The End is Near.....

It's our last week of break! So sad about this...could really use an additional week or two.

Ben put Sam's Spiderman costume on Jude the other day when Sam and I were out somewhere. He looks so threatening, doesn't he?

Watch out, bad guys

Jude had his last bottle last night. It was kind of bittersweet. Bitter: he's getting older so fast. Sweet: LAST $27 CAN OF FORMULA! Hooray!

I've noticed that over the last couple weeks, Sam and Jude have really been having some sweet brotherly moments. Yesterday, I cut up an apple for Sam and Jude. I peeled Jude's slices and put them all on Sam's plate. Sam was sitting next to Jude and would hand him slices as he would finish them. I was coming into the room from doing some laundry and I saw that Sam was trying to take the peel off of one of his apples with his fingernail. He looked up and told me that he was trying to get the peel off so he could give Jude one of his own since Jude had eaten all of his already. I love these moments!

Happy Birthday, Jude!

Jude turned 1 year old on Friday! I thought Sam's first year went fast, but Jude's seems like it's gone by even faster. At the same time, it's hard to remember what it was like before Jude came into our lives. He's added so much to our family - just in the cuteness factor alone because he's so darn adorable. :)

With that being said, poor Jude had a rough birthday. He awoke bright and early at 4 AM ready to party! When I went in his room, he was writhing all around the bed like crazy. When Ben was changing him later, we figured out why - he had a rash all over his front and back. He was itchy! We went ahead an moved up his well check to that morning and he got another lovely birthday present - 3 shots and a foot prick! Lucky guy. 1 year stats: 20 lb, 10 oz and a little over 29 inches. His weight is just under the 25th percentile and his length is between the 25th and 50th. Still kind of a peanut but not quite as small anymore.

Jude did have one small period where he seemed kind of happy/content during his birthday - he got a yummy birthday Busken doughnut for breakfast. He had no idea how to eat it, but definitely liked the icing. It was a little preview for his cake at his party in a couple weeks.

We had another first for Jude last week - his first haircut! His hair was starting to look a little stringy and kept sticking in his eyes at the pool, so we decided the time had come. He looks less rag-a-muffin-y now:

Another first from the other day - Jude finally took action against Sam. I guess he'd decided he'd had enough of his nonsense.

Little Brother

Conversation today between Ben and Sam:

Ben: "Don't you love your little brother?"

Sam: "He's kind of a little monster!"

Lazy Lazy

Tonight marks the end of our first week of summer break. It's been delightful. Spent some time at the pool, at the zoo, visiting friends, and lots of just hanging out. What has been really nice is not having to worry about when I'm going to get the laundry done, go grocery shopping, or clean up the house since we're always short on time for those things. Now, if I don't feel like doing it right away, I don't really need to, because I'll probably be able to find some time later.

Here's a pic of Sam in the zone - the TV zone, that is. He's watching one of his favorite shows here, Super Why.

A frequent sighting: Jude after a meal with food stuck to his behind.

This weekend, Jude's been practicing hard on standing up without holding anything. Our friend Greg saw it first while we weren't looking, but we've had plenty of opportunities the last 2 days since he keeps trying it over and over again. Probably won't be long before he's walking! Crazy to think about...

Coney Island

We are loving Coney again this summer. Jude got to ride his first ride last week! It was pretty sedate, but he looked like he was having fun. Sam took good care of him and had his arm around him the entire ride "so Jude wouldn't fall out." Luckily for Jude, it wasn't in this choke hold for too long!

Rock and Roll!

We've been having lots of fun this May, even though it's been really busy! Sam has his first admirer, his friend from school, Isa. She is an adorable little girl with blonde curly hair. Their cots are next to each other. Miss Polly told us that about a week ago she looked over and Sam was rubbing her back to help her go to sleep. The next day, she saw that they fell asleep holding hands. And the next day, Sam got his first kiss courtesy of Isa! He told Miss Polly, "Isa kissed me." When she asked, "Where?" Sam pointed to his lips. First kiss at 3 years old!

Every day after school, Sam wants to play soccer or baseball or some other form of ball outside. He loves to play ball. Now we just need a break from this incessant rain.

Here's a picture of Sam after a bath doing his rock 'n roll pose:

Jude's busy getting into everything....dog bowls, behind chairs, under chairs, in the dog's crate, pushing the button that sets off the carbon monoxide detector....he is so much more curious than Sam ever was. We never had to baby-proof with Sam; Jude is perfectly content crawling around to see what he can get into. He loves Sam's toys and is always trying to play with him now. When Sam gets rough with him, Jude screams back and pushes him. Go Jude - defend yourself!

I can't resist posting more bath pictures. :)

Rain Rain Go Away!

We've had fun stuff going on over the last few weekends. We've been out of town the last three weekends, trying to dodge rain. We managed to have a few nice days! I took over 300 pictures since 3 weeks ago, so here are just a very few highlights:

Joseph's First Birthday in Louisville - this is the way to eat cake!

Jude enjoying the sun out at Joseph's party

At the zoo over spring break.

Brothers at Easter at Neenee's house

At COSI in the submarine! Can't believe Ben got Sam to go down in that thing. We went to COSI and a Columbus Crew soccer game for Ben's birthday and had so much fun.

They had some practice areas set up for kids to play. This is Sam post-kick in the air! He loved this.

Soccer is a serious game.