, balls, and especially trucks.

busy backyard

Jude continues his love/hate relationship with Tonka trucks and diggers. He loves them when they move where he wants them to go, hold the cups of water or mulch he dumps inside, and roll in the direction he is moving.

happy times with Tonka

But he also struggles with his new Tonka digger ($4 bucks--thanks salvation army!!) when it refuses to dump the mulch or turn the direction he would like. Poor Jude has spent a lot of time screaming at that yellow metal toy. We're hoping they continue to work on relationship building.

the digger of frustration and fun

The Tonka truck invasion is not limited to the outdoors. Apparently our living room also needs some new renovation, despite our recent upgrade around his first birthday. Yes our living room is also a work zone, evidenced by the sea of yellow plastic front loaders, excavators and dump trucks.

coffee table construction zone

Guess we'll have to give up on having a plastic free yard for a few more years...sorry George the dog!

george and the plastic invasion

little helper

It is fun being Jude's mom because so many people comment on how cute he is and especially his cute hair. Who knew red/blond hair was so special??

Another nice aspect of Toddler Jude is his pleasant temperament. Although he has opinions and temper tantrums, many times our son is fairly compliant to requests from mom or dad, especially if we use the phrase "Help Mommy do..."

cutest helper ever

Over the summer we partnered with our neighbors to have a large load of mulch delivered. Kara looked forward to weeding and covering the landscape beds in a new layer of the stuff. We had some delays due to the Flood of '10 (more on that later) but she managed to get some of the labor done during the daytime by asking Jude to assist her.

rake at the ready

You may remember Jude's love of shovels from the wintertime. Fortunately he also has a love relationship with his child-size rake. Jude helped move that mulch, or at least re-spread some of mom's woodchip work. Plenty of scoops somehow also landed in his Tonka trucks and diggers.

The surprise bonus for mom is that the tiny toddler rake is also great around and under shrubs. Kara recently saw one advertised in a garden catalog for $25, which makes the $12 version seem even better.

Kara still had to spend several warm evenings covering the flower beds and fighting off the mosquitos. But it was nice that Mister Jude allowed some of his playtime to be work time for mom.

ready go!

"Ready Go!" is the most popular game in the Miller family. Jude and his mom and dad line up, until someone says 'GO'. Then all three of us, and the dog, run from one end of the house to the other. Jude laughs and laughs and loves the game. It used to be just a game with dad, but he is most interested in both his parents joining in, which makes Greg and Kara crack up.

ready to run

This 'game' has also come in handy outside. It is a great distraction when Jude is getting into something he shouldn't or getting upset that we have to leave a location. A quick game of 'Ready Go' gets us heading in the right direction.

kare-en!

Jude gets a visitor once a week that sometimes frustrates him! Karen, his speech therapist, brings all kinds of new toys and pretend play into our toy filled living room.

feed the puppet

I thought our readers might enjoy a glimpse into speech therapy, because like me, many of you have never experienced this. The sessions are based around play.

jude's turn

This particular week Karen brought a bag of plastic fruits that Jude can 'cut' in half using a knife and cutting board. We worked on the words 'cut' and 'stick' and naming the particular fruits. He also got to stir the big bowl and serve fruit to the puppets.

jude won't eat green fruit, maybe the puppet will?

Karen also builds in time for speech on demand, so to speak, where Jude has to say a word or make a choice using words, to get the toy he wants. One time he had to say apple or orange to keep the play going. Jude gets extremely frustrated with this game sometimes and often looks to me as if to say "Are you gonna let her do this?"


But the therapy is helping his natural speech development. Our little guy has added a ton of words recently. His current favorite phrases are "Where'd it go water?" This occurs when we drive by or see water but we keep going. He also likes to say "No Ma" which means stop doing that or I'm not finished, even if his mother is not involved.

We are glad to have Miss Karen visit.

big shoes to fill

Jude loves to imitate his mom and dad these days. Recently he even wanted to walk in dad's shoes.

'elp' me daddy

do these come in brown?

Pinocchio's Travels in preschool

Baby Jude, now Toddler Jude, took a trip with Pinocchio this summer...when he joined the Academy of Movement and Music Preschool.
Before the trip, Kara worked through mom-guilt about leaving him two mornings a week and concern that our young two year old was just too young for a structured program. It was Greg who made the final push to encourage enrollment. He reminded me Kara that its OK if she takes a break from Jude, and that Jude would love time with other kids.

First day of preschool

Preschool proved a big hit with Jude and his mom! He cried the first day of drop-off, but loved going the rest of the summer. The only two-year-old trauma were the meltdowns during pick-up, when he had to wait in line while he could see mom in the lobby.

jude's school schedule

The creative program features a different theme everyday. On the 23rd jude brought home popcorn they had mixed and made in class. He also cleaned the animals one day with toy animals, a bucket of water and a toothbrush! This came in handy on our recent trip when Jude fought his bath. Mom asked him to clean his ducky as he did in school, and then got permission to also clean Jude.

school projects he brought home

I know one day I will tire of the many projects, pictures, and 'art' that Jude creates. But these few things from his first program rank up there with my most precious possessions.

this hangs in the kitchen

I (Kara) found the break made me feel more like myself. I was more energized and excited about being a mom the rest of the week. Cooking became fun again when I had time to grocery shop for creative meals, take George for a short walk without Jude, or get a haircut.

thank you Academy

The A.R.T.S. summer program wrapped up last week. We are on the waiting list for the fall and hope a spot for Jude opens up. But either way, it helped make a great summer for Jude and Kara.