Dear Jude,
Your Papa has begged me to stop calculating your age in months. He thinks that now that you’ve turned 2 years old, I should simply say “He’s two,” when the question is asked. But, as I’m sure you’ve picked up by now, Mama loves to drive Papa crazy, so 25 months it is!
Your 25-month birthday came at the end of nine days of non-stop one-on-one time with yours truly. Papa had to lead a mission trip to New Orleans, which meant that you and I were left in each other’s care for more than a week. Eight out of those nine days were absolutely wonderful. We did a lot of fun stuff–played at the park, splashed around at Millennium Park’s Crown Fountain, enjoyed local produce at Chicago’s Green City Market… the list goes on and on.
You’ve recently started counting to ten without prompting and without encouragement. You like to count, “One, two, THREE!” and JUMP while walking with me around the neighborhood. Your affinity for VeggieTales and Silly Song with Larry has only gotten stronger over the past 30 days or so. Occasionally, after having listened to “Larry Radio” for three or four hours straight, I fantasize about sticking screwdrivers in my ears. Mostly though, I just love watching you dance and listening to you sing along to all your favorite songs.
I’ve been really grateful for your help around the house lately. You love to help me by hoisting the dirty laundry UP and into the washer and you follow me around with the Swiffer broom and take care of everything I miss with the regular broom. You haven’t quite figured out that emptying the contents of your snack cup onto the floor doesn’t really help me, but I’m sure you’ll get there. Sooner or later.
You’re going through spurts of playing by yourself more and more. You like to “read” through your books after Papa or I read them to you. Recently, you’ve become interested in painting and other arts and crafts type things, and with your new-found creativity, you made Papa a really great piece of art for Father’s Day. At night, you tell Papa and I that you want to sleep (“seep”), and then you promptly get into bed and lay your head down on my pillow. And, speaking of sleep, you’ve been doing that like a champ lately (*knocks wood*). For that, I thank you.
Every day is a new adventure with you, Jude. Your understanding, your athleticism, and your ability to communicate have increased so much over the past month that I’m left in awe of you at every turn. I love you, Monkey, and I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to see the next amazing thing you do.
Love,
Mama
