Are you as smart as a 6th grader?

This post may seem a little bizarre, but here's the back-story.

My dad teaches sixth grade in Holland, MI. Obsessed Grandpa that he is, Jude is always making it onto the online quizzes his students take in the form of a math question. (He proudly shows them to me beforehand.) The kids will answer 24 "normal" math questions, and then suddenly in the middle of everything they are required to answer a question about this baby named Jude, who is doing something ridiculous that a baby would never do. Anyway, I think it's funny.

Here they are, starting with the one above. I typed the questions out because they're small and hard to read.

Q: Jude bought this chair for $300. How much did he pay in sales tax if the tax rate was 6%?

(answer a: none. babies are exempt from paying sales tax.)

Q: Jude is a chair salesman (or salesbaby) and is delivering this chair after selling it for $200. He makes a 5% commission on every sale. How much will he make on the sale of the chair in commission?

(answer b: nothing, because he will not be able to physically deliver the chair.)

Q: Jude purchased this flannel shirt at a 25% discount. The original price was $30. What did he pay for this shirt after the discount? (do not worry about taxes on this one)

Q: If Jude eats five raisins every two minutes, how many minutes would it take him to eat 40 raisins?

Q: How many cookies would Jude get if he ordered five dozen?

Q: What are three correct ways that Jude could rename the number 4? He really wants to know.

I like how he tries to pawn these off as normal quiz questions. I don't think the kids bat an eye at this sort of thing any more. It is kind of weird that 28 sixth graders (give or take a few) answer quiz questions about my son, but if this is his 15 minutes of fame, we'll take it.
:)

"Donna's Darlings"

So Jude is in day-care now. I never thought I'd say those words, but there they are.

We knew this was coming. So far Jono has been swinging the SAHD thing and full-time school with some help from Aunt Kathy and Grandma Lehman. But now his school-work is increasing and he hopes to get an internship soon; we need more child-care.

Jude is a little clingy at drop-off, but doing well with it. I struggled with it the first week, fighting mental battles with myself, including feeling like a failure because I'm unable to take care of my son during the day.

It's more what "day care" apparently symbolized to me than anything else; frankly, it's only part-time and it has been good for him so far. He actually sees other children on a regular basis, which is a huge improvement from before. We were starting to worry about the confused looks he would give our two-year-old neighbor when she approached, because he obviously had no idea what she was.

Our day-care lady's name is Donna. She was a tip from my co-worker Paul who sent his boys there for years. He told me the kids still ask about Donna even though they don't go there any more, and they send her cards on Easter.

He did warn me about a couple things: "Donna is old. And her house is tiny. But you'll love her." We do love her. She calls her in-home outfit "Donna's Darlings" - straight out of the 50's just like her (and I mean that affectionately).

She takes her job very seriously, but is laid-back and gentle with the kids. She notices and remembers every detail of what Jude did during the day, how he reacted to this or that, what his little personality is like. (The other day she told us, "He has an amazing attention span for a kid his age." *Brag alert*) She takes the kids to the library, lets them play outside, plays them lullabies at nap-time and reads to them. She even visits the fire department every other month to make sure the car-seats are installed properly in her minivan. Sheesh. The woman is a gem.

He has little friends now. Their names are Carmine, Manny, Skyler and Peyton. Three out of the four are at least two years older than he is; Peyton is a few months younger. Whenever Jono drops Jude off, three-year-old Carmine is at his side the second his toddling feet hit the floor. He tenderly puts his arm around him, pats his back, and says earnestly, "Hi Jude," with a little bit of precious inflection in his voice. I guess he's the perfect age for them: smaller and more helpless (making them feel strong and big), yet old enough that they can relate to him on some level.

As I walk up to the front door to pick Jude up, five round faces usually pop up in the picture window by Donna's kitchen table, most of them chewing pleasantly on crackers. At first it was so strange for me to see my baby in there with a bunch of people I didn't really know. But lately I can see their mouths form the words, "Jude's mom" in excitement through the glass, and Jude has a smirk on his face. When I walk through the door I get loud, enthusiastic reports of his activities from them.

"Hi Jude's mom!"
"A bus went by and Jude said 'bus'!"
"Jude doesn't like grass!"
"Jude can talk! And walk!!"
"I sat by Jude at lunch!"

Peyton just slobbers and smiles continuously.

It's a good by-product of a somewhat challenging situation. We're grateful for Donna. And Carmine, Manny, Skyler and Peyton. They're starting to feel like Jude's other family.

My handsome babe

Jude, 17 months.

Thanks to my co-worker/friend Lynell (@ Lizzie Photo) for her mad photog skillz, pro bono. See the rest of them here.

Mmmm...blender.

Is it weird that I'm currently lusting after blenders? Be honest.

I want an old one made of glass, but the catch is that it also has to work (form and function). The one we have now is giving off an aroma when we run it; a kind of burning-plastic/frying-rubber smell that I don't love. It also doesn't really, how do you say... blend things any more.

These are two functioning models I found on Etsy recently; both out of my price range, but one can dream.

Jude Walks

First steps: Early March, with Oma Klooster at the park

Actually walking: Late March, 16 months old

Best part, I think: "COME TO GRANDMA." - in an urgent, crazed voice...
Jude loves my mom, but is fully aware of his ability to tease her by refusing her advances and playing hard-to-get. He walked by her about five times with a smug look on his face, sneaking a peek at her out of the side of his eye :)

P.S. Sorry about the baby talk. We've waited awhile for this and are a wee bit thrilled.

Broseph II

My brother just came out with his first album, "It Took the Fire". He's put out a few EPs, but this is his first full-length record. I'm biased, but it's quite lovely if you want to take a listen. You can order it from iTunes, or from his website. He'll be playing some of it at South by Southwest (SXSW) soon with artist collective Ten Out of Tenn.

A while back I posted a link to his blog that documented the process of making it. (This is the second shameless plug that has appeared on this blog, in case you're keeping track.)

He's touring Australia soon and playing Sasquatch and Bonnaroo as keyboardist for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, a bunch of hippies that make crazy acid music videos and actually play decent music as well. They're big on the college scene right now and played Letterman recently. Here's a video of that performance if you want to watch them float around the stage in super happy fun land.

I think I like them, and may someday join their utopia as long as I can be high solely on endorphins.

I'm happy for you Ty :)

[Michigan Awesome]

In honor of this year's family stay-cation (about to begin), I send you some love from Michigan. Awesome.

[Michigan Awesome]: a celebration of hometown love disguised as a shirt company
Want more Michigan? (Who doesn't?) Check out TheMittenState.com too.