the life of baby jude

For my birthday this year, Meema and Peepa paid for me to go to performance camp. They have a two-week long program for 4-5 year olds. Since I'm such a ham and known the world over for my famous dance moves everyone thought I would love it. I did... sort of. I loved going! I would get so excited when Mommy picked me up early from school to take me. But once there, I wasn't that keen on singing and dancing with the other kids. A lot of times, Mr. Dale would hold my hand and bring me back up onto the stage. By week two, I started to learn the moves and came out of my shell a bit. I was a little nervous; all the other kids were such great singers! Mommy and I would practice at night and she was very impressed. She told Mr. Dale that I knew the words to the songs and the moves that went along with it. We practiced one last time before the big show. I was ready.

Then, Friday afternoon came. Mommy, Daddy, Meema, Peepa, Carolann, Grandma, Uncle Erik, Uncle G and Aunt Lynda all came for my big debut. Needless to say, I made through two songs before deciding the stage was much too dark and scary. I left the other five kids sing for the rest of the show while I sat on Mommy's lap. I will say that I did a great job as "the crank" during "Pop Goes the Weasel" and pushed Elmo off the stool during "Humpty Dumpty." But yeah, I had a bit of stage fright. I was very happy to receive my special certificate, however, and pose with my singing friends. Maybe I'll give gymnastics a try next.

This past weekend, we all celebrated our nation's independence. This is actually my fifth 4th of July, if you can believe it. My first was spent being propped up on M&D's couch, while wearing a red, white & blue onesie and matching goofy hat. (My parents are so mean.)
But, not this year! This year, I went swimming. I'm a big boy, after all and that's what I was celebrating. Please see the picture to the left. See? I don't even smile if I don't want to. Just put me back in the pool, people!

I got to see fireworks that night (and even ran into Evie & Greta), but my fellow blogger, Mommy, wasn't there. So, I can't really write about it. But it was fun and I told Mommy all about it when I saw her on Sunday! They were so pretty. I gave some of them names, too. Red & green ones are, "Christmas fireworks," while white ones are "ghost fireworks." I'm four. I can make up names for fireworks. Remember, indepencence, folks.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!!

Meema was here last Saturday night, hanging out with me while Mommy went to work. We had dinner outside. We had chicken and corn and I said to Meema, "This is sooo delicious!" Since I was so enthused about it, Mommy and I decided to have it again tonight. I think this might be my new favorite meal for summer. I'm sure glad I have all my teeth now.

Last Saturday was my preschool Annual Family Picnic. We all got together a local park and ate yummy food and played on the playground. It was fun to see all my friends with their brothers and sisters and mommies and daddies! They even had fun crafts for us to do. Like sand art! (That's me, Justin & Nitesh negotiating the different colors of sand.)

Meema came down for it with a delicious fruit platter in hand. I'm glad she did because even though Mommy signed for potato salad, that didn't really work out as originally planned. I was a fan of the brownies, myself. I have to figure whose mommy or daddy made those. I'm totally taking a trip to their house this summer.

The graduating class, the "Toucans," sang a special song about going to kindergarten. Mommy got all misty, realizing that I only had one more year of preschool before I go to big boy school myself.

But for now, I'm happily enjoying swimming and eating popsicles at summer camp everyday.

One more thing- I got a car painted on my face. I finally settled on this after originally wanting Miss Melissa to put a cupcake on my cheek.

Aunt Lynda & Uncle G's dog, Mick lives a pretty good life. In fact, he gets to eat bacon. Real bacon. Not bad, right? He's also been known to put away to put away some chicken from the Number 1 Chinese Kitchen and hamburgers from Wendy's. Anyway, I really like giving him his treats. Just as Aunt Lynda instructs, I give him a little piece and tell him to "take it nice." He always cooperates and is happy to receive it, even when I just drop it in his general direction. You have to understand, people, that this is very serious progress. For the first two years of my life, or thereabouts, he would run in the other direction and hide as soon as I showed my face. And he wouldn't come out until I was gone. But we're cool now.

He even lets me sit in his bed.

A few weeks back, Meema brought me some seeds for us to plant. Look at how great they're doing. It's only a matter of time before I'll have my basil, spearmint & oregano. Our balcony is looking quite nice, no?

I don't even know what to say anymore, dear readers. Is anyone even still out there? I swear, my Mommy is slacking. She has two jobs and all, but the truth is she's probably too busy posting pics of me on facebook. But anyway, we love our blog and it goes back a long way, so we're going to try really hard to get it going again. OK?

