Beavers In Atlanta

The coffee table decided to whack Jude in the face when he was running across the living room.  He ended up looking like Rocky.

When Grandma asked him what happened, he said, “I was running to get more chicken and I fell and hit the coffee table. Then I was crying”.

The Little Chap Who Follows Me

A careful man I ought to be,
A little fellow follows me,
I do not dare to go astray
For fear he’ll go the selfsame way.

I cannot once escape his eyes,
Whate’er he sees me do, he tries;
Like me, he says, he’s going to be,
The little chap who follows me.

He thinks that I am good and fine,
Believes in every word of mine
The base in me he must not see,
The little chap who follows me.

I must remember as I go,
Through summer’s fun and winter’s snow,
In building for the years to be
The little chap who follows me!

-John Wooden

This was cross-stitched by my mother as a present to my father years before they divorced and years before I fully experienced it’s meaning.

As I was taking his soiled sheets off of his bed, Jude came walking into the room with a heart filled with mini Snickers, saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day Mommy!”  I hugged him and told him he’s my Valentine.

Then, I counted the hours until his nap time so that I could eat as many as I wanted in peace and quiet.

I still remember the big Garfield balloon my dad got me when I was just a little bitty thing.

Always been a special day to me.

Tonight, before shower time (Jude seems to like them more than baths strangely enough), I asked him who was his Valentine, and he said Grandpa!  Breaking the gender barrier yet again.  Love my little guy.

Hopefully, it won’t involve terrible muumuus, ragged hair, and puffy eyes.  It’s one of those situations where people seem to only come around for a visit when the house hasn’t been cleaned.   People tend to miss me on days when I have properly styled my hair and put on mascara.

Until I get pictures of my cleaned house, you’ll just have to trust me that it does in fact occur, and this past week it has stayed very neat, but here is a picture of me NOT looking like a woman beaten down by the undying energy of a two and a half year old.

Me:  (Holding up a book)  This is King Tut.  He was an Egyptian.  Can you say Egyptian?

Jude: (laughing and covering his face with his hand) He was a MAGICIAN! (uncontrollably laughing and holding his stomach).

“Are we going to go to that Target store Mommy?  Yeah!”  He answers his own question with the answer he wants.

The other day, he learned that he takes money from his piggy, and that in order to buy the toys, he has to, “give his money to the man,” (meaning, the guy at the register).  Now that he understands that the money from his piggy goes toward getting toys, maybe I can convince him to use the potty for money.

Here goes nothing.

That we’re getting closer to being potty trained.  We’re two days into giving big boy pants a try once again, as it seems he wasn’t ready the first time we tried.

These candies that I use to bribe Jude to use the potty match my already dinged-up manicure just right.   All pinks with one orange.

Truth is, the candies haven’t worked that well, so I’ve resorted to giving him money for his piggy bank.

today was very low-key.  puzzles. play-doh. the usual.