Jude tricyle

This is another video from January when we revealed Jude's tricycle to him. Prior to this he had only seen the picture on the box. It's dark at the beginning because it was early in the morning.

NHL Fan Fair

Thanks to C&A, we were able to go to the NHL Fan Fair, which took place during All-Star game weekend here in Raleigh. Here are some of the highlights, including Jude being used as a human shield. This was in January.

Happy (almost) spring

Sorry about the lack of posts here. I am primarily posting things on Facebook these days since Blogger can be kind of clunky. Things here have been very busy at times with Jon changing jobs and me in school. Other times, we have just been very lazy about posting because we're hanging out together, out and about, or just enjoying being a family in our own little Brasfield world. Here are some pics and video to catch you up.

One video is Jude playing the Rock Band Drums. We've been putting off buying the game because of how expensive it was at one time, but we snagged this one and all the instruments from Craigslist a few weeks ago and haven't looked back. We usually play a few rounds after dinner as a fam.

Another video is Jude reading the alphabet from a book. It's funny because he starts out singing it to the tune that Alpha Pig uses on "Super Why?" but gets a little ahead of himself and goes back to beginning.

There are some pics from around the house, and one of Jude and Tuomo Ruutu #15 on the Carolina Hurricanes. Ruutu is the first player Jude has met from his very favorite sports team. Most days, Jude spends at least part of the day pretending to be Eric Staal, who he will very readily tell you is #12 and the captain. He then assigns roles to whomever else is present--we're Cam Ward, Jeff Skinner, Tim Gleason, Coach Paul Marice, etc.

Jude also likes to pretend we're the Beatles. He's Paul McCartney, Jon is John Lennon, I am George Harrison, and Grandpa is Ringo. Jude's favorites on Beatles Rock Band are "Come Together" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

Just a quick thought.

Remember when we were worried about speech development? Remember when we didn't know? He told his grandparents he "saw dinosaurs at the museum today." A stranger asked if he drove downtown today, and he said, "When I'm 16, I can drive." He told his daycare provider that the president's name is "Obama," and he was the only kid present who knew. A guy at the airport said, "He must be almost 3." Nope, friend, not even 2 and a half.

I just want to cry with joy.

Singin'

As you know, Jude loves to sing. Here's a video of him crooning his new favorite song, "Come Together" by the Beatles. Jude is also a big Avett Brothers fan, and I wish so badly he could go to their concert with us tomorrow night. I feel really guilty, but the Avetts don't even go on until about 2 hours after Jude's bedtime. It's for the best, but, Jude, we owe you one.




We've been working really hard in the last couple months to buy all of our fruits, vegetables, eggs, and some meat at a local, growers only farmers market in Raleigh. We want to contribute to the local economy and know where our food is coming from and under what conditions the food was grown. Today we saw a big load of pumpkins at the grocery store, and I pointed them out to Jude. He said, "We get one at farmers market?" I think he's getting the message.

Jon discusses dinner, and Jude dishes on couscous

For Chris B.

Singing all the time

Terrible two's? Ha! Nothing terrible is going on around here! Our little guy is getting so grown up. He loves to sing songs and make up new songs about what he's doing. During breakfast he sang a little ditty about "Claireball, Claireball." (Our nickname for Clara). He also likes to sing a song we heard on TV about a singing bologna sandwich and one about washing his hands.

I would say that Jude's current favorite album is I and Love and You by the Avett Brothers, but he's a big fan of his Yo Gabba Gabba album, Big Bang Boom, and Barenaked Ladies. Also, hearing Jude say, "Barenaked Ladies" is worth a chuckle. It comes out, "bare....kjgijrigrgj...ladies."

We are currently looking around for a little nylon stringed guitar for him to play around on. He really wants to strum Jon's mandolin when Jon is playing guitar, but it's a little too nice for Jude to play with.

