Smart Guy

Lately Jude has grown a LOT. It keeps taking me by surprise when he does new things; I always forget he's like a little person now, and not just a baby blob.

Jude's vocabulary has increased significantly in just the last week. He will repeat words back to you much more often and seems to just babble more. His new words: truck, car, choo choo (as in the noise the train makes), Papa (Grandpa), Jackie (the babysitter at the gym), duck, quack, blue (though it sounds just like boo), daddy, trash (he loves throwing things out, even his clothes), and whatever else we can get him to repeat. Peter pointed out that Jude's "voice" has finally come out. It's not longer just baby talk, but he actually has like a little unique inflection. It's super cute!

The other thing that keeps amazing me is Jude knows where everything is when we drive around town. He points out every single gas station, I assume because he likes the cars or something. He also points out when we pass by his favorite places. Jude's new favorite places: Safeway (they have an ELEVATOR, which is like the best ride ever for a toddler), Walgreen's (it has automatic doors), the bank (they give out lollipops), the park, train tracks, construction areas, and freeways. I never realized a toddler could be so aware of his surroundings; I think it makes driving around a lot more fun!

Jude has this weird new obsession with automatic doors at stores, especially the Walgreen's. He gets really excited and runs over to open it, but then gets super frustrated when it won't close because he's standing in front of it. I've never seen a kid get so anxious about leaving the store because he can't shut the doors. It cracks me up every time, although it has caused a few meltdowns.

Last but not least, Jude is finally starting to leave his mommy-only phase...sometimes. He's really into Dad lately, or at least talking about him. We usually take Peter to the train station or pick him up after work, so Jude associates all trains with dad. When he hears or sees a train Jude goes "choo choo! Da da! Da da!" He's also way more excited when Peter comes home and wants to play with him. Sometimes we go for walks right before bed to meet Peter on his walk home and Jude just RUNS with excitement when he sees Dad. I'm glad he's starting to warm up to Peter so I can finally pass some of the parent duties over!