Four-year-old Jude

Jude turned four on March 7th.  I'll post party pictures later, but I want to write down some things about four-year-old Jude before I forget.

Jude is a special boy in so many ways. He is sweet and sincere, sneaky and creative, full of energy and fire and ideas, determined, dramatic, artistic, rough, talkative, an enthusiastic friend, and a playful, loving brother. At his age, the tone of our home is heavily influenced by his mood and his actions. For being so obsessed with his big brother, it's surprising how different their personalities are. He is such an important, fun part of our family.

Jude is handsome. Just unbearably cute and sweet sometimes. His chatty voice is perfectly pleasant to me (when it's chatty, not whiny). I hope he holds onto those dimples for life.

Jude is starting to like the piano even more, and he's a pretty good student for a four-year-old. He really likes to sit down with me and learn new songs. I need to do more of this while he's interested.

He smiles a particularly sneaky smile when he disobeys or gets into trouble, then completely freaks out when he's put in time out. Like he didn't see it coming. He's very mischievous, especially when he decides to pick on Adele. This is one of his recent schemes with Josh -- taking everything from the family room and throwing it in front of the refrigerator. Just for fun.

He's starting to write letters daily, asking how to spell words for his pictures. He currently loves the show "Word World", and that's helping. He draws pictures constantly and I think he's a pretty good artist already. Here's an example of a bunny card he made for Sister Martin, his Sunday school teacher. She sent him a bunny card for Easter, and he decided to copy it.

He lives to play his Ninja Turtles video game with Josh. Matt has started to show them old Looney Tunes clips before bed. I wish I could say the TV wasn't their favorite toy, but this is definitely their favorite spot in the house.

Jude loves to wear his rain boots from Aunt Stephy, whether it's wet outside or not. They make him slower, but they're so cute. He really enjoys choosing what to wear. This mummy hat was his choice on a pretty warm March day. It was ridiculous.

Jude started to play T-ball. He's the second youngest on the team, and he is excessively cute in a helmet. The games and practices are hilarious. T-ball is the cutest sport of all the sports.

Jude has tantrums still, but less often. Sometimes I video them in an effort to subdue my rage and try to laugh about the idea of sharing them later. He needs a couple naps a week lately, and will ask me to put him down in my bed. When he's sleepy, he really loves to have his back scratched or his hands massaged. 

At Josh's baseball practice while we're waiting, Jude fights invisible bad guys by himself in the grass. He tells me not to looks at him. I think he's starting to really value his alone time.

That's not to say that he doesn't enjoy friends, though. He's a social boy. This is his best buddy Zeke, who he asks about every single day. Zeke is also his only buddy here so far, but we're working on that.

Jude picks every dandelion he sees on his way home from Josh's school and saves them in a bowl of water on the table for me. He rotates out the dead ones daily. He loves to crush the camelias that have fallen onto the sidewalk, and detour onto every stepping stone and "balance beam" he sees along the way. I need to be in a hurry less often so he can wander.

Tape is his favorite art supply, and that's saying something because he loves art. He will tape pictures all over the house. He will cut up papers just so he can tape them back together. He will go to the tape as soon as anything needs fixing. He loves it so much that my mom wrapped up a roll of tape and sent it to him as a birthday present. It was a hit!

He picks on Adele almost every waking moment. Grabs her. Rolls around with his arms around her stomach. Pulls on her legs. Pokes her head. Takes toys away. Squishes her arms hard. It's a tough love that we're trying to moderate, but I think it comes from a good place. I understand, because I kind of want to eat her too.

Jude is my chocolate lover. He makes me share my "chocolate nuts" from Costco. He'll grab them from the kitchen and bring them to me on the couch so we can snuggle and binge together. It's dangerous.

He's my buddy everywhere I go. The gym, the grocery store...well, that's pretty much everywhere we go while Josh is at school, but it's nice to have a talkative little friend. He doesn't like when I exercise without him, so sometimes after the gym, he asks me to make him an exercise list and walk him through it. Yesterday he came up with 2 jumping jacks, 30 kicks, 3 push ups, 20 somersaults, and 100 spins. It wore him out.

Jude forces me to snuggle him. He sits on my lap, leans his back against my chest, pulls my arms around his belly and holds them there. It makes me stop for a few seconds and remember that my real job is to make my kids feel loved, rather the thousand other things that I feel like I should be doing.

This boy is a real delight, and a real piece of work. I'm grateful for everything he brings into my life, how he forces me to be patient, to slow down, to prioritize, to wrestle on the floor, and to enjoy the little things.