Mosey Movie Week

I've been really bad about taking pictures for the last month, and I've been avoiding updating the blog since I know pictures are the best part! Things have been good here. Annie, our intern, is staying with us and its been nice having the company and extra lap for Jude to sit in. He says her name pretty well now:) And our family's volume of tea intake has about quadrupled since her arrival! When you have an English houseguest, it just seems like the thing to do.
Ted and Annie went to Chapare yesterday (the jungle) to visit one of IOU's orphanages there that recently received some new kids, and also meet with some church and government officials. They took loads of toys and books and clothes out to the orphanage, so I'm sure the kids were pretty excited!

Jude is about 20 months now and has become our little buddy. He points at the kitchen closet and demands, "Broom!" and then sweeps up the kitchen floor. He begs to see what I'm cooking on the stove, has a healthy respect for "hot" things, and carefully stirs whatever is simmering with such pride that it overrides the danger associated with it, in Mom's mind:) He is FINALLY saying please, hallelujah! He's had "thank you" down for a long time but please was normally grunts until last week, and now he cocks his head and says, sweet as honey, "pweeese" for anything and everything. I love it. I think if he asked if he could pweeese drink beer with his supper I'd melt and give in. On the flip side, he's really weird about it when I leave him lately. Sometimes if I kneel at the door and make a point to kiss him, he'll say "chao!" and slam the door in my face and that's that. But mostly, he runs and puts his face in the corner if he sees me getting the keys or putting on my shoes and refuses to come kiss me, and I can hear him crying when I'm getting on the elevator. He's also been like that at church, to a point where either Ted or I have to stay in nursery school with him while the other one stays for the sermon. He ignores us and plays with other kids while we're in there, but freaks out if I try to back out the door. I hope he gets over this hump soon, because he starts Mothers' Day Out once a week as soon as we get back home.

One thing he LOVES is going to movies. We've gone to the theater twice this week to see Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Princess and the Frog. He's certainly his father's son...he totally zones out and stuffs his face with popcorn the entire time, and doesn't appear phased that its in a different language. He claps and cheers at the appropriate times, I'm sure much to the annoyance of all the people taping bootleg copies around us. Seriously. Here's a few shots from this afternoon's matinee.