Jude Barnes: May 2010

Family getaway to Agnes Water and 1770...

The Barnes Family thought we would visit Agnes Water and The Town of Seventeen Seventy for the May Day long weekend. It was a fantastic weekend, the weather was gorgeous, and Jude ready and rearing for 3 days of exploration!

After a 2½ hour car trip, Jude was keen to stretch his legs, and mummy and daddy were sick of listening to In the Night Garden and Elmo! So, we dumped our bags and headed straight for the beach!

Only Jude was allowed to push the buttons in the lift!

Man on a mission - 'project beach'

Judie showing off his balancing skills!

Pumped!

Hiding in the grass

Leading the way to the beach

It was a little windy in the afternoon, however, it was good fortune as there were heaps of kite surfers which fascinated our little boy. I think we were down there for about 2 hours, running in and out of the water, watching the big kites, playing in the sand, and running up and down the beach. Jude had a ball! He also had a mission, to get as wet, and as dirty as he possibly could! The life of a little man!

So after a nice warm bath and some clean clothes, we were off for an evening walk down along the water at 1770. Fish and chips for dinner, well, chips and chips for Jude, a quick look at some boats and it was off to bed. A well earned rest!

One last cuddle while he was clean and dry!!

Wetting mummy!

Collecting shells with daddy

Running away from those big waves

Watching the kite surfers

Drenched and loving it!

Someone who has had a lot of fun!

A quick climb of some tree branches before heading back for a warm bath!

Nudie in his new jeans ready for dinner

The next day was just as good. A yummy brekkie of bacon and toast (he has just started to like bacon making uncle Rory proud), and cocopops (a first for Jude) at daddy’s request, a nice walk along the beach to the rock cove, a play at the playground, off to the pool! Seen as we were able to get through all this by 11am, mummy took Jude to the beach again!

Yummy milkshake with brekkie

Mummy I want to go this way..., playground!

No, it's that way...

Mastering the monkey-bars with a little help from daddy

Sliding all by himself - it was a massive slide too!

King of the castle

A morning beach stroll

Some rock climbing - nice and dangerous!

Sticky-beak Jude looking at the campers!

Swimming is a little anxiety provoking for Dale and I as Jude is not allowed to get his ears wet since having grommets in January. One perhaps would just avoid water altogether, however, swimming is one of Jude’s most favourite things to do ever since he started at 12 weeks of age! How can you say no?? So, as Dale and I ohh and ahh running around after Jude with our hands out stretched and ready to grab our dare devil of a son, Nudie has a wow of a time kicking, floating, splashing and running in and out of the water… care free and having fun!

Having a ball in the kiddies pool

Check out the confidence! Cheeky boy!

Of course he found the only leaf in all 3 pools and almost tipped out retrieving it!

After a spot of lunch and a nap, Dale took Jude back to 1770 to the headland for some exploration. I’m pretty sure another playground was tested! We had Thai for dinner of which Jude was a fan of the fish cakes and pad thai and our very tired boy hit the pillow at 7.10pm and didn’t make another noise until the following morning!

Are you tired yet?

Exploring the headland with daddy

Facinated by the boats!

Hmmmm, why is he balancing on the fence wire?

The last few things to do before heading back to Rocky were achieved on Monday. Jude was that exhausted from his big weekend, that he fell asleep in the car…., 3 hours prior to his normal afternoon nap. I think that is evidence he had a fabulous time!

Jude and daddy time...

Dale and I are started to spend a little quality time with Jude one on one. Not only is it wonderful to have this time with Nudie, but it is also nice if you’re the one not involved to get a bit of ‘me’ time! Something that is few and far between with no family within 700km of us! Jude is the most amazing thing that happened to Dale and I and we are thankful everyday! Every night, without fail, Dale and I will reflect on what Jude has done, or how cute we think he is, or how we couldn’t imagine our lives without him. But I think it is the small amounts of alone time, and time spent together as a couple that makes us the best parents we can be as we are relaxed, and want to give Jude 110% every minute we spend with him.

Dale’s favourite thing to do with Jude is to go to the zoo! It is one of the most wonderful things about Rockhampton, and the zoo is 800m away in the Botanical Gardens, right on our doorstep! I have posted a few ‘zoo blogs’ already I am sure, however, Jude finds new and exciting things to explore, learn, or admire every visit. Most of all, I love it when both Jude and Dale come home as I have missed them so much, and look forward to hearing all their stories…

Jude finds EVERY musical instrument!

Save yourselves!!!!!!!

I love this photo - although, I think he is eating the bread for the ducks/geese/turtles!

I wonder if he thinks he can catch one?

An exhausted little boy stopping for some afternoon tea with dad

Emma and Rory come to stay...

