Judah Budah turns TWO!

Judah Budah is our little ray of sunshine. With his flowing yellow locks and his sweetest soul, he is such a bright spot in our lives. I sing him "You Are My Sunshine" every night before bed, I have since he was a baby - he truly is my sunshine - a ray of joy and warmth and hope.

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At two years old Judah is wearing size 6 diapers, size 2-3T clothes and size 7 shoe. He is nearing 35 pounds and stands 3 feet tall. His hair has never been cut, his teeth have a perfectly adorable gap and his eyes are the most beautiful shade of blue.

At two years old Judah loves... Airplanes! Ok, more like Judah is obsessed with airplanes! For the longest time they were called "vrr dows" (because airplanes say "vrrr" and go down, obviously! ha!) and he couldn't talk about them without hand motions. They are now called "airpanes" and I shed a tear the day their named switched! Watching your kids grow up is so bitter sweet... Judah also loves water - bath time and running through the sprinkler and two Judah approved ways to pass the time! He is momma's boy and will always request I put him down for naps and bed. He loves sunglasses, toy cars, bubbles and babies (wouldn't be caught without his baby doll for awhile there! He stole it from Ezra who has never given baby dolls the time of day and Stephen made me cut off the pink bow ;) He loves animals, particularly, birds (which are still called "ba da ba da ba deeees" and you better believe I'll cry the day that name changes, too!) kitties, dogs, horses and "buggies". Judah loves to play with Ezra, jump on the trampoline with dad (do anything with dad!) and the color yellow. He favors the slides and swings at the park and is ridiculously good at riding his scooter! He loves being outside or anywhere Uriah and Ezra are. A close second to airplanes and animals would be books - Judah loves books! I'm so impressed with his attention span for sitting and reading. I especially love when I find him thumbing through the pages on his own! Judah also loves fruit and cookies ;)

Judah does not like sitting in the shopping cart for longer than 20 minutes, eating vegetables and meat, getting left out of a Uriah and Ezra game and coming when asked to come.

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It is so hard to put into words who Judah actually is. Living life with this sweet boy has just been a dream and I wish so badly to both bottle him up to keep him this age forever and to move on to the next age and stage to see what it brings and experience its joys. Judah has been such an "easy" baby and toddler and found his place in our family so effortlessly. It is so hard to imagine who we'd be as a family without our little Judah Budah, and I am eternally grateful we don't have to.

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I have loved every day of these past two years with you, sweet boy. Even the hard, challenging ones (with you, there haven't been many!) You really do make me smile when skies are gray, baby boy - always.
Watching you grow and learn has been such an honor - you are so big and smart! You are all things good and wonderful and beautiful and joyful, Judah, and I love you, I love you, I love you!

November

^^ Another Wednesday at the river with our Wild + Free gang! Getting dirty and loving every minute of it! ^^

^^ On the verge of TWO! Snuggles with these boys are the very best ^^

^^ Judah turned TWO! Which deserves a post all it's own but in brief, we took doughnuts and bubbles to the park in the morning with friends and did presents and cake in the evening at home as a family. He is loved, our little sunshine boy, and it was such a joy to celebrate him! ^^

^^ A Sunday at church with all five of us! ...For the time being! ^^

^^ A horrible day for our sweet two year old. After 3 shots and a finger prick (plus flu shots for the bigs) he needed a blood draw to check his iron levels. It was awful and sad and I felt terrible! Thankfully, all is well and he is healthy! But man it was a rough day! ^^

^^ I wish this was our kitten! Our neighbors have a plethora of cats that keep reproducing and they love to venture into our backyard. This little guy and his brother got stuck on our side of the fence and I happily performed a rescue mission! They are so stinking cute and the kids were in love! ^^

^^ "I see daddy at work!" One of Judah's favorite things to do :) ^^

^^ Ezra upgraded to a big girl carseat in the back row to make room for baby brother and they were all pretty excited about the new arrangement! ^^

^^ Snuggles in mom's bed - our usual after nap time routine ^^

^^ Another Wednesday out exploring! He caught a lizard, saw a scorpion, wild turkey, jack rabbit and coyote, so obviously is was a successful outing! ;) ^^

^^ Afternoon walks around the neighborhood trying to walk baby brother out! (and enjoying the weather before the rain hit!) ^^

