Jude being a teenager next to his mom

Yesterday Jude turned 13. He has building up to this day all month and he woke up very excited. He got to choose how we celebrated. He decided a pancake breakfast at home and then on to his favorite pastime, Minecraft on his Nintendo Switch. We watched some Premier League and Jude played with Olive in the park.

Showing off his birthday present, an iPhone 8

The big gift that Jude got for his birthday was a brand new smartphone. We bought him an iPhone 8, something he has been really wanting. He is the second last kid in his class of 25 at school to get a smartphone and at 13 we feel like Jude is ready. He has had a flip phone for a couple of years now and understands the importance of looking after it. We have a long list of rules for this phone, it is not a play toy, it is to be used primarily for communication.

Jude decided for lunch he wanted to go to Mustard’s, a hot dog place right by DU that is walking distance from our house. We played some table tennis at home and then some tennis at the local courts in the afternoon. And we went and bought an ice cream cake which we had in the afternoon. For dinner Jude wanted takeout Noodles & Co. and then we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He said it was a very satisfying birthday.

Singing Happy Birthday to Jude

Today, we spent the whole day at home. No one had any commitments so we used this time to switch out Anna’s bed. She wanted her old bed that she had on Fairfax Street which had been in the basement. So, we switched beds, which took most of the afternoon and into the evening with Marcy doing the bulk of the work.