Emma and Rory made the trip up north for the ANZAC Day long weekend. Now, I’d like to think my little sister and her lovely fiancée, Rory, made the trip up to see us all…, but I know it was just to see, and spend time with Jude and Pres. It was a sad Monday night after dropping them off to the airport as we all had such a fabulous weekend. Definitely in the top 3 of weekends spent in Rocky! Both Em and Rorus spend oodles of time with Jude, whom was a little shy for all of 5 minutes, before showing off massively! He wanted to impress. He was full of chatter, and kindly, Aunty Emma taught Jude two new words…..

- Me, and

- Mine

THANKS – not!! Now everything Jude touches or points at is followed by ‘MINE!!!’.

Jude had so much fun with his aunty and uncle! The days were filled with lots of outdoor play, cuddles, a trip to the beach, ice cream(s), walks, and an early morning wake up for Em (8am people – but that is early for sleeping beauty!). The weekend made me realise how much I miss both of them, and at the risk of sounding corny, how much they have grown up since we moved to Rocky in 2007. The are such gorgeous people individually, a fabulous couple, and most of all, wonderful family for Jude.

Below is a snapshot of the fun weekend…

(I have to give you a background…, when Emma and Dale get together, they wind each other up, hence, the silly photo first up below. But, I came downstairs with Rory after an hour of them chilling by the pool to find my son dressed up and auditioning for the Village People…, photo number two!)…

The two of them in action!

What they did to my poor little boy!

Jude with his youngest aunty!

Ice cream number 2, after he stole mummy's!

Taking a stroll with Uncle Rory, Aunty Em and daddy.

(Rorus, your a pram natural!)

Jude turns 20 months old...

I'm a big boy now!

Nudie's bed FINALLY arrived after 8 loooong weeks. It was on it's way from Melbourne for 2 whole weeks - clearly by foot! Anyway..., Jude is in his element. He takes himself off to bed at 7.00pm, followed usually by getting back out again and absconding to a section in the house where Dale and I aren't - the benefits of having two access points to his bedroom! Jude is so sneaky, that if he hears our footsteps, he quitely retreats back to his room until we have gone again. Where do they learn these things??

Jude idolises any child that is bigger then he is, and wants to do exactly what they are! This usually means copying a 3 or 4 year old as he is bigger then every 2 year old we have met so far being off the chart for height (>97^th percentile). Whilst we encourage Jude to try anything and everything, we have reached a point where the words ‘no’, or ‘not yet’, or ‘that’s dangerous Jude’ are constantly coming out of our mouths!

‘No Jude you can’t ride that bike as the seat is taller then you are’

‘Not yet darling, chilli is too hot for little boys’

‘Jude balancing on the fence rail is dangerous’

‘No Jude – you must hold daddy’s hand when going down the stairs’

‘Jude, riding Presley is dangerous, not to mention painful for Pressy’

‘No Jude, little boys don’t play superman off the lounge’

‘No Jude, it’s dangerous to climb and dance on the table’

I’m sure you get the picture…..

Did I mention each one of those statement is usually followed by a tantrum – ahhh, the terrible two’s have hit.

Here are some pics of our little boy on the day he turned 20 months old….

Playing outside with his partner in crime, Presley (his tail is in almost every photo!)

This photo makes me laugh - he is such a character!

He is laughing at Presley sneezing!

In his cool fire truck

Our beautiful boy!

Happy 'twenty something' birthday mummy...

Birthday’s are special in our family. My mum and dad always made the biggest effort to make Emma’s and my birthdays memorable. They were full of our favourite events and favourite foods, we had the front seat on the way to school and the day was absent of chores and discipline, (on reflection, it must have been Emma’s birthday everyday – joke Pemmy!)! But, the thing I love most about celebrating birthday’s in the Gibbs household, is that everyone in the family has a fabulous day.…, right down to the dog! We are all involved one way or another which means we got 4 birthday’s every year! And, it is this last wonderful memory, that Dale and I want to create with Jude!

My ‘twenty something’ birthday fell on a Saturday this year which means one thing, Dale had to work - poor Dale : ( So, our lovely friends Rach, Brad, Baby Henry and Beck spoilt Jude and I by taking us out to their beach house at Keppel Sands. We were all off to a slow start after being out for bday cocktails and dinner the night before, however, the 30min drive made us more lively with a Wiggles rendition going on in the back of the car (nice singing Jude)!

We spent the morning having tea and coffee on the back deck, followed by a lovely beach session where the two boys turned it on for the camera. Then it was back to the house where the toddlers had some lunch, and then Brad kindly babysat the boys while they slept, and we had a lovely lunch at the nearby café. When we arrived home, daddy had decorated the house in pink balloons which Jude (and mummy for that matter) thought were amazing! There were two cakes, lots of chocolate, some happy birthday songs, dancing and lots of kisses and cuddles from Jude and Dale.

An amazing day, can’t wait for the next one….., Dale turns 35!!