^^ A Friday with baby boy ^^

^^ Friendsgiving on a Saturday with these beautiful families. They have been such a blessing to us this year and it was a joy to celebrate with them, giving thanks for their friendship! ^^

^^ A Sunday morning with my crew ^^

^^ My parents came to town! They planned to be around for a week before baby's tentative arrival date and I felt so much peace when they pulled up to my house - baby could finally come! For a week they helped me prepare, played with my kids and kept me company. ^^

^^ Zoo day! ^^

^^ A brief but wonderful visit from some Alaskan cousins! Uncle Aaron is working outside of Reno right now and the family was down visiting, so they made the drive to come see us for the day! We are very grateful they made the effort, as my kids loved spending time with their cousins! We met uncle Stephen at work for lunch, played at the park, and had dinner all together at home before they took off. So random, and so fun! ^^

^^ Pre-baby girls date to Starbucks ("the cookie store") and Old Navy - coffee, cookies and clothes, the perfect girl time date! Love this little sugar bean ^^

month fifteen (and sixteen and seventeen and eighteen and...)

So, Judah turned 15 months old at the beginning of February. Sometime in April I decided a 15 month blog post wasn't necessary, despite the fact that my other kids each got one (#thirdchildproblems) and I would settle for an 18 month old blog post at the start of May... It is now almost June. I promise we love you, Judah. Just don't look at this blog archive for proof of that.

Size: Judah Budah, as he is affectionately called around here, is 28 pounds, in the 90th percentile for weight, and stands at 2' 10", in the 85th percentile for height. And not to worry, he's a true Wall kid with his head circumference somewhere around the 95th percentile ;) Though his thighs have never been as impressive as his big sister's were, his neck and chin can compete with the best of 'em. Judah is wearing 18-24 month clothes, quickly growing out of size 5 shoes and wearing size 5-6 diapers.

Eat: For a long time there wasn't anything this kid wouldn't eat. And then he turned one. Now, he won't eat vegetables unless they're drenched in hummus or blended into fruit, and even then it's only cucumber and carrots he'll accept. He doesn't like eggs, any kind of bean or any form of meat. He refuses anything with too much peanut butter and prefers colby jack cheese sticks over mozzarella. He even refuses pineapple and watermelon. Basically, the kid likes bread, yogurt, graham crackers,  banana and berries ;) We're working on it!

Teeth: Judah (finally!) has all of his precious pearly whites! His last teeth to come in, his four canines, took their sweet time. One by one they wreaked havoc on that poor boy and, subsequently, the rest of us. He was constantly whiny and constantly drooling. Since, he's back to our sweet and reasonable baby brother - thank goodness!

Sleep: Praise the Lord, we have been sleeping through the night for quite some time! Honestly, it was one of the reasons why we really debated baby number four... We've gotten used to our sleep! Judah goes down for bed when the bigs do, around 7:00, and wakes up between 6 and 7:30, though we don't get him out until "his light turns green" at 7 (or later). Switching rooms when guests come might make for some sleep changes, taking him a little longer to fall asleep or waking up a little earlier, but not much will wake him up, or at least keep him up, during the night.

Milestones: Gosh, this kid is doing it all it seems! He can climb on anything, though he tends to naturally be a little more cautious. He is getting faster and faster with his run and really swings his arm to get his momentum going - it's my favorite! He rides his scooter up and down the sidewalk and attempts his little balance bike, though he doesn't quite have that one figured out just yet. He can throw and catch a ball, eat with a spoon and fork and comprehend all that we say or ask. He is still using some signs for the words he can't say, but he's adding words to his vocabulary often. Though his most common noise, "ow", is still used for most everything ;) He loves to play games and sing songs, color with crayons, build with magna tiles and play pretend with stuffed animals.

Likes: Judah loves his dada (but still prefers mom at bedtime). He loves playing in the bath and running through the sprinkler. He loves jumping on the trampoline with Ezra and digging in the dirt. He loves to eat! Judah loves throwing bouncy balls in the hallway with Uriah and kicking the soccer ball in the backyard. He loves the tire swing at the park and going down the slide (by himself!) He loves reading books, making messes and his blankey. He currently loves toting around Ezra's play jewelry and pushing things in her doll stroller. Judah loves doing anything outside! He loves birds, airplanes and dancing. He loves snuggling up to a movie (though they don't keep his attention for more than 20 minutes) and playing chase through the kitchen.

