Awesome vs. Weird

Jude's newest oral funny... "That's pretty awesome."  He's been saying it about everything lately.  Or "That's pretty weird."  He uses that one when he's less excited about the point of interest.

Bravo sir, bravo

 

This is Jude's Hollywood honey.  It's funny to me that his real life honey looks very similar.  Striking young ladies, both.  *Sigh* my boy has good taste.

Epic Love

Let me ask you a question.  What do you hope for your child/children?  What do you wish for them?  Out of everything you've learned of life and how it stacks the deck, what is it you WANT for your child?  I ask because I dream big for my boy, but there is only one consistent hope I come back to.  Knowledge, beauty, fame, fortune... to me all of that is fleeting.  It can come and go; ebb and flow; as easily gotten as taken away.  For me, the one answer that has ever remained is this:  I wish for my boy an epic love.

Yup.

Romeo and Juliet style, just without the death.  I want him to know what true love is.  Epic, consuming, pure.  I want him to want to find his best match in spite of modern times and the ever widening pool of possibilities.  When the world is small it's easy to believe you've met "the one" and be happy.  In modern times with things like the internet offering up this endless buffet of "love" and match making it's a wonder anyone can even believe is soul mates.  You may think that's contradictory; that you have an even better chance of finding "the one" thanks to this allowance of cross continent connection.  I say bah to this.

I think that "soul mates" is a dream.  I think happiness is simply finding someone that you fit well with, not perfectly, because no such thing exists.  I once wrote a paper on the "glass slipper ceiling" (totally the title, English teachers LOVE me) and how women are sort of raised to expect a perfect prince charming and how that effects us in so many negative ways and prevents many from ever finding happiness in life.  I was 20 at the time... wise beyond my years... which is why I didn't really date much back them, or ever.

Anyway, this links back to having a child in that I want him to be "Jude" and find his "Lucy".  If you get the movie reference you get it and probably understand a little better why I chose that name... call it a hope of self-fulfilling prophecy.

I have only ever been in love with one man.  Crazy huh?  I've loved others, don't get me wrong, but loving and being in love are two separate things.  I'm not saying I didn't' have the potential to fall in love with other men, I intentionally prevented myself from doing so... and that is a post for the private journal.  I'll move on.

Jude is bound to make me proud in so many ways.  He is very smart, he appears to have decent (if not great) talent in a few different areas but time will draw him down one path or another and focus him (or so I can hope), he's driven and very focused over-all... I just hope, pray, focus positive vibes, on him having an EPIC love.  Epic is the key word here.  I want him to feel that life is about that love, that everything begins and ends with that person (within reason... no suicide pacts or anything).  This could be someone he meets in Paris when he's 25, or in Washing when he's 45, or even someone he meets now at 2 1/2 and that loves grows out of friendship.  Although I hope earlier than later so he can really enjoy it...

More than fortune or fame, that is what I want for my boy.

Reflections

Jude's being a royal pain in the ass today so I'm forcing myself to remember what a good, and fairly easy, child he normally is.  So far I've found him covered in something sticky that has yet to be identified & covered in sunscreen (as well as a good spot of it on the carpet).  Two separate events.  Then he decides to start spitting on everything and when I tell him to stop he leaves the room, thinking I won't hear him, and begins doing it some more  He's being contrary and yelling  a lot, and yes, I have a decent headache now.  The "why" is making a very active appearance today as well so I'm basically just trying not to lock him in his room.

Funny thing is that is all pretty normal "terrible two" stuff.  The reason it's more obvious right now is simply because Jude doesn't normally do these types of things, at least not to this extent and all at once.  He's a rules kid and knows that if I break out the "mom" voice it'll serve him better to listen.  He's polite and sweet and typically would rather make you happy then piss you off.  Hell, if he were the standard our world would be a much better place.  'Course, that would require that the standard parents be more like us.

Yeah, I just said it.  Want to argue about it?  I know we're good parents.  I don't claim we're prefect, I do differentiate, so don't mistake this for hubris.  This is confidence in part due to the fact that my child is so well behaved (especially in contrast to half the little heathen monsters we run across during everyday events) and in part due to the constant positive feedback we receive from friends, family and strangers.  When a 2 year old manages to say excuse me to a stranger in the supermarket so that he can get by, yeah, that's a clear display of manners which reflects upon his upbringing.  So there.

Many of our friends are also up to par.  But then again, you are who you surround yourself with.  Friends are reflective of the type of person you are (not in specifics, just in generalities) so it makes sense that our friends (not all by any means, but a very large portion of them) are also exemplary parents.  There is also something to be said for having one of those "bad seed" kids, but those are few and far between.  I don't think I know a single person (personally) with a young child that I would put into that category... oh wait, no, there is one, but for the sake of feelings I won't even hint at who I think that is.  Everyone else we know has either above average parenting skills or has a child that is simply amazing and is so in spite of whatever challenges the upbringing has posed.

And since it's taking me over an hour to get this posted I'm going to stop there.  I'll leave it hanging.

Oh, what do you do in the summer time?

Wow, that was a fun filled weekend.  Along with more or less finishing up my school work... the parts of it I decided were worth bothering with anyway... we got to take Jude on his first boat ride (he drove, no joke), hang out with some super people, eat great food, visit the city (Seattle) for some hat shopping and cupcakes (yes, they're worth driving up there for, trust me) and then got to spend some time with family too boot.  That is one FULL weekend.  The best part?  Most of our weekends will likely shape up like that for the summer, at least in being full.  The events may trade out from time to time with things like camping, but much will also likely be similar.  Which I'm more than okay with.

