Jumping, Painting, Splashing, Crawling and...Jude!

The school year is now in full-swing and we're settling into our routine of day-to-day life.

I have to admit it's hard to find things to do during the day while Lance is at school and George is at work. More often than not, the later morning finds us just a bit bored. Lucky for us, we're surrounded by fun friends just a couple hundred feet away.

One day we walked down the little hill next to our house to play with our buddies. Jamie had a new camera lens she was trying out and took pictures of the boys being "superheros".

I can fly!

Bo, Cameron and Jude--best buddies!

Love it!

When we're not playing with friends at the park, we're trying to find things to do inside. One day Jude found Lance's old Buzz Lightyear costume and tried it on.

He thought it was fantastic!

Lance was 3 when he wore it:

Look how little he was! I can't believe that was 4 years ago!

Okay, back to present.

Jude and Cole play together quite a bit, although Jude's starting to realize he doesn't like it when Cole plays with certain toys. Ah, siblings.

They usually do a good job, though.

Lance is enjoying school, but I think he misses the ease and fun of Kindergarten. First grade isn't all fun and games and he has to actually do homework! It's been a bit of a challenge to have a good attitude through it all, but we're on the up and up and a routine is helping.

The days are still so nice that the afternoon when Lance comes home often finds us outside with friends. One day when no friends were at the park, we brought out the finger paints.

I think this was the first time Jude had ever finger-painted... I guess I get the "bad mom" award in that category today.

Lance was meticulous and Jude was crazy.

Oh yeah! Lance lost his two front teeth! I have still never been around to see him pull out his tooth. He's lost three at school and one while in San Diego. Stinker. I think he just likes the little treasure boxes he gets from the nurse at school.

Hmmm. Well, we'd better find a way to wash that paint off.

Slip-n-slide! We decided to take one last good run on it before I rolled it up and put it away until next year.

Cole got into the action this time, too!

Love it!

Pillow pet party with Killian and Kendall!

These kids love to play together.

Cole is now officially crawling! He's been scooting since he was about 6 months old but in the last few weeks he's taken off truly crawling and can get to all the rooms in the house.

One of his favorite places to be is under the table, although he still hasn't figured out how to get out from under the chairs. More often than I can count I'm summoned into the dining area by the frustrated squeals and growls of a stuck Cole.

Crazy baby!

I didn't think it was possible for Jude to develop a stronger personality than what he already had, but he has proven me wrong. Soundly. The last couple months have been full of a wild little Jude that can't seem to stop laughing, screaming, yelling, running, jumping, and talking and has his own opinions of how everything should work.

I can't decide if I love this stage or if I'm ready to move on. I guess both. It is loud and crazy but tons of fun, too. He keeps us laughing but tests our patience to the absolute limits. He's "bigger than his britches", but still needs his mamma to hold him when he's sad and wants to sleep in his crib. He wants to use the bathroom in every department or grocery store we frequent, but has little interest in using the toilet in our home. He's a clown and a performer, constantly dancing and singing to try and put a smile on your face. He has no fear of strangers and will crawl right into the lap and hold entire conversations with the random person sitting next to us at a soccer game. One of these days I'll have to dedicate a post just to Jude and the crazy child I get to play with every day. It is fantastic fun and immensely exhausting.