its january 2012 and winter is finally here in chicago. no more spring-like picnics in the backyard like last week. its time to cuddle up, pull out the cashmere and spend more playtime on the living room rug with jude. the current hits are Cars2 lego's, tow trucks, and lacing toys, although the laces keep turning into magic ropes apparently.
jude's vocabulary is so cute at three.
hello everybody
when you ask him "how was preschool jude?" the answer usually involves "it's doing good", along with some bit about what he played, drama on the playground, or playing in the loft.
among his favorite phrases at home, "i love you dad. dad i love you." or "M is for mommy".
recently he's added "can i help?" which means...batten down the hatches, jude is climbing up and getting involved, be it cooking or changing harry's diaper.
Today the kitchen counters got a fresh coating of half an inch of water while I fed harry in the other room. it began with him playing with his snowball in the sink, it ended with mom unexpectedly washing down the counter, the stove and a few feet of floor.
Repeat after me, he is THREE, he is still learning what is ok and what is not. yes i never actually said 'don't spray your snowball and the counter with water'. dang. can't kill him yet.
trains in the playroom
thomas and his friends are still popular playtime pals. unfortunately the tracks never stay as neat as this photo.
January 19th is a big day for jude's little brother harry. harry is six months old! we've had a rough few weeks with harry's night sleep, wakes ups due to congestion. but on the whole he is a happy pleasant boy.
happy 1/2 harry
glad grandma carole, grandpa chuck and uncle todd could join us too!
grandma nancy and grandpa henry brought jude a crayola wonder finger painting kit several months ago. on one busy afternoon, he smashed a whole lot of paint onto a few of the special paper. (its called 'wonder' because it only colors the special paper, not his clothes or my table) I thought it looked pretty as it dried, and the thick, shiny paper is durable enough to tape and wrap. we have used the idea for several kid birthday party gifts, instead of tag, the paper says 'art by jude' in one corner.
happy wrapping! here's a link to the product we used.
speaking of santa, this is the first year jude is old enough to understand santa. our 3 year old asked many questions about exactly how santa gets in the house, and how he gets down, and then up the chimney. at one point greg quietly said 'aren't you supposed to ask this stuff when you're like 7?'. we enjoyed a christmas countdown with an advent chain jude made at preschool. it allowed jude to tear off one link each night on the countdown to christmas and jesus' birth. 
so this was our boy jude at three.
we close with christmas joy that we found some time to focus on more than just presents or even family. Jesus, Immanuel which means God with Us, changed the world forever when he, the g-o-d-, became a human baby. we find his story compelling and have not been the same since we decided to follow christ. we are grateful for a chance celebrate how he works in our lives.
still in his new year in our family, little harry usually calls it a night by 6:30. so we pulled out the party supplies and got him and jude to pose for photos. they never quite turn out like kodak moments do they?
kara made homemade chocolate peppermint ice cream sandwiches to go with grandma carole's yummy steak. thanks grandma carole!
it is rare we celebrate new years with extended family as we have often traveled for thanksgiving and christmas. but this year we got to ring in 2012 with uncle todd too.
so jude joins 2012 as a busy three and a half year old...yes he preferred the crown over the hat, that is until the rest of the guys put on their big holiday hats.