So, now for some pictures (first two are cell phone, so that's why they're not that big): Oh, captain, my captain!

 

"I'm on a boat!" 

Jeremy let him actually steer most of the time.  He took his job very seriously.

 

 

 That adorable little lady is Ami;

we're already planning the wedding (not really, but we can dream).

Best cupcakes ever.

Eagle Eye

So, are you enjoying my little blog posts?  I enjoy posting them, so really it's of no consequence.  I get the feeling they're just enough information to keep you coming back for more; just enough wit and wisdom, just enough sarcasm and foul language, just enough details to make you wonder.  I like that idea.

 

Jude's back on a Cars kick.  Go figure.  The upcoming release of the 2 movie has these little guys featured EVERYWHERE and Jude has an eagle eye that can spot one on the smallest amount of packaging on the store shelf.  It's can be an inch wide and ten feet away, but he'll point it out... which means you spend three mins trying to figure out what the hell he's talking about and then another three being impressed with his eyesight and ability to identify things.  I'm not at all worried about his eyesight or his intelligence.

Oh, I'm super excited for summer, not least of all because it means no late classes or homework which means we can get Jude onto an earlier schedule of bedtime.  I have no desire to sleep our days away so it's going to be early to bed and early to rise for us for the next few months... longer if FA doesn't come through and I can't attend classes in the fall... long story.  Grumpy story.  Back to Jude.  I got him up earlier today after fighting him on sleep last night.  I have no idea why but lately he's taking hours to fall asleep at night.  We haven't switched up any other part of his schedule so I'm not sure what he's up to.  I'm hoping that I can get him to nap earlier today so he'll go down easier tonight.  Children can be a real mystery sometimes though so all I can do is hope.

I just realized I never updated on Jude's last doc. apt.  Silly me.  I took him in to really talk to the doctor about his legs, specifically his left and it's more pronounced curvature due to his being a breach baby.  As he's getting more active we've noticed that it creates a pigeon toe and causes him to trip himself when he gets going to quickly or is just walking sloppily.  It makes me sad because I constantly have to tell him to "watch your feet" and to slow down.  I hate it, I hate that he can't just take off and run this his little friends.  Given, most toddlers are a little sloppy and fall down on a regular basis, but not as much as Jude and not for the same reasons.

Anyway, anytime we brought it up with the doctors they sort of shrugged it off and told us he'd grow out of it.  It never felt like they were taking us seriously so I made an apt. specifically for it so they knew I wanted it addressed more directly.  We saw Dr. Daniels, who I like.  She never talks down to us, always lets us know that our concern is valid, but also reassures us and explains everything.  She took a good look at him, had him walk and run to her, examined his legs.  His tibia is curved but since he's still growing his body is still working to correct it.  It'll take time and in the mean time he'll trip, a lot, but his bone is being "told," so to speak, to straighten and the more he's running around and walking the more pronounced the message will be.  Makes sense.  She also told me that in the past something like this would have found him in a brace or corrective shoes, but we simply don't do that anymore.  There are studies done on the children from the 50's and 60's that had those devices and those that "should have" but never did due to inability to afford, or just because they wouldn't wear them.  There is no difference in them as adults.  The rate of success with bone straightening is equal in both groups.  The study was done in Seattle, I came home and looked it up.  I wanted to read it for myself, he's my baby after all, I want to make the best and most informed decisions concerning his health.

So, now I feel better.  I feel like the issue was addressed and given significant attention.  I don't feel like the doctor was trying to placate me.  I feel more informed on the subject and while I hate that Jude is going to just have to deal with it, it's not something he's likely to remember when he's older.  It may make him more cautious over all, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  The boy does tend to be a little unaware when he's walking or running, so he could afford to pay a little more attention to his surroundings, lol.

I Promise

It's so interesting to me the things that children pick up from their parents.  I tend to tell Jude "I promise" a lot.  I only do it when I know I can produce the desired results, but that's often enough when the desired results are fairly simple, like "we will go to the store, but only after lunch, I promise," or "we will play with the puzzle, but we have to clean up the other toys first, I promise."  See?  Pretty easy when they're 2.

Jude has adapted this speech habit of mine and now uses it quite regularly.  He let the cat outside the other day and closed the screen behind him, to which the cat responded by turning around and looking a little concerned.  Jude told him, "when you come back, I'll let you back in Keyo, I promise."  How cute is that?  And let me assure you, despite his slight toddler lisp, he is that articulate.  I'm not sure if it's simply how he is, or it's because we've always tried to teach him to 'use your whole sentence' when speaking.  Probably a little of both.

The other super cute speech thing he did today, that I've never heard prior and I'm curious to see if it'll continue, he was telling me he loves me, and missed me (he does this all the time, the "miss you") and then told me, in a very concerned voice, that "you worry me Momma." ... Not sure what to make of that, but it was cute nonetheless.  "I worry you?" I asked him, "Yes Momma."  That's the most explanation I got out of him.  Now, we have been known to use that phrase, like "You worry me sometimes," when referencing behavior.  Usually in light, but I didn't think we used it often enough for Jude to have picked up.

We have a child with a great capacity for understanding the spoken word.  At least that's what the most recent evidence is telling me.  He's very keen on words and how to use them.  He uses big words regularly and in context... which my mother tells me I did all the time, so this really comes as no surprise to me.  In fact, I'm rather giddy about it.  I love language and I can't imagine having a child that didn't share the pleasure.  I can't wait to see where it develops in the coming year.