I figured I would start fresh as a four year-old. My birthday was last Tuesday and it was pretty darn exciting. I got lots of super cool presents (fire truck anyone?), brought cupcakes into school to celebrate with my friends, ate lots of ice cream and even got to go play miniature golf in celebration. It was most cool. Being four is great so far. I have decided that there are many things that I must do now that I'm a year older. Also, I told Mommy that I am now willing to eat brown rice and put on my own pants.

Besides my birthday, life sure has been pretty fun. Mommy and I moved into a lovely new apartment in April. It has a nice balcony where I can go grow my herbs (thanks Meema!) and play trains. I have my bedroom all set up with my special tent on my bed and everything. I'm really liking it and even though it's been two months, I still call it "our new house." Added bonus: the layout is perfect for running around and playing chase with Mommy. Thank you, carpeted floors.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, Daddy, Grandma, Uncle Erik and I moved into a new house. It's huge! I have my own special room there, too, that Daddy decorated very nicely. Daddy bought a grill, so I have been enjoying many of his home-cooked hotdogs and hamburgers. Plus, it's much closer to KMart than our old house, so if I never need a toy in a pinch... It's going to be a fun summer.

I am really turning into a fun little guy. I still love school and all my friends there and can't wait for "summer camp" to start. I'm pretty popular around Just Kidz and the only reason I only have one girlfriend at the moment is because Briana left. (See "Romeo in Green Cords" post. That's Briana. Sad, right?) Adults seem to marvel at how well behaved I am and I fancy myself quite the comedian. I crack everyone up with my silly comments and even sillier faces and dance moves. I still love to help out around the house and have gotten quite good at setting the table and helping make beds. I brush my own teeth and hair and if I'm up to it, I've been known to wash my own face. Mommy is just in awe of me and cannot even believe that I'm four. Life is good.

Oh, and I'm pretty cute.

First of all, I should apologize for not updating my blog more. It's been a bit crazy in the life of Mama & Jude (surprised?) We have spent the last month or so living in limbo, looking for a new place to live and waiting to move out. As of yesterday, we are officially shacking up with Auntie Arlene again. We love her very dearly and she took us back with open arms, but hopefully, we won't be there for quite as long this time. Please send us apartment vibes! Also, Mama now has a second job some nights and weekends, so her time to help me blog has been cut short a bit. Unfortunate, but I guess I'm an expensive endeavor.

But anyway, amid the chaos, we have managed to have a lot of fun! On the weekend before St. Patrick's Day, we went into Morristown for their famous parade. As you can see, we got all decked out in the spirit of the day. We listened to bag pipes, marching bands, saw fire trucks, doggies, police cars. It was something. Mama was especially generous that day- I got to eat a really big pretzel (nearly the size of my head)and she bought me a Sponge Bob balloon on a stick. You should've seen the sympathetic looks other parade-goers were giving Mama when they saw her holding me, my stuffed dog, Daisy, Sponge Bob, the pretzel and her camera.

The parade was long, so we did a lot of other things, too. I ran around some church grounds with some other little kids, I danced and I flirted with slightly intoxicated twenty-something ladies in tight green tee-shirts. Score.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Last weekend was Valentine's Day! To celebrate, we had a huge sweets fest at school. We had a party that was filled with all sorts of treats (candy, cake, cookies, whipped cream, strawberries) and then we all exchanged Valentine's Day cards and presents. I was VERY excited to put my valentines together and give them out. And I got some really good stuff in return. Honestly, I made out. Mommy really has to kick it up a notch or two, I think. We handed out cards, stickers and M&Ms (which I still refer to as "Lem & Lems" for reasons that only I know and usually Mommy thinks I'm asking for "lemonade"), but you should've seen what some of the other kids brought! Briana for instance (little cutie in the picture with me) made heart shape cakes for our whole Cheetahs class... with our names on them! And here's my mommy- a trained pastry chef! Meema gave me a bunch of Valentine's Day stories that I brought in to read to everyone. I was very proud of those. So there. :)And it's the thought that counts, right? I made all my little presents with lots o' love.

Anyway, I went home that day with candy than I know what to do with, along with pencils and stickers and art supplies. It was fun. Most of the kids wore red but I didn't because Mama & Meema insist that it "isn't my color." My kids didn't seem to mind that I wasn't as festive as I could've been. Sammie & Briana still fought over me, just like every other day.

I should also mention that I got other presents, too. I know that Meema has some stuff for me, but I haven't see her yet because I spent Valentine's Day with Daddy. He got me the Thomas "Great Discovery" toy I've been coveting! I love it! And Mary and Mystic got me some presents, too. They bought me a stuffed dog that looks just like my "best cute little doggie friend" Mystic, some chocolate candies, stickers and two Speed Racer cars.

I like Valentine's Day a lot. I'm going to enjoy getting all the gifts now because someday I may be buying some special flowers and dinner!