jucy!

jude


-so jude is potty trained. however, he still has some issues with pooping on the potty so he usually saves it up until nap time and wakes up with a load in his diaper. and its usually baaaaad. i was changing him one day and told him how nasty his diaper was and that he really needed to do his business on the potty next time. i must have been making a horrified face because as i cleaned this gross mess he said, "are you gonna cry, mama?"

-a few weeks ago i made pancakes for breakfast. i gave jude his plate and he said, "oh my gracious!"

-some funny stuff comes out of that kid's mouth. when he's trying to get ahold of me he'll say anything from "mama!" to "gretchen!" the other night we heard him yell "mama keezer!" and we died laughing.

-jude is growing so fast. one day he said,  "look at me! i'm getting bigger! lucy is getting bigger too."

-phrases jude's into these days are: "i'm all set!" "when i was a little boy..." "last night..." "don't look at me!"

-we were eating breakfast one morning and jude looked up at me with those giant brown eyes and said "you're the best, mama!"

-jude looooves his cousin bella. it's really a love/hate relationship...they fight like crazy but deep down they love each other so much. we were driving to wal-mart the other day and he said "i want to buy something realllllly special for bella! a princess donut...that would be really special for bella!" i have no clue how he thought of this and i'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a princess donut, but it was thoughtful just the same.

-on this same drive, jude was playing with his helicopter. i reminded him that aunt kate got him that for christmas. he replied, "oh, i better call aunt kate and say to her 'thank you, aunt kate, for getting me this helicopter for christmas!'" seriously, word for word. i told jude that i liked his helicopter. he said, "no, mama, you don't like this helicopter. you like princesses." oh, ok.

-jude's been a little bugger lately. life with a 2 and 1/2 year old is certainly similar to a roller coaster. my blood will literally be boiling one second and the next i'll be crying with laughter at his humor. jude angers quickly these days, especially if he doesn't get his way (which happens often). when he's particularly angry he yells "NO!" if you so much as glance in his direction. lately he's been saying "DON'T LOOK AT ME!" which is hilarious and you can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it. but what's really funny is that my parents have reminded me often of when i used to say this as a two year old. its coming back to haunt me, thats for sure.

-jude is very particular about the music we listen to. his top requests are: another one bites the dust, life is a highway, lucy in the sky with diamonds, god of this city, and we will rock you.

-megan and nick have had a fox hanging around their house this summer. the other night megan texted and said the fox was laying on their front lawn and was injured. so we drove by to check out the scene. jude was very interested in the story...we discussed the fox and how his leg was hurt. he whispered, "that's so sad." so now, jude is always rambling about the fox. he tells everyone the story about how the fox was hurt and he crossed the road to go find his family.

-a few weeks ago we took a family vacation to storyland and santa's village. before we left, we remembered that we had to get jude's life jacket at his papa and gramma's house. so we went over there to hang out and kept reminding ourselves not to forget the life jacket. we got home that night and we, of course, forgot the life jacket. we walked in the door and i thought of it immediately. i said, "ahh, we forgot the friggin' life jacket." jude was playing so i didn't think he heard me. brian went back and got the life jacket so we'd have it on our vacation, just incase. so we were at the hotel one day and were packing up our stuff to head out. jude's life jacket was laying by the stairs. he started sputtering in a deep voice, "oh, that friggin' life jacket..." and so on. we all died laughing. jude has such a funny voice sometimes...its really deep and nasal-y which made the comment even funnier. so now...whenever he see's the life jacket he calls it a "friggin' life jacket". geeez.

lucy

-lucy is growing like a weed. i can't believe it. things definitely go by faster the second time around. when jude was a baby i was always looking forward to the next thing...i couldn't wait until he could smile, then sit, then crawl, etc. but with lucy i feel like i can enjoy her babyhood more, which is nice. we took her to the dr. this week and she weighs 16 lbs. and is in the 91 percentile for weight. umm yeah, she's chunky. but so freaking cute.

-lucy has a tooth! last friday we noticed a tiny white thing in her mouth. i was shocked one had sprung up already. we're expecting the second bottom tooth any day now.

-lucy should be an olympic sleeper. she's awesome. she's been sleeping from seven to about six lately. its nice.

-i was so excited to get lucy's ears pierced this weekend. her dr. said she recommended that we wait until six months, when she has another tetanus shot. i hate to prolong the inevitable any longer, but i guess we'll wait.

-lucy loves sitting in her bumbo seat. she constantly turns her head to see what jude is doing and its so cute.

-we gave lucy rice cereal with a spoon a few times. she was pretty unsure about it but she ate quite a few spoonfuls! we'll probably move onto peas in a few weeks.

-lucy has a major tickle spot: her belly. i can always get her to giggle when i tickle her belly, i love it.