Dislikes: Judah has always been a relatively happy kid, but when he makes up his mind that he's hungry, there's not much that will distract him. He doesn't like when he's asked to stay out of the kids' creations, always wanting to "help" them build ;) and his feelings are clearly hurt when they exclude him from something or won't share (rightfully so!)

Things I want to remember: The way he moves his finger up and down when he's pointing at something. The way he thinks every car door closing is dada coming home. His sweet blonde curls that I don't have the heart to cut off. The way he gets so excited to put on his shoes. I want to remember his gap toothed smile and his best belly laugh when being tickled. His bright, sweet blue eyes. The smile he gives when you correctly guess what he's trying to tell you. The way he says "buggy". I never want to forget his double chin, his simple dance moves or his love for books (Goodnight Gorilla and The Little Blue Truck)

Judah Budah, we love you so! We wouldn't be a family without your sweet and silly personality. Thank you for loving us in a way only you could.

month twelve

Size: 23 pounds and 31 inches! Judah is wearing size 5 diapers and both 6-12 and 12-18 month clothes. He is quickly growing out of his size 4 shoes, too! Big foot ;) 

Eat: Judah nurses when he wakes up in the morning, when he wakes up from both his naps and before he goes down for the night. He eats at least 3 meals a day and usually 1-2 snacks. Homeboy is always hungry! If mom is in the kitchen, he needs to be eating! If anyone else is eating, he needs to be eating! If he is in his highchair, he better be eating! Ha! Hungry, hungry hippo! 

Teeth: 8 teeth + 2 molars. He is constantly drooling and has been putting things in his mouth recently (something he always has been good about not doing) which makes me think his top molars will be here soon! 

Sleep: Judah sleeps through the night and is the best, best snuggle buddy! I love sleepy Judah, always wanting to cuddle with his blankey, be held and read to. He goes down for bed between 6:30-7. He typically wakes to nurse between 6-6:30 and then lays back down until the big kids get up between 7-7:30. He takes a morning nap around 8:30, though this one is always getting messed with due to errands, playdates, Bible study... He's flexible, thank goodness! He takes his second nap after lunch around 1:00. 

Milestones: Gosh, what isn't this kid doing?! Walking, climbing, talking, signing... He can say 'momma', 'dada' and 'nana', but recently everything is just 'dada' ;) He signs "all done", "more" and "thank you", as well as his own sign for "where did it go" and "hold me". He waves, claps, gives high fives, kisses and "loves". He understands so much of what we say and ask of him - I'm always impressed! And a little saddened... He's growing up! He will show you 1 on his fingers when you ask him how old he is and raise his hands in the air when you ask him how big he is. He will sit and flip through the pages of a book, babbling as if he's reading it! I love that :) 

Likes: Judah loves playing with Uriah and Ezra! He lights up when daddy comes home and is his best little buddy. He loves peek-a-boo and chase, being read to (his favorite is Little Blue Truck!), digging through Legos, wrecking Magna Tile creations and playing in the bath. He loves putting things in and out of boxes and bags, music (he's got some cute dance moves!) and being outside. He loves birds, trees and airplanes and will run to the window to look for them if you ask him where they are. He loves the dishwasher, toy cars, riding Uriah's scooter and playing with his soccer ball. He loves his blankey and snuggles "him" whenever he's sleepy. Judah is just the sweetest - 9 times out of 10 content and happy! 

Dislikes: The kid doesn't like waiting for food! He doesn't love getting dressed or getting his diaper changed, either, but he can usually be distracted with a book in his hands. 

Things I want to remember: Oh I want to remember it all... My baby at one...! I want to remember the way he signs "more", using his finger and palm, and the way he signs "thanks you" from his temple instead of his chin. I want to remember his soft, soft, fuzzy blonde hair, the curls at the nape of his neck and behind his ears, and the way it feels on my cheek as he snuggles up on my shoulder. I want to remember his gap toothed smile and his deep belly laugh when he's being tickled. I want to remember how he points at everything and his squeaky sounds he tries to communicate with us with. I want to remember his perfect soft skin, his tall frame and his drooly kisses. I want to remember his sweet blue eyes and his prominent chin and the way he scrunches his nose and breathes heavily at Stephen when he's eating. I want to remember how he waves at me while he's nursing and insists on taking blankey out of his crib with him. 

It has been such a joyous year with you, Judah. Thanks for making it easy on us ;) We love you so!