Dear Jude: two

Dear Judesy,

Happy second birthday, my love!!!  I am in disbelief that my baby is two!  You have been such a light to our family these past two years that while it seems ridiculous that you could be two, it also seems like you've been here all along. I know that doesn't make sense, but it will to you someday when you have your own babies. 

Here, in Belfast, they don't do well child exams so we don't know your weight and height. Apparently the queen of England doesn't care that I've kept meticulous records of your percentiles this far!  We do have a little measuring thing in your room and if it's accurate you are about 36 inches. Either way, you are a big two year old, everyone here thinks you are at least three. Your speech and motor skills are pretty advanced and you love to keep up with your brother, so maybe that's why you seem older. 

This past month your inner artist has exploded. Coloring and playing with play-doh are your absolute favorite things to do. You are so cute about it, you clear off your little table and bring everything to the counter and then sit down and look at us and demand to either "color purple," or "play play-doh!"  You are really good about cleaning up after yourself and always put everything back together just so.  You love to read books. It's getting a bit extreme, you wanted me to read to you at 4:30 yesterday morning. I said no. You are also obsessed with "Bubble Guppies" and "Yo Gabba Gabba."

You are becoming more particular about what you eat, but still eat pretty well. Your favorites right now are: Popsicles, anything made from a potato, innocent juice smoothies, oranges, and chocolate. You love using a fork or spoon, and handle them very well. 

Judes, you talk really well and can communicate all of your needs, wishes, and demands either verbally or in caveman speak. You've recently decided to call Liam "Dibba," which is hilarious and a bit confusing. You can say both Liam and brother very clearly, but prefer your little pet name for him. 

You despise the rain cover to your stroller and wearing socks in bed but you love shoes and will take them off just for the joy of putting them back on.  You cannot stand to have your face or nose wiped but love washing your hands and brushing your teeth. You cannot play with a ball without throwing it, and you have a great arm. You don't have a quiet bone in your body, all of your volumes are loud. If you start crying you prefer to continue for a long period of time even when the reason you are crying has been eradicated. You hate having your diaper changed and love bath time. You prefer to put your lotion on by yourself and daddy must put it in your hands a certain way. You love throwing away trash and pulling out all of my cooking utensils and dragging them across the floor.  Basically, you are two to the bone these days. 

Judesy Roe, it's hard to put into words just how awesome you are and how much you are loved. You are such a sweet little love. You are sensitive and concerned about the people around you. You are already very creative and a great problem solver. Your daddy and I are madly in love with you. You are a charming wee lad, so much so that your trouble making nature in endearing. I'm so very proud of you and you cannot imagine just how thankful I am that you were born and you are ours to raise and nurture. Happy birthday darling, we love you very, very, very, very, much! 

Love you forever, and ever,

Momma

Dear Jude: 23 months

Dear Judesy,

You turned 23 months old on the 25th (which was also your JuJu's happy birthday!) and I'm already mourning the fact that you are almost really and truly two years old.

You are a large child!  I have no idea of your actual size, but you stand as tall as Liam's shoulders and seem to weigh at least a million pounds. You are wearing 24 months and 2T clothes and size 4 or 5 diapers. You have finally gotten your canine teeth in, so we are just waiting on molars, ugh. 

Judes, you continue to be an imp in every sense of the word. You are a bit conniving, the Irish would call you a "wee messer, or a wee chancer," which describes you exactly. If you think you can get away with something you will risk it, and often even if you can't get away with it!  You love to try to get into the fireplace that's covered in soot, if the door is unlocked you are outside and trying to get in the street, you continually climb into the windowsill or the washing machine, you love to pull plugs out of outlets and throw toys around. You are a tornado and we love your spunk. 

Lately, you've shown favoritism towards savory foods, in these pictures I've bribed you with crisps which you routinely ask for for breakfast. You love to eat curry chips and chicken nuggets, you still are our little Cookie Monster. 

Developmentally, you continue to amaze us. We have recently discovered that you love to color, you sat and scribbled for 45 minutes the other day just as happy as could be. Your climbing, throwing, running, and kicking skills cannot be surpassed. You talk really well and have nice manners. You love to sing and will demand either, "tinkle, sunshiy, nana, or Jesus" for twinkle twinkle little star, you are my sunshine, hey Jude, or Jesus loves me at bedtime. It's hilarious. 

Judesy Roe, you are a joy of a little boy. We are constantly surprised by your sweetness and compassion. You love to snuggle and love on everyone. We are so thankful to have a front row seat to your life and can't wait to see where your spunky sweet little personality takes you in this life. 

Survey: Liam at 4 years old

I finally remembered to ask Liam these questions!  Hopefully I will remember every year. This was pretty entertaining. 