Jude is, as ever, loving books. His current favorites are The Lorax, Wild Boars Cook, and Rhyming Dust Bunnies. He's beginning to get pretty interested in Green Eggs and Ham, but our copy is actually Huevos Verdes con Jamon from my days as a Spanish teacher. I don't know how much he understands, but he sure enjoys the rhyming! Speaking of Spanish, Jude is learning to count to 10 in the language, but most of the time he stops at six unless we sing it in a song.

We're still playing around with the potty training. We have a potty in the living room, and Jude goes after his bath. The rest of the day, we just let Jude tell us if he needs to go and he gets stickers for going, trying, and washing his hands. We're going to save the actual training for closer to 27 months. We're hoping to get a good start in before the holidays strike.

We're not really sure how the holidays are going to go this year with a potty training toddler, 2 old cars, 2 pugs that will need to be kenneled or towed with us, and Jon in the midst of a job search that could possibly lead to a move for us. I'll be glad when we can finally buy a newer car. That is definitely what we will be saving for when I am out of school and working. We thought we would buy one in the spring of '09, but then the house didn't sell and the dog almost died, so we continue to patch things up. I'm hoping that our next move leads us to a place where we can settle for a bit and get our feet underneath us again and lay down a few roots. I wouldn't say that our next stop will necessarily be our forever home, but I look forward to not having closets full of boxes that I can't unpack. Jude loves to play outside and I love to garden and Jon loves to cook what comes out of the garden, so we'll be looking for a place with a yard.

At times I feel like we're in a holding pattern, circling our final destination. I'm so happy we're in it together with Jude's sweet little voice singing to us the whole way.

Jude had a party!

Jude had a birthday party, and it was super neat! I have videos and pictures to post, but I'm super-mega busy this week. Tune in here next week, for all the goodies I haven't put on Facebook.

An assortment of quotes from Jude:

Jude: Dad works at the library.

Amanda: Mama works at the library. Daddy works for the schools.

Jude: I work at the library.

Amanda: What do you do there?

Jude: I read books.

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"Antman drives Dad's car."

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"Look! I see that."

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Jude in the tub referring to a squirter he got from a cereal box: "Shrek wants more bubbles."

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"Where is Michael?" (The little man who came with his firetruck).

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"Want waffle. Want waffle with French Toast on it. Need syrup."

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"Lucy walks on her hands."

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"Jon! Wait!"

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"Coctadiwal" (crocodile)

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"Want purple pen. Purple pen is lost. Want black pen?"

Sometimes you win

Jude has started sleeping in most mornings and taking at least a 2-hour nap most days, and at first I thought he was growing, but now I think it's all brain development. In the past couple weeks Jude has started singing entire lines of songs and talking up a storm about fire trucks and ladybugs, and everything is coming out more clear. He's in full parrot mode, so he repeats everything we say. He is also really enjoying being in the kitchen while we cook dinner. He likes to sit on the counter, and he is doing a great job standing in the dining room anytime we need to open the oven. "It's too hot!" he says.

We've been taking a Red Cross swim class this week at a local park, and we have had an awesome time. Jude's been learning to blow bubbles in the water, kick on his stomach and reach out, kick while on his back, and how to safely climb out of the pool when not by the ladder. Today he was totally under water for a second a couple of times, and he did great, giving his teacher a high five. (He rarely turns down a high five). The best part about the class is how much fun Jude's been having. He laughs and smiles and tries things. It's been a lot of fun for me, and goodness knows I am not big on the whole pool thing (more of an ocean person). We will be doing this again, for sure. Won't be long before he can take the class without me!

Because of how much he is enjoying the lessons, we signed up for another activity today--soccer. We were at a birthday party last weekend, and some kids were playing soccer in view of the party. Jude had his nose pressed against the window, saying he wanted to play soccer. We have also been passing a soccer field on the way to swim lessons, and he says he wants to play soccer. The class starts later in the summer, and it's inside! It's a parent and child class for little ones, so it's not really soccer so much as just kicking the ball around, kicking the ball in the goal, bubbles, and parachute games. I'm hoping to get some exercise too. We'll see how that goes and decide if we want to do anything in the fall. I'll only have 3 classes in the fall, so we might have the time AND the energy!