James: 5 years; Jude: 21 months

Interview with James at 5 Years:

James turned five on February 5th. I can't believe how the last five years have just flown by with him. He is such a special little boy and I say it all the time but he is truly just one-of-a-kind. He is so very active and energetic and physically never slows down, but he is also a very compassionate, deep-thinking/analytical, smart, book-loving, emotional child too. He is funny without even trying, and I constantly write down his little one-liners because I don't ever want to forget them. He has a huge vocabulary and often acts like a little mini-man (which we call him often!). He seriously has the most amazing memory and imagination. He can be so wild and rough, but he can be just as tender too! He definitely has his passionate, stubborn moments mixed in with the sweet, witty, and tender. We butt heads many times, but we have a very special bond that I pray that I will nurture (and God will bless) all of our days together. He is definitely a self-proclaimed "mama's boy!" I am excited about kindergarten in August and starting that journey together, and I look forward to all the days ahead. I know that God has such special plans for his life. We love you, James, and thank God for your life! Being your Mama and Daddy is the very best thing. You are so loved and don't ever forget it!

And here is the interview I did with James on his "favorites" at five years old:

About his physical look: He's still long and lean (I'll try and post exact numbers after his five year checkup in a few weeks), blonde hair that's darkening just a little all the time, and big blue eyes. He wears a 12 in shoes and size 4 or 5 in clothing. I think he's had a growth spurt here recently because his pants are getting a little shorter, and even though it would be a stretch to say that he loves eating, he is eating better than he ever has!

Colors: Blue, Green, Purple (just like at 4.5!)

Animal: Dog and Dragon (we are in imagination mode big time these days!)

TV Show: Monster Jam on Fox Sports, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Miles from Tomorrowland, Rescue Bots

Movie: The Three Musketeers (disney version)

Books: "Mama Will You Hold My Hand?", rescue bots books 

Food: "Rocket Soup" (vegetable soup) and hotdogs 

Drink: chocolate milk, "pack water" (flavored water), apple juice, hot chocolate, and coffee (I always save him my last sip!) 

Breakfast Food: scrambled eggs and pancakes

Snacks/Desserts: "Let's do desserts first!" suckers, brownies, and cookies   Snacks: animal crackers, veggie straws/chips, cheese crackers, apple sauce "squeezies," and string cheese 

Fruits and Vegetables: cantaloupe, apple slices, and broccoli 

Outfit: dress up costumes

Toys: Rescue Bots

Best Friend: "my family" and Mahlon and Bentley from church

favorite holiday: Christmas 

Place to go: McWane Center and "Lego Land for sure" (although he's never been!) 

Favorite restaurant: Japanese, Chicken Salad Chick, and the fast food "places that give out toys"  

Where do you want to go on vacation?: camping out, Disney World, and beach

What do you want to be when you grow up: Policeman, Firefighter, and Traffic Guard
Me: "Anything else you want to add?" James: "What's your favorite 'real thing?" Monster Trucks!" "And this interview was so different than last time!" 

Jude (21 months on March 7th)

Wearing: mostly 18 month cloths and some 2T; size 4 diapers; size 6 or 6 1/2 in shoes

Growth: Maybe around 26 pounds on the home scale?; 33.5 inches long (another home measurement)

Sleeping: He cut down to one nap a day around 15 months but will occasionally take two if he falls asleep in the car if we are out in the morning or if he woke up really early; sleeps a few hours in the afternoon and 10 to 12 hours at night. The last few weeks have been some of his worst for sleep ever. He is cutting teeth and it has been brutal on everyone. 

Eating: He eats all table food. He is getting a little pickier than he used to be, but will still eat a wide variety. Fruit is still his favorite: bananas, apples, grapes, mandarin oranges, "boo boos" (blueberries), peaches, pineapple, etc. He still loves frozen peas more than any other vegetable and will eat green beans sometimes. He ate baked beans the other night at dinner and a few bites of chicken. His meat eating is very limited still (just like James at this age). He likes scrambled eggs, cheese, yogurt, and (sometimes) turkey lunchmeat or peanut butter as far as protein goes. He still really enjoys macaroni and cheese from a box. He enjoys when I make pankcake, waffles, or muffins for breakfast too. He likes cereal bars and string cheese. He loves sweets: "a coookieee", brownies, chocolate chips, ice cream, etc. He likes cheese crackers and rits "cackers." He is a little scavenger and always nibbling on food that anyone else has. He likes to run to his high chair or get a bowl himself when he's hungry which is so very different than James ever was so it still makes us smile. He likes "wa wa" (water) best and drinks apple juice and milk occasionally. (Whew! That was a lot....ha!)

Personality: Content, easy-going, extremely active, fearless, playful, independent, rough, and sneaky. He is into everything now. He is starting to have some little fits lately when things don't go his way but they are mild and totally age-appropritate. He is pretty obedient right now and doesn't seem super strong-willed. He does throw everything which makes us a little bit crazy (food, toys, water cups, cell phones, etc.). We've occasionally had to pop his hand and sometimes he will throw something and then pop his own hand and smile...oh my! He also cheers for himself though when he chooses to lay something down "nice and gentle." He is such a mess! 

Teething: He had 14 teeth now (and working on two more canine teeth)  

Look: big brown eyes and curly brown hair. :) 

New "Tricks": He loves music and will sing some of the words to quite a few songs (particularly the last few in a line or song), he is the biggest climber, he learned how to blow bubbles in the bath tub recently and was so proud (I guess he got tired of tasting bubble solution - ha!), he's very good at throwing balls and just seems to have a naturally good arm, he's into putting his own shoes (or trying too!) and running to the door to go outside (he's very independent! and thinks he's much bigger than he is!), he knows a lot of the alphabet song and will even repeat letter sounds when he hears me going over them with James, and his vocabulary has exploded to tons of words and sentences/phrases the last few weeks: "I do!' and "I want that!" 

He is understanding now when he is "wet" or "stinky" too. The other day I said "Oh, I smell stinky" (after working out) and he came and attempted to pull on the waistband of my pants like he was going to check for a dirty diaper (like we do for him)! Hilarious! 

Likes: playing, being on the go and into everything, eating, bath time, his tooth brush, being outside, anything that James is doing is where he wants to be, flipping through books, and he still loves dogs and other animals! He also really loves Elmo and Blaze and the Monster Machines now. He is starting to show an interest in transportation too. He has a knack for messing with apps on the phone/ipad that I don't even know how to work and changing settings like turning wifi off, for example! (oh boy!)  Dislikes are being stopped from all of his adventures and being left in the church nursery unless it's in James' big boy class (but doing better)

Jude, I can't believe that you are already 21 months old and that in just a few short months you will no longer be the "baby" of our family although you are very much a baby still in many ways. I love all the unique things about you that make you so different than your brother. I want you to know that I notice the differences, and I want to always know that I want to encourage the things that you excel in and delight in individually. Neither one or way is better, so just always be you! You are just such a fun and funny little personality. You are sunshine in this family. I delight in the unique little creation that you are, and I praise God for your life and every sweet second with you. Even thought you rarely want to snuggle and are my rough and tumble boy, I praise God for the tender moments and the sweet "kisses" for Mama or the rare moments that you look at books on my lap. I'm thankful that at the end of a day you still want to be rocked to sleep. I soak it all up! You are so loved and treasured! I love you, Mama