What is your name? I Wiam Hawk 

How old are you? My birthdays gone, I'm four years old. (He's been a little sad that everyday isn't his birthday).

Where do you live? In the new house 

What is your favorite color? Blue

Who is your best friend? Omi (Noemi, from nursery school).

What is your favorite food? Chips and chocolate sandwich (Nutella and peanut butter).

What do you want to be when you grow up? Small (most likely not happening).

What do you like to play? Rocket ship

What is your favorite show? Peppa pig 

Dear Liam: 4

Dearest Liam Davy,

Today you are FOUR years old!  I could burst into tears at how quickly the past 48 months have passed and at how proud you make me everyday. This is the first birthday you've understood and been excited about, which makes it even more fun for everyone!

Before we moved to Belfast we had one last visit with your beloved Dr. Steitz and he confirmed that you are a perfect giant. You are 43.5 inches tall, and weigh 43 pounds!  You're in the 100th percentile for both categories, you've come a long long way from the 19.5 inches and 5lb 5oz weight of your birth. For goodness sakes, we rejoiced when you made it into the growth charts in the 3rd percentile at three months old!

Liam, you are so smart!  You have your quirks and your struggles, but your intelligence and memory skills are amazing. You forget nothing, it's remarkable. You are cruising right along with your peers in nursery school and have finally learned how to sit quietly!  Hurray!

Buddy, you love life!  You are happy, happy, happy almost all of the time, you regularly will walk up to us and say, "I happy!"  It shows in your eyes and sweet smile, love. You love to run and be outdoors. You don't love holding hands or listening to directions, so we get a bit nervous walking around the city. But you love it.  There's a park really close to our house that we walk to a lot of afternoons and you absolutely adore walking through "the jungle" to get to the park and then exploring the paths and trails. You are an inquisitive soul and love to explore the world you're in, this is when you are the most calm and collected, when you are exploring. 

Liam, you are the most hilarious four year old I've ever known. If you hear music, you have to dance. Regardless of the context, you will drop everything and boogie. This is one of my favorite things about you. You could care less that you're blocking the entrance to the grocery store, you simply must dance. You love to laugh, and you have a big wonderful laugh that we love to hear.

Dadda is the king of your world, you absolutely adore him, but momma can calm you down when you are out of sorts.  You love to tell strangers about your brother, "this is baby Jude, he's a baby," you'll say. You can take him or leave him a lot of the time at home, but you are so proud that he's your baby. You have started wanting to help sing to him at night and snuggle and read him stories, which is precious. I love watching you develop your relationship, I know first hand how difficult it can be to be the older sibling, sometimes you just don't want anyone touching your stuff!

Liam bird, I can't quite put into words how proud of you I am. You have truly changed our lives in such a wonderful way. You made me a momma!  And you continue to teach me more about myself and my need for grace each day. I wouldn't change a single thing about you. I'm so very very glad that you were born. 

Love you forever, and ever,

Momma

Dear Jude: 22 months

Dear Jude,

Happy twenty second month birthday, sweet boy!  You continue to grow and change at such a rapid pace, I'm glad to be able to look back and watch your growth!

Everywhere we go people are surprised that you are not older than you are, you are a strapping little boy!  You are talking really well and are really into identifying things you see!  You tell me all about the dogs and cars and flowers and trees we see when we take brother to school in your raspy sweet voice.  You love to read books and will back up into my lap with one and say, "I want this, read it."  My current favorite phrase of yours is when you lay by the door during nap or bedtime and say, "momma, where are you?!" Between that and saying, "momma, get me" when you want to be held, you sure know how to work me. 

Confession: I am not very good at teaching my children things. I am working on it, but I am not likely to put flash cards in your face anytime soon. Despite my bad parenting, you amaze me with all of your knowledge. You can count to ten and know a few shapes and colors, as well. You must be picking things up by listening to Liam, or Yo Gabba Gabba is more educational than I realized!

Judesy, I'm pretty sure you are going to eat me out of house and home. I feel like you never stop eating!  You love popcorn, apples, strawberries, bread, and oranges. You eat big meals and lots of snacks. 

You love music and dancing, you are a rough and tumble little boy and often initiate wrestling matches with your big brother. You are pretty dramatic and will cry and throw yourself on the ground at the drop of a hat!  If you fall down, or dramatically lay yourself down slowly, you will loudly proclaim, "I'm oooooookay."  You are quite opinionated, and very good at letting us know your likes and dislikes. You love to give high fives and to blow kisses. 

Baby Jude, you are incredibly charming and a little stinker a lot of the times. Your love of life is contagious and encouraging, I love to see you greeting strangers, they are always surprised and enchanted. You have stolen our hearts with your grubby, chubby little hands and they are yours for the taking. 

Love you forever, and ever,

Momma