-lucy had her first experience with a johnny jump up today. we put her in one at her papa and gramma's house...she kind of just twirled and hung and looked around. her feet couldn't quite touch the floor but it was a nice change of scenery.

-and of course, she's still got that smile that lights up her whole face. i love it when those eyes get all sparkly and squinty.

dear lucy.

lucy,

you got your first tooth! i was so excited. i figured it'd be months before one actually poked through...i guess i was wrong. i love it when you smile and i can see that single, tiny hillbilly tooth in your mouth.

today we went to our friends' church in falmouth. we fed you your bottle and were burping you during the sermon when you suddenly let out a gigantic belch. everyone couldn't help but laugh!

you were so good today on our little road trip. we can hardly walk ten feet in public without a million people commenting on your beauty. today you were called a "future fashionista".

you have been sleeping from 7 to 6:30. its awesome. you are awesome.

love you, lucy goose.

dear jude.

jude,

you are laying in your bed right now (after putting up quite a fight) and dad and i are listening to you through the monitor. you are singing twinkle, twinkle. you are talking to yourself. you just yelled "mama keezer! do you hear me?"

you also said, "do you want to come hang out with me?"

i wanted to do just that, but i couldn't give in. you are determined!

you spent the day with gramma and papa. you had an accident at church. yuck! you threw a fit when we left their house tonight and we finally got you laughing on the way home when we told you that your feet smell gross. you got a kick out of that!

you like to make yourself and others laugh. in the car you'd say "mama feet! daddy feet! bella feet! kate feet!" and crack up laughing after each phrase.

you love to "swim" in the bathtub. you get on your belly and splash and scream, "i'm swimming!"

yesterday you kept saying, "yippy skippy!" not sure where you got that.

as much as you frustrate me at times, i love you to infinity.

dear jude.

dear jude,

you are too much. you are a little ball of energy, that is for sure. you are so intelligent, just like bampy. i am amazed at how smart you are.

you love playing with your cars. you stop to say, "i love you, mama!" it melts my heart.

jude, you smell so good. it is a mixture of sunscreen and baby wash. it tickles my nose as i kiss your head. it makes me happy.

you have certainly had an attitude lately. you get frustrated easily when you can't figure something out and you forget to ask for help. you are determined and particular. those qualities make you you, the one and only jude farrington keezer.

i love you my muffin man.

love,

mama

dear lucy.

dear lucy,

you found your feet. you love grabbing and tugging at them. you've also started picking up toys. i love to watch you figure out how to move your hands towards a dangling rattle. you slept eleven hours last night. i went in to get you at 6:30 and you were wide awake...just laying there, smiling and clutching your toes.

you are so special to me. you are my joy and my happiness. every time i look at your face i think about how you are a calm in the storm of my life.

oh, and you say "mama"...i know its not intentional, and you don't know you are referring to me, but you say it.

i love you, pumpkin head.

love,

mama

its all about who you love.

have you ever read an old letter written by a loved one? its always a cool experience to re-live the past through someone else's eyes...to see the date on the envelope, the stamp they bought from the post office, the unique wording and one of a kind handwriting. i saved all the letters and cards that brian sent me while long distancing it during the college years. i always love looking through those boxes and remembering old times.

i recently came across a bunch of letters that my dad had written to my grandparents while he was away at college in Boston. one afternoon, i put the kids down for a nap and spread the letters out on the floor. i tried to read them in order so i could get the full experience. all the envelopes were included so i knew what month and year they originated. and i would expect nothing else from gary than a recording of the exact time and day of the week at the top of each letter. so awesome.

dad wrote about many things: basketball, classes and homework, friends, family, shopping (which really had me laughing), Red Sox games, and most of all...my mom. he went on and on (and on and on and on) about how much he loved her. it was so cute.

dad also said several times what good parents my grandparents were to him. i could not get over the sweetness of that. my dad was so expressive, thankful, and in-tune with his emotions. he wasn't afraid to share how he felt. i always admired that about him and reading the letters made me remember those qualities that i love so much.

another thing that stuck out to me was what dad wrote during the time shortly after the tragic loss of my mom's mom. he said that God and prayers were the only things getting him through that year. being four hours away from mom during the hardest time in their lives was difficult, to say the least. considering this present time in my life, i related to what my dad wrote so many years ago.

the last letter that i read blew my mind. dad wrote, "whatever you're doing, the people that you love have got to be more important than that thing. it should be that way for everybody. whether its in college or education or basketball or your job. thats just the way it is."

how perfectly does that paragraph describe my dad's view of life and family? completely. "life is about relationships." bottom line. done deal.

these letters were full of golden glimpses into the life of my dad. he wrote things that i could totally picture him saying. i laughed and i cried...a lot. it made me miss my dad but it made me so proud to be his daughter. if i am lucky enough to inherit a tiny fraction of his goodness and success then my life will surely be blessed.